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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36749-8.txt b/36749-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..464b698 --- /dev/null +++ b/36749-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11795 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stronghold, by Miriam Haynie + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Stronghold + A Story of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia and Its People + +Author: Miriam Haynie + +Release Date: July 16, 2011 [EBook #36749] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRONGHOLD *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _The Stronghold_ + + +A Story of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia and Its People + + + _By_ MIRIAM HAYNIE + + + _The Dietz Press, Incorporated_ + _Richmond, Virginia_ + _1959_ + + Copyright by + MIRIAM HAYNIE + 1959 + + Second Printing July, 1960 + Third Printing September, 1964 + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY + THE DIETZ PRESS, INCORPORATED + + + TO MY HUSBAND + WILLIAM HAROLD HAYNIE + AND + TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER AND FATHER: + OLIVIA FRANCES JETT WILLIAMS, AND + THOMAS JACKSON WILLIAMS, OF + "PLEASANT GROVE" + NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, + VIRGINIA + + + + +Acknowledgements + + +References have been given for each chapter so that in this way the +persons who so kindly gave personal interviews could be recognized +specifically. + +I wish to express my appreciation to the personnel of the Reference and +Circulation Section, General Library Division, of the Virginia State +Library, for their splendid service. Without the books from the Library +it would have been impossible for me to have accumulated the material +for this book. + +I wish to thank the _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, the _Fredericksburg Free +Lance-Star_ and _Virginia_ and _The Virginia County Magazine_, for their +kind permission to use any material which might be needed from articles +written by myself and previously published in those publications. + + M. H. + + _Reedville, Virginia, + June, 1959._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PART I--SEVENTEENTH CENTURY + +_Tidewater_ + +"_Ye Northerne Neck_" + +_The People_ + +_Indians and Early Explorers_ + +_Captain John Smith_ + +_Powhatan's Empire_ + +_Captain Smith Visits the Neck_ + +"_A Plaine Wildernes_" + +"_Wild Beastes_" + +"_Birds to Vs Unknowne_" + +_The Nominies_ + +_The Discoverers_ + +_The River of Swans_ + +_Mother of Waters_ + +_Quick-Rising-Water_ + +_Henry and Pocahontas_ + +_Henry and King Patowmeke_ + +_Henry's Relation_ + +_Betrayed_ + +_Kidnapped_ + +_The Indian Trader_ + +_A Petition_ + +_From North of the Potomac_ + +_The First Settler_ + +_Coan Hall_ + +_Neighbors_ + +_The "Kids"_ + +_Indian Servants_ + +_Money_ + +_A Paradise Discovered_ + +_A Visit to Jamestown_ + +_Frances_ + +_Forever Lost_ + +_Ursula_ + +_The Yard_ + +_Kittamaqund_ + +_The Gift_ + +_The Cavaliers_ + +"_Charlie-Over-The-Water_" + +_The Legacy_ + +_The Indian Deed_ + +_A Summons to Jamestown_ + +_The Oath_ + +_County Officers_ + +_Epraphrodibus's Will_ + +_The Challenge_ + +_Trade_ + +_The Colonial Sailor_ + +_John Carter_ + +_Fleet's Point_ + +_George Mason_ + +_Mary Calvert_ + +_He Lived Bravely_ + +_Witchcraft_ + +_Seahorse of London_ + +"_Tenn Mulberry Trees_" + +_Roads_ + +_Markets_ + +_The Old Dominion_ + +_The Proprietary_ + +_A First Lady of Jamestown_ + +_Land_ + +_Processioning_ + +"_The Banquetting House_" + +_The Land Agent_ + +_Hanna and the Horseshoe_ + +_Muster_ + +_The Store_ + +_The Wolf-Drive_ + +_The Indians and Robert Hen_ + +_The Royal Cavalcade_ + +_The King of the Northern Neck_ + +_Kith and Kin_ + +_The Fieldings_ + +_Pirates_ + +_Christmas at Colonel Fitzhugh's_ + +_Indian Visitors_ + +_Horse Racing_ + +_Manufacture_ + +_The Potomac Rangers_ + + +PART II--EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + +_Murders in Stafford_ + +_Free Schools_ + +_The Home in the Forest_ + +_Cherry Point_ + +_Sandy Point_ + +_Augustine_ + +_Popes Creek_ + +_The War Path_ + +_Falmouth_ + +_Burnt House Field_ + +_Stratford Hall_ + +_George Washington_ + +_Epsewasson_ + +_Ferry Farm_ + +_Fredericksburg_ + +_School Days_ + +_The Indians_ + +_The Pow-Wow_ + +_Mount Vernon_ + +_Washington Washed Here--_ + +_The Ordinary_ + +_Nelly_ + +_Miss Betsy_ + +_The Proprietor of the Northern Neck_ + +_The Marshalls_ + +_The Leedstown Resolutions_ + +_Fithian_ + +_The School in the Wildwood_ + +_James and John_ + +_Captain Dobby_ + +_Pedlars_ + +_Seven Satin Petticoats_ + +_Phi Beta Kappa_ + +_Light-Horse Harry_ + +_A Band of Brothers_ + +_The Divine Matilda_ + +_Madam Washington_ + +_After the Revolution_ + +_Mantua_ + + +PART III--NINETEENTH CENTURY + +_Robert E. Lee_ + +_Smith Point Light_ + +_The Raiders_ + +_Steamboats_ + +_Hannah and the Falling Stars_ + +_Dear to His Heart_ + +_The Blockade_ + +_The Home Guard_ + +_The Mystery of Horse Pond_ + +_Schooner in a Mill-pond_ + +_War Bonnets_ + +_Amanda and the Yankees_ + +_The Horsehair Ring_ + +_Miracle at Ketchum's Camp_ + +_Desperate Passage_ + +_After the War_ + +_Speech_ + +_Shopping Trips_ + +_Menhaden_ + +_The Old Stone Pile_ + +_Keepers of the Light_ + +_The Headless Dog_ + + +PART IV--CONCLUSION + +_The Ancient Mansion Seats_ + +_Appendix_ + +_Sources_ + + + + +List of Illustrations + + +John Smith in the shallop exploring the waters of Northern Neck, +Virginia + +Henry Spelman living amongst the Indians + +Pocahontas is traded for a copper kettle and becomes an hostage to +Captain Argall + +First settlers at Coan + +"King" Carter attends Christ Church + +Mary Ball at Yeocomico Church + +The infant, George Washington at Wakefield, his birthplace + +Young Washington helping in the handling of "seine" on the Potomac + +Young George Washington becomes a friend of Lord Fairfax, Proprietor of +Northern Neck + +Young Robert E. Lee learning to ride + +Skirmish between the Virginia Militia and the British during the War of +1812 at Farnham Church + +"Yankee" foragers during the Civil War + + + + +_Introduction_ + + +I have read with a great deal of pleasure the book called _The +Stronghold_, which relates the history of the Northern Neck of Virginia +in story form and was written by my good friend, Miriam Haynie of +Reedville, Virginia. Mrs. Haynie is a native of the Northern Neck of +Virginia, her family on both sides having settled there in the +seventeenth century, and her direct ancestors having remained there +until this day. She is the author of a number of articles dealing with +the history and traditions and customs of the peninsula between the +Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers that have appeared in the _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, the Washington papers and national publications. She is +devoted to this section of Virginia and has spent a large part of her +life in accumulating an enormous fund of historical data of the region. + +_The Stronghold_ is a most interesting book, especially to Virginians +and to natives and descendants of natives of the Northern Neck of +Virginia. It is divided into three sections, the seventeenth century, +the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century. It tells a great deal +about the early history of the Colony and more especially of that +portion of the Colony of Virginia, of which she is a native, from the +days when the white man first came to the Potomac and Rappahannock +Rivers down to the beginning of the twentieth century. She relates in a +most pleasing language the first visits of Captain John Smith to the +waters surrounding the Northern Neck, also the capture of Princess +Pocahontas by the colonists, which occurred on the Potomac River or on +one of its tributaries, and many other events connected with our early +history that we are prone to overlook in the rush and whirl of these +modern days. Her book will be particularly interesting to children as it +is written in simple language and in story form so that a child in the +fifth grade may read and understand it. It is a most entertaining and +interesting work and will impress upon children the early history of our +part of the Colony of Virginia and the hardships endured by our +ancestors who came here to settle in the wilderness. In saying that it +will be particularly interesting to children I do not mean to restrict +interest in the book entirely to children for it will be both +interesting and educational to all lovers of history regardless of age. + +As is true in all works of this kind some of the historical statements +she has made will be open to contention but in the main it is a true +and correct history of the Northernmost Peninsula of the Old Dominion +and pays proper attention to the distinguished men and women who first +saw the light of day within its confines. It will be excellent parallel +reading to be engaged in by every student of history in the high schools +of the State. It is also interesting in that it discusses and makes a +record of many traditions and customs peculiar to the region. It will be +both interesting and valuable as a reference book for future historians +of Virginia and will afford great pleasure to all of us who love to read +about the history of our State. + +Prior to the coming of good roads to Virginia and the building of the +bridges across the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers what is known as the +Northern Neck, although actually a peninsula, was to those living in the +eastern portion almost an island and it was but natural that marked +peculiarities of the people of this section distinguished them not only +from those who lived in other sections of the country but to a less +extent from those living in other parts of Virginia. These distinct +peculiarities appeared in pronunciation, in folk-lore and traditions. +With the exception of the colored people at least ninety-five per cent +of the ancestors of the present population of this section came from +Great Britain and preserved with little change the speech, the culture +and the habits of the British people and it is these things that +distinguished them to some extent from people living in other parts of +the country. In Colonial days a very high state of culture was in +existence among the great plantations of the Northern Neck and their +contributions to the development of this country have included several +of the great heroes of the nation. To a considerable extent all these +attributes have been handed down from generation to generation and every +one in the Northern Neck well knows and is proud of the fact that George +Washington and Robert E. Lee were natives of the section. + +All these things are emphasized by Miriam Haynie in her most excellent +and readable book, which will be a real contribution to the history of +Virginia. + + ROBERT O. NORRIS, JR. + + _Lively, Virginia, + May 16, 1959._ + + + + +PART I + +Seventeenth Century + + + + +THE STRONGHOLD + + +_TIDEWATER_ + +The country surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, which is known as the +Tidewater, has been compared to the Bible Lands, the Netherlands and +Venice. + +Captain John Smith, military leader of the expedition to Virginia in +1607, who explored and mapped the Chesapeake Bay and the Bay Country, +described it thus: + +"There is but one entrance by sea into this country, and that is at the +mouth of a very goodly Bay, the widenesse whereof is 18 or 20 miles. + +"Within is a country ... heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a +place for man's habitation.... Here are ... hils, plaines, valleys, +rivers and brookes all running most pleasantly into a faire Bay +compassed but for the mouth with fruitfull and delightsome land...." + + +"_YE NORTHERNE NECK_" + +On the western shore of the Bay there are three peninsulas, or necks, +carved out of Virginia's shoreline by the tidal rivers. + +The third, and northernmost, of these peninsulas lies between the +Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers. It was probably referred to orally +by the first white men who settled at Jamestown as "the northern neck." +The name appeared in print certainly as early as 1677, when in an +official document it was mentioned as "ye Northerne Neck." + +This third peninsula north lies aloof, and long, between its broad +rivers, as they flow into the Chesapeake Bay on the east. + +From the Bay the narrow strip of land, only fifteen or twenty miles +wide, runs inland between the rivers for almost a hundred miles, until +it narrows near Fredericksburg so that the rivers almost join--not quite +an island but more cut-off than the usual peninsula. In the old days +when there were almost no roads, and no bridges, the Neck was to those +living in the eastern portion more like an island than a peninsula. Only +from the west could one travel in or out by land and that exit was +rarely used. + +Its geographical position made the Northern Neck for many years almost +as inaccessible as an ancient stronghold surrounded by a moat. + + +_THE PEOPLE_ + +The Northern Neck could be compared with ancient Mesopotamia--a land +between two rivers where a new civilization started. + +The early settlers came to the wilderness in satins and velvets, they +surrounded themselves with the niceties of living, as near like those +they had left in England as was possible. They shopped in London as they +had before and traded with the world directly from their own +habitations. + +But the conditions of their new wilderness home changed and moulded them +and made them into something different--a new breed of men. + +By the time unusual men were needed to shape an unusual type of +government, descendants from this stock were ready for the undertaking. + +In the Northern Neck there are still so many reminders of these +remarkable people that it is not hard to imagine them as they might have +been in their habitat several centuries ago--John Mottrom sailing into +the Coan in his brightly-colored shallop; the Mottrom children playing +their medieval games in the shadow of the primeval woods; Ursula +twirling the venison roast on its hempen string before the fire; Hanna +Neale passing the witchcraft test; young Jack Lee dashing down the +forest aisles on his spirited mount; George Mason pulling the arrows +from the "poor people"; Moore Fauntleroy measuring off his thirty arm's +lengths of rhoanoke for the waiting Accopatough; King Carter rumbling +down his avenue in his coach and six; Mary Ball on her dapple gray; +James Monroe and John Marshall walking down the Parson's Lane with +school books and muskets; Nelly Madison singing to her new baby; young +George Washington riding down to see "Miss Betsy" on a fruitless +mission, and little Robert E. Lee saying good-bye to the cherubs in the +nursery fireplace.... + + +_INDIANS AND EARLY EXPLORERS_ + +What men first knew this land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac +Rivers? + +It is believed that Indians lived along the shores of the Chesapeake +Bay's tributaries three thousand years ago. + +The Vikings may have entered the Bay and explored the nearby streams and +lands in the eleventh century. + +Cabot, an Italian seaman under commission from King Henry VII of +England, may have entered the Chesapeake at the end of the fifteenth +century. + +Spaniards sailed into the Bay and explored some of the region in the +sixteenth century. + +European traditions tell of adventurers of other nations who may have +visited this region. + +Late in the year 1607, Captain John Smith traveled from Jamestown as far +north as the Potomac when, as a captive of Opechancanough, he was +paraded before the Indian tribes of the Tidewater region. He may have +been the first white man to make a comprehensive tour of the Northern +Neck of Virginia. + + +_CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH_ + +When John Smith heard about the New World across the seas it sounded +good to him--it was the sort of adventure that he had been waiting for +all of his life. + +He had been born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1579. Even as a small lad +John Smith had been "set upon brave adventures." Tradition says that he +sold his books and satchel and was preparing to run away to sea when he +was stopped by the death of his father. + +He was soon apprenticed to a merchant but he hated the counting-house. +He longed to be free and go to sea. When he was about fifteen he could +no longer stand being caged so he ran away. After a number of adventures +he became a soldier in the Netherlands. + +Some time later he went home on a visit to Lincolnshire, where he "lived +a great deal in society." He soon tired of this way of life and retired +to a wooded pasture where he built himself a shelter of boughs and +became a hermit. + +In the peace and solitude of the pasture he studied Machiavelli's _Arte +of Warre_ and the writings of Marcus Aurelius. He exercised with a good +horse, a lance and a ring, and lived mostly on venison, which he took +without worrying too much over the game laws. His other wants were +supplied by a servant, his only contact with the world. + +Because of his unusual mode of life news of John Smith traveled around +the countryside but it did not worry him because "he provoked the wonder +of the peasantry." + +At length an Italian gentleman, who had become interested in what he had +heard of John Smith, penetrated his forest hideout and persuaded him to +come into society once more. After many more adventures and hairbreadth +escapes in foreign lands he returned to England in 1604, in time for +another adventure. He was still a young man, about twenty-five, but he +was matured and hardened far beyond his years. + +When the little band of colonists set sail for America from Blackwall, +England in December 1606, John Smith was with them. + +The voyage was a stormy one in more ways than one. By the time the +little "sea-wagons" arrived in the West Indies Smith, who had been put +in irons, came very near being hanged, according to tradition. + +It was April when the ships with their bedraggled passengers entered the +Chesapeake Bay. The fragrance of "pyne" reached them from the virgin +forest that covered the face of the land. It was a New World in every +sense of the meaning--new, fresh, untouched. + +When the sealed orders of the King were opened it was found that John +Smith had been named a member of the Council. He demanded trial for the +charges preferred against him: "that he plotted on arrival in Virginia +to murder the Council and make himself the king there." He was tried and +acquitted by the first jury to serve in America. Smith was released but +was not yet admitted to the Council. + +As it turned out John Smith was the only man among them who was prepared +to build a new country. In the beginning he warned the colonists that +"no man is entitled to a place in America, he must make his own." + + +_POWHATAN'S EMPIRE_ + +When John Smith started exploring the region around the Chesapeake he +found that it was inhabited by a number of small Indian tribes. These +Indians were known as the Algonquians. + +These tribes made up a confederation under the iron rule of a powerful +"king" called Powhatan. At his command there were about twenty-five +hundred warriors. + +Smith made a map which shows a total of one hundred and sixty-one +villages within Powhatan's "32 Kingdomes." + +Indian villages were owned in common. The hunting grounds, and pieces of +cleared land used for the cultivation of corn, tobacco and vegetables +belonged to the tribe. A warrior owned nothing except his garments, +tomahawks, bows and arrows. + +The Algonquians had no written laws. Their customs were handed down +through the old men around the campfires from generation to generation. +These unwritten laws were well-defined and worked in a positive and +forceful way. + +The tribes between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers belonged to +the Powhatan confederacy. Their language was a variety of the Delaware +Indian language. + + +_CAPTAIN SMITH VISITS THE NECK_ + +It was bitterly cold, "with frost and snow," when Captain John Smith +first saw the land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers. + +Captain Smith's first visit to the Neck was not one of pleasure or +exploration. He came as a captive of the Indian chief, Opechacanough. + +It was in the winter of 1607-08. During that year Smith made "3. or 4. +journies and discovered the people of Chickahamania." It was on the last +of these "journies" that he was taken prisoner, and led about in triumph +and exhibited to the tribes of the Tidewater region, from the James to +the Potomac. + +Smith was carried to Tophanocke, "a kingdome upon a River northward." +This river was the Rappahannock. Here they stopped at the village of the +Nantaughtacunds. + +Smith and his captors may have sped swiftly and silently through the +forest but when they approached a village a triumphal procession was +formed which was marked by "a barbarous sort of pomp." + +Captain Smith was guarded on either side by a savage who kept fast hold +upon his wrist. Opechacanough moved in the middle of the column and the +swords, guns and pistols which had been taken from Smith and his +companions were borne before the Indian chief. + +Their approach was heralded by the songs and shrieks and dances of the +warriors. Their yells of death and victory brought out the women and +children to behold their triumph over this strange-looking creature from +another world, after which there was great feasting. + +Smith was feasted, too. He was fed so well "with bread and venison that +would have served 20 men" that he believed that he was being fattened to +be eaten later on. + +From the Rappahannock the procession pushed on across the Neck until it +reached the village of the Nominies,[1] near the Potomac. Here the same +procedure was again repeated. + +[Footnote 1: NOTE: Variously spelled--Onawmanient, Onawma, etc.] + +After their stay near the Potomac the parade turned back from whence it +had come. The destination, now, was Powhatan's favorite spot on the York +River, where that great chief was waiting to settle the fate of Captain +John Smith. + +When at length Smith was brought before Powhatan, he was received with +all the formal pomp and state known to the savage court. A long +consultation was held by the council there assembled. + +Captain Smith knew what the decision was when two large stones were +brought in by the warriors. His end was not yet, however, for Powhatan's +daughter, Pocahontas, according to Smith, saved the day by thrusting +herself between him and the up-raised club. + +By the time Captain Smith reached Jamestown again nearly seven weeks had +elapsed since his capture. Though his tour of the Tidewater country had +been under humiliating conditions he had gathered by observation and +from the Indians a large amount of useful knowledge. + + +"_A PLAINE WILDERNES_" + +How did the Northern Neck look to Captain John Smith on his first visit +there? + +Just like the rest of the Chesapeake Bay country--"all over-growne with +trees and ... being a plaine wildernes as God first made it." + +The size of the trees impressed him most, and the lack of undergrowth +beneath them. + +"So lofty and erect," he wrote, "were many of these trees and so great +their diameter that their trunks afforded plank twenty yards in length +and two and a half feet square." + +Freedom from undergrowth he found was due to the annual burnings of the +Indians in their efforts to capture whole herds of deer by surrounding +them with a belt of fire. These firings made no impressions upon the +giant trees. + +The trees were so far apart, Smith says, "... that a man may gallop a +horse amongst these woods any waie, but where the creeks or Rivers shall +hinder." (Other early writers say that a coach could have been driven +through the trees, and a person could be seen in the forest at a mile +and a half.) + +It was winter when Captain Smith first saw the Neck therefore he had a +view unobstructed by foliage of the great tree trunks and spacious +forest aisles, "bespred" with brown pine needles and ornamented with +green vines and scarlet turkey berries. + +Since it is impossible to travel far in the Neck without coming upon +some stream of water, many of John Smith's forest vistas must have ended +with a glimpse of a river or frozen pond. He wrote of the many "sweete +and christall springs" that flowed through the woods on their way to the +sea. + +Many of the forest trees were white oaks, and some may have been a +thousand or more years old. These groves were revered by the Indians. +Indians were fond of the mulberry tree. Smith notes: "By the dwelling of +the savages are some great Mulberry trees; and in some parts of the +country, they are found growing naturally in prettie groves." + +Besides pine, oak and mulberry, there were, Smith writes, "... goodliest +Woods as Beech, Cedar, Cypresse, Walnuts, Sassfras, and other trees +unknowne." Chinquapin was one of the "trees unknowne." + +Locust and tulip poplar were plentiful. Sweet gum, live oak, holly and +cedar flourished in low grounds. Bayberry grew in the swamps and near +the edge of the water. + +When Captain Smith first saw the Neck it was bitterly cold, with "frost +and snow," so he may not have seen the pine needles and scarlet turkey +berries. The forest aisles may have been deeply covered with snow. + + +"_WILD BEASTES_" + +If the forest floor was covered with snow when Captain John Smith was +led a captive across the Northern Neck in the winter of 1607, it is +probable that he saw snowshoe rabbits scampering about between the big +trees. Porcupines lived there too, and wild-cats, pole-cats and a marten +known as "black fox." The little animal he saw with the spotted coat, +like the skin of a fawn, was a ground squirrel. + +John Smith saw the flying squirrel and the opossum for he describes +them: "A small beast they haue ... we call them flying squirrels, +because spreading their legs, and so stretching the largeness of their +skins, that they have bin seene to fly 30 or 40 yards. An opassom hath +an head like a Swine, and a taile like a Rat, and is the bigness of a +Cat." + +Ordinary squirrels, rabbits, foxes and "Rackoones" were abundant. +Captain John Smith no doubt saw beaver at work when they crossed the +many streams. "The Beaver," he wrote, "is as bigge as an ordinary water +dogge ... His taile somewhat like ... a Racket, bare without haire." + +The procession of Indians and the lone white man may have come upon a +herd of heavy, slow-moving "Kine." (These were buffalo but are believed +to have lacked the hump.) They were not as wild as the other animals of +the wilderness. Perhaps Smith caught glimpses of the elk that roamed the +forest. + +At night John Smith heard the sounds of many wild beasts. The wolves +were small but numerous and ravenous. In the evening they hunted like a +pack of beagle hounds. + +If the procession happened to be encamped near the head of a river he +probably heard before morning the scream of a panther as he stalked his +prey. + +But of all the animals in the Tidewater region at that time, Smith says +"Of beastes the chiefe are Deare." + +The Northern Neck had been hunted less by the Indians than the lower +peninsulas, and it was teeming with wildlife. The primeval forest +furnished home and food for the "wild beastes." + + +"_BIRDS TO VS UNKNOWNE_" + +When John Smith traveled across the Northern Neck, from the Rappahannock +to the Potomac, in the winter of 1607, he probably saw many birds, for +this was their season. + +"In winter," he wrote, "there are great plenty of Swans, Craynes gray +and white with blacke wings, Herons, Geese, Brants, Ducke, Wigeon, +Dotterell, Oxeies, Parrots, and Pigeons. Of all those sorts great +abundance, and some other strange kinds, to vs unknowne by name. But in +sommer not any, or a very few to be seene." + +For ages wildfowl had been multiplying with little to hinder them. The +Indians killed only what they needed and their weapons were too +primitive to make an impression on the great flocks of waterfowl that +came to the rivers and marshes to feed on the heavy growth of wild +celery, oats and other aquatic plants. + +In early winter when these fowl gathered in their annual migration from +the North the sky, it was said, was darkened with them as they arose and +descended from their feeding grounds in the marshes lying along shore. + +John Smith probably heard the trumpet notes of the swans and saw the +pattern of flight of the wild geese many times while on his "journie." + +He may have at some time seen one of the flightless Great Auks, swimming +along down the Bay on its way South for the winter. Or he may have +espied a heath hen on the shores of the Chesapeake. + +It is doubtful if he saw very many of the "Parrots" he mentioned. They +were nocturnal creatures--small, swift, bright and beautiful. The +passenger pigeons came in such flocks that their "weights brake down the +limbs of large trees thereon they rested at night." + +There were many red birds to brighten the somber forest aisles. A little +bird with white breast and black wings and back was called "snow-bird" +by the English because it arrived at the first fall of snow. Captain +Smith probably saw these in the vicinity of the Indian villages as they +stayed near habitations. + +Turkeys were common in the reedy marshes. Flocks of four and five +hundred were not unusual. These wild turkeys, early writers say, +averaged forty pounds in weight. + +Quail and other common varieties of birds were abundant. + + +_THE NOMINIES_ + +The Indians reckoned their years by winters, or cohonks, as they called +them, "which was a name taken from the note of the wild geese, +intimating so many times of the wild geese coming to them, which was +every winter." + +There is no way of knowing whether it was the first or second moon of +cohonks when John Smith and his captors arrived at the village of the +Nominies, near the Potomac. It was so cold that Smith marveled at how +some of the scantily clad warriors could endure it. He felt thankful +that his own "gowne," which he had lost when he was captured, had been +returned to him. + +The village must have appeared bleak and primitive, with its fifteen or +twenty arbor-like dwellings scattered among the sparse trees, its barren +garden plots, its cornfields, marked by last season's dead stalks and +some burned-out tree stumps. + +As the procession approached there is little doubt that the scene came +to life. The dogs were probably the first to join their howls with the +death and victory yells of the warriors. These Indian dogs resembled a +cross between a male wolf and an ordinary female dog. There were no +other domestic animals, no beasts of burden, and no way to travel except +by foot or canoe. + +The women and children who emerged from the mat-covered doors of their +houses were dressed in garments made of the skins of wild beasts with +the hair left on for winter. Some wore long cloaks, made of skins +embroidered with beads, others wore beautiful mantles of turkey +feathers. Some wore feathered headgear, and jewelry fashioned of shells, +beads and copper. + +Smith wrote that the Indians gazed upon him "as he had beene a monster." + +He was probably deposited in one of the houses, with a guard of six or +eight warriors. These houses were built of flexible boughs, set in two +parallel rows with floor space between, and lashed together at the top +to form an arch-shaped roof. The entire framework was covered with bark +or woven grass mats. "He who knoweth one such house," wrote Smith, +"knoweth them all." + +Inside the houses were "drie, warme, smokie." There was no chimney to +conduct the smoke from the fire on the dirt floor to the vent in or near +the roof. If the fire ever went out it was hard to start a new +one--"their fire they kindle by chafing a dry pointed stike in a hole +of a little peece of wood, that firing itselfe will so fire mosse, +leaves, or anie such like drie thing that will quickly burne." + +John Smith was no doubt glad to have a "warme," "drie" place to rest, +even though "smokie." He could stretch out on one of the platforms +running down each side of the building. There were no partitions in +these houses. The platforms, about a foot high, served as beds, and were +spread with "fyne white mattes" and skins. Whole families, from six to +twenty persons, slept in these one-room dwellings, some on the +platforms, some on the ground. + +Captain Smith could probably hear the celebration going on outside. The +Indians had a large plot which they used for feasts and a place where +they made merry when the feasts were over. + +With the abundance of wildfowl and game and the harvest of corn stored +away, this was an ideal time for feasting. Oysters from the Potomac were +probably included in the menu for the Indians were fond of roasted +oysters. + +Smith was not forgotten. He noted that they "fedde" him "bountifully," +but would not eat with him. We can imagine him there at his solitary +meal, supping on corn pone, "fish, fowle, and wild beastes, exceeding +fat," by the light of "candells of the fattest splinters of the pine." + + +_THE DISCOVERERS_ + +When Captain John Smith was in the Northern Neck he saw the Potomac and +heard tales from the "Salvages" of a place where there was a mine of +"glistering mettal." He made up his mind that if he got out of this +predicament he would explore the river "Patowmeke," find the gold mine, +and perhaps a passage "strait through to the South Sea." + +When he finally did get back to Jamestown the colony was in a bad way. +During the extreme cold of the winter of 1607-8, the heavy fires +necessary for warmth had caused the thatch-roofed town to burn. This +included the granary with all their provisions, and the "palisadoes." + +By the time the town had been rebuilt, and other difficulties adjusted, +it was summer. John Smith was impatient to begin his next adventure but +he waited until the corn crop had been "laid by." + +[Illustration: _John Smith in the shallop exploring the waters of +Northern Neck, Virginia._] + +He left the fort on the second of June, 1608, in an open barge of "less +than three tons burthen." His only instrument was a compass. His +companions were--a physician, six gentlemen and seven soldiers. + +They crossed the Chesapeake Bay to the eastern shore, proceeding along +the coast, "searching every inlet and bay fit for harbours and +habitations." The Bay was easy to navigate, the greatest menace were the +sudden thunder squalls. + +Smith soon became disgusted with his crew. He wrote that they had not "a +marriner or any that had skill to trim their sayles, use their oares, or +any business belonging to the Barge, but 2 or 3, the rest being +Gentlemen, or as ignorant in such toyle and labour." + +For provisions they had "nothing but a little meale or oatmeale and +water to feed them; and scarse halfe sufficient of that for halfe that +time, but by the Savages and by the plentie of fish they found in all +places, they made themselves provision as opportunitie served." + +A thunder-storm took mast and sails and they were so "over-racked" by +such "mightie waves," that it was with great difficulty that they kept +the barge from sinking. They repaired the sails with their shirts. The +crew begged to turn back to Jamestown but Captain Smith spoke to them in +this manner: + +"Gentlemen-- + +"You cannot say but I have shared with you of the worst that is past; +and for what is to come, of lodging, diet, or whatsoever, I am contented +you allot the worst part to my selfe. As for your feares, that I will +lose my selfe in these unknowne large waters, or be swallowed up in some +stormie gust: abandon those childish fears, for worse then is past +cannot happen, and there is as much danger to returne, as to proceed +forward. Regaine therefore your old spirits: for returne I will not (if +God assist me) til I have--found Patawomeck, or the head of this great +water you conceit to be endlesse." + +It was now the thirteenth of June. + + +_THE RIVER OF SWANS_ + +Captain John Smith headed the barge toward the western shore of the Bay. +On the sixteenth of June "we fel with the river Patawomeck." + +When John Smith had last seen this River of Swans, as the Indians had +named it, water and sky were darkened by hordes of wildfowl. There had +been the sound of the whirring of many wings and great clamour. Now all +was quiet. There was nothing to remind him of that amazing congregation +of fowl that he had seen during "cohonks" except the marshes, lying here +and there along shore. + +"Feare being gone and our men recovered, wee were all contented" as the +barge sailed into the mouth "of this 9 myle broad river." On the south +lay the Northern Neck, indented by numerous inlets that promised +harbours, its eastern end extending into Chesapeake Bay. Its virgin +forest was now decked out with leaf and flower which sent fragrance to +the sea-weary voyagers. + +For thirty miles they sailed without adventure. Then two +Indians appeared and conducted them up a little creek towards +Onawmanient--"where all the woods were laid with Ambuscadoes to the +number of 3 or 400 Salvages; but so strangely painted, grimed, and +disguised, shouting, yelling, and crying, as we rather supposed them so +many divels." + +Captain Smith thought it best to scare them a little, so he trained his +guns so that the bullets would graze the water. This and the "eccho of +the woods so amazed them, that down went their bowes and arrowes." Peace +was made, hostages were exchanged and James Watkins, one of the company, +was sent with them "6 myles up the woods to their king's habitation. Wee +were kindly used by these Salvages: of whom we understand they were +commanded to betray us by Powhatan." + +Powhatan had his forces well organized. As they progressed up the river +they found the Indians ready for them: "The like incounters were found +at Patawomeck, Cecocawone, (Coan) and divers other places." + +The only tribes that received them with friendliness were the Moyaones, +Nacotchtants and Toags. There seems to be no further record of these +tribes. + +They went as far up the river as they could go in the barge, "140 +myles"; this was above the site of the present city of Washington, and +about ten miles above Georgetown. Captain Smith was stopped here by +impassable falls. His disappointment must have been great that his +search here did not yield an outlet to the "South Sea." + +On the return trip they had the good fortune to meet a number of Indians +in canoes loaded with slaughtered game--bears, deer and other "beasts." +Smith and his party were given liberal portions of the fresh meat, which +must have cheered them some. + +In this part of the river there were great rocks on the shores towering +above the trees, and the high banks gleamed in places like "a tinctured +spangled skurfe, that made many places seeme as guilded." Dreams of gold +were always in the minds of men at that time. Perhaps here was to be +found the "glistering mettal" that John Smith had heard about from the +Indians the winter before. + +Most of the company clambered up the banks and burrowed in the earth +among the cliffs. The ground was so sprinkled with gleaming spangles as +to seem "halfe pin dust." Smith refrained from this made scramble and +proceeded in a more organized way. + +With Japazaws, King of Patowmeke, as guide, he ascended one of the +tributaries of the river, called Quiyough, as far as the depth of water +would allow. Here Captain Smith left the barge, taking with him six men. +He was surrounded by Indians. Some of these he decorated with chains and +told them that if they conducted him safely to the mine they could keep +the ornaments. + +When they arrived at the place of the treasure, nine or ten miles +inland, the Englishmen saw that the Indians had been digging there with +their shells and hatchets for a long time. + +To their great disappointment the mine was not gold but antimony. The +Indians, who had been in the habit of digging there, washed the element +of its dross "in a fayre brooke of christel-like water" which "runneth +hard by it" and put it in little bags and sold it all over the country. +It was used to paint their idols and themselves. Smith noted that it +made them look like "blackmoores dusted over with silver." + +No minerals were discovered in this search either. They were rewarded in +a slight degree by some furs of mink, beaver, otter, bear and marten, +which they obtained mostly from the Indians of Cascarawaoke. This was a +merchant tribe that did much of the manufacturing and trading of this +country. The Potomac must have been used as a highway for trade as the +word Patowmeke is said to mean "to bring again," or, in a freer +rendering, "traveling traders, or pedlars." + +Smith's party found "plentie" of fish, "lying so thicke, with their +heads above the water, as for want of nets (our barge driving amongst +them) we attempted to catch them with a frying pan; but we found it a +bad instrument to catch fish with." + +Smith now continued toward the mouth of the Potomac and the Chesapeake. +He had little of tangible value to show for the trip up the river but he +had added greatly to his store of knowledge and could now add the +Potomac to his map of the Chesapeake and surrounding country. + +He notes that the Potomac was "inhabited on both sides. First on the +South side at the very entrance is Wighcocomoco (Little Wicomico) and +hath some 130 men, beyond them Sekacawone (Coan) with 30. The +Onawmanient with 100. And the Patawomekes more than 200." + +A point of land at the mouth of the Potomac, on the south side, he named +for himself, Smith's Point.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Smith's Point is also called Smith Point.] + + +_MOTHER OF WATERS_ + +When Captain John Smith and his bargeload of adventurers left the +Potomac they passed the tip of Smith's Point and headed south. They were +now on the Chesapeake Bay. + +Indians had long used this great inland sea as their waterway. Their +word, Chesapeake, has been translated in a number of ways, among +them--country on a great river and great salt bay. + +The Spaniards, who visited the Bay in the sixteenth century, had +documented it as Bahia de Santa Maria (St. Mary's Bay). Later, they +called it Bahia del Xacan (Axacan Bay), and a very old Spanish map calls +it, Madre de Aguas, meaning Mother of Waters. + +Captain Smith describes it simply as "a goodly bay." He wrote: "This Bay +lyeth North and South, in which the water floweth neare 200-myles, and +hath a channell for 140 myles, of depth betwixt 6 and 15 fadome, holding +in breadth for the most part 10 or 14 myles." + +Two of Smith's company recorded the fact that "Neither better fish, more +plenty or variety, had any of us seene in any place, swimming in the +water, then in the bay of Chesapeake." + +The Indians well knew the riches of their great Bay. They caught the fat +fish in weirs, with nets and lines for their angles made by their women +from thread spun from "the barkes of trees, Deeres Sinews, or a Kind of +Grass." They ate the sea-crabs that were said to be so large that four +Englishmen could feast on one of them. They roasted the oysters reported +to have been thirteen inches long at the time of the coming of the white +man. The shells were not wasted by the Indians--they were used for +medicine, ornaments, and wampum was made from the purple edges of the +clams. Even the lowly periwinkle was eaten. + +As the first English ships entered Chesapeake Bay the crews were +startled to see whales and schools of tumbling porpoises. The early +colonists were soon to learn that there were so many porpoises in the +Bay that canoes were sometimes overturned by them. + +When the Jamestown colony was starving they lived on the bounties of the +Bay--they caught the sea-crabs and sturgeons and sheepshead; the latter +they likened to the broth of their English mutton. And these same +strangers "groped in the deep for oysters which lay in places thick as +stones," according to an early writer. + +There were many oddities in the Bay which intrigued the Europeans--a +small fish that resembled St. George's Dragon, with legs and wings +omitted, the stinging nettle, and "the Todefish which will swell till it +be like to brust, when it commeth into the aire." + +As Captain John Smith and his crew proceeded down the Bay in the barge +they passed the end of the Northern Neck and came to the mouth of the +Rappahannock River. It was the intention of Smith to explore this river +and visit the acquaintances he had made "upon the river of Toppahannock" +during his captivity the preceding winter. But they were stopped by the +ebb-tide. The following account of what happened at the mouth of the +Rappahannock was written by members of the company, Dr. Walter Russell +and Anas Todkill. + +"But our boate (by reason of the ebbe) chansing to ground upon many +shoules lying in the entrance, we spied many fishes lurking amongst the +weedes on the sands. Our captaine sporting himselfe to catch them by +nailing them to the ground with his sword, set us all a fishing in that +manner. By this devise, we tooke more in an houre then we all could eat. + +"But it chanced, the captaine taking a fish from his sword (not knowing +her condition) being much of the fashion of a Thornebacke with a long +taile whereon is a most poysoned sting of 2 or 3 inches long, which shee +strooke an inch and (a) halfe into the wrist of his arme. The which, in +4 houres, had so extremely swolne his hand, arme, shoulder and part of +his body, as we al with much sorrow concluded (anticipated) his +funerall, and prepared his grave in an Ile hard by (as himselfe +appointed); which then wee called Stingeray Ile, after the name of the +fish. Yet by the helpe of a precious oile, Doctor Russell applyed, ere +night his tormenting paine was so wel asswaged that he eate the fish to +his supper: which gave no lesse joy and content to us, then ease to +himselfe. + +"Having neither Surgeon nor surgerie but that preservative oile, we +presently set saile for James Towne." + + +_QUICK-RISING-WATER_ + +It was not until August of 1608 that Captain John Smith had the +opportunity to explore the Rappahannock River. With him in the barge +were twelve men--"nearly the same persons as before"--and an Indian +guide named Mosco, "a lusty Salvage of Wighcocomoco." + +Unlike the other Indians, Mosco had a fine black bushy beard, of which +he was proud. Because of this peculiarity he ranked himself with the +Englishmen. Smith believed him to have been the son of a Frenchman. + +It was probably due to Mosco's influence that Smith's party was kindly +received and entertained by the Moraughtacunds. Mosco hurried about, +bringing wood and water, and guiding them throughout the neighborhood. +When Smith decided that it was time to push on Mosco warned him not to +visit the Rappahannock Indians. He described them as hostile to the +Moraughtacunds, and would be to the English too, because of their +friendly visit. + +Captain Smith believed that Mosco was using this argument to keep all +their trade for his friends. He headed the barge across the river toward +the forbidden territory. + +All seemed well as they neared the shore. A dozen or more Indians were +on hand to direct them to a good landing in a creek, where three or four +canoes filled with corn and other commodities for barter, were already +lined up. + +When in doubt Smith's custom was to exchange hostages. He made this +known but the Indians were reluctant to comply. After consultation among +themselves four or five of them ran out in the creek bringing with them +their hostage. + +Still distrustful, Smith sent one of his men, Anas Todkill, ashore to +look around. Within a stone's throw of the landing Anas discovered two +or three hundred Indians in ambush among the trees. Todkill attempted to +return to the barge but was intercepted by the Rappahannocks. At the +same time the Indian hostage jumped from the barge but was instantly +killed in the water by the English. A volley of shot from the barge +scattered the Indians and Todkill managed to escape. Several Indians +were wounded and killed but the English were unharmed. + +In this short while many arrows were shot but the barge was protected by +Indian shields, or targets, woven so firmly of sticks and grass that no +arrow could penetrate them. These Smith had gotten from the Massawomeks. + +Captain Smith and his comrades carried the captured canoes and arrows +across the river as gifts to Mosco and his friends. The return of the +English "was hailed with a trumpet." + +When the barge started up the river the next day Mosco was one of the +company. As they passed through a narrow place in the river, arrows that +seemed to fly from unseen hands began to hit the shields around the +boat. At the first arrow Mosco fell flat, hiding his head against the +bottom of the barge, but he directed his friends where to look in the +marsh, at the little bushes growing amongst the grass. The guns were +trained accordingly and at the first volley the bushes fell down and the +ambush disappeared. After the barge had moved about half a mile away the +Englishmen looked back and saw the thirty or forty Rappahannocks of the +ambuscade "dancing and singing very merrily." + +As the barge progressed up the river the explorers were kindly treated +by the several tribes that they encountered. But the company was +saddened, and lessened, by the death of Richard Featherstone, whose body +had weakened under the excessive heat and humidity of this unaccustomed +climate. + +The body of the young Englishman was laid to rest on the shores of a +little bay. His comrades honored him as best they could by firing a +volley of shot, and naming the bay for him--Featherstone Bay. Smith +marked it on his map and it is believed by some to have been near the +site of the present city of Fredericksburg.[3] + +[Footnote 3: The exact place of burial seems to be a controversial +subject.] + +The next day they sailed as high up the river as the barge would float. +Smith went ashore and set up crosses of wood and brass and cut their +names upon trees to signify that possession had been taken of the +country by English authority. + +While Smith was thus occupied the sentinel was surprised by an arrow +that fell beside him. The white men found that they were surrounded by +Indians who were hiding behind trees. After a half-hour skirmish the +Indians disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. Mosco was the hero +of the battle--he emptied his quiver, ran to the barge for fresh +supplies and pursued the fugitives. Coming upon a wounded enemy Mosco +would have beaten his brains out except for the English. + +After the physician, Anthony Bagnalle, had dressed the prisoner's +wounds, he recovered enough to answer Smith's questions. He belonged, +he told them, to the nation of the Mannahocks and was the brother of a +chief. He had heard that the English were a people come from under the +world to take their world from them. When asked what was beyond the +mountains, he answered, "The sun." This Indian's name was Amoroleck. + +Mosco was not in sympathy with these proceedings. He told the English +that the Mannahocks were a "naughty" race, as bad as the Rappahannocks, +and that they had better be on their way. + +Smith did not take Mosco's advice. It was night when the party finally +embarked and started back down the river. Before long the arrows started +rattling against the shields and dropping into the barge. The stream was +narrow here, with high banks on one side. Amoroleck called to his +people, but in vain; he could not be heard above the shrieks of the +warriors. Every now and then Smith discharged a musket in the direction +of the most noise. The Indians were persistent and followed the barge +for about twelve miles. The darkness was probably all that saved the +Englishmen. + +At daybreak the barge emerged into a wide place, where the weary +adventurers dropped anchor out of arrow-shot, and ate breakfast. They +were so tired and hungry that they paid no attention to the four or five +hundred warriors crowded along the banks, until after breakfast. Then +they took down the shields and showed themselves, with Amoroleck in +plain view amongst them. After a consultation the Indians hung their +bows and arrows upon trees and two Indians, with bows and quivers on +their heads, swam out to the barge and presented these in token of +friendship. + +Captain Smith now went ashore and told the Indians to send for their +kings. Four kings, or chiefs, soon appeared. Smith gave them back +Amoroleck. The Indians were happy over this and gave the English bows, +arrows, pipes and pouches, but in return they asked for the pistols +which the English carried. Smith satisfied them with less dangerous +trinkets, and left them dancing and singing and making merry. + +The barge continued its journey downstream until the neighborhood of the +Moraughtacunds was reached. They stopped here to tell these friends of +Mosco of their victory over the Mannahocks. The Moraughtacunds were a +feeble race, and small in stature. They begged Smith to subdue the +Rappahannocks also. + +Smith decided to help this weak tribe, as he would be at the same time +helping the English. He summoned the kings of the Rappahannocks to a +conference. When they had assembled Captain Smith threatened to burn +their villages, destroy their canoes and corn and prove himself a bad +enemy. Among the things that Smith demanded was the son of a "king," +named Rappahannock, as a hostage. The chief objected to this--he had +only one son and he could not live without him--but he would give up +certain of his women who had been stolen by the Moraughtacunds. Smith +found that this was the cause of the recent wars. + +Captain Smith returned to the Moraughtacunds[4] and had the three women +brought before him. He had a chain of beads put around the neck of each. +He then sent for the King Rappahannock to come, and bade him choose the +one he most desired. The second choice was given to the "king" of the +Moraughtacunds. Then Smith generously presented Mosco with the third +woman. All parties seemed to be satisfied with this distribution. + +[Footnote 4: The name "Moraughtacund" was corrupted to the present +"Morattico."] + +The next day six or seven hundred Indians of both tribes assembled to +celebrate the peace that had been thus established. No weapons were to +be seen, friendship was pledged with the English, and the Indians +volunteered to plant corn for them. In return John Smith promised +hatchets, beads and copper. + +Mosco was so pleased that at the height of the celebration he renounced +his name in favor of one meaning "stranger" and voluntarily became a +subject of the English King, James the First. + +After the celebration Captain Smith sailed again into the Chesapeake, +leaving behind this river that the Indians called Quick-Rising-Water. + + +_HENRY AND POCAHONTAS_ + +In 1609 an English boy landed at Jamestown. He was probably about +fourteen years old at that time since records show that he had been +baptized in England in 1595. + +In a short while Henry Spelman was to find himself in a virgin forest +among painted savages and wild beasts. What a change for this young son +of a British nobleman! + +Harry had no doubt been accustomed to a quiet and bookish atmosphere at +his home at Congham, Norfolk. His father, Sir Henry, was interested in +history and antiques, and in fact was noted for his studies along those +lines. + +[Illustration: _Henry Spelman living amongst the Indians._] + +And why did Sir Henry permit a boy so young to set out upon such a +dangerous expedition? Was it because Harry was a third son and could +therefore expect little in the way of lands and riches? Since Sir Henry +was one of the Council for New England, and treasurer of the Guiana +Company, he may have had his eyes on broader horizons. + +It was August when Henry arrived in Virginia. It was the hot, muggy +season when mosquitoes were plentiful. Shortly after his arrival Captain +John Smith took him on a little journey to visit Powhatan. How excited +Henry must have been at the prospect of seeing the great chieftain! How +little did he suspect what Captain Smith had planned to do with him. +Henry later wrote the following account: + +"I was carried by Capt. Smith, our President, to ye litell Powhatan +where unknowne to me he sould (sold) me to him for a towne called +Powhatan (site of present Richmond city) and leavinge me with him, he +made knowne to Capt. Weste, (Francis, brother of Lord Delaware) how he +had bought a towne for them to dwell in...." + +Soon after Captain Smith left Henry with the Indians a massacre ensued +in the Indian village. According to early writers of Jamestown, Henry's +life was saved by Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas. + +At this time the King of Patowmeke was visiting his emperor, probably to +pay his tribute, and to save the white boy from the "furie of Powhatan" +he took him home with him when he returned to the land between the +Rappahannock and the Potomac. + +This arrangement was probably made by Pocahontas. Before very long she +too would be hiding out in the Northern Neck as a guest of the King and +Queen of Patowmeke. It is believed by some that Pocahontas and Henry +fled with the King of Patowmeke to his village on the Potomac at the +same time. + + +_HENRY AND KING PATOWMEKE_ + +Henry probably adjusted himself quickly to the way of life in the +village of the Potomac Indian tribe. He was probably soon wearing a skin +belt and a cord as a breechclout like the Indian boys of his age. + +Henry doubtless played a game with them that was like football for he +later described this game and indicated that it was played by both boys +and women but with different rules: "They use football play which wemen +and young boyes doe much play at. The men never. They make their gooles +as ours only they never fight nor pull one another doune. + +"The men play with a litel balle lettinge it fall out of ther hand and +striketh it with the tope of his foot, and he that can strike the ball +furthest winns that they play for." + +We can visualize Henry learning to shoot the bow and arrow, and learning +to follow a trail through the forest. The Indian boys probably taught +him to snare beaver, otter and other small animals, and to fish with +hooks of bone or stone, and to catch crabs with dip-nets made of silk +grass. + +We know that Henry watched the women gather corn in hand baskets and +dump it into larger baskets for he later recorded these facts. He no +doubt learned quickly to like the Indian food--the corn pones that came +brown-crusted and smoking from the ashes, the fish and meat broiled on +hurdles over the fire or turned on a spit. He doubtless tasted the broth +and bread made from chestnuts and chinquapins and reserved for the chief +men at the greatest feasts, and opossum and beaver, stews of fish and +vegetables, and doves and partridges baked in wet clay, and dined on +venison, turkey and oysters. + +Henry had chores to do too. He wrote that one of his duties was +"stilling the king's young child, for none could quiet him so well as +myselfe." This undoubtedly makes Henry Spelman the Neck's first white +baby-sitter. + +He perhaps had his turn with the Indian boys to sit in a little hut on a +platform in the field and scare crows away from the newly planted corn. + +We can be certain that Henry avoided the hideous priests and their +temples and the houses where the bodies of the dead kings and statues of +their god Okee were kept. These places were considered too holy for +ordinary people to enter. Indians passed these houses quickly, and even +when going up or down the river they would throw "some peece of copper, +white beads or pocones into the river for feare their Okee should be +offended and revenged of them." + +Henry attended funerals of the common people where he saw the body +wrapped in mats and placed on a scaffold ten or twelve feet high. The +relatives mourned greatly and threw beads among the poor. After the +funeral the relatives entertained with feasting, music and dancing. + +The corpse stayed on the scaffold until the flesh had disappeared and +then it was wrapped in a new mat and later buried. + +In the Potomac country punishment for crime was swift and often final. +Henry was an eye-witness to such punishment: "Then cam the officer to +thos that should dye, and with a shell cutt off ther long locke, which +they weare on the left side of ther heade, and hangeth that on a bowe +before the kings house. Then thos for murther weare beaten with staves +till ther bonns weare broken and beinge alive weare flounge into the +fier, the other for robbinge was knockt on the heade and beinge deade +his bodye was burnt." + +The white boy saw many moons come and go there in the wilderness--the +moon of stags, the corn moon, the first and second moon of cohonks. He +was there at the budding of the spring, the earing of the corn, the +highest sun, the fall of the leaf, and then again--cohonks. + +He witnessed the solemn celebrations of the plentiful coming of the wild +fowl to the river, the return of the hunting season and the ripening of +certain fruits. He saw the greatest annual festival at the time of the +corn gathering with its war dances, heroic songs, the music rattles and +drums, and then the feasting. + +One day news came to the village of a boat with sails that was moving up +the river and stopping at the Indian settlements in quest of corn. The +white men sent from Jamestown by Lord De la Ware were ready to barter +copper, beads and other "trucke" for corn. While Henry had been dining +so well with the Indians his own people at Jamestown were starving. + +As the boat neared the village of the Potomac Indians a messenger came +to the chief with word from the captain. Captain Samuel Argall had heard +that in the village there was an "English boy named Harry" and he +desired to "hear further of him." + +King Patowmeke sent the boy to the ship where he conversed with Captain +Argall and then returned to the village with an invitation to the chief +to visit the ship. The chief accompanied the boy back to the ship. + +The visit was pleasant and a deal was made between the chief and the +captain--the vessel was "fraughted with corne" and Henry was exchanged +for some copper. + +Henry had lived with the Indians for "a year and more." Captain Argall +found him healthy and apparently contented. He returned to Jamestown and +stayed there until the following spring at which time he sailed for +England in company with Lord De la Ware. + +How different Henry must have seemed to his family! And he was different +for he had become almost more like an Indian than a white boy. + + +_HENRY'S RELATION_ + +While on his return visit to England Henry Spelman wrote a manuscript, +entitled "Relation of Virginia," in which he described the country +between the Rappahannock and the Potomac. It is probably the first +recorded specific description of the Northern Neck: + +"The cuntry is full of wood in sum partes, and water they have +plentifull, they have marish (marsh) ground and smale fields, for corn, +and other grounds wher on their Deare, goates, and stages feadeth, ther +be in this cuntry Lions, Beares, Wolves, foxes, muske catts, Hares, a +fleinge squirel, and other squirls beinge all graye like conyes, a great +store of foule, only Peacockes and common hens wanting: fish in +aboundance wher on they (Indians) live most part of the Summer time. +They have a kind of wheat cald locataunce and Pease and Beanes, Great +store of walnuts growing in every place. They have no orchard frutes, +only tow kind of plumbes, the one a sweet and lussius plumbe, long and +thicke in forme and liknes of A Nutt Palme, the other resemblinge a +medler." (Persimmon) + + +_BETRAYED_ + +IN 1616 Henry Spelman returned to Virginia and was employed as +interpreter to the colony. In 1618 he was again in England but returned +to Virginia on board the _Treasurer_ in that same year. By now he "knew +most of the kings of Virginia and spake their languages very +understandingly." + +In August, 1619, Spelman was tried by the House of Burgesses for +speaking disparagingly of Governor Yeardley to Opechancanough. These +charges were preferred by Robert Poole, interpreter. Poole said that he +had been present at the court of Opechancanough when Spelman had talked +"unreverently and maliciously" against the colony government. + +Spelman denied most of the charges but admitted that he "hade informed +Opechancanough that within a yeare there would come a governor greater +then this that nowe is in place." + +For this misdemeanor Spelman lost his title of Captain and was sentenced +to serve the colony seven years in the nature of interpreter to the +Governor. Many thought that he had been "badly rewarded for much good +service" that he had done. + +When the sentence was read to Spelman it was reported that he showed no +signs of remorse for his offenses and muttered to himself and acted more +like a "Savage than a Christian." + +It was not long before Henry was again in good standing in the colony. +He was put in command of a small bark called _Elizabeth_, and was +trading with the Indians along the Potomac at the time of the massacre +in March, 1622. At Chicacoan (Coan) an Indian stole aboard his boat and +told of the massacre and that Opechancanough had "plotted with his King +and countrey to betray them also, which they refused; but them of +Wighcocomoco (Little Wicomico) at the mouth of the river, had undertaken +it." When Spelman heard this he went to Wicomico but the Indians seeing +his men were so well armed appeared friendly and loaded his boat with +corn. + +In March, 1623, an expedition of twenty-six men, in the _Tiger_ under +the command of Captain Spelman, went to trade for beaver and corn with +the Anacostan and other Indian tribes between Potomac Creek and the +falls of the Potomac (probably near the present site of Washington, D. +C.). + +Captain Spelman, Henry Fleet and twenty of their companions went ashore, +believing the Indians to be their friends. Spelman was "a warie man, +well acquainted with the savage nature" but evidently he was not aware +how bitterly these Indians had been antagonized a short time before by a +party under the command of Captain Isaac Matthews. + +While Spelman and his men were ashore the pinnace with only five men +left on board was surrounded by Indians in canoes, some of whom climbed +up on the deck. The sailors were thus surprised and one of them fired a +cannon at random. The savages were so frightened that they jumped +overboard and swam ashore leaving their canoes drifting. + +The sailors then heard an uproar on shore. It sounded as if a fight was +in progress. Suddenly they saw a man's head thrown down the bank. They +recognized it as the head of Henry Spelman. + +The Anacostan Indians had proved themselves to be too "subtile" for +Henry Spelman. But "how he was surprised or slaine is uncertaine." The +sailors hastily weighed anchor and set sail for Jamestown. + +This ends the true story of the "English boy named Harry" who was +betrayed twice in the wilds of Virginia--first by his own people and +then by his adopted people. + +[Illustration: _Pocahontas is traded for a copper kettle and becomes an +hostage to Captain Argall._] + +Henry Spelman was about twenty-eight years old when he was killed. He +had contributed in many ways to the building of a new country. He left +to posterity his valuable recorded observations so that others could +profit by his courage and industry. + + +_KIDNAPPED_ + +In the autumn of 1609, Captain John Smith was disabled when his +powder-bag was accidentally fired. He sailed for England and never +returned to Virginia. + +After Captain Smith left, Pocahontas came no more to Jamestown. But she +did visit elsewhere. In the spring of 1613 she was visiting in the +Northern Neck with her relatives and friends along the Potomac. + +The sympathy which Pocahontas had shown for the colonists had caused an +estrangement between her and her father, Powhatan. She lived with him no +longer and was staying in some secrecy with her relations, the King and +Queen of Patowmeke. + +For the trip Pocahontas probably wore her robe of deer skins, which was +lined with pigeons' down, and her royal jewels of shell, and the white +feather in her hair which signified that she was a princess. Though +slight of stature, she was doubtless impressive when dressed in her +regalia. + +In April, Captain Samuel Argall was sent to the Potomac to trade for +corn. There, he became acquainted with Chief Japazaws, an old friend of +Captain Smith, and learned from him that Pocahontas was his guest. + +This knowledge gave Captain Argall an idea. Since Captain Smith had left +the colony at Jamestown the Indians had again become troublesome. If, +thought Captain Argall, Powhatan's favorite daughter could be captured +and held as a hostage peace might be made. The idea grew, and he plotted +to steal the little Indian princess. + +Captain Argall bargained with Japazaws--a copper kettle in exchange for +his guest. The chief agreed, but how could he get Pocahontas aboard the +English ship? + +Japazaws turned the details of the plot over to his wife. It was up to +her to lure the princess into the hands of Captain Argall. + +The chief's wife told Pocahontas that she had a great desire to see an +English ship and that her husband had promised to take her aboard if +the princess would go with her. Although she had no idea that her +identity was known to Captain Argall, Pocahontas refused to go. She had +seen "great canoes" before and did not care to see this one. + +Japazaws threatened to beat his wife unless she could persuade +Pocahontas to go aboard the ship. In tears the chief's wife again begged +Pocahontas to go with her. The kind-hearted girl finally consented. + +Captain Argall welcomed his three guests and ushered them into the +ship's cabin where a feast had been spread for them. While the banquet +was in progress, Japazaws stepped often on the Captain's foot, under the +table, to remind him that his part had been done. + +At an opportune time the Captain persuaded Pocahontas to go into the +gun-room, pretending to have something to talk over in private with +Japazaws. Presently, he sent for her and told her, before her friends, +that she must go with him and "compound peace betwixt her countrie" and +the English before she should ever see her father again. + +Pocahontas began to weep and Japazaws and his wife joined in, howling +and crying louder than the girl they had betrayed. Soon the chief and +his wife, with the copper kettle, went "merrily on shore." + +A messenger was sent to Powhatan by Captain Argall, to tell him that he +must ransom his beloved daughter with the "men, swords, peeces, tools, +&c. hee trecherously had stolne." + +Powhatan did not respond to these demands as Captain Argall had planned. +His stand against the invaders was more important to him than his own +daughter. + +In the meantime, fate took a hand--at Jamestown, Pocahontas and "Master +John Rolfe, an honest gentleman," fell in love and were married. In this +way peace was established, for a time, between the Indians and the +colonists. + +As "Lady Rebecca," wife of John Rolfe, Pocahontas traveled to England +and had other adventures, but her last happy days as a free Indian +maiden were spent in the land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac, +later known as the Northern Neck. An Indian village called "Petomek," +near the mouth of Potomac Creek, was the scene of her kidnapping. + +Potomac Creek is located in Stafford County, three miles north of +Falmouth. Some believe that Captain Argall found Henry Spelman and +Pocahontas at the village of the Potomacs at the same time. + + +_THE INDIAN TRADER_ + +Henry Fleet was one of the expedition of twenty-six men aboard the +_Tiger_ who under Captain Spelman in March, 1623, went to trade for +beaver skins and corn with the Anacostan and other Indian tribes near +the head of the Potomac. + +Fleet was with Spelman when he went ashore. After Spelman was killed and +his head tossed over the river bank, Fleet was taken prisoner and +carried to the village of the Anacostans. This is believed to have been +located not far from the present monument of Washington, in Washington, +D. C. + +Fleet was about twenty-five years old and had but recently arrived in +Virginia. His father was William Fleet of the London Virginia Company, +which may have been the reason that Henry came to the New World. Henry +was adventurous, quick-witted and intelligent. He made good use of his +stay in the wilderness of the Northern Neck by studying his new +environment. Later he wrote down some of these observations: + +"It aboundeth in all manner of fish. The Indians in one night will +commonly catch thirty sturgeons in a place where the river is not above +three fathom broad. And as for deer, buffaloes, bears, turkeys, the +woods do swarm with them, and the soil is exceedingly fertile." He also +wrote that he had seen "plenty of black fox, which of all others is the +richest fur." This animal was a large marten, so fierce that it was the +match for any forest animal up to the size of a deer. + +Henry was kept in captivity for four years, when his friends managed to +ransom him. Small vessels were then trading with the Indians of the +Potomac and news of him was probably carried to Jamestown in this way. + +During the year 1627 the London Merchants were surprised by the arrival +of Henry Fleet from Virginia. Startling tales of his adventures spread +abroad. It was said that he had lived with the Indians so long that he +had forgotten his own language, that he had often seen the South Sea; +that he had seen Indians "besprinkle their paintings with powder of +gold." + +These stories impressed William Cloberry, a merchant adventurer, and +chief man in the Guinea trade. Cloberry believed that Fleet could be +useful to him as a trader among the Indians. + +On September 6, 1627, the ship _Paramour_ of London, one hundred tons +burden, was licensed to clear with Henry Fleet as master. William +Cloberry and Company were the owners. + +Captain Fleet was well suited by nature and experience to be +an Indian trader. For years he traded with the Indians along the +Potomac--bartering "beads, bells, hatchets, knives, coats, shirts, +Scottish stockings and broadcloth" and other "trucke," for beaver fur, +tobacco and corn. Some of the Indian tribes traveled "seven, 8 and 10 +days journey" to trade with him. He was the most regular and dependable +trader the Indians knew. + +By 1632 Captain Fleet was operating several boats in the Indian trade, +and in that year he built a shallop and a "Barque" of sixteen tons for +his own use. He also opened a trade between the Massachusetts settlement +and the Potomac River. Sometimes he carried as much as eight hundred +bushels of corn at one time from the Potomac to New England. + +One day, while trading for beaver with the Anacostans, Captain Fleet ran +into trouble. He met the pinnace of a rival trader, and on board was +John Utie of the Virginia Council. The latter arrested him by order of +the Council for trading with the Indians without license. Fleet had to +stop his activities and set sail for Jamestown, where he was tried, but +soon given his liberty. + +Captain Fleet became a powerful man in Indian affairs. After the +massacre of 1644 he was commissioned to negotiate a peace, at his own +expense should he fail. He was successful in arranging a treaty with +Necotowance, successor of Opechancanough, "in terms that showed a marked +advance of civilization; Necotowance must do homage for his land to the +King of England, in token whereof he was fined 20 beaver skins at the +going away of the Geese yearly." + +When bargaining with Necotowance Captain Fleet had been authorized to +build a fort on the Rappahannock, "an important station." + +Fleet remained in the region of the Potomac long enough to see the first +settlers come to the Northern Neck. He was their friend and interpreter +and helped them with their Indian troubles. + + +_A PETITION_ + +In July, 1639, owing to the increase of population in Bermuda, the +Proprietors of the Island, in London, petitioned for the region +"scituate betwixt the two Rivers of Rapahanock, and Patowmack wch by +good Informacon your petit'iors finde to be both healthful and +otherwise--not yet Inhabited." (Lefroy's _Bermudas_, Vol. I, p. 558.) + + +_FROM NORTH OF THE POTOMAC_ + +The first settlers did not come to the Northern Neck from the direction +of Jamestown, which would have been the natural direction. Nor did they +come for the natural reason--new lands. + +Instead, they came from north of the Potomac. In order to understand the +reason for the migration of these pioneers from the north side of the +Potomac to its south side, it is necessary to go back a few years and +study the situation in the upper Chesapeake Bay region. + +Before 1640 the activity of white men in the Chesapeake Bay centered +about a trading post at Kent Island, situated far up the Bay. The trade +there was with the Indian tribes in "fur, skins and Indian baskets." + +Captain Henry Fleet, William Claiborne, a Virginian, and Lord Baltimore +and his brother were chief among those who were making history in this +region at that time. + +Claiborne and a number of Virginians had established a colony on Kent +Island under a charter secured before Lord Baltimore had settled his +colony on the north side of the Potomac in a region that he called +Maryland. + +When Lord Baltimore was granted a charter to settle in this area, his +charter included Kent Island. The charter, however, had said that he +should have authority only over uninhabited lands. + +Claiborne considered that Kent Island was inhabited and was not, +therefore, a part of Maryland. + +In 1634, the second Lord Baltimore sent about one hundred settlers, +under the leadership of his brother, Leonard Calvert, to a point of land +across the Potomac from the Northern Neck, and a settlement was +established there, known as the "Citie of St. Mary's." + +A year after this colony had been planted the settlers were instructed +by their Governor, Leonard Calvert, to seize Kent Island. + +Claiborne appealed to the Crown but the decision was in favor of Lord +Baltimore's claim. + +[Illustration: _First settlers at Coan._] + +Claiborne did not give up so easily. With the help of Puritan rebels he +seized Kent Island, captured the "Citie of St. Mary's" and drove Calvert +from the colony. + +But Calvert was also tenacious. He returned a year later, regained +control of his Maryland possessions and forced Claiborne to give up Kent +Island. Later, the English government decided, once and for all, in +favor of Lord Baltimore's claim. + +At this time there was much religious dissension in England and in +Virginia. Lord Baltimore, a Catholic himself, had hoped to establish a +colony where religious freedom could be had by all. Many Puritans left +the lower Tidewater Virginia and joined the Maryland settlers. + +But Lord Baltimore's plan for a harmonious mingling of all religions did +not work out. The Puritans seized the reins of government and there +followed years of intolerance and persecution in the "Citie of St. +Mary's." + +Many Protestants and Royalists in the Maryland colony decided to look +for a new home where they could live as they pleased. + +Across the Potomac there was a long peninsula inhabited only by Indians. +What better place was there to find peace? + +It was in this way that the first settlers came to the Northern Neck +from north of the Potomac. + + +_THE FIRST SETTLER_ + +IT WAS probably about the year 1640 when the Indians of Chicacoan[5] saw +a white man's boat turning from the Potomac into their inlet, +Sekacawone. + +[Footnote 5: Indian words had various spellings. Chicacoan, for example, +was spelled Chickawane, Chickcoun, Chuckahann, Chickhan, Chiccoun, +Accoan, Sekacawane, Secone, Chickoun, Chickacoon, Sekacawone, +Chickacoan, Chicokolne, Chicokolue, Chicacoun, etc.] + +The boat was of the type called a shallop, built and used by Indian +traders. This one may have been of fifteen or twenty tons burden, with +two masts, and square sails that were higher than they were wide. The +wood may have been turpentined, or painted in a gay combination of +colors, such as red, blue, green or yellow. If oars were used as well as +sails they were probably painted red. + +The white men on board the shallop were doubtless dressed in the manner +of seamen of their day--loose breeches and jerkins of canvas, hose of +coarse wool and boots of leather. They may have worn woolen stocking +caps or felt hats, depending upon the season. + +The owner of the vessel was an Englishman, not over thirty years of age. +His clothes were probably of a finer weave and cut than those of his +men. Unless he was different from other men of his time and station, he +wore his natural hair long and flowing about his shoulders. He may have +worn a sword at his side. This young gentleman's name was John Mottrom, +formerly of Maryland, but more recently from the vicinity of the York +River. + +If the inhabitants of Chicacoan thought that the shallop held "trucke" +to barter for their corn, they were mistaken. Far better for them had +this been so. + +John Mottrom was not looking for trade but for a new home, and he liked +what he saw here--a wilderness peninsula, shut-away from the government +at Jamestown by miles of water and forest, protected from Maryland by +the Potomac, but close enough to keep in touch with his friends in the +"Citie of St. Mary's." + +He could see, too, that this wilderness held promises of future riches. +He had done well as a merchant, trading with Maryland, around the +Potomac and up the Bay at Kent Island, but now the fur trade was on the +wane and tobacco was taking the place of beaver skins as currency. + +Here, in this peninsula of northern Virginia, new lands could be had for +the taking--fields for tobacco. This inlet of the Potomac that the +Indians called Sekacawone was a sheltered harbor but deep enough for big +ships to come in and take the tobacco away to foreign markets. The +adjacent lands had been cleared by the natives; the forest would furnish +materials for homes and boats. + +There are no records to tell what kind of bargain Mottrom made with the +Chicacoans for their land, but apparently the relations between the +white men and the Indians were friendly. Marshvwap, King of the +Chicacoan and Wicocomoco Indians, became a friend of his new neighbor, +John Mottrom. + + +_COAN HALL_ + +When John Mottrom came to the Indian district of Chicacoan to live, it +must have been like the Garden of Eden. The river was there; the trees +that were pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the beast of the +field and the fowl of the air. Except for the Indian clearings along +the margin of the river it was new, untouched and as it was in the +beginning. + +Mottrom chose a site for his house on the east bank of the Coan, and +like all early Virginia settlers he knew how to select the spot. Springs +were numerous in this region so that it was not necessary to dig a well. + +And how did he go about building a house in this wilderness, so far from +any place where skilled labor, tools and bricks, glass and nails could +be obtained? No records to answer this question have been uncovered to +this date. Perhaps, he brought indentured servants and a few crude tools +with him in the shallop. + +What kind of a house did he build? It is fairly certain that he did not +build a log cabin, even for a temporary shelter. + +In the seventeenth century the English settlers in Virginia built log +forts, log prisons and log garrison houses but they were of "logs hewn +square," and they were built in the traditional Old World manner. + +These early settlers mentioned living in cottages, huts and frame cabins +but, so far as is known, they never said that they lived in log cabins. +The American-type log cabin is believed to have developed later and in +another part of the country. + +Mottrom and his men may have erected temporary shelters of saplings, +boughs and bark, similar to the Indian houses. + +If wood was cut from the forest for his permanent home, time was needed. +Locust for sills, oak for framing, heart pine and cedar were at hand, +but green lumber had to be seasoned. + +Mottrom may have made several trips to Jamestown or Maryland for +artisans and building supplies before his new home was completed. +Meanwhile, he may have brought his family to live in one of the +temporary shelters. + +There are no buildings surviving in Virginia that were known to have +been built before 1650, therefore, no true picture of the Mottrom home +can be presented. + +However, there are enough facts known of the period to enable one to +reconstruct a reasonably accurate picture of the first house on the +Coan. + +First of all--the house had to be strong, for life itself might depend +upon the house. Its style was, no doubt, patterned after the +architecture of England but modified by circumstances in the New World. + +A framed building, one storey and a half high, with brick underpinning, +and brick chimneys at either end, was the typical dwelling of Virginia +about the middle of the seventeenth century. Its size would have been +about forty by twenty feet, with downstairs ceilings about nine feet +high. + +We can visualize those workmen at Coan "riving" out the weather boards +for the first known house in the Northern Neck. One of the men would be +holding a rough-squared length of timber on a "frow" horse, while +another would be pounding, with a wooden mallet, a wedge-shaped knife +into the wood. Presently a board would fall off. With the same tools +shingles for the roof would be split from cedar. + +John Mottrom may have bought English bricks from some ship bound +homeward with a load of tobacco and eager to get rid of the ballast of +bricks at any price. It is more likely that his bricks were burned in a +kiln at Coan, made with clay dug from the riverbank. + +Nails were so hard to get that settlers when they were leaving to settle +elsewhere burned their homes in order to get the nails to start a new +house. Mottrom probably brought some nails from his former home and +supplemented them with wooden pegs. + +Rarely before 1720 were "windows sasht with crystal glass." Casements +were used. Glassmaking had ended at Jamestown in 1624. Mottrom's windows +may have been diamond-shaped panes of oiled paper with solid wooden +shutters, or merely sliding panels of wood. But it was possible to get +imported glass and he may have had some glass, drawn lead and solder +from England. The window openings were a structural part of the framing, +not just holes cut in the sheathing. Sometimes the windows did not open, +as they were mainly intended to let in light. In this case the leaded +glass was permanently set in the frames in diamond-shaped panes. + +Mottrom's front door may have had hinges made in the shapes of the +letters H and L, to stand for Holy Lord, for it was believed then that +such hinges would drive ghosts away from the door. The door may have had +panels in the form of a cross to keep out the witches. Or, the door may +have been made of oak battens, heavy enough to keep out wolves, Indians +and "hurry-canes." In either case, it was fastened with a latch and +string, with possibly an oaken bar inside for added strength. + +The chimneys of Virginia houses were much larger than those in England, +and the fireplaces were at least seven feet across, for the hearth was +the heart of the home. + +From these various facts of the time, we assume that the first house in +the Northern Neck which John Mottrom named Coan Hall was strong, simple, +functional, and its character was medieval. + + +_NEIGHBORS_ + +In spite of its isolation Coan Hall was probably not a lonely place. +Besides John Mottrom and his wife there were two children, and probably +several indentured servants. There were at least a few domestic animals. +The Indians were near, the forest was alive and rustling and "nimble" +with wild beasts, the sky was darkened and animated by the various birds +in their season. The shallop lay at anchor not far away and was a +reminder that it was possible to reach some civilization beyond the +woods and water. + +And Coan Hall was hardly established before guests began to arrive. They +came by boat, and perhaps after dark. These Protestant friends and +refugees were from Lord Baltimore's "Citie of St. Mary's." + +It was whispered in that unhappy "citie" north of the Potomac that +treason was being plotted at Coan Hall. + +John Mottrom's new home must have been filled to capacity in those days. +Although the rooms were few we can be sure that there was no lack of +beds or chairs. Rooms then, with the exception of the kitchen, had no +distinct character. Beds were in every room, even in the hall where +meals were taken. + +On a winter's night we can imagine John Mottrom dispensing hospitality +at Coan Hall--food, drink and roaring fires. Great plotting and planning +must have gone on before the hearths, while the passing tankards of +metheglin cheered and warmed the indignant gentlemen from Maryland. + +Perhaps John Mottrom's guests were charmed with his new home and decided +that it was easier just to settle at Chicacoan. At any rate we hear no +more of treason. Instead, settlers begin to arrive in the Northern Neck. + +William Presley and his English wife were among the first to arrive at +Chicacoan. They built at the head of a creek not far from Coan Hall. + +Richard Thompson and his family probably arrived early too. Richard was +a young man, about twenty-seven, when he came to live at Chicacoan. He +was a native of Norwich, Norfolk County, England. As a boy he had come +to Virginia as an indentured servant and had served William Claiborne on +Kent Island for three years. + +When at twenty-one Richard became a free man, he went into business for +himself, trading with the Indians for beaver. He must have been a good +trader for he acquired a considerable estate. He also worked as an agent +for William Claiborne, which in the end brought about his downfall. When +Claiborne was proclaimed an enemy by the Maryland Council, Thompson was +denounced also. He was in this way forced to flee to Chicacoan. + +Before long a settlement had sprung up along the Coan. John Mottrom +became the unofficial leader of this first white settlement in the +Northern Neck. Although he did not know it, there was one among them who +was to play an important part in his life--her name was Ursula, wife of +Richard Thompson. + + +_THE "KIDS"_ + +As soon as their homes were built the settlers at Chicacoan began to +remove the forest and clear the ground for tobacco fields. + +The sound of axes was no doubt heard from sunrise until sunset. Then the +stumps had to be dug up, and the soil had to be broken up with hoes. +This hard labor was probably done by white indentured servants. + +These British servants were commercially known as "kids," probably +because most of them were young, their ages ranging from thirteen to +thirty as a rule. + +An early English writer described the manner in which these "kids" were +obtained to send to Virginia--"very many children ... were violently +taken away or cheatingly duckoyed without the consent or knowledge of +their Parents by ... persons ... called Spirits ... into private places +or ships, and there sold to be transported, and then resold there to be +servants to those that will give most for them." + +A letter written in England in 1610 says that--"there are many ships +going to Virginia with them 14 or 15 hundred children w'ch they have +gathered up in divers places." + +The shipmaster who brought the children over could sell the indentures +for whatever he could get for them. If he could not find a purchaser, he +could sell the children to persons known as "soul drivers" who would +"buy a parcel of servants" to fill his wagon and drive through the +country until he could sell them at a cash profit. + +Other indentured servants were brought over by planters as +"head-rights," which meant that the planter paid for their +transportation and received fifty acres of land as a reward for +transporting an immigrant to Virginia. + +The indenture was a simple bargain between master and servant with +protection by law for each. The treatment of the servant depended upon +the nature of his master. + +The boys who had long terms to serve became restless and often ran away +across the Potomac to Maryland or to an Indian village. They were +usually caught and punished and put back to work. In Virginia the +punishment was sometimes thirty lashes and the letter R branded on the +cheek, forehead or shoulder. The hair was sometimes cropped, and the leg +shackled with irons, even during working hours. There is no evidence +that the settlers of the Northern Neck did anything more severe than to +whip their "kids." + +Food, clothing and shelter was provided by the master. The shelter was +usually in "a house set apart for him." The list of clothing might +include a coat of frieze, a pair of leather breeches, a black hat, or +cap of fur, a pair of "wooden heel shoes," and underclothes of dowlas +and lockram. + +The indentured girl servants did not work in the fields unless they were +slattern and offensive. Their work was to bake and brew, clean, milk, +churn, wash and sew. + +Due to the scarcity of women in Virginia the girl servants usually +married within the first three months. If their reputation was good, +they often married into a higher station. + + +_INDIAN SERVANTS_ + +The settlers at Chicacoan may have had some Indian servants. Tradition +says that William Presley of Coan employed Indians to care for his +"roaming stock." + +It was customary in Virginia to take Indian children as apprentices to +learn a trade, and to learn to read and write. This was with the consent +of the parents that the child should be instructed in the Christian +religion. + +The children were usually taken at thirteen or fourteen years of age and +the apprenticeships lasted until they were twenty-one. + +The value of the Indian servant was about the same as that of the +English indentured servant. The relationship between the Indian boy and +his master was the same as that between the master and the English +servant. Food, clothing and shelter was furnished by the master. +Records of the clothing lists included leather breeches, cotton +waistcoats, shoes and stockings. + + +_MONEY_ + +The indian word wampum meant "shells." Wampum and copper were the +Indians' substitute for gold and silver. The early settlers also used +the Indian wampum as a medium of exchange. + +Wampum, in Virginia, was usually made from the oyster shell. The dark +wampum, which was made from the black or purple part of the shell, had +twice the value of the white. For instance, three of the dark beads or +six of the white beads equalled one English penny. + +The beads were cylindrical in shape about an eighth of an inch in +diameter and one-fourth of an inch long. They were rubbed against stones +until they were polished smooth. A hole was bored through the center of +each bead with a flint instrument so that it could be strung on thread. +Much of this wampum was made by tribes who manufactured and carried on +commerce. + +The most common wampum, made of white shell, was called rhoanoke. In old +records wampum was sometimes referred to as "a chain of pearl." In a +Northumberland County record there is listed among the items in the +estate of "James Claughton, dec'd: Mr. Richard Thompson per order 20 +arms length of Rhoanoke." Another early settler of the Northern Neck, +Moore Fauntleroy, paid the Indians for his land "ten fathoms of peake" +and "thirty arms length of Rhoanoke." + +The English went so far as to import imitation wampum of white porcelain +for sale to the Indians. + +The early settlers also used beaver skins as currency. Northern Neck +records about 1656 show that Colonel Nathaniel Pope offered to go +security for John Washington "in beaver skins." Even hens were used for +currency. + +Tobacco soon became the most important currency in the colony. The words +of the old song--"Where money grows on white oak trees," was almost true +in Virginia for there tobacco was money and tobacco grew everywhere. +Instead of gold and silver the colonial had his "tobacco note." The +chief reason that metallic coin was scarce throughout the whole +colonial period in Virginia was the fact that tobacco was currency. + +It seems that there was always a small stock of coin in the colony, but +it was either used in trade with other countries or it was hoarded by +the colonists. A Virginia county record of 1700 says that: "Spanish +money may not be exported out of this colony, but that it may pass +currently from man to man and that all pieces of eight pass for five +shillings specie." + +The most convenient metallic money in Virginia (1722-1835) was a +Portuguese gold coin called a johannes. A full johannes was called a +"half-joe," and a double johannes was called a "joe." + +As banking institutions were non-existent in the colony in the early +days, and as robbers sometimes lay in wait in the woods for a lone +horseman, travelers used to carry gold coins sewed under the lining of +their waistcoats or quilted into their coats. + + +_A PARADISE DISCOVERED_ + +For several years the settlers at Chicacoan lived in a dream-like +paradise--ungoverned and untaxed. + +But this state of freedom could not last. News of the thriving young +settlement in the Northern Neck was probably carried to Jamestown by the +stream of travellers who plied back and forth along the waterways +between that city and St. Mary's in Maryland. + +How great the consternation must have been at Chicacoan when one day a +boat arrived from Jamestown. There may have been soldiers on board or +other representatives of the government. They brought a startling +message. + +The message was in the form of an Act passed by the House of Burgesses +at an Assembly in 1644. It said: + +"Whereas, the inhabitants of Chicawane, alias Northumberland, being +members of this colony, have not hitherto contributed toward the charges +of the war (with the Indians) it is now thought fit that the said +inhabitants do make payment of the levy according to such rates as are +by this present Assembly assessed." + +The rates were "for every 100 acres of land, 15 pounds tobacco; for +every cow above 3 years old, 15 pounds tobacco." + +But the real shock came at the end of the message: "And in case the said +inhabitants shall refuse or deny payment of the said levy, as above +expressed, that upon report thereof to the next Assembly, speedy course +shall be adopted to call them off the said Plantation." + +The settlers were no doubt infuriated at this command. They ignored it, +and continued to live in their independent way. + +John Mottrom, however, must have thought it high time to look into the +situation. In the fall of 1645 he sailed for Jamestown. + + +_A VISIT TO JAMESTOWN_ + +Although a trip to Jamestown would have been an exciting change after +years of wilderness living, there is reason to believe that Mrs. Mottrom +did not accompany her husband to the capital city. She probably +supervised the preparation of food for the voyage, and packed his +clothes. + +John Mottrom's clothes were no doubt as fashionable as the English +tailors could furnish. Rich fabrics and bright colors were worn by +Virginia gentlemen of the seventeenth century, and they never seemed to +think that their "citified" garments looked out of place in the +primitive setting of the New World. + +Among the clothes that Mrs. Mottrom may have packed, there might have +been "a sea-green scarf edged with gold lace," a scarlet coat with +silver buttons, a camlet coat with sleeves ending in lace ruffles, a +pair of red slippers, a Turkey-worked waistcoat, a whole suit of +olive-color plush, silk stockings, a beaver hat, neckcloths of finest +holland and muslin, shoes with shining silver buckles, delicately +scented handkerchiefs of silk and lace, and a gold belt for her +husband's sword. + +The Mottrom household was probably on the bank of the Coan to wave +good-byes when the anchor was weighed and the sails of the shallop were +hoisted. + +Out of the Coan sailed the shallop, and into the Potomac. Out of the +Potomac into the Chesapeake. Then it was straight sailing down the Bay, +past the mouths of the Rappahannock and York, and finally, into the +James. It usually took four average sailing days to travel from the +Northern Neck to Jamestown. + +As the boat neared Jamestown Island John Mottrom could doubtless see the +orange-tiled roofs and tall red chimneys of the "citie," which had long +ago burst from its palisades and was now stretched for half a mile along +the river front, as well as backward into the swamps and meadows. + +He could no doubt see the tower of the new brick church, and east of it +the State House, which looked so "London-like" with its three steep +gable ends facing the river. + +Captain John Smith had written that the water here was deep "so neare +the shoare that they moored to the trees in six fathom water," but the +Mottrom boat may have tied up at Friggett Landing in the rear of the +Island. There were probably other vessels already tied up there, and +others still arriving for the Assembly. + +Mottrom may have seen a barge coming down from the upper James, loaded +with gaily dressed men and women--a Burgess or Councillor and his family +and retinue, perhaps. + +Once ashore John Mottrom probably took a walk to stretch his legs and +see what changes had taken place since he had last visited "James +Citie." He may have passed the new church, which was still unfinished, +and strolled along some of the narrow lanes. Outside the town there were +some "cart paths," and over some of the swamps there were bridges. Back +of the Island lay the forested Indian district of the "Passbyhaes." + +"New Towne" was the most thickly settled part of "James Citie." Most of +the houses were a story-and-a-half of "framed timber" with +steeply-pointed roofs of tile, and a few of slate. Each had its garden +and was enclosed with palings. The road along the river bank was edged +with mulberry trees. + +The State House, situated near the river and down stream from the +church, was probably the most imposing building in the town. It was +really three brick houses joined together in a row to form a block, like +the medieval gabled houses in London. Its windows were casements with +lattices of lead and diamond-shaped panes of greenish colored glass. The +place had a garden, fruit trees and vines, all enclosed by palings. + +This State House was the focal point of the government and the center of +social life at Jamestown. John Mottrom probably stayed there during his +visit for the governor, Sir William Berkeley, who lived in the building +on the western end, acted as host to all important visitors. + +The Assemblies, courts and councils were held in the "middlemost" of the +three houses. The Assembly would soon convene and the visitor from the +Northern Neck had come a long way to be present at that meeting of +November 20, 1645. + +We can imagine him there on that important day, sitting with that +dignified group of men, dressed in their rich bright garments, all with +their hats on in imitation of the House of Commons in far away England. + +Little is known of what took place in that meeting that concerned +Chicacoan except that John Mottrom was accepted and recognized in this +Assembly as a Burgess from the "Plantation of Northumberland." It seems +that an English name was preferred instead of the Indian name for that +land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac. + + +_FRANCES_ + +Mrs. Mottrom probably did not accompany her husband to Jamestown because +in that same year a baby was born at Coan Hall. + +What a time that must have been in the wilderness household--the little +indentured English maids scurrying about with wooden pails of steaming +water, perhaps, and the curtains all drawn about the great bed, and John +Mottrom pacing the floor no doubt like any modern father-to-be! + +Frances Mottrom, for thus she was christened, may have been the first +white baby to have been born in the Northern Neck. + +The neighbors doubtless came to Coan Hall for a christening for it is a +matter of record that Colonel William Presley's wife was named as the +child's godmother. There must have been great cheer at the manor on that +occasion, and many toasts drunk from the same tankard. Maybe a whole +horn of metheglin was passed around in true medieval fashion to "speed +the parting guests." + +Frances probably lay in a wooden cradle with high paneled sides to keep +out draughts. Its logical place was near the fireplace where she would +be warm. She was doubtless clothed in white linen exquisitely +embroidered and made. Perhaps her six-year-old sister Anne rocked the +cradle now and then as she played around the floor, and little John +Mottrom may have peered into its shadows to look at her face. + +Among the first sounds that Frances knew were no doubt the ringing of +the axes in the forest from sunrise until sunset in winter, and at night +the howling of the wolves in the forest. The first light that she +remembered was probably the firelight and the light from pine-knot or +candle, or daylight filtered through diamond-paned windows of greenish +glass or oiled paper. + +One of the first familiar faces may have been that of her father's +friend, Marshvwap, King of Chickacoan. + +Frances must have been a sturdy baby to have survived the cold, heat, +fevers, and all the other hazards to child-life in the seventeenth +century. + +When Frances was old enough to toddle about, Anne and John may have +played a game with her called "honey-pots," in which they carried her +about in a "chair" made by crossing hands, while they chanted: + + "Carry your honey-pot safe and sound + Or it will fall upon the ground." + +A little later they may have jumped a hop-scotch, but if so, they called +it "scotch-hoppers." They probably played tag, ball, prisoner's base, +asked riddles and blew soap-bubbles, as these simple amusements dated +from medieval days. + +Children of the seventeenth century played games but had few toys. There +may have been a top to spin, and John probably played Indian with bow +and arrow and club. Anne, who had been born in England, may have brought +with her to the New World a stiff little puppet-like doll with a wooden +face and painted hair. Frances may have had a doll made of corn-shucks, +rags, corn-cobs or nuts. Or she may have had a doll like those of the +Indian children, made of rawhide, feathers and wood. + +The Mottrom children may have had wild animals for pets--a deer, a +squirrel, or a raccoon, perhaps. The children could not venture far into +the forest to play because of the dangers that lurked in its depths, but +they could stand at its edge and look down the aisles between the trees, +some of them "twenty feet round and Ninety high." In spring and summer +the forest floor was "bespred with divers flowers" and wild +strawberries. In winter they might glimpse a snowshoe rabbit flying over +the snow, or a herd of deer. We can imagine them there--three little +figures dressed in long clothes, exactly like those of their parents, +looking into the forest and pondering upon its mysteries. + +When Frances was nine years old, Colonel William Presley presented her +with "one cow calfe ... she being my wife's God daughter." This was +great potential wealth for a little girl! A cow over three years old was +at that time worth exactly the same as one hundred acres of land. +Frances probably thought of the "cow calfe" only in terms of milk and +butter and future cakes that might be baked. She may have named the calf +Pansy, Daisy, Cinnamon or Nutmeg, as such names were then popular for +cows. + +As Frances grew older there was little time for play. The Mottrom +household was doubtless astir by daybreak. We can picture the sleepy +child pushing aside the heavy red or green curtains of linsey-woolsey +that surrounded her bed, or if it was summer, the hangings of "muskitoe" +net. + +Her toilet equipment was no doubt simple--a basin and ewer, and a "pot +de chambre," all of pewter. She may have owned a gilded hand +looking-glass and a comb of ivory or horn. She washed her face with +home-made soap which may have been soft or, more likely, a hard green +soap made from the berries of "sweet myrtle." + +Frances' clothes were probably kept in a "case of drawers." Her everyday +dress was perhaps of blue holland, but for special occasions she wore +silk or brocade. In either case the skirt was full and long. Over this +she wore a white linen apron with bib, and on her head a close-fitting +cap of white linen. The latter was always worn by little children at +that time, and sometimes the cap was beautifully embroidered. When +Frances went out-of-doors she probably wore a loose silken hood over the +cap. + +Her hair, if she was fashionable, was cut in bangs across her forehead +with long flowing locks in front dropping forward on her chest. Her back +hair was stuffed out of sight in the cap. + +After she had dressed Frances probably ate a simple breakfast of +porridge from a wooden bowl with a pewter spoon. Anne and John probably +ate their breakfasts from the same bowl with their pewter spoons. + +Lessons may have come next. Education was simple then, especially for +girls--"bookes to bee learned of children" were "abcies" and primers, +then the Psalms in metre, then the Testament. Frances' teacher may have +been her mother or an indentured servant. + +Little girls were taught to knit as soon as they could hold the needles. +Frances probably knitted stockings and mittens when she was four or five +years old. Children also made quilt-pieces. Girls did household chores +and learned early the duties of a housewife. + +Anne was old enough now to embroider the family coat-of-arms, or to +paint it on glass in rich colors. Young girls in the families of +seventeenth century gentlefolk spent much time in the study of heraldry. + +Frances may have been taught to play a musical instrument--the hand +lyre, hautboy or virginal. The latter was most commonly used by young +girls, from which its name was derived. It was a small rectangular +spinet without legs. + +John may have played the flute. We can imagine him earnestly playing for +guests at Coan Hall, dressed in his best, which probably would have +been a dark suit with a white square collar, the pants ending in +light-colored ruffles that fell over his boottops. From under his +wide-brimmed hat, which he would wear indoors on such occasions, his +hair probably fell to his shoulders, with bangs on his forehead. + +It is safe in assuming that the Mottrom children looked forward to +guests for they doubtless liked to listen to the talk around the +fireplace. Here the men discussed taxes, the colonial government, the +English King and his followers who were called Cavaliers. They talked of +witchcraft, ghosts, wolves, Indians and the Assembly at "James Citie." + +Did all this talk make little Frances long to visit Jamestown and see +the fine ladies who came from their plantations with their husbands at +the time of the Assemblies? If so, her dream was one day to come true. +She would not only visit Jamestown and see the ladies in their silks and +satins but she would be one of them. For Frances Mottrom was destined to +leave her wilderness home some day and become the first lady not only of +Jamestown, but of the whole Colony of Virginia. + + +_FOREVER LOST_ + +Although John Mottrom was recognized at Jamestown in the Assembly of +November 20, 1645 as a Burgess from the "Plantation of Northumberland," +Chicacoan was not established as a county and the order concerning taxes +was not changed. The settlers continued to ignore the order and went on +living as usual in their independent way. + +In 1647, the Assembly passed another act for the "reducing of the +inhabitants of Chicacoan and the other parts of the Neck of Land between +the Rappahannock and the Potomack River." + +This must have been an unhappy and unsettled time at Chicacoan, but in +some way a compromise was reached the following year. In 1648, the +Assembly repealed the act for "reducing the inhabitants of Chicacoan," +and enacted instead that "the said tract of land be hereafter called and +knowne by the name of the Countie of Northumberland and from henceforth +they have power of electing Burgesses for the said county." + +The settlers of the Northern Neck had now gained representation in the +colonial government but the price they were forced to pay for it was +dear--their tax-free paradise was forever lost. + + +_URSULA_ + +John Mottrom's wife may ever remain a mystery. There seems to be no clue +to her personality, no facts that would make her into a flesh and blood +woman. Even her name is unknown. She was John Mottrom's wife and the +mother of his three children, Anne, John and Frances. The records +disclose not even a crumb more. + +Between the years 1645 and 1655 Mrs. Mottrom passed away. She may have +died in childbirth when Frances was born, or shortly thereafter. It was +after her death that Ursula came into the life of John Mottrom. + +Ursula Bish Thompson had been among the refugees who fled to Coan from +the "Citie of St. Mary's." Her husband, Richard Thompson, was now dead. +A young widow's position in a frontier community was dangerous and +insecure and quick remarriages were a practical necessity. John Mottrom, +the widower, was in urgent need of someone to look after his children +and home. Ursula and John were married. + +Ursula probably brought the Thompson children with her to live at Coan +Hall. Colonial households more often than not included several groups of +children by former marriages. + +Ursula's name reveals the fact that she was British, named perhaps for +the martyred princess, St. Ursula. The facts of her later career assure +us that she was a healthy and attractive woman. + +As the wife of a prominent man of the colony it was Ursula's duty to +hold to the high standard of living that had been transferred from +England to this wilderness, and to maintain this standard it was +necessary for all to work from morning until night. + +Ursula doubtless loved the gay rich clothes that were so fashionable at +this period. Her wardrobe may have included a pair of scarlet sleeves, a +petticoat of flowered tabby and several pairs of green stockings. + +We can imagine Ursula hustling about at Coan Hall, her clothes a blur of +brightness, as she supervised the servants, disciplined the children, +twirled the roast of venison on the spit in passing, or lowered her +candle or betty-lamp into the cooking pot to see if the stew was ready. + +The rooms of Coan Hall were probably part "waynscot" and part "daubed +and whitelimed," the latter plaster being made from the plentiful +oyster shells. The woodwork may have been painted "deep blued olive +green" or "dragon's blood." + +The rooms of seventeenth century houses were usually identified by +names, such as "the outward," "the lodging," "the chamber," and so on. + +The kitchen and pantry were probably detached or in a wing. This was the +busiest and coziest spot in all early homes, and the hearth was its +glowing heart. There were the fire-dogs holding the big logs and the +little andirons used with them called "creepers." On pothooks and +trammels hung the brass and copper kettles, some with a fifteen gallon +capacity, and that most beloved pot of iron, which sometimes weighed as +much as forty pounds. In summer when a large part of the cooking was +done out-of-doors this iron kettle was the main utensil used. + +A boiler of copper and brass may have been imbedded in brick and mortar +and heated from beneath for the purpose of brewing the ale that was so +necessary to a transplanted Englishman. + +When the chimney was built there was usually a brick oven on one side. +This oven was as a rule heated once a week. Convenient to the oven was a +long-handled shovel called a peel, which was used for placing the dough +in the oven, or for tossing it on cabbage or oak leaves which were often +used instead of pans. + +The simplest way of roasting a fowl or joint of meat was to suspend it +in front of the fire by a hempen string. + +The laundry was allowed to accumulate into great monthly washings. This +seems to have been the custom for a hundred years after the colony was +first settled. Soft soap was made by the barrel from refuse grease and +wood ashes. This soap was used for the laundry but a toilet soap was +made from the bayberry, or "sweet myrtle," as it was called in Virginia. +Candles were also made from the myrtle berries, and from tallow. The +myrtle berry candles were prettier and more fragrant. + +The brick-floored milkhouse at these early plantations was a separate +building. Besides the milk pails, bowls, skimmers and churn, this house +was a storage place for pewter that needed repairing, powdering tubs for +salting meat, rum casks, spinning-wheels, chamber pots, fish kettles, +stillyards, hides, tanned leather and so on. + +Brooms were made at home, and turkey wings were saved for brushing the +hearth. + +Perhaps another duty of Ursula and her indentured maids was the picking +of the tame geese. Their feathers were more valuable to the colonists +than their meat. Goose feathers were prized for beds and pillows, which +were handed down as heirlooms. The feathers were stripped from the live +geese three or four times a year, but the quills, which were used for +pens, were never pulled but once. Ursula probably dreaded goose-picking +because it was a hard and cruel work. Feathers from wildfowl were also +carefully saved for beds and pillows. + +Probably the last chore on a winter's night was the warming of the beds. +The brass or copper warming pan with its long handle hung by the +fireplace where it reflected the firelight. At bedtime, which was early, +the pan was filled with hot coals and thrust within the beds and moved +rapidly back and forth so as to warm the bed but not burn the linen. +Sometimes a large chafing-dish was used in the bed-chambers for +"knocking the chill off" the ice-cold room. + +And so at last, after the last chore had been attended to, Ursula could +crawl between the warm sheets, pull up her quilt, or leather coverlet, +and fall into a well-earned sleep. + + +_THE YARD_ + +The surroundings of a seventeenth century planter's house, such as Coan +Hall, were simple, lacking in ornament of any kind. + +Near the back door was a garden in which vegetables and a few simple +flowers grew side by side. Real flower gardens were not developed until +the next century. + +Some flax and hemp were probably included in the garden at Coan. And +herbs, such as thyme, rosemary and marjoram were considered almost a +necessity at that time. + +There was usually an orchard, containing a few apple, pear, cherry and +peach trees. + +There may have been a dovecote at Coan Hall. There must certainly have +been a tall pole in the yard with a bee-martin's house on top, for these +birds notified the settler and his household of the approach of hawks +and other enemies of the poultry. They were the watch-dogs of the yard. +There may have been a few birdhouses made Indian fashion of gourds. + +The planter's dwelling, even though it was little and plain, sometimes +no larger than 24 × 24, was referred to as the "manor house," "great +house" or "mansion," in order to distinguish it from its dependencies, +the kitchen, milkhouse, smokehouse, henhouse, stable, barn and cabins +for servants. + +According to an early order by the Assembly, all dwelling houses +throughout the Colony of Virginia must be palisaded. This order was +still in effect when Coan Hall was built, but as the Indians were +friendly in this region and there was no one at Chicacoan to enforce the +law, the yard may have been surrounded by a stout fence of locust +instead, or by palings to keep out hogs and cattle which wandered +without restraint. + +Needless to say, a bubbling spring was somewhere close by the dwelling, +and perhaps a gourd dipper. + + +_KITTAMAQUND_ + +Pocahontas was not the only Indian girl of royal blood who once lived in +the Northern Neck. Kittamaqund, too, lived for awhile, died and, it is +believed, was buried in the land between the Rappahannock and the +Potomac. + +Kittamaqund was the only child of the Tayac, or Emperor, of the +Piscataway Indians. Their village was located on Piscataway Creek on the +Maryland side of the Potomac. At this point the Potomac, which separated +the Province of Maryland from the Colony of Virginia, was less than a +mile wide. + +In the winter of 1640 Father Andrew White, a Catholic missionary, came +to "Piscatoe" to baptize the Indians. Among those whom Father White +baptized were the Emperor and his wife. + +Shortly after the missionary's visit, the Emperor brought his +seven-year-old daughter, Kittamaqund, to St. Mary's "Citie," Maryland, +and put her in the care of Father White. He loved his daughter very +dearly and he wanted her to be educated and "when she shall well +understand the Christian mysteries, to be washed in the sacred font of +baptism." + +The "little Empress," as she was called by the settlers, was adopted by +Mistress Margaret Brent of St. Mary's. By 1642 Kittamaqund had become +"proficient in the English language" and she was baptized by Father +White at that time and given the Christian name Mary. + +Before long romance took a hand in the situation. Mistress Margaret had +a brother, Giles Brent, who had left England with her on the ship +_Elizabeth_ in 1638, and they had arrived together at St. Mary's. Giles +had been born in Gloucestershire, England, about 1600. + +Giles and the little Indian "Empress" were married when she was about +twelve years old. Giles had a home on Kent Island where they lived for +part of the year and the rest of the year they stayed with Margaret at +her home "in St. Maries, where he had certain goods &C"--"divers cattle +and other commodities ... linen, shoes, stockings, sugar ... and also a +little cabbonett containing Jewels &C." + +About 1646 Giles took his Indian bride and crossed the Potomac to the +Northern Neck of Virginia. He settled on the north shore of Aquia Creek +and there built a house which he called Peace. This name seems to +indicate that he may have had troubles, probably religious persecution, +in Maryland. He had also failed in his attempt to claim Kittamaqund's +royal domain, which was most of Maryland. + +The home of Giles and Kittamaqund in the Northern Neck was in the midst +of the wilderness. They were the northernmost English residents in +Virginia. When in 1651 settlers pushed northward to patent land above +the Brent home they all stopped at Peace for refreshments and +information. It was the point of departure into the unknown. + +Giles built another home in the same region which he called Retirement. +Their second son, Giles, was born there. + +Giles traded with the Indians and continued to keep open house for the +settlers from the southern region. He also patented thousands of acres +of land in Westmoreland and Northumberland. + +Kittamaqund, the little wilderness flower, wilted and died before she +scarcely had time to blossom. She left three children, Richard, Giles +and Mary. Before she died Kittamaqund made a deed of gift to her +daughter of her inheritance in Maryland, since she herself had no +brother or sister to inherit it. + +Giles again laid claim to most of Maryland in his daughter's name, but +the Indians opposed the claim as being contrary to their tribal customs. +They chose a king of their own instead. + +Thus Kittamaqund lost her royal heritage. According to traditions she +was buried somewhere in the upper Northern Neck. + +Giles Brent became a great landowner in his own right. He was largely +responsible for opening up the northern part of the "Chicakoun country" +to the white settlers. His homes at Peace and later at Retirement were +outposts of civilization. + + +_THE GIFT_ + +While the settlers of the Northern Neck of Virginia were hacking away at +the forest, planting crops in the land thus cleared and building houses +of the felled timber, events were taking place across the sea that would +eventually change the history and culture of the land between the +Rappahannock and the Potomac. + +For some time a civil war had been in progress in England and early in +the year of 1649 Charles I was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell's men. A new +government, known as the Commonwealth, was immediately established in +England, under the direction of Cromwell. + +The late king's oldest son, Charles, had escaped from England and was +now living in exile in France. His misfortune was shared there by some +of his father's supporters, who now had plenty of time to brood over +their lost estates back in England. These gentlemen with the flowing +hair had little left except the clothes on their backs, plumed hats and +buckled boots. Some of them were walking the streets of Paris in search +of cheap board and lodging, for which they would pay with their +jewels--pawned or sold. Some had already gotten into the clutches of +money-lenders. Their only hope was that Charles would be restored some +day to the throne of England. + +Charles wished that he could in some way repay these noblemen, soldiers, +diplomats and favorites of his parents who had proved their loyalty. But +what, he may have wondered, did he have to give? Apparently nothing +remained. Then he thought of land--other land to replace the estates his +followers had lost. This was not a new idea of his own for the English +government had at times awarded frontier lands to deserving soldiers. + +But where could lands-to-give-away be found? It was then that Charles +remembered the colony across the sea--Virginia. That was the answer--a +slice of the Virginia wilderness as a grant to his courtiers! + +Charles apparently knew little about Virginia, or about the size of the +slice which he selected as a gift to his friends--"all that entire +Tract, Territory, or porcon of Land situate, lying and beeing in +America, and bounded by and within the heads of the Rivers of +Rappahannock and Patawomecke," and "said Rivers." + +A patent was written, dated September 18, 1649, at St. Germaine-en-Laye, +France. It was written in close fine writing on both sides of a small +piece of parchment and bore "Our Great Seale of England." Charles +signed it simply in the upper left-hand corner of the front page +"Charles R." Thus the deed was done. + +True, the grant was worthless unless Charles was restored to the throne +of England, which event seemed improbable at the moment. However, he had +paid off his obligations as best he could. The courtiers may have +appreciated his gesture but some of them placed no value on their part +of the patent. + +Meanwhile, back in Virginia the colonists went on as usual for news was +slow in crossing the ocean. The pioneers of the Northern Neck had their +own problems--fevers and bloody flux, Indians, wolves, witches, and +taxes to be paid to the Colonial Government at Jamestown. It would be a +long time before they would know that their land had been given away +lock, stock and barrel, for Charles had given his followers not only the +land and the rivers, but all rights pertaining to them, even to the +"wild beasts and fowle," the fish and the "wrecks of the Sea." + +And should the grant ever become valid, future generations in the +Northern Neck would have landlords over them and pay rent for the land +that their forefathers had believed to be their own. + + +_THE CAVALIERS_ + +A man stood on the deck of the _Virginia Merchant_, a leaky English +vessel bound for Jamestown. He had once been a fine gentleman, clothed +in satin and velvet and gold lace. His beard had been trimmed to a peak, +with small upturned mustaches, and his shoulder length hair had been +curled and perfumed. "Love-locks" his curls were called. + +Now the velvet was stained and the lace tarnished and his silver buckles +looked more like pewter. The plumes on his hat dangled against his +salt-matted hair. The ship was loaded with men just like him. In England +they were called Cavaliers because they had been loyal followers of the +King. A writer of that time described these Cavaliers as "of the best +material in England"--the nobility, the clergy, the landed gentry and +officers in the King's army. + +Tradition says that there were three hundred and thirty Cavaliers on +board the _Virginia Merchant_. This number included the wives and +children, and probably the ship's company. + +The voyage had been a nightmare. Rats lived in the dark cabins with the +people, and when the cabin doors were opened a stench rushed out. Some +lay ill from the ship's diet of "pease-porridge" and salt beef. Worms +wriggled in the cheese and hard bread that was called ship's biscuits. +And there was not even enough of this food to last the trip. + +Desperation had driven these people to make this voyage, and they were +lucky to have the six pounds to pay their passage. Their England was no +longer good for them. It was a place to "fly from ... as from a place +infected with the plague." Some of their comrades were now rotting in +English prisons, their estates confiscated and sold to members of +Cromwell's party. + +Virginia seemed to be the only "city of refuge" left in his Majesty's +dominions. When the _Virginia Merchant_ at last arrived at Jamestown the +Cavaliers were received with open arms by the colonists, whose sympathy +was predominantly with the royalist cause. Still other Cavaliers reached +Virginia from time to time during Cromwell's reign in England. + +The _Virginia Merchant_ had sailed from the Old World about the middle +of September 1649. This was almost exactly the same time that the exile +in France was affixing his signature to a bit of parchment. Both +incidents were destined to change the pattern of life in the Northern +Neck of Virginia. + +A number of the Cavaliers settled in the Neck, bringing with them into +the wilderness the grace and manners of the English Court and the way of +life of the English country gentleman. + + +"_CHARLIE-OVER-THE-WATER_" + +In the spring of 1650 a small Dutch vessel, according to one tradition, +was bucking her way across the Atlantic. On board was a young man named +Richard Lee. Richard had arranged this trip and "freighted" the vessel +himself, it was said, and he was now on his way to visit England's royal +exile who was at this time living in Brussels. + +In Richard's pocket, the story goes, was Sir William "Barcklaie's" +commission for the government of Virginia, which hadn't been worth a +shilling since the execution of England's late King. But Sir William and +Richard, who was his Secretary of State, were determined to hold the +colony firm in its allegiance to "Charlie-Over-The-Water." + +Richard arrived safely in Breda and made himself known to Charles. +Thereafter, it is said, a little comedy ensued which we can imagine. + +The gentleman from Virginia, dressed in his finest trappings, kneels +before the exiled prince and surrenders the Governor's commission. He +then in flowery words extends a warm invitation to Charles to return +with him to the New World and become "King of Virginia." + +Charles is pleased, but he has other plans. Bigger plans. He thanks +Richard and graciously presents him with a new commission for Governor +Berkeley, which isn't worth the paper on which it is written. + +After this little farce was attended to, Richard Lee, tradition says, +returned to Jamestown to deliver the commission to Governor Berkeley. +Richard was probably disappointed with the unsatisfactory outcome of his +mission. + +How different the history of the New World would have been if Richard +Lee had brought Charles back with him to be crowned "King of Virginia!" + + +_THE LEGACY_ + +It was a place especially dear to the Indians. They were still in the +region when Richard Lee built his simple home in the wilderness. + +He chose for his home site a neck of land in the southeastern part of +Northumberland County. A creek flowed in here from the Chesapeake and +divided into two parts. The neck was between these two branches of the +creek. Richard called the estuary, Dividing Creek, and he named his +home, Cobbs Hall. + +It was wild and beautiful at Dividing Creek. The primeval forest with +its savages and "beastes" was so close, and out in front the Creek led +directly into the Bay--a highway to any place in the world. The Creek +was deep so that foreign ships could come right up to his wharf and take +away the loads of tobacco that this fertile soil would grow. + +Richard knew that in this New World land was wealth, so he began to +acquire land by purchase of head-rights. He acquired land along the +Potomac from its mouth to the site that later became Washington. He had +laid the foundation for the future Lees of Virginia. + +Richard Lee represented Northumberland in the House of Burgesses at +Jamestown in 1651, which establishes the fact that he was living in the +Northern Neck at that early date. He was also a justice, a member of the +King's Council and Secretary of the Colony. + +Richard had business interests abroad and he lived there part of the +time. He owned partnerships in several ships, he was a tobacco merchant +in London with his own warehouse and counting-house. He crossed and +re-crossed the Atlantic almost as often as a modern American tycoon. + +A London merchant at that time held a high social rating. In England he +owned a country estate three miles from London. Whether Richard had +inherited the estate or purchased it himself is not known. This was the +property that caused him to sign his will, "lately of Stratford-Langton +in the County of Essex, Esquire." The "Esquire" signified that he was +the proprietor of land with tenants of his own. + +Each morning Richard's coach appeared at his door and he emerged +"silver-buckled and knee-breeched" and rumbled away along the road +called "Strat-by-ford" toward London and his counting-house. And back +again each evening, just like a modern American business man shuttling +between his city office and his suburban home. But Richard finally sold +his home and furnishings in England and returned to his home at Dividing +Creek. + +Richard Lee was the largest landowner in Virginia at the time of his +death in 1664. He left his family firmly established with probably more +than thirteen thousand acres of virgin tobacco land. He left his son, +Hancock, land near Cobbs Hall. This son established his home there, +called Ditchley. + +Richard Lee stated in his will that he desired his family to live in +Virginia. Perhaps after all that was his greatest legacy to his family. +It turned out to be an important legacy not only to the Northern Neck, +but to the American nation. + + +_THE INDIAN DEED_ + +Perhaps one of the strangest deeds on record is the one signed by +Accopatough, King of the Rappahannock Indians. + +An Englishman named Moore Fauntleroy came to the Northern Neck about +1650, settling on the Rappahannock, rather far up from its mouth. He +must have been very exact in his business dealings, because when he +purchased a tract of land from the Indians it was conveyed to him by a +written deed, dated April 4, 1651, and signed by: + +"Accopatough, the true and right Born King of the Indians of Rappahannoc +Town and Towns." + +For the land, it is said, Fauntleroy paid the Indians "ten fathoms of +peake and thirty arms lengths of Rhoanoke." The tract is said to have +been a vast domain which extended from the Rappahannock to the Potomac +and some distance along both rivers. + +Later, after the Northern Neck became a proprietary, Moore Fauntleroy +had his Indian deed confirmed at Jamestown: + +"Act I, the grande assemblie at James Cittie, Va., the 23rd March, +1660-1; Sir William Berkeley, his Majesties Governor, 13th year of +Charles II." + +Fauntleroy's "ancient mansion seat" was located on the Rappahannock, +above Cat Point Creek, and it was known as Naylor's Hole. This section +of the Neck was established as Richmond County in 1692. + +Colonel Moore Fauntleroy was said to have been the great-great grandson +of Edward Lord Stourton. He came to the Northern Neck during the +Cavalier migration. + + +_A SUMMONS TO JAMESTOWN_ + +After the county of Northumberland was created from Chicacoan, John +Mottrom had many extra duties. As a justice he held court at Coan Hall. +A unit of militia had been formed and he had been named by Governor +Berkeley as its chief officer--it was _Colonel_ Mottrom, now! + +On the river just above Coan Hall Colonel Mottrom had started the +nucleus of what he hoped would be a future town. He had built there the +first wharf and the first warehouse in the Northern Neck. He had plans +for a "Brew-house" where "ye good ale of England" might be had. + +His activities were interrupted in the spring of 1652 by a summons from +the Governor to appear at a meeting of the House of Burgesses. + +The grapevine said that danger threatened the colony. It said that +Cromwell's government had sent "a powerful fleet" from England with "a +considerable body of land forces on board" and that the vessels had +already arrived and had cast anchor before Jamestown. It said that the +Governor himself was saying that the strangers were pirates and robbers +who had come to steal the lands of the colonists. + +Colonel Mottrom may have had two other burgesses to keep him company on +this trip--George Fletcher from Northumberland, and Francis Willis from +the newly organized county of Lancaster. + +When Colonel Mottrom arrived within sight of the Island, he could +probably see that the royal standard was still flying above the town, +even though the English warship _Guinea_ and her armed fleet of +merchantmen had weighed anchor and were moving in closer. + +All was astir at Jamestown, especially in the State House. The +"middlemost" of the "stack" of brick buildings was like a busy hive, +with burgesses pouring in and out, and conversing in agitated groups, +while they warmed themselves before the fireplaces in the two rooms. + +Governor Berkeley was very much disturbed. Ever loyal to the Crown, he +had boasted that Cromwell's forces would not risk an attack on the +colony. But to be on the safe side, Sir William had, during the fall and +winter, reinforced his defenses. The militia, which he had called up, +was strengthened by the veteran Cavaliers from the King's army who had +so recently come to the colony. He had the promise of help from five +hundred Indian braves, and several armed Dutch ships which were lying in +the river were pressed into service. + +In spite of these plans for defensive measures the House of Burgesses +showed no enthusiasm for going into active warfare. They reasoned that +the loyalty of the Indian allies might be uncertain, and the presence of +the enemy fleet in the James was but a reminder of England's sea power. +The Governor was finally persuaded to disband his small army. + +An agreement was signed on March 12, 1652, between the commissioners +from the Commonwealth of England and the "Governor and counsel for a +cessation of Arms." + +This was probably the most stirring event ever associated with the first +State House at Jamestown. + +The agreement was favorable to Virginia, even though the colony was +subdued. Most of the essential liberties of the colonials were retained. +One of Cromwell's commissioners, Richard Bennett, was chosen as Governor +by the Assembly. + +Sir William had refused to serve under the Commonwealth. He retired to +his estate, Green Spring, near Jamestown, where he could entertain +Cavalier guests and drink toasts to King Charles as much as he pleased. + + +_THE OATH_ + +When Colonel Mottrom and the other burgesses from the Northern Neck +returned home from Jamestown after the treaty with Cromwell's +commissioners had been made, they brought news that every "white male" +in the colony would be required to take an oath of loyalty to this new +government in England. If any should refuse to do so they would have to +move away within a year. + +As the news traveled into the creeks and coves to the homes of the +planters on the fringes of the wilderness, we can visualize the +reluctant men of Northumberland straggling along to "Cone"--in shallops, +sloops, barges, canoes, and perhaps a few on horseback. A disgruntled +lot no doubt. + +But "within the year" of 1652, one hundred "white males" had signed a +statement at Coan which said that they would be "true and faithful to +the Commonwealth of England as it is established without King or House +of Lords." + +Under the treaty the people might toast the late King in private as much +as they liked, but no public stand against the Commonwealth would be +tolerated. + + +_COUNTY OFFICERS_ + +The highest office in the county was that of county lieutenant. In early +records he was called "Commander of Plantations." In England this office +was usually held by a knight, and in Virginia it was always conferred on +the class of "gentlemen," and they were chosen usually from the large +landholders. He was appointed directly by the governor. + +The county lieutenant commanded the militia, with the rank of colonel, +and was entitled to a seat in the Council, and as such was a judge of +the General Court. His powers were great in the civil and military +control of the county. He presided over the county courts at the head of +the justices. + +The executive officer of the county court was the sheriff. The judges in +this court were called justices of the peace. They were important men +and had almost entire control of the affairs of the county. They were +chosen from the gentlemen class of the community and received their +commissions from the governor with the advice of the Council. They +received no compensation for their services, the office being considered +one of honor, not of profit. In this way a high standard of men were +obtained for this important office. + + +_EPRAPHRODIBUS'S WILL_ + +In 1640 a patent was granted to Epraphrodibus Lawson, in Tarrascoe Neck +Chuckeytuck Parish, Nansemond County. Lawson must have migrated to the +Northern Neck. His will was recorded there, in Lancaster County, in +1652. It is believed to be the oldest recorded will in the United +States. The will follows: + +"In the name of God, Amen, I Epraphrodibus Lawson, of Rappahannock, +being sick of body, but of perfect memory, Glory be to God, do make this +my last will and testament. I make and ordain, ye child of my wife ... +my heir ... my wife ... third ... March 31st, 1652. + + "Epraphrodibus Lawson. + + "Witness: + "Elos Lors, + "Joan Lee, + "Wm. Harper, + "Recorded June, 1652. + "G. John Phillips." + + +_THE CHALLENGE_ + +Young Richard Denham almost broke up the Lancaster County court when he +burst into the room bearing a message that challenged Mr. Daniel Fox to +a duel. + +The court was being held in the home of one of the justices as no +court-house had yet been built for the new county. Lancaster had been +formed from Northumberland in 1651. The date of the present court was +about 1653. + +Richard bore the challenge from his father-in-law, Captain Thomas +Hackett. It ran as follows: + +"Mr. Fox, I wonder ye should so much degenerate from a gentleman as to +cast such an aspersion on me in open Court, making nothinge appear but I +knowe it to be out of malice and an evil disposition which remains in +your hearte, therefore, I desire ye if ye have anything of a gentleman +or of manhood in ye to meet me on Tuesday morninge at ye marked tree in +ye valey which partes yr lande and mine, about eight of ye clocke, where +I shall expect ye comeinge to give me satisfaction. My weapon is rapier, +ye length I send ye by bearer; not yours present, but yours at ye time +appointed. THOMAS HACKETT. Ye seconde bringe along with ye if ye please. +I shall finde me of ye like." + +This message could not have been delivered at a worse time or place, for +Mr. Fox, a justice, was at the time sitting on the bench with his fellow +justices. That dignified group, dressed in their velvets and gold lace, +were shocked by the lad's audacity. + +One of the justices, John Carter, sharply scolded Richard--"saying that +he knew not how his father would acquit himself on an action of that +nature which he said he would not be ye owner of for a world." + +Richard answered in a slighting way "that his father would answer it +well enough!" + +When sternly questioned by the court, Richard admitted that he knew that +the message he bore was a challenge. He then boldly demanded of Fox what +answer he proposed to send back to Captain Hackett. + +The court then made a quick and emphatic decision that Richard was "a +partye with his father-in-law in ye crime," and that for bringing the +challenge, whose character he well knew, and for delivering it while the +justices were sitting, as well as for his contemptuous manner and bold +words he was "adjudged"--"to receive six stripes on his bare shoulders +with a whip," at the hands of the sheriff. + +The sheriff was then directed to arrest Captain Hackett and have him +"detained in safe custody without baile" until he should "answer for his +crimes" at the next session of the General Court at Jamestown. + +Thus a duel was averted, and Mr. Fox did not meet Captain Hackett "in ye +valey." The valley was probably chosen by Captain Hackett so that the +duel could take place without observation or interruption, and it was +the dividing line between their estates. + +Hackett was scrupulous to inform Fox of the length of the rapier he +intended to use, but had he followed regulations exactly, he would have +left the selection of the weapon to his opponent. + + +_TRADE_ + +In the early days the Northern Neck carried on trade with various places +besides England. Lancaster County seems to have been especially active +in this trade. From the following record it appears that tobacco and +grain were not the only articles used in trading with the Barbadoes: "In +1686 the sloop Happy transported from Lancaster County to that island, 2 +firkins of butter, 2 barrels of pork, and 22 sides of tanned leather, in +addition to 144 bushels of Indian corn." Trade to the West Indies was +conducted in small Virginia-built sloops. + +The Dutch brought to the Neck to exchange for tobacco such things as +linen, coarse cloth, beer, brandy and "other distilled spirits." In 1653 +Henry Mountford of Rotterdam appointed an agent in Lancaster. About the +same time, Jacobis Vis had "important transactions in exchange of +merchandise for tobacco in the counties of the Northern Neck." It was +said by the Dutch that Virginians could beat them in a deal. + +A letter from Captain James Barton of New England to a citizen of +Lancaster indicates that there was commerce between these places. Barton +stated in the letter that he wished to secure a cargo of tobacco, hides +and pork for market in the Barbadoes. His ketch, with a cargo of rum, +salt, sugar, cloth and salted cod and mackerel, would sail from Salem +and exchange cargoes in Virginia and then continue to the West Indies. +Boats from the West Indies sailed to Virginia and then on to New +England. + + +_THE COLONIAL SAILOR_ + +A sailor was always a source of interest to the public in colonial days, +whether he wore his tarry working clothes or his shore outfit. There was +the aura of foreign lands about him--he brought stories of far places to +the news-hungry colonists of the New World. + +On shore the sailor was a glamorous figure in his flapping trousers, +scarlet sash and cutlasses, or dressed "in a strange habitt with a +four-cornered Capp instead of a hatt and his Breeches hung with Ribbons +from Wast downward a great depth, one over the other like Shingles of a +house." He wore his pigtail shoved into an eelskin, which was supposed +to make his hair grow longer. + + +_JOHN CARTER_ + +One day in the year 1654 the frontier home of Thomas Meade on the +Rappahannock, in Lancaster County, was the focal point toward which the +men of the Northern Neck were converging. Some came galloping on +horseback between the big forest trees and others probably came by +sloop. + +The Assembly at Jamestown had recently ordered that an armed force be +raised in the Northern Neck: "100 men from Lancaster, 40 from +Northumberland and 30 from Westmoreland." After meeting at Meade's house +the force under John Carter was to proceed to the Rappahannock Indian +town and demand satisfaction for injuries done the white settlers in +that region, but they were to commit no acts of hostility unless +attacked. + +Swords and firearms were glinting that day, and no doubt the flagon was +passed many times. Among the men assembled, there was Captain Henry +Fleet, the old Indian trader. He and David Wheatliff were to act as +interpreters. + +There seems to be no record of the outcome of this expedition. With the +assistance of Captain Fleet, who was well known as "a powerful man in +Indian affairs," it probably turned out well. + +After this affair John Carter was known as "Colonel Carter of Lancaster +County." + +Colonel Carter had but recently settled in the Northern Neck. He had +sailed one day from the Chesapeake into the Rappahannock and there +before him lay virgin territory--tobacco soil and a ready-made highway +where ships could sail to his dooryard and carry his tobacco straight to +foreign markets. + +He patented land and built his home on a neck cut out from the land by a +creek and a river. He gave his home the Indian name of the river, +Corotoman. The creek was called Carter's. + +John Carter left England in 1649 when Cromwell seized the government. +Little is known of his family in England. When he came to Virginia he +settled first in Upper Norfolk and lived there five years. He probably +came to Lancaster County because he saw more opportunity there. + +John Carter prospered in the wilderness of the Northern Neck. He +acquired many acres, considerable wealth and all the offices and honors +that went with his position as a substantial landowner. He was even +appointed to his Majesty's Council in Jamestown, which was a high honor. + +His dwelling at Corotoman was no doubt a good house for that time. +Inventories show that it had glass windows, and the basement was floored +with paving stones which he had imported from England. The floors of the +dependencies were probably of the same. + +He wanted his children to have religious training. He built a church on +his property so that his family could have a place to worship God. + +Although women were scarce in this frontier country, Colonel Carter +managed to find five wives within twenty years. + +In 1669, Colonel Carter died at Corotoman and was laid to rest in the +yard of his church. + +Colonel John Carter of Lancaster County was the founder of the Carter +family in Virginia. His son, Robert, was left to carry on the family +traditions. He did so in a spectacular way. + + +_FLEET'S POINT_ + +When a sailing vessel left the Potomac and headed south toward Jamestown +it traveled about six miles down the Chesapeake and then it came to the +entrance of the Great Wicomico River. + +On the north side of the mouth of the Great Wicomico there was a point. +This point was called Fleet's Point because the plantation of Captain +Henry Fleet, the Indian trader, was located there. + +Between the year 1650 and 1655 Captain Fleet had patented large tracts +of land in Northumberland and Lancaster. He apparently lived in +Lancaster for awhile because he was a burgess from that county in 1652. + +But Captain Fleet finally settled in Northumberland at Fleet's Point. In +that region there had been an Indian village named Cinquack. It was thus +marked on an early map. By the time Captain Fleet settled on the point +the Indians may have moved inland, or to an island in the Chesapeake. Or +Fleet may have bought the land from the Indians. + +Weary voyagers on the Chesapeake, if evening was near, must have looked +for the lights of Captain Fleet's dwelling on the point. Probably +because of its location Fleet's Point became a stopping place for +"persons passing from Maryland to Virginia." + +Captain Fleet no doubt welcomed these guests, but he would stand for no +misconduct at Fleet's Point, as is shown by a deposition that has been +preserved: + +"One Henry Carline, of Kent County, Maryland, in 1655, stopped at his +house with a woman, and that he provided lodgings also for another +woman, and a man. Fleet becoming indignant at Carline's loose behavior, +turned him, and the woman who came with him, out of his house, and had +them arraigned before the Rappahannock Court. Carline was fined for +keeping the servant woman from her employer, and disowning his wife, and +the woman was ordered to receive 30 lashes." + +All records concerning Captain Fleet seem to end here. Did he ever +return to England? Or was he killed by the Indians? + +Perhaps he spent the rest of his life at Fleet's Point and was buried +there. + + +_GEORGE MASON_ + +George Mason was another early settler in the upper wilderness of the +Northern Neck. + +The first George Mason came to Virginia during the Cavalier emigration. +He "went up the Potomac River and settled at Accohick, near Pasbytanzy." + +Apparently the first mention of this founder of the Mason family in +Virginia occurs in the patent of land obtained by him in March, 1655: +"Said land being due the said George Mason by and for the transportation +of eighteen persons in to the colony." Mason was married but it is not +known if his wife or family were among these persons transported as +"head-rights." + +The next mention of George Mason in the records is in 1658 when he sold +five hundred acres of land to Mr. John Lease for "five cows with calves +and two thousand five hundred pounds of tobacco." Westmoreland County at +this time included land on the Virginia side of the Potomac from the +northern boundary of Northumberland to the present site of Georgetown in +the District of Columbia. With the land sold to Mr. Lease, Mason +included "all privileges of hawking, fishing and fowling." + +By this time George Mason was fairly well established in his wilderness +home among the Indians, some of whom were friendly and some were not. + +George Mason, Giles Brent and Gerrard Fowke were the "men of the +border" at this time. From time to time they were involved in troubles +with the Indians. + +Colonel Mason's death occurred probably in 1686. He was buried in the +"Burying Place, at Accokeek." He was the great-grandfather of George +Mason, the Revolutionary patriot and author of the Bill of Rights. + + +_MARY CALVERT_ + +"Ye said Mrs. Calvert shall personally receive thirty stripes upon her +bare shoulders for her offence." Thus the court of Northumberland +decided in the case of Mary Calvert in the year of our Lord 1655. + +This court was probably held at Coan Hall, the home of Colonel John +Mottrom, as it is doubtful that a court-house had yet been built. + +Court Day was a great event to the men of Virginia in colonial times. It +created an opportunity for the discussion of politics, for trading +livestock, bargaining for the sale of tobacco, catching up with the +news, and last but not least, a free enjoyment of rough horse-play, +accompanied by the passing of the jug. + +Let us imagine this Court Day at Coan Hall. If the weather was warm +enough the session may have been held out of doors under the trees. In +the rear the virgin forest must have furnished an impressive background. +In front flowed the river where the small sailing vessels, barges and +log canoes belonging to the men who had come to court were tied or +anchored. A few horses may have been tied in the barn-lot or tethered +out to graze, but there were not many horses in the Neck at that time, +probably not more than fifteen or twenty in the county. + +In cold weather court was doubtless held inside before the blazing fire +in the great hall. Colonel Mottrom, if he was presiding, was no doubt +dressed in his best, as befitted the occasion and his position as +justice. Ursula was probably in the kitchen supervising preparations for +a feast for those among the gathering who would be their guests. + +If the crowd overflowed outside there was perhaps an outdoor fire near +the stables for warmth. And the passing flagon of ale no doubt helped to +warm and cheer the crowd. Contests of strength and skill, such as +wrestling, cudgeling, running, riding and shooting may have been going +on there while the court was in progress inside the house. + +Mary Calvert must have been embarrassed to have been the only woman in +such a crowd of men, for as a rule women stayed out of sight on Court +Days. The records reveal only enough information about Mary Calvert to +arouse the curiosity. What sort of woman was she? + +She was perhaps fairly young, as women of that day usually married early +and died early. There is no clue as to her appearance but it is safe to +assume that her clothes were bright because colonials wore gay colors, +and that she wore a hood of some sort over her head, and if it was cold +a mantle that covered her other garments. + +What heinous crime had this woman committed that she deserved to be +lashed thirty times across her bare shoulders? + +Mary Calvert had been so bold as to speak in public against Oliver +Cromwell and the Parliament of England. She had called them "rogues and +rebells." + +Now, Mrs. Calvert confessed in court that she had made this statement, +but in her own defense she stated that she was in danger of being +murdered by her husband and "spake those words" to bring about her +arrest and thus be "secured from her husband." + +Was Mary telling the truth? The true answer will never be known. But the +ancient county records do reveal the fact that her husband either loved +her and could not stand by and see her lashed, or that he wanted to save +his own self-respect. + +Whatever his reason may have been he did come forward and beg to pay a +fine in order that Mary's sentence be revoked-- + +"Upon Mr. Calvert's petition in behalfe of his wife," the court ordered +him to pay a thousand pounds of tobacco for commuting "of ye corporall +punishment to be inflicted upon his said wife, with charges of court." + + +_HE LIVED BRAVELY_ + +Colonel John Mottrom may not have presided at the county court of 1655 +for he died about that time. He was but forty-five years old and he had +not yet built his brew-house or seen his vision of the town at Coan come +true. + +The funeral was no doubt a big affair for Colonel Mottrom was a +prominent man, and all funerals then were important occasions. These +early funerals were carried on in a reverent manner but there was a +cheerful side too. Funerals could even be called festive. The reason for +this was that a funeral brought about one of the few chances friends and +neighbors had for a reunion, and for feasting and drinking together. + +The guests had to travel a long way by boat or on horseback to attend a +funeral and these funeral guests were regarded as even more "sacred" +than ordinary guests. The unwritten laws of hospitality would have been +broken if these guests had been allowed to return home without more than +ample food and drink. + +Thus the bereaved Mottrom household probably had to put their sorrows +aside while they made preparations for the funeral. + +Sometimes the minister and pall-bearers, who were usually the leading +citizens of the county, were directed to wear certain special items, +such as gloves, ribbons and a "love scarf." Mourning-rings and gloves +were often gifts to chief mourners from the family of the deceased. +Often the will of the deceased directed the family to make such gifts. + +Colonel Mottrom may have desired to be "buryed ... in the garden plote." +It was the usual custom to be buried not too far away from the dwelling. + +It could be truly written of this first settler of the Northern Neck, as +it had been said of another early Virginian--"he lived bravely, kept a +good house and was a true lover of Virginia." + +After the body was laid to rest the memory of the deceased was usually +honored by a furious fusillade. This may have been done more for the +entertainment of those who came to bury the deceased than to honor the +dead. Sometimes as much as ten pounds of powder were used. Many +accidents occurred at funerals because of the wild firing of guns by +persons who had been drinking. + +The extravagant use of powder was nothing when compared to the amount of +liquor, of all kinds, consumed at a funeral. At one funeral sixty +gallons of cider, four gallons of rum, two gallons of brandy, five +gallons of wine, and thirty pounds of sugar to sweeten the drinks were +used. + +Food for the occasion may have included geese, turkeys and other +poultry, a pig, several bushels of flour and twenty pounds of butter. +Sometimes a whole steer and several sheep were prepared for the crowd. A +big funeral cost many pounds of tobacco. + +Colonel Mottrom's inventory was valued at 33,896 pounds of tobacco, +which was as large as any estate in the colony at that time. His +inventory was recorded in Northumberland County in 1657, and shows that +he was a man of "wealth and literary pretensions." + +He left his children "well-fixed" as to land. In Northumberland alone he +had patented 3700 acres. Tradition says that he left the daughter of his +associate, Nicholas Morris, "a riding mare." His will was referred to +the governor "because of some ambiguities in the procurings of it." No +copy of it can now be found. + +Due to distances and lack of fast transportation the widow's hand was +sometimes spoken for at the funeral of her husband by one of the guests +who was afraid that he might lose out if he waited to make another +visit. This was probably not true in Ursula's case, but she did remarry +soon enough for her new husband to act as one of the executors of +Colonel Mottrom's will. + +Major George Colclough, Ursula's third husband, was a burgess in 1658. +After his death Ursula Bish Thompson-Mottrom-Colclough married Colonel +Isaac Allerton. Even after she had married this fourth time she +continued to have trouble in settling Colonel Mottrom's estate, because +of the "ambiguities" of his will. + +Colonel and Mrs. Allerton lived at his home, The Narrows, which was +located in the new county of Westmoreland, formed from Northumberland in +1653. + +Colonel Allerton was the son of Isaac Allerton, who came to Plymouth on +the _Mayflower_ in 1620, and of Fear Brewster, only daughter of Governor +William Brewster, of Plymouth. He was born in 1630 and was one of the +early graduates of Harvard College. He came to Virginia and settled in +the Northern Neck at The Narrows. + +From Ursula and Isaac Allerton was descended President Zachary Taylor. + + +_WITCHCRAFT_ + +The belief in witchcraft was prevalent amongst the early settlers of the +Northern Neck. The Neck at this time was beset with wolves and Indians +and was a true type of a frontier colony. + +To the witch was ascribed the power of inflicting strange and incurable +diseases, of changing men into horses when they were asleep at night, +and after bridling and saddling them, riding them at a gallop over the +countryside to the places where the witches had their frolics. Horses +too were thought to be ridden at night, unbridled and barebacked. In the +morning these horses would be fagged-out and caked with sweat and mud +and their manes plaited into "witches' stirrups." + +That witches were taken seriously by settlers of the Neck in the +seventeenth century is proven by the following abstract from the +Northumberland County records: + + "20 Nov., 1656. + + "Whereas, Articles were Exhibited against Wm. H---- by Mr. + David Lindsaye (Minister) upon suspicion of witchcraft, + sorcery, etc. And an able jury of Twenty-four men were + empanelled to try the matter by verdict of which jury they + found part of the Articles proved by several depositions. The + Court doth therefore order yet ye said Wm. H---- shall + forthwith receave ten stripes upon his bare back and forever to + be Banished this County and yet hee depart within the space of + two moneths. And also to pay all the charges of Court." + + +_SEAHORSE OF LONDON_ + +On a cold day in the late winter of 1657 some men were busily working in +the Potomac near the mouth of Mattox Creek. They were trying to lift a +foundered ketch, the _Seahorse_ of London. Among the men was young John +Washington, son of an English clergyman. + +John had sailed for Virginia in the winter of 1656, as mate and voyage +partner in the _Seahorse_. After arriving in the Potomac the ketch was +loaded with a cargo of tobacco. On her way out of the river she ran +aground. Before she could be floated a storm hit and sank her. The +entire cargo of tobacco was ruined. + +During the delay John made friends with a wealthy planter named +Nathaniel Pope, who lived in the neighborhood. + +The _Seahorse_ was finally raised but by that time John did not wish to +return to England. Perhaps Nathaniel's daughter, Anne, was the +attraction in Virginia. + +John prevailed on Edward Prescott, the master and part owner of the +_Seahorse_, to release him from further service in order that he might +remain in the Northern Neck of Virginia. He also demanded payment of his +wages. Prescott countered that Washington owed him money and was partly +responsible for the damage done to the vessel. He threatened to have +John arrested and imprisoned. + +John's new friend, Pope, offered to go his bond in beaver skins. If +there was a suit the outcome is unknown. Prescott finally sailed away in +the _Seahorse_ and Washington remained in Virginia, but they parted on +bad terms and this was not the last of their quarrel--but that is +another story. + +John soon married Anne Pope. As a wedding gift Nathaniel gave them a +seven-hundred-acre tract of land near Mattox Creek, in Westmoreland +County. In 1664 John and Anne moved to a new home four miles eastward on +Bridges Creek. + +John Washington was the first of that name to settle in the Northern +Neck. In Westmoreland he led an active life as a planter and as a leader +in county affairs. He had received "decent schooling" before he left +England. John and Anne were the great-grandparents of that most famous +Washington--George. + + +"_TENN MULBERRY TREES_" + +In the fall or early spring of 1656-57 the Virginians were planting +trees. + +Since the pioneers of the Northern Neck were living on the edges of a +virgin forest and had been trying desperately to clear away enough of it +to make fields for tobacco and corn, it seems strange that they would +now be engaged in planting more trees. + +But these trees were different--they had been imported from China. The +Assembly at Jamestown had recently declared that "whereas by experience +silke will be the most profitable commoditie for the country ... that +everie one hundred acres of land plant tenn mulberry trees." + +When the colonists came to Virginia they noticed the abundance of +mulberry trees. These native trees, such favorites of the Indians, had +reddish-blue berries. The early colonists thought that "the climate and +soil of middle America were ... adapted to the culture of silke." + +So, the first Assembly, in 1619, in the church at Jamestown, had adopted +measures on the planting of mulberry trees: + +"About the plantation of mulberry trees, be it enacted that every man as +he is seatted upon his division, doe for seven years together, every +yeare plante and maintaine in growte six Mulberry trees at the least, +and as many more as he shall think conveniente." + +But the silkworms would not cooperate--they refused to eat the leaves +of the red mulberry tree. In 1621, the white mulberry was imported from +China. But still the silk industry languished, this time it was said, +for want of cheap labor. + +In the beginning the care of the silkworms was held to be specially +suitable work for children. The mulberry trees were kept like a low +hedge so that children could pick the leaves to feed the worms. This is +probably where the singing-game originated: + +"Here we go 'round the mulberry bush, mulberry bush--." + +Tradition said that two boys, "if their hands be not sleeping in their +pockets, could care for six ounces of seed from hatching till within +fourteen days of spinning." After that three or four helpers, "women and +children being as proper as men," were needed to assist in feeding the +worms, airing, drying, cleansing and "perfuming" them. + +Now, under the Commonwealth, the silk industry was again being +stimulated. But all was in vain--the colonists had their minds set on +raising tobacco and they could not be diverted. + + +_ROADS_ + +As a rule the settlers of the Northern Neck built their homes on the +banks of rivers and creeks. Since travel was by boat there was little +need at first for roads through the forest. + +The Indians traveled through the woods over narrow footpaths not much +over twenty inches wide. These had been made originally by animals. Now +they were traveled by both Indians and wild beasts. These paths usually +ran along high ground or where there was little undergrowth and few +streams to cross. + +When it was necessary for settlers to penetrate the interior they used +these Indian and animal paths, or cut new paths and blazed the trees so +that the blazes stood out clear and white in the forest. + +Northumberland County records mention a horse path "wch leadeth from +Wicocomoco to Chickacoon buttin upon the north west side of an Indian +field knowne by the name of Fairefield." There was a cart path near the +Corotoman river "knowne by the name of Morratico & Wiccomcomico Path." +Early land patents mention other paths, horse paths and Indian paths. + +Rolling-roads were narrow roads cut through the woods over which +hogsheads of tobacco fitted with axles could be rolled or drawn. In this +way inland plantations could send their tobacco to wharves and +warehouses on the waterfront for shipment overseas. + +The parish church, court-houses, ferries and ordinaries became the focal +points that led from crude interplantation lanes. In 1658 the General +Assembly appointed surveyors whose responsibility it was to clear +general ways from county to county. These roads were to be forty feet +wide and the surveyors were to see that the citizens kept them up. This +last order was hard to enforce because for a long time the planters had +little interest in highways on land. + + +_MARKETS_ + +The custom of Market Day, which was a form of the English fair, was +brought to Virginia by the colonists. In 1649 it was decided to hold +markets every week in Jamestown, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. + +The Assembly decided in 1655 to establish one or more market-places in +each county. These were to be located on a river or creek, and all the +trade of the surrounding country was to be concentrated at these places. +Imported articles were to be brought from certain ports to each market +place. Here were to be built the court-house, prison, offices of the +clerk and sheriff, ordinaries and churches. Nothing seems to have come +of this attempt. + +Again, about 1679, certain places were designated as public marts, to +which all the Indians who were at peace with the white settlers were +invited to come, one day in the spring and one day in autumn. A +government clerk was to keep records of all the trading which took place +at each mart. + +One of these marts was situated in Lancaster County, and another in +Stafford. In Northumberland, the Wicocomico Indians were to be permitted +to trade with the English under special regulations adopted by the +authorities in that county. + +The purpose of these market places was to encourage the building of +towns, but the attempts were all unsuccessful. The settlers preferred +their independent way of life on the plantations. + + +_THE OLD DOMINION_ + +In May, 1660, Charles II returned to England by invitation of a new +Parliament. Cromwell was dead and his son and successor, "Tumbledown +Dick," had abdicated. + +Charles rode into London, where the streets were dressed with green +boughs and the windows hung with tapestry in his honor. Since everyone +was so glad to see him he wondered why he had stayed away so long. + +When the Virginians heard the news they went wild with joy! + +Sir William Berkeley already had control of the Virginia government +again. The Assembly at Jamestown had foreseen the restoration of the +king and they had called Sir William back from his self-imposed exile at +his plantation, Green Spring, in March, 1660--two months before Charles +was actually crowned King of England. + +It took four months for the news of the restoration to reach Virginia. +In September, Sir William issued a command that the news be proclaimed +in every county in Virginia. + +This was what the Virginians had been waiting for and they celebrated in +their typical way--by drinking healths and by making every kind of noise +that they could contrive to make. + +Hundreds of pounds of tobacco were exchanged for barrels of gunpowder +and kegs of cider. In some places "ye trumpeters" were paid as much as +eight hundred pounds of tobacco for their music, and at least one +minister was paid five hundred pounds of tobacco for a service of +thanksgiving. + +In recognition of Virginia's loyalty to him, Charles II caused her to be +proclaimed an independent member of his Empire. He had it engraved on +coins that the English Kingdom should henceforth consist of "England, +Scotland, Ireland and Virginia." Virginia's coat-of-arms was added to +those of the other three countries comprised in his dominions. +Traditions say that Charles wore a robe of Virginia silk at his +coronation. + +It was in this way that Virginia acquired the title of "The Old +Dominion." + + +_THE PROPRIETARY_ + +The settlers of the Northern Neck had hardly ended their celebrations in +honor of England's new king when they received a great shock. + +One of the first things that Charles II did, at the insistence of those +courtiers who had shared his exile, was to have the Northern Neck +patent, which he had issued while he was in France, recorded and put on +the market to be leased for the benefit of those courtiers to whom he +had given it. Thus in 1661, the Northern Neck became a proprietary--that +is, it was owned now by the seven courtiers. + +In 1662, several English merchants took a lease of the proprietary from +the original courtiers who owned it. The merchants hoped to settle new +"adventures" in the land between the Potomac and the Rappahannock. King +Charles then wrote a letter to Governor Berkeley instructing him to +assist these men who had leased the patent. + +Even Sir William who had always been fanatical in his loyalty to the +Crown was shocked. The royal order aroused the opposition of both the +governor and the council to the proprietorship and to the lease of it. +It was a threat to the colonial government and they were afraid that +they would lose their power to defend themselves. They felt that the +rights of the colonists should be protected. + +Before 1661, a total of 576 grants of "headright" lands in the Northern +Neck had been made in the King's name by the Colonial Governor. The +meaning of "headright" was that any person who paid his own way to +Virginia would receive 50 acres of land. He would also be assigned 50 +acres for each person he transported "at his own cost." + +Now titles to these lands previously taken would be clouded. Or the +lands might be completely lost. + +Instead of assisting the lessees of the patent the colonial government +at Jamestown prepared an address to the Crown and sent one of their +ablest citizens to England to act as an agent for Virginia. + +The King ignored this protest, rebuked the colonial government and sent +their representative back to Virginia with a renewed petition of the +proprietors and orders to "protect his agents and encourage them." + +Nevertheless, no more was heard of the English merchants. The colonials +had scored their first victory in the war over the Northern Neck patent, +but many troublesome years were still to follow. + + +_A FIRST LADY OF JAMESTOWN_ + +While life flowed on at Chicacone, what had become of little Frances +Mottrom? + +Frances had been growing up. She was now, in 1662, seventeen years old +and about to become the bride of one of the most important men in +Virginia. + +Since her step-mother's marriage Frances had probably been living with +her sister, Anne, who had been married for five or six years to Richard +Wright, formerly a merchant of London. The Wrights lived part of the +time at Coan Hall and part of the time at Cabin Point, in Westmoreland +County. The latter estate had been left to Anne by her father, Colonel +John Mottrom. + +And how did Frances find a suitable bridegroom in the wilderness of the +Northern Neck? Probably through her brother-in-law, Richard Wright. Her +future husband, the Honorable Nicholas Spencer, Esq., had also been a +London merchant who had taken up lands in the Neck. He was now a +neighbor of the Wrights, in Westmoreland County. + +And where was the wedding to take place? There are no records to tell +us, but a deed made a few years after Frances' marriage refers to her as +being "late of Chickacone." It is doubtful if a church had been built as +yet, although the Parish of Chicacoan had been established in 1653, and +the Reverend David Lindsaye, of the Established Church of England, had +arrived in the Northern Neck as early as 1656. + +Let us assume that Frances and Nicholas were married at Coan Hall by the +new minister, who would have been dressed for the occasion in a white +surplice with bands and a "close" cap of black velvet. + +The ceremony would probably have taken place on a Wednesday morning +between eight and noonday. + +The bride was doubtless radiant in a low-cut gown of the latest London +fashion. It may have been pink, yellow or some other pastel shade but we +can be sure that it was not white. The gown, no doubt fell in soft folds +to the ground, as hoops had not yet come into vogue. Her hair was +probably arranged just as she wore it as a child, with a veil in place +of the cap. + +Coan Hall was no doubt "passing sweet trimmed up with divers flowers" or +evergreens. All the kettles were doubtless a-bubble in the kitchen, and +the silver, pewter, brass and copper gleamed in the firelight. + +There seem to be no surviving records of the festivities accompanying a +seventeenth century wedding in Virginia, but we may be sure that there +was "an open cellar, a full house and a sweating cook," three things +dearly loved by these transplanted English people. + +They also loved noise--the sound of guns and firecrackers, bells and +music. They liked to sing the old ballads brought from "home," as they +still called England. + +The wedding guests may have brought small spiced buns to the wedding and +piled them high in the center of the table. If the bride and groom +succeeded in kissing each other over the mound, lifelong prosperity was +assured. + +Dancing and games were very likely to have followed the feasting. The +wedding guests may have lingered on a week or more at Coan. It is +possible that the wedding party followed the bride and groom to the +groom's house in Westmoreland and continued the festivities for awhile +there. + +And how did Frances reach her new home? Most likely by sailing vessel, +up the Potomac. If she traveled by land it was doubtless on horseback as +there were few if any carriages then, nor any roads. She may have been +seated on a pillion behind her new husband, holding on tight to his +waist. If the wedding party traveled by land they must have made quite a +clatter--riding at the reckless "planter's pace" between the big trees, +shouting and singing and making the forest ring with happy sound. + +Two wedding gifts that Frances may have brought to her new home were a +"garnish of pewter," that is a full set of pewter platters, plates and +dishes, and a bread "peel," which was significant of domestic utility, +plenty, and was a symbol of good luck. These were favorite wedding gifts +then. Glass and earthenware were scarce at that time because of breakage +on the trip across the Atlantic. An inventory later on shows that +Frances had only twelve glasses and not more than eighty-eight pieces of +earthenware. Silver plate was abundant in the homes of the wealthy. + +At the time of their marriage Frances' husband was a member of the House +of Burgesses. Later (1679-89) he was Secretary of the Colony which made +him, next to the Governor, probably the most powerful man in Virginia at +that time. People started calling his home on Nomini River, Secretary's +Point, by which name it was ever after known. + +Colonel Spencer's neighbors named their parish "Cople" in honor of his +ancestral parish in Bedfordshire, England. + +About 1675 Colonel Spencer and John Washington procured a patent for +five thousand acres of land on Little Hunting Creek, which later became +famous as the Mount Vernon estate. This land descended to the heirs of +Spencer and Washington. + +Colonel Spencer became President of the Council, which was a position of +great honor and dignity. As President of the Council in the absence of +the Governor, his cousin Lord Culpeper, he became acting governor from +1683-84. + +"Madam Spencer," as Frances was now respectfully addressed, had seen +many changes since she had left her wilderness playground in the +Northern Neck, to become for awhile the "First Lady of Jamestown." She +had borne six children. One son went to England and remained there to +claim the large estates which his father had inherited. + +After Governor Spencer's death Frances married Reverend John Bolton. + + +_LAND_ + +"Clear titles" to their lands were extremely important to the +landholders of the Northern Neck, probably because for many years due to +the proprietary their land was not wholly their own. + +To the natives of the Neck, land was an almost sacred possession. To +acquire more and more of it was an obsession with some of them. Land was +their wealth--without it tobacco could not be grown. The virgin soil +lasted only about three years under tobacco cultivation. It was easier +and cheaper to look for new lands than to enrich old acreage so the +planter was always looking for new lands, in the fertile river margins +or in the vast forests. It was a wasteful system. + +Land made a man's social position then. For social rating purposes the +amount of land he owned did not matter so much, but if he was to be +"somebody" he must own some land. Common expressions in those days +were--"he is a big landowner" or "he owns land." This manner of social +rating persisted for many years in the Neck. + +Land was a man's security--even if he could no longer make money on it +"the land was still there." If he did not have wealth he still had land +and a social position. + +The landowner rarely sold his land. The bulk of it was left to the +oldest son; other sons received smaller portions and the daughters +received still smaller portions. The girls were supposed to marry into +landed stock. + +The importance of land to natives of the Northern Neck in bygone days +can hardly be exaggerated. + + +_PROCESSIONING_ + +A morning in spring between Easter and Whitsuntide found all Virginians +out-of-doors. This special day came once each year--it was the day of +the "processioning." + +On this day, required by law, the planters would ride and walk over +their lands and inspect their property lines. We can visualize the +scene--the planter and his older sons leading the way, servants +following with axes and other implements, chattering women and girls, +servant women bringing up the rear with lunch baskets, and children +riding pillion, or in front of some older person, or when the procession +halted, darting about chasing a butterfly or rabbit. + +"Processioning" day was an important time, for in those days land +surveys were not always true and the boundaries of each man's plantation +were uncertain. At this time the various landmarks were impressed upon +the minds of the older sons--"yonder is a corner pine," "the four red +and the one white oak," "there is the grove of tulip poplars," "the +dogwood corner," "the hickory corner," "the two gums and the white +oak"--there was so much to remember! + +Sometimes the lands were divided by ditches, for ditches would last a +hundred years or more it was said. Landmarks were renewed at this time. +Blazes were recut on trees and in the places where trees had fallen +during the winter new ones were planted. Tradition says that pear trees +were often planted as they were long-lived trees. + +Here and there processions from neighboring plantations would meet at +the boundaries where the lands joined. A sociable time then followed, +and if it was at lunch time, perhaps a picnic. Disputed boundaries were +decided upon at these times and announced to all persons present so that +at the next "processioning" those who were still living would be able to +testify as to the correct line. + + +"_THE BANQUETTING HOUSE_" + +Among the planters whose lands adjoined near Machodoc Creek, in +Westmoreland County, were John Lee, Henry Corbin, Thomas Gerrard and +Isaac Allerton. + +John Lee was the oldest son of Richard, the immigrant, of Cobbs Hall in +Northumberland. John was the first of the Lees to establish a seat on +land acquired by his father on the Potomac. This first Lee home in +Westmoreland was called Matholic. John had been educated at Oxford and +had graduated at Queen's College, 1658, and then studied medicine. He +had probably returned to Virginia with his father in 1664. Two years +later he was seated at Matholic, and he immediately took his place among +the leading planters in the county. Besides the usual offices that went +with his station, he was on a committee appointed by the governor for +the defense of the Northern Neck against Indians. Later he served on a +commission with Colonel John Washington and others to "arrange the +boundary line between Lancaster and Northumberland Counties." But what +Jack really liked to do was to ride, shoot and fish. He liked the +militia training and the celebrations that went with it. He was young, +gay and a bachelor. + +Henry Corbin had been born in Warwickshire, England, about 1629. His +family was of high standing among the English gentry. Henry came to +Virginia during the Cavalier emigration and took up an estate on the +Potomac near Matholic. His home was named Pecatone for an Indian chief +of the region, according to tradition. Pecatone was one of the great +manors of Westmoreland. It was built of brick with a terrace and stone +steps in front. The large rooms were wainscoted. The house was set in a +grove of trees and the lawn sloped to the Potomac. The house had the +massive look of a fort and it was plain to severity. Life at Pecatone +was carried on in the grand manner. + +Doctor Thomas Gerrard lived not far from Isaac Allerton on a plantation +called Wilton. Gerrard had once owned lands and had been a prominent +figure in the Province of Maryland, but because of religious persecution +he had crossed the Potomac and found sanctuary in the Northern Neck. +Wilton had originally been patented by Major William Hockaday in 1651. +At that time the Indians were still living on the land and Hockaday had +to wait to seat the place "until the Indians could be removed." Doctor +Gerrard purchased Wilton from Hockaday in 1662. + +Isaac Allerton was the grandson of that celebrated Puritan, Governor +William Brewster of Plymouth. After Isaac graduated from Harvard +College, in 1650, he left New England and settled in Westmoreland +County, near the plantations of John Lee and Henry Corbin. Isaac called +his home The Narrows. He became a leading planter of the county and was +one of the men of Westmoreland "upon whom Governor Berkeley relied." In +1675 Allerton was second in command under Colonel John Washington to +fight Indians. Allerton married Ursula, the widow of John Mottrom. From +the union of Ursula and Isaac was descended President Zachary Taylor, as +has been stated before. + +These then were the four neighbors with such diverse backgrounds, whose +plantations adjoined and who all came together each year at +"processioning" time. + +In March of 1670 these men decided to build a "banquetting house for the +continuance of good Neighborhood." + +The plan was that each neighbor, or his heirs, would take turns in +preparing the banquet and entertainment "yearly, according to his due, +to make an Honorable treatment fit to entertain the undertakers thereof, +their wives, misters & friends yearly and every year, & to begin upon +the 29th of May." + +Thus the agreement was written, witnessed, and signed by Henry Corbin, +John Lee, Thomas Gerrard and Isaac Allerton, on the 30th of March 1670. +Jack Lee was assigned the responsibility of the building of the +"banquetting house." There is documented proof that the house was built +in "Pickatown field," and that the yearly celebrations were held. + +At these celebrations Jack Lee, arriving on his spirited mount dressed +in his "gray suit with silver buttons" and "gloves with silver tops," +must have been a dashing figure. + +We can imagine Ursula at "Pickatown field," escorted by her fourth +husband, Colonel Allerton; Henry Corbin with his wife Alice and +daughter, Laetitia; and the Gerrards--Thomas and Rose. + +Since friends were to be invited, Colonel Nicholas Spencer of +Secretary's Point may have been there with his wife, Frances Mottrom +Spencer. The host would probably have been afraid to omit from the guest +list Dick Cole of Salisbury Park, and his wife Anna. + +Perhaps a little eight-year-old girl from Tucker Hill was dancing gaily +at "Pickatown field" in the year 1671. In three more years "little +Sarah Tucker" was to put away childish things to become the bride of +Colonel William Fitzhugh, one of the wealthiest planters in the Neck. +And in two more years the laughter of young Jack Lee would be stilled +forever. + +But in the springtime of 1671 there was probably no small cloud over +"Pickatown field," and the "banquetting house" was filled with happy +sound. + +Here end all known records concerning the "banquetting house in +Pickatown field"--America's first country club, circa 1671. + + +_THE LAND AGENT_ + +Now, in the year 1670, something new had been added to the Northern +Neck--a land agent. + +The grapevine must have been buzzing in those days--what is a land +agent?--a man who represents the proprietary--what is a proprietary, +anyway?--the people who have taken our land away from us--who is this +land agent?--Thomas Kirton, from England--what will he do?--make us pay +rent--rent our own land?--something like taxes--I won't do it--how can +he make us?--what right have they-- + +The Northern Neckers had probably not fully realized that they no longer +owned their own land until they came face to face with a land agent. + +Thomas Kirton came to Virginia in 1670 and opened a land office in +Northumberland County. He was to be assisted by Edward Dale, a prominent +citizen of Lancaster. + +Kirton came armed with credentials, a copy of the patent and power of +attorney for himself and Dale. He presented these documents to the +General Court at Jamestown, April 5, 1671. He was recognized and action +was prompt "... the said letters, patent being read in court ...," +"obedience" and "submission" was given and recorded. + +This complete acceptance of Kirton, and what he stood for, by the +Colonial Government was another shock to the settlers of the Northern +Neck. There had never been "anything to so move the grief and passion of +the people as uncertainty whether they were to make a country for the +King or for the Proprietors." + +It had become a very real fact to the settlers now that they had +landlords over them. They had been accustomed to the utmost freedom and +independence and this was an almost unbearable blow. + +A strange thing about the story of the proprietary is that the people +who lived within it had very little understanding as to what it was all +about. Most of them lived all of their lives without understanding the +terms of the proprietary. This was partly due to the fact that +everything was done in secret. Even the Colonial Government was kept in +the dark as to the various changes and renewals, while the proprietors +increased their authority over the domain of the Northern Neck. + +Kirton's main duty was to collect quit-rents. The quit-rent was handed +down from the feudal system of medieval times. In simple terms--it was +the "bond between the lord and the land." The quit-rent was a monetary +payment to relieve the tenant of obligations, such as laboring for the +lord of a manor on a certain number of days a week, or paying him with a +portion of the produce. + +Under the system of the quit-rent the tenant still had complete control +of his land although he did not own it. He was free to bequeath the land +to his heirs. + +Kirton had little success in collecting quit-rents although they were +small, only two shillings per one hundred acres. The settlers had no +intention of paying anything to the proprietors unless they were +compelled to do so. As the years went on they acquiesced to a certain +degree, but the quit-rents were never willingly paid. + +However the settlers did not object to patenting new lands. These could +be paid for in English coins, Spanish pieces of eight, or in tobacco, if +metallic money was not to be had. + +Kirton was ousted from his office, in 1673, because for some time he had +failed to remit the quit-rents. Before this Kirton and Dale had +quarreled and Dale had ceased to act as an agent. + +Thomas Kirton probably had few friends in the Northern Neck. The fact +that he married Anna, the widow of Dick Cole, tells quite a lot about +him. She was despised and feared by her neighbors because of her +slanderous tongue. + +Kirton's home was in Westmoreland County, near the Northumberland +boundary. He probably remained in the Northern Neck, for in 1686 he +informed the Westmoreland court that its records were "somewhat delayed +and the transfers through time and carelessness were scarcely legible." +The court directed him to transcribe all the records in one book. For +this he was paid 2,000 pounds of tobacco and cask, if he finished the +work by 1688. + + +_HANNA AND THE HORSESHOE_ + +In early days the horseshoe was believed to have a magic potency. When +butter was slow in coming, a heated horseshoe was thrown into the churn. +A horseshoe was also believed to keep off witches. Doubtless most of the +early settlers of the Northern Neck had one nailed over the threshold. + +An instance of the belief in the power of the horseshoe is found in the +seventeenth century records of Northumberland County. From three sworn +statements filed in that county, "April ye 11, 1671," let us reconstruct +the strange happenings that were reported. + +The story starts on board a vessel at sea, bound home to the Northern +Neck from a trip to the Barbadoes. ("I Edw: Le Breton deposeth that +being aboard of our ship & Mr. Edward Cole talking then and there of +severall psons (persons) & among all ye rest of Mrs. Neall, Hanna +Rodham, daughter of Matthew Rodham, and wife of Christopher Neall.") + +We can imagine Le Breton and Cole in their ship's cabin relaxing a bit +as they neared home--two mariners dressed in loose breeches and jerkins +of canvas or frieze, with their warm Monmouth caps and outer garments +swaying on the pegs where they hung and the swinging lanthorn casting +crazy shadows over all. Perhaps a bottle of the West Indies rum had +loosened the tongue of Edward Cole as he told of "a certyne time some +yeares past" when "there grew difference" between himself and the family +of Hanna Neall. "She then," continued Cole, "made a kind of prayer that +he nor none of his family never prosper and shortly after his people +fell sick & much of his cattle dyed." + +When Edward Cole arrived home from the Barbadoes he found his wife ill +and the "suspition of Doctor S----, & others was that his wife was under +an ill tongue, & if it was soe he concluded yt (yet) it was Mrs. Neall +by reason of imprecations made by her & yt indeed he thought soe," and +"he did accuse Mrs. Neall of it alsoe." + +Edward Cole was greatly troubled. If Hanna Neall could do this much, she +could do worse things. He was almost "beside himself" with fear and +worry when he remembered the horseshoe nailed over his threshold. It was +there to keep off witches. If he could induce Hanna Neall to cross over +the horseshoe he could find out once and for all if she was a woman or a +witch. + +And so it came about that Edward Cole at "a certyne time sent for Mrs. +Neall to come to see his wife." + +Witches are usually thought of as being old hags, but from portions of +these statements it seems that Hanna was not an ordinary witch. She was +at least a fairly young woman, and quite possibly an attractive one. +Records of early land patents show that she and her father were +landowners, which gave her certain social distinctions, and only a small +number of persons of the best condition had the designation of Mr. and +Mrs. prefixed to their names in the seventeenth century. The +Northumberland records prove that she was fearless, for she answered +Edward Cole's invitation by coming at once. + +Did she live near enough to walk? Since individual landholdings were +large then we do not think that she lived close enough to walk. Did she +come riding on a pillion? Or did she come across the water in a barge +rowed by her servants? These are questions for speculation. + +We can assume that she was dressed in the usual outdoor costume of women +of that time and place. In April the air is still sharp in the Northern +Neck of Virginia so she probably wore a linsey-woolsey gown of blue with +undersleeves of white kenting, a dark mantle of wool, a hood with a +bright lining turned back around her face, and a white muslin apron. +Perhaps she carried a basket with some delicacy for the sick woman--a +pair of quail shot by her husband and roasted by herself on the spit in +her fireplace. + +What feelings of dread must Edward Cole have had as he watched the +approach of Hanna Neall! We can see him slowly opening the door and +standing far aside for her to enter. + +We can picture Hanna, looking into the dark room where the candle in the +tin lanthorn threw shadows across the strained faces, and a pomander +ball gave off the sickening odors that were supposed to ward off +infection. And there in the dimness of the bed with its heavy hangings +lay the sick woman. + +Was Hanna frightened when she looked into the face of her accuser? Was +she angry? Or did she pity him? In any case, when she trod on the +threshold, brushed the horseshoe with her skirts, and entered the +room--nothing happened. + +Hanna crossed to the sick woman, knelt beside the bed and "shee prayed +so heartily for her" that Edward Cole believed in her sincerity. + +It was in this way that Hanna Neall was saved from being banished from +the county, or from lashes at the whipping post, or from the ducking +"stoole" at Northumberland County court-house, down in Hull's Neck. +Saved by a horseshoe and a prayer! + +And Edward Cole straightened matters out with the following statement: + + "I, Edward Cole, doe acknowledge yt ye words which I did speake + concerning Mrs. Neall as tending to defame her with the + aspersion of being a witch, were passionately spoken. + + "Edward Cole" + + April ye 11, 1671 + + +_MUSTER_ + +In the early days of the colony there was a unit of militia in each +county. The governor, who was in command, appointed for each unit a +colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major, who had lesser officers under +them. Every freeman between the ages of sixteen and sixty was subject to +this military duty. Single troops and companies were mustered four times +a year, and once a year there was a general muster. + +Everyone looked forward to the general muster--on that day all roads led +to the county seat. Some of the people came as far as they could by boat +and then walked the rest of the way. Others came in carts and on +horseback, with the women and girls riding pillion behind their +husbands, fathers or brothers. Small children were probably perched up +in front of the riders. All were dressed in their bravest clothes. + +At the county seat there was excitement in the air--the British flags +were all flying, swords were glinting, and there was the sound of the +"brass Trumpetts w'th silver mouth pieces" and the roll of drums. There +were "Troopes of horse & Companies of Foot ... provided w'th Armes & +Ammunition" and with their "coullours" flying. The officers wore +handsome belts and "Bootes." The men carried "firelock musketts" and had +"Pistolls & Houlsters." + +After the parades and drills were over the people mingled and enjoyed +being together. It was probably the second day before the crowd broke up +and the people started homeward. Liquor was no doubt flowing freely +among the men. + +The citizens of Northumberland petitioned the House of Burgesses in +1696, "praying" that no musters should be allowed to take place on +Saturday, "as it led to the profamation of Sunday." + + +_THE STORE_ + +The store was one of the principal institutions in the colony in early +days. Every important planter kept a store somewhere on his plantation. +Sometimes it was in a room in the manor but usually it was in a detached +building. Storehouses were small, often not more than sixteen by +eighteen feet. + +The contents of these stores included nearly every article used by +Virginians. A plantation store of 1667, with contents valued at six +hundred fourteen pounds sterling, carried merchandise such as: materials +of all kinds, carpenters' tools, bellows, sickles, locks, nails, +staples, cooking utensils, flesh forks, shovels and tongs, medicines, +wool cards, compasses, needles, stirrups, looking-glasses, candlesticks, +candles, raisins, brandy, wine, and many other items. + +Most of the manufactured articles came from England. To be very salable +merchandise had to bear an English label. + + +_THE WOLF-DRIVE_ + +For a century after the first settlers came to the Northern Neck the +forest was still alive with wolves. In the evenings they could be heard +hunting and they sounded "like a pack of beagles." + +These wolves were small, not much larger than a fox, but so ravenous +that if a traveler was forced to spend the night in the woods he could +hardly keep his horse from being devoured even though tied close to him +and to the light of the fire. + +The scattered sheepfolds and grazing pastures had to be guarded. Wolves +were such a nuisance to the planters that authorities sought ways to +destroy them. Rewards were offered for any person killing a wolf +"provided the said wolf shall not be so young that it is not of age to +do mischief." + +The planters caught the wolves in various ways--in wolf-pits, log-pens +and log-traps. Several mackerel hooks were fastened together and then +dipped in melted tallow which hardened and concealed them. These were +fastened to a chain so that after the wolf had swallowed the hooks he +could not wander away in the forest and his head be lost for bounty. + +In 1674, John Mottrom, II of Coan was rewarded with fourteen hundred +pounds of tobacco for "killing seven wolves in a pitt." The settlers +often paid their public dues in the skins of wolves. + +As late as 1691 the county court of Northumberland made public +arrangements for an annual wolf-drive. The wolves were hunted on +horseback with dogs, very much in the manner of fox-hunting. Early +writers state that it was possible while going at full speed to run down +a wolf. + +The wolf-drive was somewhat like the old English "drift of the forest," +where a ring of men and boys with guns surrounded a large tract of +woods. The wolves scenting them would retreat to the center of the +circle, where the hunters would close in on them. Many were killed in +this way. "Wolf-driving" was considered great sport. + +Wolf-Trap Light, in Chesapeake Bay, is said to have been named because +ashore near there was a famous place for catching the last of the +wolves. + + +_THE INDIANS AND ROBERT HEN_ + +In the year 1675, strange things were happening in the Northern Neck. + +Thomas Matthews, a planter, whose "dwelling was in Northumberland, the +lowest county on Potomack River," recorded these strange events--there +"appear'd three prodigies in that country, which from attending +disasters were look'd upon as ominous presages. + +"The one was a large comet every evening for a week, or more at +Southwest; thirty-five degrees high streaming like a horse taile +westwards, until it reach'd (almost) the horizon, and setting toward the +North-west. + +"Another was, fflights of pigeons in breadth nigh a quarter of the +mid-hemisphere, and of their length was no visible end; whose weights +brake down the limbs of large trees whereon these rested at nights, of +which the ffowlers shot abundance and eat 'em; this sight put the old +planters under the more portentous apprehensions, because the like was +seen, (as they said), in the year 1644 when th' Indians committed the +last massacre, ... + +"The third strange appearance was swarms of fflyes about an inch long, +and big as the top of a man's little finger, rising out of spigot holes +in the earth, which eat the new sprouted leaves from the tops of the +trees without doing other harm, and in a month left us." (This insect +was the seventeen-year locust.) + +The events which followed these strange occurrences not only justified +the apprehensions of the old planters but also changed the course of +history in the New World. + +Thomas Matthews, of Cherry Point in Northumberland, also had a +plantation, servants and cattle in Stafford County. His over-seer there +had bargained with an Englishman, Robert Hen, to come "thither" and be +herdsman of the Stafford flocks. + +Robert Hen arrived in due course of time and made his habitation on the +Stafford plantation. + +On a Sunday morning in the summer of 1675, people on their way to church +found Hen lying across his threshold, and an Indian lying in the +dooryard--"both chopt on their heads, arms and other parts, as if done +with Indian hatchetts, th' Indian was dead, but Hen when asked who did +that? answered Doegs, Doegs, and soon died, and then a boy who came out +from under a bed where he had hid himself, told them, Indians had come +at break of day and done those murders." + +"Ffrom this Englishman's bloud," wrote Matthews, "did (by degrees) arise +Bacon's rebellion." + +Matthews continues: "Of this horrid action Coll: Mason who commanded the +militia regiment of ffoot & Capt. Brent[6] the troop of horse in that +county ... having speedy notice raised 30, or more men, & pursu'd those +Indians 20 miles up & 4 miles over that river into Maryland, where +landing at dawn of day, they found two small paths ... each leader with +his party took a separate path and in less than a furlong either found a +cabin, which they (silently) surrounded. Capt. Brent went to the Doegs +cabin (as it proved to be) who speaking the Indian tongue called to have +a council ... such being the usual manner with Indians ... the king came +trembling forth, and would have fled, when Capt. Brent, catching hold of +his twisted lock (which was all the hair he wore) told him he was come +for the murder of Rob't Hen, the king pleaded ignorance and slipt loos, +whom Brent shot dead with his pistoll, th' Indians shot two or three +guns out of the cabin, th' English shot into it, th' Indians throng'd +out at the door and fled, the English shot as many as they could so that +they killed ten ... and brought away the kings son of about 8 years +old ... the noise of the shooting awaken'd the Indians in the cabin, +which Coll: Mason had encompassed, who likewise rush'd out and fled, of +whom his company (supposing from that noise of shooting Brent's party to +be engaged) shot fourteen before an Indian came, who with both hands +shook him (friendly) by one arm saying Susquehanoughs netoughs, meaning +Susquehanoughs friends and fled. Whereupon Col: Mason ran amongst his +men crying out for the Lords sake shoot no more, these are our friends +the Susquehanoughs." + +[Footnote 6: This was the second Giles Brent, who was half-Indian.] + +This attack upon the friendly Susquehannocks was a very unfortunate and +costly mistake. The incensed Indians took to the warpath and murders +were committed in both Virginia and Maryland. A body of Virginia militia +under the command of Colonel John Washington, Colonel George Mason and +Major Allerton, all of the Northern Neck, crossed the Potomac after the +Indians. + +This warfare ended, after much bloodshed, with Bacon in command. The +allied Indians were defeated and the once friendly Susquehannocks were +anihilated. And it was in this way, with an army at his command, that +Bacon established his power and became strong enough to fight Governor +Berkeley. + +Thus it was, according to Thomas Matthews, that Bacon's Rebellion +started with the murder of Robert Hen in the Northern Neck. + + +_THE ROYAL CAVALCADE_ + +When Robert Carter of Corotoman, Lancaster County, dressed on Sunday +mornings he had a choice of several dress swords and of several belts to +hold them--there was the silken belt, the buff, and the one of tan +leather which was both "genteel and strong." His coat was of velvet with +lace choker and cuffs, and his satin shorts were fastened at the knees +with silver buckles to match those on his shoes. + +If he looked in the mirror, as a servant adjusted his wig, he saw a +strong man of medium height with a plump clean-shaven face and dark eyes +that observed everything but saw no humour in anything. + +When Carter and his lady, equally as splendid, stepped outside their +mansion, a coach was a-waiting them, with liveried servants to help them +inside. The coach was a heavy, four-wheeled, enclosed vehicle with two +seats facing each other, and it carried four or more passengers. Most +likely it was painted in shades of yellow and green, or a subdued red, +with the family crest or coat of arms painted on the doors. + +[Illustration: _"King" Carter attends Christ Church._] + +The six matched horses which drew the coach were being held in check by +the driver and the outriders. A chaise may have been waiting behind the +coach for the older daughters and guests. The sons of the house, if they +were old enough, were mounted and attended by servants on horseback, one +for each gentleman. Other mounted servants with led horses may have +brought up the rear, but it is doubtful, as the distance to be traveled +was only three miles. + +There must have been a great rumbling of wheels, creaking of saddle +leather and clatter of hoofs when the cavalcade swung onto the road +which led from Corotoman to Christ Church. The master had built the road +high, drained by deep ditches, and bordered on both sides by closely set +cedars. It was like a long formal alley. + +When the churchyard came into view people could be seen waiting there. +The procession came to a halt with noise and "a great to-do." The family +alighted and the master led the way. At the church door he halted and +drew a key from his vest pocket with which he unlocked the door. It was +customary for gentlemen to remove their swords at the church door and +place them in a rack provided for the purpose, but whether or not the +head of the Carter family did so is not known. + +The Carters entered the church and proceeded to their high boxed pews, +where curtains on gilt rods screened them from the gaze of the +congregation. + +According to tradition, this bit of pageantry was put on by Robert +(King) Carter every Sabbath, and the congregation, it was said, waited +rain or shine in the churchyard until he came to unlock the door. If he +chose to take a Sunday off, services were held in the churchyard, it was +said. + +Though it was the custom for the rector to sign the vestry minute book +first and then the members in order of their rank, in Christ Church the +Carters always signed first, tradition says. + +King Carter was a vestryman at Christ Church. He wanted his children to +belong to the Established Church--"As I am of the Church of England way +so I desire they should be." + +The first Christ Church had been built by John Carter, the immigrant, in +1669. The second Christ Church was built on the same site by King Carter +in 1732. + + +_THE KING OF THE NORTHERN NECK_ + +Robert Carter was born to be a king among men. His fellow countrymen +called him "King" and his real name was eventually forgotten. Like King +Midas, everything that King Carter touched turned to gold, but in the +case of the latter there was no magic in it--he planned it that way and +worked to make his plans succeed. + +Robert Carter was the second son of John, the immigrant and Indian +fighter. His mother was Sarah Ludlow Carter, his father's fourth wife. + +Robert Carter was born in 1663, at his father's plantation, Corotoman, +in Lancaster County. The foundation had already been laid there for his +future success. The immigrant Carter had done well. His plantation was +orderly and successful and he had accumulated considerable wealth. + +John Carter died when Robert was six years old, and the elder son +inherited the bulk of the estate, as was the custom then according to +the law of primogeniture and entail. + +But John Carter did not forget Robert. He left instructions that his +younger son should be well educated, specifying that "during his +minority" he should have a man or youth servant bought for him. This +servant was "not only to teach him his books ... but also to preserve +him from harm and evil." He further specified that his son should learn +both Latin and English. These instructions were followed and Robert's +education was completed in England. + +The elder brother soon died, without male heir, and the whole estate +reverted to Robert. It was now up to him to carry on the family +traditions. + +Corotoman, a bee-hive of activity, was typical of the plantations of +that day. It was like a village, which was dominated by the manor house. +There were the cottages of the white indentured servants, the slaves' +quarters, the barn and farm buildings, the spinning-house, the +laundry-house, the milk-house. There were the shops of the artisans who +manufactured and repaired the articles used on the plantation. There was +a shop where boats were built. Corotoman had everything that it needed +to make it a self-sustaining unit. + +To the sloop-landing, near the mouth of Carter's Creek, ships came +directly from foreign ports with cargoes of clothing, furniture and +luxuries for the manor, and shoes and other necessities for the white +serfs and negro slaves. These vessels went away loaded with tobacco and +grain. + +Robert Carter was aware of everything that went on at Corotoman and on +his other plantations, not the smallest detail escaped him. He knew when +a slave's shoes didn't fit, or when a servant's child needed medical +attention. When his sons were in school in England he followed their +progress by remote control and never let them forget that he was holding +the purse-strings--"Mind your book," he wrote his son, Landon. He wanted +them to have a classical education, a thorough understanding of Latin +and English. He also wanted them to have religious training. + +Robert Carter was a politician as well as a planter. He held every high +office in the county and colony, and even acted as governor for more +than a year. + +But most of all, the land fascinated Robert Carter. He loved the rich +virgin soil that would grow tobacco. It was the same thing as growing +money. But in about three years time tobacco had worn out the soil and +new fields must always be on tap in this tobacco game. + +Carter's big opportunity came in 1702 when he was appointed as a land +agent of the Northern Neck proprietary. He set up a land office at +Corotoman and began to acquire lands for himself as well as for others. +He had accumulated 20,000 acres by 1711, at which time he lost the +agency to Thomas Lee, of Westmoreland. + +In 1719 Carter regained the agency and again became the representative +of the Fairfax interests in the Northern Neck. In 1726 he took an even +bolder step by leasing the entire Northern Neck from the proprietor for +a fixed rental of 450 pounds a year. Now he had the income from the +quit-rents for the entire region. + +When King Carter died in 1732, he owned 330,000 acres of land, a +thousand slaves and 10,000 pounds sterling. The latter fact was +remarkable because there was such a small amount of metallic money in +the colony. He also left more than a hundred head of horses, over two +thousand cattle and swine and several hundred sheep. These slaves and +stock were scattered over his various plantations. His estate also +included indentured servants, ships and nautical equipment, crops, +farming equipment, cabins and mansions, furnishings, personal effects +and a library of 521 volumes. + +King Carter had done well for himself, and well for the proprietor. He +had also opened up the back lands of the Northern Neck to settlers, +which automatically forced the Indians back. + +King Carter was a builder. He had a large brick kiln at Corotoman, which +doubtless furnished the bricks for some of his homes and the church. He +built a breakwater at Corotoman to save the waterfront from being washed +away by tide and storm. It was made of huge rocks, probably brought as +ballast in some of the ships. He dug a well at Corotoman and had it +lined with stone. It was a far-cry from the early settlers' "spring near +the door." + +King Carter built a road from Corotoman to Lease-Land (Fredericksburg), +a distance of almost a hundred miles. It was known as the King's +Highway. + +In everything that King Carter did he looked ahead. He was building for +the future generations of his family. When he died he was the richest +and most powerful man in Virginia. His given name had long since been +forgotten. He was known to everyone in the Northern Neck as King Carter. +He was laid to rest in the yard of Christ Church. + + +_KITH AND KIN_ + +There used to be an old saying--"everybody in the Northern Neck is kith +and kin." This was almost a fact. + +It all came about because in the early days the families of wealth and +ability assumed leadership locally and in the Colonial Government. It +was the custom of these families to intermarry in order to keep the +power of wealth and influence within their own circle. + +By the end of the eighteenth century it was hardly possible to find a +prominent Northern Necker who was not "kin" to some other outstanding +Virginian. This rigid rule of "keeping up the bars," as they called it, +resulted in an aristocracy similar in many ways to the nobility of the +Old World. This system accounts for the high political intelligence for +which Tidewater Virginia was noted. + +The marriages of King Carter's children illustrate this characteristic +of colonial life in the Northern Neck, and in Virginia. King Carter +married only twice but he had twelve children. + +By his first wife, Judith Armistead, King Carter had four children, +John, Elizabeth, Judith and Anne. + +Judith died in 1699, and he married Elizabeth Landon Willis, a widow and +daughter of Thomas Landon of England. She died in 1719. The best known +of her eight children are Robert, Charles, Landon, Mary and Lucy. + +Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, was married to Nathaniel Burwell. King +Carter gave her Carter's Grove. After Burwell died she married George +Nicholas. Judith married Mann Page of Rosewell, in Gloucester County. +Anne married Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley, on the James. + +Mary married George Braxton of Newington, in King and Queen County. Lucy +married Colonel Henry Fitzhugh of Eagle's Nest, in Stafford County, on +the Potomac. + +John became a barrister in the Middle Temple, London, and married +Elizabeth Hill of Shirley, on the James. Robert settled on the +plantation of Nomini, on the Potomac. He married Priscilla, the daughter +of William Churchill, a member of the Council. + +Charles married three times--Mary Walker, Anne, daughter of William Byrd +of Westover, and Lucy Taliaferro. His home was Cleve on the +Rappahannock. + +Landon's home was Sabine Hall, on the Rappahannock. He married three +times--an Armistead of Hesse, a Byrd of Westover and a Wormeley of +Rosegill. + +King Carter's direct descendants include: a signer of the Declaration of +Independence (Carter Braxton), two Presidents of the United States (the +Harrisons), and General Robert E. Lee. + +Thus King Carter's children were well established. These Carters and the +heads of other top-ranking families were sometimes known in the Northern +Neck as the "river barons." + + +_THE FIELDINGS_ + +Ambrose Fielding was a justice of the peace for Northumberland County in +1670. + +Ambrose's son, Edward, came to Virginia from England, about 1687-88, to +take up his inheritance of three hundred twenty-five acres left him by +his father in 1675. His Northern Neck holdings were increased in 1695 by +the will of his "Uncle Edward" Fielding, a great merchant of Bristol, +England, who left him "500 acres at Wiccomocco in the County of +Northumberland, in the Country of Virginia beyond the seas." In the same +year Edward, by grant from Lady Culpeper and Lord Fairfax, acquired four +hundred twenty-five more acres on "Wicocomoco river ... near ye Mill Dam +of ye sd. Fielding, of Lee parish." + +Edward owned a snuff box, marked with his initials, "E.F.," and the date +"1716." The portrait of a young woman was painted on the lid. It is +believed to have been his wife, or his daughter Sarah. The girl in the +picture wears a dress of satin, with white skirt, green stomacher and +plain colored bodice; the head-dress, which is like a scarf or loose +hood, is of white and green, and the flower held in her hand is blue, as +are the velvet cushions of the chair. + +Edward's oldest son was born in 1689. Edward named him for his father, +Ambrose. + +When Ambrose was about twenty-one years old he married the daughter of a +"chirugeon," Mark Attkins. After their marriage Ambrose and Catherine +moved to Lancaster County and settled on a plantation known as Broad +Neck Quarter. + +The house of Ambrose Fielding II, was built like a small fort in the +wilderness, probably for defense against Indians. It was built of brick +with loop-holes in the walls. A brick wall surrounded the house, and it +too was pierced with loop-holes. + +This house is said to have been located near the seat of the Carters at +Corotoman. This statement seems to have been borne out by the will of +King Carter, 1728, in which he mentions a "Fielding's Place." In 1749 +the King's grandson, Robert Carter III, of Nomini Hall, owned about two +thousand acres in a tract in Northumberland called Fielding's Quarter. + + +_PIRATES_ + +In the time of King Carter of Corotoman, the Chesapeake was alive with +pirates. He wrote that they were "very bold and roguish ... miserable +case, the Crown takes no more care of so vast a fleet of ships as uses +this bay." + +The pirates reaped a rich harvest from the unprotected ships that +traveled to and from foreign ports. In one year four ships bound back to +Virginia from England had been sunk. + +There were three types of pirates--the "bloody pirate," who was simply a +robber on the high seas; the privateers, who commanded armed private +vessels commissioned to cruise against the commerce or war vessels of +the enemy; and buccaneers, who were freeholders who preyed upon Spanish +as well as American vessels and settlements. + +With its many bays and rivers the coastline of Tidewater Virginia was +hard to defend. Pirates could swoop down in their fast boats and rob +vessels and plunder the plantations along the shore. It was easy to make +a landing in the lower counties of the Neck where the land was low and +there were wharves at the plantations. + +In 1699, Captain Kidd, who tradition says wore a gold chain around his +neck and picked his teeth with a toothpick of gold, entered the +Chesapeake in his vessel _Alexander_. The militia of the maritime +counties was called out but Captain Kidd, after plundering several +ships, sailed away. + +Louis Guittar entered the Bay in 1700 and plundered and destroyed five +vessels while there. At some time during this period, a ship-load of +pirates reached the waters of the upper Chesapeake, where they captured +a large sloop. They anchored that evening not far from shore and, +tradition says, "the pirates were heard beating their drums all night +long." + +The pirate, George Lowther, entered the Bay in 1722. Roger Makeele was +another Bay pirate. He and his gang of thirteen men and four women +preyed on small craft in the Bay channels. After a successful venture +they celebrated by "drinking and feasting with Rumm or Brandy, mutton, +Turkey &C." This gang was captured and brought to trial by the Governor +of Virginia. + +The Virginia government used several methods of defense: look-outs, +militia, forts and guard-ships. There was a fort with twenty-four guns +and one hundred fifty "available shot" at Corotoman, on the +Rappahannock. At Yeocomico, on the Potomac, there was a fort with six +guns. Since almost no maintenance was given to the forts in Virginia +they were in a dilapidated condition by 1691. The guns were "spoiled in +the sand with the water flowing over them at high tide." This form of +defense proved to be ineffective. The colony had already turned to +guard-ships as a means of protection. + +These guard-ships were used to convoy merchant vessels to their +destination, or to a safe "riding place." The designated "riding place" +on the Rappahannock was above the fort at Corotoman. On the Wicomico and +on the Potomac the "riding places" were "as high as they can go." + +One of these guard-ships, _H.M.S. Deptford_, a ketch, under command of +Captain Thomas Berry, was upset in a squall in the Potomac. Captain +Berry, who was ill at the time, was drowned along with eight members of +his crew. + +In 1726, Joseph Parsons, mate of the ship _Tayloe_ of Bristol, was tried +in the court of Richmond County and convicted of piracy and the murder +of Captain John Heard of the _Tayloe_. Parsons was sent to the "gaol" at +Williamsburg. The Council in Williamsburg re-examined the case and +discharged Parsons because of lack of sufficient evidence. The silver +plate and other articles found in the possession of the crew were held +by the authorities until the rightful owners could claim them. The crew +said that they had taken the property from the _Tayloe_ "for sustinance +while journeying through the colony." + +After Blackbeard was captured by Maynard, in 1718, piracy in the +Tidewater declined. The last pirate reported in the Chesapeake was in +1807. Tales of pirates, piracy and buried treasure were told in the +region for many years. + + +_CHRISTMAS AT COLONEL FITZHUGH'S_ + +An account of a Christmas spent at Bedford plantation in the Northern +Neck was written by Monsieur Durand, a Frenchman, who was journeying +through Virginia in the holiday season of the year 1686. He wrote: + +"We were now approaching the Christmas Festival.... It was agreed that +all should go to spend the night with Colonel Fitzhugh, whose house is +on the shore of the great river Potomac.... + +"By the time we reached Col. Fitzhugh's we made up a troop of 20 horse. + +"The Colonel's accomodations were, however, so ample that this company +gave him no trouble at all; we were all supplied with beds, though we +had to double up. Col Fitzhugh showed us the largest hospitality. He had +store of good wine and other things to drink, and a frolic ensued. + +"He called in three fiddlers, a clown, a tight-rope dancer and an +acrobatic tumbler, and gave us all the divertisement one would wish. It +was very cold but no one thought of going near the fire because they +never put less than the trunk of a tree upon it and so the entire room +was kept warm." + +William Fitzhugh, the owner of Bedford, came to Virginia in 1670. He +secured a grant of land in the upper Neck, in what later became King +George County. He married "little Sarah Tucker" of Tucker Hill when she +was only eleven years old, and then sent her to England to be educated. +Sarah and William reared a family of five sons. Colonel Fitzhugh became +one of the largest landowners in the Northern Neck. At the time of his +death in 1701 he owned 54,054 acres of land. + + +_INDIAN VISITORS_ + +When the French Huguenot, Monsieur Durand, was in Stafford County in +1686 he described the Indians who lived along the Rappahannock River as +follows: + +"As we were about to take horse all those savages, men, women & little +children, came to return our visit. Those who had been able to procure +jerkins from the Christians were wearing them, as also the women who +wore some kind of petticoats, others wore some pieces of shabby cloth +from which were made the blankets they had traded on some ships in +exchange for deer skins. They had a hole in the center to put their +heads through & fastened it around their body with deer-thongs. The +women were wearing theirs as a mantilla, like the Egyptian women in +Europe, & their children were entirely naked. They had taken to adorn +themselves some kind of pure white fishbones, slipping a strand of hair +through a bone, & so on all around their head. They also wore necklaces +& bracelets of small grains which are found in the country." + + +_HORSE RACING_ + +Horse racing was the most popular form of amusement in Virginia in the +seventeenth century. The lower counties of the Northern Neck were the +center of horse racing in the colony at that time. + +These races had many spectators, including women, but only gentlemen +could participate. Racing was considered "a sport for gentlemen alone," +and records show that if one not of that class presumed to enter his +horse in a race he was heavily fined. + +The races were taken seriously and conducted with fairness, even if it +might be necessary to be assisted to this end by the courts. There are +many records of contested decisions decided by jury. + +Saturday was the customary day for the races. These occasions when a +crowd was gathered together were used by the public authorities for +making announcements to the people. + +In 1696 citizens of Northumberland complained to the House of Burgesses +that the races on Saturday often caused the Sabbath to be profaned. The +races may have been carried over into Sunday, or they may have ended in +drinking and fighting bouts which continued on that day. + +There were three racing tracks in the lower Neck: Coan Race Course, +Willoughby's Old Field, located in Richmond County, and a third course +at Yeocomico. Of these the principal and the most popular was the Coan +track. These race-tracks were kept in good condition. Early race-courses +were not always oval. Some were over "race paths." The "quarter race" +was the outcome of this--where two horses ran a straight quarter of a +mile. The stretch was sometimes a quarter and a half-quarter of a mile. + +Smoker, owned by Mr. Joseph Humphrey, was one of the most famous +race-horses in the colony. He was later owned by Captain Rodham Kenner, +who was High Sheriff of Northumberland. Prince, owned by Captain John +Haynie, II, was another noted race-horse. In 1695 Smoker was run in a +race against Prince on Coan Race Course. The stake was four thousand +pounds of tobacco and forty shillings. The race was won by Smoker. + +Betting was part of the pleasure of the races. The stakes ran high--they +were usually made up of a large amount of tobacco with a small addition +of metallic coin. + +Another horse celebrated in the region was Young Fire, owned by John +Gardiner. This horse was snow-white in color. Captain John Hartley owned +a horse called Campbell. Folly was a mare owned by Mr. Peter Contanceau. +The owners were sensitive as to the reputations of their horses and +would go to great lengths to preserve them. + +Other Northern Neck turfmen mentioned in seventeenth century records +were: Mr. Yewell of Westmoreland, John Hartridge, Daniel Sullivant, Mr. +Raleigh Travers, Mr. John Clemens, Captain William Barber and John +Washington. + + +_MANUFACTURE_ + +Early attempts at manufacture were begun in Virginia. The Assembly +estimated that five children not over thirteen years of age could spin +and weave enough to keep thirty persons clothed. In 1646 it was ordered +that two houses be erected in Jamestown for spinning-schools. + +These "Flax-Houses," as they were called in some records, were to be +"one-storey, measuring eight feet from floor to ceiling, with a loft of +sawn boards above." A "stack" of brick chimneys were to stand in the +middle of each house, and suitable partitions were to be made. + +Each county was to send to these schools two "poor children," about +seven or eight years old, who were to work at carding, knitting and +spinning. For their maintenance the county authorities were to supply +each of their children when they were admitted with: "6 barrels of +Indian corn, a pig, 2 hens, clothing, shoes, a bed, rug, blanket, 2 +coverlets, a wooden tray, and 2 pewter dishes or cups." + +This plan was not very successful and it probably failed before the +counties of the Northern Neck had advanced far enough to send children +to the spinning-schools. + +To encourage manufacture in early Virginia, prizes in tobacco were given +for every pound of flax raised, for every skein of yarn, and for every +yard of linen produced. + +In 1697, Tobias Hall of Lancaster County, claimed the reward for the +production of linen. Inventories of Lancaster disclose woolen-wheels and +wool cards. A loom was owned by Charles Kelly. Flannel, and even +blankets, were manufactured on these looms. + +Between 1660 and 1702 there were at least two tailors in Lancaster +County. Daniel Harrison, of the same county, must have manufactured +quite a lot of shoes, for the time and place. He employed three +shoemakers, and his personal estate included: "122 sides of leather, 72 +pairs of shoes, 37 awls, 26 paring knives, 12 dozen lasts and numerous +curriers' and tanners' tools." + +A reward of fifty pounds of tobacco was offered for any sea-going vessel +built in Virginia. There was no lack of Virginia-built small vessels, +such as barges, shallops and sloops. + +Rural life was not favorable to manufacture, although each plantation +manufactured those articles necessary to its needs. William Fitzhugh, a +wealthy landowner of the upper Neck, wrote to his London agent in 1692 +and requested him to send to his plantations several shoemakers, "with +lasts, awls and knives, together with half a hundred shoemaker's thread, +some 20 or 30 gallons of train oil and proper colorings for leather." He +had set up a tan-house and wished to convert the product into shoes on +his own plantation. + +Later on, in the eighteenth century, Robert Carter of Nomini Hall, a +grandson of King Carter, manufactured on quite a large scale. + + +_THE POTOMAC RANGERS_ + +The Potomac rangers were appointed by the governor for frontier duty. +The county lieutenant, in command of the county militia, was given the +power to impress men who lived in the region for this service. + +The outfit was composed of a commander and eleven men with horses, arms, +and necessary equipment. The Rangers had orders from the Jamestown +government to "seize any Indian or Indians whatsoever," and have him, or +them, put in jail to remain there until "delivered by due process of +law." + +Indians were not the only public enemies in the frontier country. In +1698, the gentlemen of Stafford sent a letter of "grievances" to +Jamestown asking that the "bloody villain, Squire Tom, a convict upon +record," be demanded from the "Emperor of Piscataway," who was then +protecting him from punishment. + +The activities of the Potomac Rangers are described in a quaint journal +kept by one of the Rangers in 1692: + +"A Journiall of our Ranging. Given by me, David Strahan, Lieutenant of +ye Rangers of Pottomack. June the 17th; We ranged over Ackoquane, and so +we Ranged Round persi-Neck and ther we lay that night. And on ye 18th +came to Pohike, and ther we heard that Capt. Mason's Servt-man was +missing. Then we went to see if we could find him, and we followed his +foot abut a mile, to a house that is deserted, and we took ye tract of a +great many Indians and we followed it about 10 miles, and having no +provisions we was forced to return. June 26th: We Ranged up to Jonathan +Matthews hs. along with Capt. Masone, and ther we met with Capt. +Houseley, and we sent over for the Emperor, but he would not come, and +we went over to ye towne, and they held a Masocomacko and ordered 20 of +their Indians to goe after ye Indians that carried away Capt. Masone's +man, and so we returned. July the 3d ... July 11th; We ranged up to +Brenttowne and ther we lay.... The 19th we ranged up to Ackotink, and +discovered nothing.... So we Ranged once in ye Neck till ye 20th +Sept^{br}, then we mercht to Capt. Masone's and ther we met with Capt. +Houseley and his men; so we draved out 12 of our best horses, and so we +ranged up Ackotink and ther we lay that night. Sept 22^d ... Sept. 23^d +We marcht to the Suggar Land[7].... And the 24th we Ranged about to see +if we could find ye tract of any Indians, but we could not see any fresh +signe ...; the 26th marcht to Capt. Masone's, and ther dismissed my men +till ye next March." + +[Footnote 7: Suggar Land was named for the sugar maple trees that at +that time grew in the region of what was later Fairfax and Loudoun +counties.] + + + + +PART II + +Eighteenth Century + + + + +_MURDERS IN STAFFORD_ + +Thomas Barton, of Stafford County, asked a neighbor to stay with his +children while he and his wife went away for a day. The obliging +neighbor, his wife and three children, came to the Barton plantation on +a Sunday, June 16, 1700. + +There were three children in the Barton family, and an orphan boy. On +that peaceful June day all must have been drowsy contentment at the +wilderness plantation--six children at play in the house, and the +neighbor and his wife trying perhaps to take a nap. Only the orphan boy +was outside, playing alone. + +Suddenly the peaceful Sunday afternoon was turned into a nightmare. A +party of Indian warriors swooped down in a sudden attack on the Barton +place. All was over in a few minutes no doubt. Only the orphan boy +escaped and ran to a neighboring plantation. + +Meanwhile Barton was on the way home. His wife had probably decided to +stay overnight wherever they had visited for he was alone. He stopped by +a mill where he had left some corn to be ground and picked up his bag of +meal. When he was almost home about twenty Indians started up from the +woods and closed in about him in a "half-moon." They were naked and +unarmed. + +Barton had a good mount but the meal was heavy. He finally got the bag +loose and threw it off, and then at full speed he "broke through the +woods and got safe to a neighbor's house." + +Colonel George Mason II, who was probably at the head of the Stafford +militia, was notified of the outrage. When he and a "small parcel of +men" arrived at the Barton place they found plenty of work to do. They +"pulled out of the people and a mare, sixty-nine arrows." They also +found five "ugly wooden tomahawks." Mason and the men buried the "poor +people." Arrows had made holes in the roof of the house as "big as swan +shot." + +From the tracks about the house Mason judged that there had been at +least forty Indians in the party. He was of the opinion that most of +them had gone back to Maryland. + +After Mason returned to his home he wrote a long letter to the governor +in which he described the murders as the "horriblest that ever was in +Stafford." These two plantations would be deserted for the year, he +wrote, and he was afraid that all the people would leave their +plantations. "I am afraid," wrote Colonel Mason, "that we shall have a +bad summer, but ... if I can keep them upon their plantations, it will +be some discouragement to the enemy ... but God knows what I shall do +now, for this has almost frighted our people out of their lives." + +In another letter written in July, Colonel Mason seemed to have gotten +the situation well in hand: "The Rangers continue their duties ... they +range ... four days a week, which is as hard duty as can be +performed.... The inhabitants still continue from their homes, but the +abundance are better satisfied since part of the Rangers are constantly +ranging among them." The Rangers had been re-enforced by the sons of the +planters and other young men. + + +_FREE SCHOOLS_ + +In 1652 the court of Northumberland County granted the petition of +Richard Lee of Cobbs Hall "concerning a free school to be set up." + +Francis Pritchard, 1675, Lancaster County, left a large estate for the +establishment of a free school. + +In 1700 William Horton endowed a free school in Westmoreland County. + +In 1702 John Farneffold made provision in his will for a free school in +Northumberland as early as August, 1672. In 1680 he was minister of St. +Stephen's Parish, and remained such until his death in 1702. He was the +son of Sir Thomas Farneffold of Sussex, England. + +The provisions in John Farneffold's will concerning the free school were +as follows: + +"I give 100 acres where I now live for the maintenance of a free school, +and to be called Winchester Schoole, for fower or five poore children +belonging to ye parish and to be taught & to have their dyett, lodging & +washing, & when they can read the Bible & write a legible hand, to +dismiss them & take in more, such as my exors. shall think fitt, and for +the benefitt of the said school, I give five cows and a Bull, six ewes, +and a ram, a carthorse & cart and two breeding sowes & that my two +mulatto girles, Frances and Lucy Murrey, have a yeares schooling & be +free when they arrive at the age of 22 years, to whom I give a sow shoat +to each, & for further encouragement of a schoolmaster, I give dyett, +lodging & washing & 500 pds. of tobacco & a horse, Bridle & Saddle to +ride on during his stay, the place where the school house is to be +directed, my will is to have it neare my dwelling house, some part of +which may serve for a school house til another may more conveniently be +built. Item what schoole books I have in my study, I leave for ye +benefit of ye schoole. Then my will is that some of my estate be sold +for the maintenance of the said schoole except what my exors. shall +think fitt to select necessary for use as bedding, potts, & pewter. My +will is that Mr. Tarpley, Mr. Leo Howson, Richard Nutt and Edward Cole +carry me to the grave, three to have guineas, and Richard Nutt a gold +ring.... If the school fail for want of maintenance, which I hope it +will not, give that hundred acres & all the rest of my land to +Farneffold Nutt, son of Richard Nutt; to the minister who preaches my +funeral sermon, my Preaching gown & Cassocke." + +Another school was provided for by Daniel Hornby, of Richmond County. In +his will, proved April 2, 1750, he made provision that a Latin master +should attend Travers Colston, a relative, at twenty pounds per year, +and that he should be obliged to teach ten children. + +In 1770-71 Colonel Landon Carter of Sabine Hall, Richmond County, was +supporting a free school in that county. William Rigmaiden was the +master of this school. + + +_THE HOME IN THE FOREST_ + +Mary Ball was born on a plantation "up in the forest," which was the way +the Northern Neckers described any place that was not on the water. + +In this Neck where one is never far from the water, river plantations +were the rule in colonial days, and it is an unusual fact that Colonel +Joseph Ball established his seat in the forest. Lancaster was still a +frontier county and there were only horse paths through the woods, for +the rivers were still used as highways. + +Joseph Ball had inherited his forested lands from his father, William +Ball, the founder of the Ball family in Virginia. William came to +Virginia, probably as a merchant, in 1650, but he did not settle until +about 1663, at which time he purchased land in Lancaster County and +established his seat on the east side of the Corotoman River, where it +empties into the Rappahannock. This location, which he called +Millenbeck, became the county seat. + +Joseph Ball followed in the footsteps of his father as a man of +prominence in county affairs. He was Lieutenant-Colonel in the militia, +and vestryman of St. Mary's White Chapel. This chapel was known as "the +Balls' church" just as Christ Church was known as the "Carters' Church." +Both churches were in Christ Church Parish. + +Joseph Ball was married twice. Just before his second marriage he gave +to the children of his first marriage certain portions of his estate, +reserving the right of dower for his second wife. + +Little is known of Joseph's second wife, Mary Johnson, except that she +was a widow. When Mary Ball was born to Joseph and Mary, probably in the +winter of 1708 or 1709, there was nothing to indicate that she was +destined to become the most important woman of the Northern Neck. She +was at that time just another baby born into the gentle, distinguished +and religious Ball family. + +Joseph Ball, who was no longer a young man, died when Mary was about two +years old. In his will he left Mary four hundred acres of land near the +head of the Rappahannock River, three slaves, fifteen cattle and "all +the feathers in the kitchen loft to be put in a bed for her." + +Within about one year, Mary Johnson Ball married again. Her third +husband was a prominent merchant-planter, Captain Richard Hewes, who +lived on his plantation Cherry Point in the upper part of Northumberland +County, in the neck between Yeocomico and Coan Rivers. + +When Mrs. Hewes went to Cherry Point to live she took her son by her +first marriage, John Johnson, and Mary Ball with her. Thus Mary at three +years of age had few, if any, memories of her birthplace "up in the +forest" of Lancaster County. + +Several generations later this Ball plantation became known as Epping +Forest. It was named, it is believed, for a Ball estate in England. + + +_CHERRY POINT_ + +Mary Ball's first memories were probably of the fields and rivers at +Cherry Point. It was a pleasant place to remember. The responsibility of +the plantation soon fell on Mary's mother, for Captain Hewes died in +1713. + +There were few toys then. Mary may have had one of those wooden dolls +with stiff joints and staring eyes. She probably played out-of-doors and +had animals for pets. + +There were no childrens' books then. A Mother Goose book was published +in Boston in 1719, but that was too late for Mary. She probably had only +a horn-book from which to learn her A B C's. Perhaps there was an +indentured servant who could teach her a little. + +On Sundays the family probably attended church at Upper St. Stephen's +Parish[8], where Captain Hewes had been one of the vestrymen. There may +have been some sort of a road from the plantation to the church over +which a coach could be pulled, but if so it certainly did not travel at +the lively speed of King Carter's! More than likely they rode there on +horseback--little Mary sitting up in front of some older person. She +doubtless learned to ride at an early age. + +[Footnote 8: NOTE: This church is said to have been located near the +present village of Lottsburg.] + +Mary probably valued the feather bed left her by her father far more +than she did the legacy of land. She had never even seen the land, but +every night she could sink into the warmth and softness of the feather +bed. + +Mary's childhood days at Cherry Point ended in 1721. The child's +half-brother, John Johnson, and her mother both died in that year. + +Mary Ball was now an orphan, but her mother had planned it so that she +would not be alone in the world. Mary Hewes had stipulated in her will +that--"my said Daughter Mary Ball--be under Tutiledge and government of +Captain George Eskridge during her minority." Colonel Eskridge was also +named as executor of Mary's estate. She had received almost the whole of +her mother's estate, consisting of lands, two horses and personal +property. And she had received all of her half-brother's estate, +consisting of land in Stafford County. + +Mary Hewes had chosen wisely in selecting her "trusty and well beloved +friend George Eskridge" as guardian of her youngest child. Colonel +Eskridge was not only a lawyer of distinction, an experienced business +man, a leading man in his community, but he was also a gentleman. And +Colonel Eskridge was "connected by marriage" with Mary Ball's +half-sister Elizabeth Johnson who had married Samuel Bonum. Mary was +therefore equally welcome to make her home at her guardian's plantation +or at the farm of the Bonum's. + +[Illustration: _Mary Ball at Yeocomico Church._] + + +_SANDY POINT_ + +Both the Bonums and the Eskridges lived in lower Westmoreland County, +just across the Yeocomico River from Cherry Point. + +Colonel Eskridge's plantation, Sandy Point, was directly on the Potomac. +Its name gave but a vague idea of the beauty of the beach and the sweep +of river beyond. There was a feeling here of space. It was a place of +restless sounds, made by the wind and waves. It was quite different here +from the quieter waters and forest walls that Mary Ball had known. + +Bonum's Creek Farm, the home of Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth, was east +of Bonum's Creek. The "home-place" was situated on the bank of the +Potomac, in sight of Pecatone, the manor home of the Corbin family. + +Mary now had the choice of these two delightful places for her future +home. She probably divided her time between the two. Perhaps Mary Hewes +had this in mind when she left Mary a "good Pacing horse together with a +good silk plush saddle," thus taking care of the problem of +transportation. + +Among the other things "bequeath unto" Mary by her mother were two gold +rings, the "one being a large hoop and the other a stoned ring," a trunk +and "all the rest of my wearing apparel." So when Mary went to her new +homes she had a trunkful of clothes which would come in handy as she +grew older, for it took a long time to receive an order from England, +and ships were being taken by pirates during these years. It was lucky +that fashions did not change much then, and that clothes were made to +last. + +Mary had a maid, who probably looked after her and her wardrobe. Mary +had enough income for her needs, therefore she was more fortunate than +most orphans of that time. + +Sandy Point was doubtless the scene of many larks after Mary joined the +Eskridge girls who lived there. In the evenings there was probably much +talk around the fireplace--of pirates and witches and houses where +mysterious lights flitted at night. And much giggling and chatter +upstairs after the candles had been put out. + +In 1726 Mary's life was again saddened, this time by the death of her +brother-in-law, Samuel Bonum. In his will he left her "a young gray +dapple horse." + +While at Sandy Point Mary attended Yeocomico Church, where her guardian +was a vestryman. She rode there on horseback, tradition says. In cold +weather she probably wore a red cloak, and a hood or scarf to protect +her head and face. + +The simple church, cloistered in the virgin forest, invited worship, but +the churchyard on Sundays was a festive place in those days. And it was +a noisy place--there was the rattling of wheels, the cracking of whips, +the neighing of horses and the chattering of the people, who were so +glad to see each other. There were "rings of Beaux chatting" around the +girls in their bright mantles. + +It was cold inside the church in winter, sometimes too cold to have even +the usual short sermon. The high-backed pews shielded their occupants +from drafts, and some people had their servants bring in little stoves +of perforated tin containing coals, or hot bricks to place under the +feet. + +After the service there was more "visiting together" in the churchyard, +and the men had business transactions to make. + +Near the church there was a spring, and a kiln where the bricks had been +burned for the church when it was built in 1706. + +Mary Ball lived among the gentle people of this region until she was +married. There are no early portraits of Mary Ball, but tradition says +that at the time of her marriage she was "a healthy orphan of moderate +height, rounded figure and pleasant voice, aged 23." + + +_AUGUSTINE_ + +Augustine Washington was "connected by marriage" with Colonel Eskridge. +He probably met Mary Ball on one of his visits to Sandy Point. + +Sandy Point was an ideal place for romance but there is not even a +traditional account of the courtship of Mary Ball. Even the scene of her +marriage is not known, but it was probably at Sandy Point or at the +Bonum home. Mary Ball and Augustine Washington were married by the +Reverend Walter Jones, on March 6, 1731. Ministers at that time usually +received "for marriage two shillings." + +Mary's new husband was "blond, of fine proportion, great physical +strength and stood six feet in his stockings, and had a kindly nature." +He was called Gus by his friends. + +Gus took his bride to his home on Popes Creek, in upper Westmoreland +County. Mary was not the first mistress at Popes Creek, for Augustine +had been married before, to Jane Butler, half-sister to Colonel +Eskridge's second wife. Jane had been dead for about three years. + +At Popes Creek now there were the servants and little Jane, who was +about nine years old. Augustine's other two children were teen-age boys, +Lawrence and Augustine, who were then at Appleby's School in England. +Gus himself had been educated at that school. + +Augustine Washington, while not a man of great wealth, owned land and +buildings in at least three counties, and he was part owner of two iron +furnaces. He was prominent in his community, having held at various +times the positions of Justice of Westmoreland County court, Captain in +the county militia, Sheriff of Westmoreland County, and he was a +vestryman in the church. Although he was not one of the wealthiest +planters in the Northern Neck, he was on an equal footing with them +socially. + + +_POPES CREEK_ + +When Mary came to Popes Creek to live she had some housefurnishings of +her own to bring with her. There was the feather bed, and her mother had +left her a bedstead to go with it, a quilt and a pair of blankets. She +had also left Mary two table-cloths "marked M. B. with inck," two pewter +dishes, two basins, one large iron "pott," one frying pan, one "Rugg" +and "one suit of good curtains and fallens" (valance). It must have been +with great joy that Mary arranged these things in her own home. + +The house at Popes Creek was not a magnificent residence such as +Stratford Hall or King Carter's manor at Corotoman. It is believed to +have been "a simple abode," but it was comfortable and it had a quality +that was lacking in the splendid mansions--it was homely. It was the +kind of place where a planter could sit with his family in the evening +and feel close to them and close to his earth. + +The house was situated on the west side of Popes Creek, about +three-quarters of a mile from the point where the creek emptied into the +Potomac. About a mile to the northwest was the last habitation of John +Washington, the immigrant, and near it was the family burying ground. + +Augustine had bought his tract of one hundred and fifty acres of land on +Popes Creek from Joseph Abbington in 1718. David Jones, a local builder +and undertaker, had contracted to build the home for five thousand +pounds of tobacco with extra amounts in cash for incidentals. He was +probably assisted by Augustine's slaves and indentured servants. The +house was completed and occupied by Augustine and his first wife about +1726, so it was still rather new when Mary came to live there. + +Mary probably found it not too difficult to assume her duties as +mistress of the plantation for the farm activities at Popes Creek were +about the same as those she had known before her marriage on the +plantations in lower Westmoreland. + +Many years later the Popes Creek plantation became known as Wakefield. + + +_THE WAR PATH_ + +The Shenandoah Valley was the historic war trail of the Six Nations of +Indians of the north in their warfare with the southern Indian tribes. +These wars had commenced before the settlement of Jamestown. There is no +evidence to show that the Valley was inhabited to any extent by Indians +immediately before the coming of the white man to the New World. +Scattered burial mounds prove that Indians lived there at an early +period but their history has been lost. + +Governor Spotswood believed that this migration of Indian warriors from +north to south would hold back the settlement of Virginia. He called a +conference which was attended by the northern Indians and the governors +of New York and Pennsylvania, and himself and other representatives from +Virginia. At this conference the Indians were persuaded to limit their +travel. In the Treaty of Albany, signed in 1722, the northern Indians +promised to let the southern Indians live in peace, and agreed that +their warriors would not cross Virginia without a passport. Disregard of +this treaty was punishable with death or transportation to the West +Indies and sale into slavery. + +Governor Spotswood bound the bargain by dramatically handing the +interpreter his "golden-horseshoe," which had been pinned at his breast, +and bidding him to give it to the speaker and to tell him that "there +was an inscription on it which signified that it would help him to pass +over the mountains; and that when any of their people should come to +Virginia with a pass, they should bring that with them." + +After this treaty was signed the Northern Neck could be opened to +settlers westward. And the planters could now patent immense tracts of +land. + + +_FALMOUTH_ + +About this time there was considerable trade between the Northern Neck +and both Ireland and Scotland. It has been said that Virginia tobacco +helped Glasgow, Scotland, to prosperity. A street in that city was named +for Virginia, and at one time Virginia merchants "thronged that street +and were regarded with such respect that other men gave way that they +might pass." Among these gentlemen were some of the planters from the +Potomac. In 1720 George Mason III, was given the freedom of the city of +Glasgow, in the form of a parchment "Burgess Ticket." + +Falmouth, in Stafford County, was founded in 1727 by Scotch merchants. +Boats from Scotland came directly to this trading village situated near +the head of the Rappahannock River. Something of this once thriving +trading center of the Neck is told in a letter written by a visitor by +the name of Ellen Gray. The undated letter was written to her friend, +Rose Douglas of Loch Lomond, Scotland. It says: + + "Dear Rose: + + "Falmouth is on a river that empties into Chesapeake Bay. The + houses are perched on declivities and hills. There are mills. I + love water wheels when they glisten.... We saw scenery much + wilder than any in Scotland. It consisted of islands in the + Rappahannock, lying above Falmouth. We gazed on them from a + long plank bridge. What a pity the Virginians will span their + streams with plank instead of stone! A stone bridge overgrown + with moss is a bewitching sight. Several Scotch families have + lived in Falmouth, tho the place is called Fal from a river in + England. Among its most successful merchants was Basil Gordon. + He arrived a poor boy in Falmouth. He died a millionaire after + a life of patient industry." + +Basil Gordon is believed to have been one of America's first +millionaires. + + +_BURNT HOUSE FIELD_ + +It was a cold night in January, 1729. Thomas Lee was ready to go to bed. +He had probably checked the doors and windows and all seemed well at +Matholic. + +His family were already asleep but perhaps Thomas lingered awhile, +thinking about his new home, Stratford, which he was building on his own +plantation twenty miles away. How good, he may have thought, it would be +to have something of his own. For Matholic, this ancestral Lee estate in +Westmoreland where he was now living, did not belong to Thomas. He was +leasing it from his older brother, the third Richard Lee. + +Thomas Lee was a younger son and therefore he had received little in the +way of a heritage; even his education had been neglected. His older +brothers had received the customary classical education, while Thomas +learned only reading, spelling and ciphering, probably from an +indentured servant. He had been ashamed of his lack of education. To +pass in the elegant society to which his family were accustomed it was +necessary to have a knowledge of Latin and Greek. After he was a mature +man he studied long hours alone until he had mastered these subjects. + +Thomas' father, the second Richard, had thrown at least one crumb in the +direction of his younger son. When he was compelled by age to resign as +naval officer of the Potomac, in 1710, the elder Lee persuaded Governor +Alexander Spotswood to give this post to his son, Thomas. So, before he +was twenty-one, Thomas was reporting on the maritime trade of his +district, and collecting fees from the ships' captains. + +Through his uncle, Edmund Jenings, Thomas had acquired the position of +manager of the Northern Neck proprietary. His uncle, who was then in +England, had a lease on the proprietary at that time. Thomas had opened +a land office at Matholic. He also traveled on horseback all over the +Northern Neck so that in this way he well knew the lands of that vast +domain. + +By the time Thomas was established, and thirty-two years old, his +thoughts turned to marriage. He went "a-courting" down at Green Spring, +near Jamestown, and won the hand of young Hannah Harrison Ludwell. When +Hannah came as a bride to Matholic she added to the family fortune with +her dowry of six hundred pounds sterling. + +Things were going well with Thomas Lee. Now, on this winter's night, he +probably went up to bed with a contented mind. + +Sometime during the night Thomas awoke suddenly to find the house in +flames around him. He shook Hannah and they grabbed up the children from +their beds and started for the stairs only to find that it was too late +to get down that way. The heat was hot on his back when he helped Hannah +over the window sill and watched her fall to the ground--fifteen feet. +He dropped his small children and then jumped himself. Just in time, +too, for he was hardly on the ground before the roof caved in--too late +to save the twelve-year-old white servant girl who was asleep in the +house. + +Shivering in their night clothes the family watched the barns and +outbuildings burn to the ground, shocked into silence by the loss of the +little servant. + +Later the ashes of the house were searched for Hannah's silver. When not +a trace of it was found the origin of the fire seemed evident--burglars +had broken in, stolen the silver and other valuables, and then set fire +to the house. + +The villians who burned the house were never caught. There were at large +a number of English convicts who had been transported to Westmoreland as +indentured servants. They had joined together and formed a lawless +gang--they frightened and robbed the citizens of the countryside. Thomas +Lee in his line of duty as a local magistrate had no doubt at some time +given them reason to want revenge. These convicts may have burned the +house. + +As naval officer of the Potomac, Thomas had to prevent smuggling. A year +before Matholic was burned his life was threatened by the crew of the +_Elizabeth_. No doubt some of his enemies made in the line of his duties +were at the bottom of this outrage. At any rate the Lords of Trade in +London thought so, for they sent him a bounty, three hundred pounds of +which was from the privy purse of Queen Caroline. Tradition says that +this bounty helped Thomas Lee to finish building his home, Stratford. + +In the meantime he built another house on the Matholic estate at a spot +removed from the original house. The new house was called Mt. Pleasant. + +The site of the destroyed house was ever after known as Burnt House +Field. It was used as a family burying ground. + + +_STRATFORD HALL_ + +Long before Matholic burned Thomas Lee had started building his own +home. + +As a land agent for the Northern Neck proprietary he was well acquainted +with its desirable lands, but the portion which he selected for his own +belonged to the Pope family, and had been patented by Colonel Nathaniel +Pope about 1650, before the proprietary came into being. + +"I want to buy the Clifts," said Thomas Lee. This land was situated in +Westmoreland County and bordered on the Potomac. Here the banks rose +sharply above the River. We can imagine Thomas Lee standing at the edge +of those bold cliffs, looking across the River while he dreamed of the +manor house which he would some day build. + +One day in 1716 a representative of the Pope family closed the deal by +ceremoniously presenting Thomas Lee with a handful of earth and a +twig--an ancient symbolic confirmation of the transference of the 1,450 +acres of land called "the Clifts Plantation." + +Thomas Lee built his home nearly a mile inland from the "clifts," where +it would not be so open to an enemy attack from the River. Pirates were +still roving the surrounding waters. + +It took a long time to build the kind of house that Thomas Lee had in +mind--a house with walls of brick two feet thick, that would stand for +centuries. The thousands of bricks required for this undertaking had to +be made there on the place. + +Thomas Lee made a trip to England at the beginning of his project, some +traditions say, and while he was there he doubtless visited the estate +at Strat-by-the-Ford, once owned by his grandfather, Richard Lee, the +immigrant. There could scarcely be any other reason why he would name +his own home, Stratford. + +Thomas Lee planned his house, it is said, after viewing the manor houses +of England, and the result was that Stratford turned out to be a sort of +medieval fortress. It was shaped like the letter H with pointed roofs. +The crossbar of the H was the Great Hall, about thirty feet square. + +On the roof of each wing arose a cluster of four great chimneys, which +were joined together by arches of masonry. These clustered chimneys gave +the appearance of two belfries, or towers. The space inside each group +of chimneys was made into a summer-house. A member of the Lee family +later described them thus: + +"Eight chimneys formed the summer-house pillars, From which were seen +Potomac's sea-like billows...." + +In medieval times the use of the summer-house was functional, and so +were these at Stratford--the activities of the plantation and on the +Potomac could be seen from them. + +At first glance Stratford appeared to be a one-story building, but its +main floor was raised to the level of a second story. Thomas Lee had an +idea of his own about architecture which was remarkably modern, that was +to bring the beauty of nature inside. He did this by having long flights +of steps leading directly from the lawn to the front and rear entrances +of the Great Hall. Doorways and windows framed the fields, forest and +lawn. + +The manor occupied the center of a large square marked at the corners by +four dependencies. A ha-ha wall ran across the front of the square, the +purpose of which was to keep the cattle away from the house without +obscuring the view. + +Stratford Hall was built between 1725-30. + + +_GEORGE WASHINGTON_ + +It was about ten o'clock of a February morning in the year 1732,[9] when +a baby's cry was heard in the dwelling at Popes Creek. A son had just +been born to Augustine and Mary Washington. + +[Footnote 9: George Washington was born "11th Day of February 1732, Old +Style," or February 22, 1732, "New Style." The latter is the now +accepted date.] + +The baby was named George. It is believed that Mary's first born child +was thus named in honor of her former guardian, Colonel George Eskridge. + +Neighbors, godparents and the minister assembled, probably at Popes +Creek, for the christening. A notation in Mary's Bible recorded the +event: "... and was Baptised the 5th of April following." George's +godmother was his aunt, Mrs. Mildred Washington Gregory. + +George's first memories must have been happy ones--of woods, fields and +water, and of animals, fowl and birds. His family loved him, and the +dark faces were kindly. + +George soon had a sister, Betty, to play with, and then Samuel. The +first three and one-half years of George's life were spent at the Popes +Creek plantation. + +[Illustration: _The infant, George Washington at Wakefield, his +birthplace._] + + +_EPSEWASSON_ + +In 1735, Augustine decided to move his family from Popes Creek to his +farm about fifty miles up the Potomac. + +This farm was part of the land acquired years before by John Washington, +the immigrant, and Nicholas Spencer, husband of Frances Mottrom. +Augustine had bought twenty-five hundred acres of it in 1726. + +This property was located on Little Hunting Creek, which flowed into the +Potomac. It was still called by the Indian name, Epsewasson. + +Tradition says that the Washington family moved in March, as soon as +"the ice cleared in the river." It was a new adventure for the children, +but one of them was missing. Little thirteen-year-old Jane had passed +away in January. + +Epsewasson was still quite primitive; some of the land had never been +under the plow. The Indians lived no longer in the forest, but the wild +animals were still there. + +At Epsewasson there was probably already a small dwelling, and Augustine +had cabins built for the slaves and servants. And there had to be a +mill--Augustine had one on Popes Creek and he built one here on Doeg +Run. + +Mary probably found life much harder at Epsewasson. The location was +isolated, but she was never lonely for the children kept her company, +and a fourth baby, John Augustine soon came to join his brothers and +sister. + +Thirty miles from Epsewasson was a place called Accokeek, where +Augustine had interest in an iron-works. He seems to have been the only +American actively interested in the iron enterprise, Principio Iron +Furnaces. The rest of the company was owned by Englishmen. + +Between Epsewasson and Accokeek there were several streams and marshes +and Gus found that it was just as hard to get to as it had been from +Popes Creek. + +Little George may have gone to Accokeek with his father sometimes and +watched the pig iron from the furnace being carried by cart to a landing +six miles away on the Potomac. Augustine had men and oxen there for that +purpose--"three hundred weight being a load for a cart drawn by 8 +oxen." + +[Illustration: _Young Washington helping in the handling of "seine" on +the Potomac._] + +1738 was an eventful year for the Washingtons. First, another baby, +Charles, was born, and then, Lawrence returned from his school in +England. He was a grown man now, with grace and polish. He immediately +became George's hero, and remained so forever. + +Augustine now made a decision--they must move out of the wilderness so +that the children could have schooling and so that he could be closer to +the iron works. + +A place near Fredericksburg seemed to fill these qualifications. It was +within easy riding distance of the iron-works, it was near a school, and +it was situated between the land bequeathed Mary by her father and the +land left her by her half-brother, John Johnson. + +Augustine bought the property, which was known as the "Strothers +estate," in 1738. They left Epsewasson, on Little Hunting Creek, which +was later to become well-known as Mount Vernon. + + NOTE: Epsewasson was sometimes spelled Eppsewasson, Ipsewason, + etc. + + +_FERRY FARM_ + +The Washington family moved to their new home in December, 1738. The +"Strothers estate," or Ferry Farm as it was called then or at some later +date, was located in what was then King George County but later became +Stafford County. + +The house was of moderate size, with the necessary farm outbuildings +nearby. There were open fields and some woodland. The property was on +the Rappahannock and at this part of the River it had dwindled to a +small stream. It was not much of a river here when compared with the +Potomac which the Washingtons had just left. The ferry which was +operated not very far from the house must have been of especial interest +to the children. + +Ferry Farm was by no means luxurious, but it was adequate for the needs +of the Washingtons. Here they lived a simple farm life. + +The meals were probably served in the hall, as the custom had been in +the seventeenth century. The china and linen were ample but in keeping +with farm-living. There were twenty-six silver spoons but no silver +plate. + +The family doubtless arose early, maybe at dawn. After grace was said a +simple breakfast was served. The main meal was served in the middle of +the day and it was called dinner. Game, fowl, fish or hot meat and +greens, vegetables and hot breads were included in this meal. The hominy +may have been made in the Indian fashion with a pestle and a +hollowed-out tree stump. Supper was a light meal. + +The objects which were probably of the most interest to George were his +father's surveying instruments, rifle and axe. + +Mary's chamber, it was said, was directly in the rear of the hall +downstairs. There were two beds in it, the trunk, a chest of drawers, +four rush-bottomed chairs, and a tea table before the fireplace. The two +windows had hangings. It was probably in this room that another baby +girl was born in June, 1739. She was the last child born to Mary and +Augustine. + +October, 1740, was a sad month for the Washingtons. The baby died that +month, and Lawrence sailed from the Chesapeake to a far-off war in +Cartagena. + + +_FREDERICKSBURG_ + +The town of Fredericksburg was just across the Rappahannock from Ferry +Farm. To the Washington children, straight from the wilderness, it must +have been a source of delight. + +Sloops lay at the wharf there, close to the public warehouses which were +built in the shape of a cross. Near the wharf there was a quarry of +white stone, and there were several other quarries in the river bank. +There was one building in the town that was built of the stone, and that +was the prison. Most of the buildings were of wood with wooden chimneys. +In a few years the wooden chimneys were to be outlawed by the Burgesses. + +Fredericksburg was a new town, and it was "by far the most flourishing +town in that part of Virginia." It was "pleasantly situated on the South +Shore of Rappahannock River, about a Mile below the Falls." It had been +established in 1727 on a fifty-acre tract of land known as the +Lease-Land. + +The preamble of the act which established the town stated its purpose: +"... good houses are needed and greatly wanted upon some navigable part +of said river, near the falls, for the reception and safe keeping of +such commodities as are brought thither from remote places with +carriages drawn by horses or oxen." + +When Colonel William Byrd of Westover visited Fredericksburg in 1732, he +stayed at the home of its "top man," Colonel Henry Willis, whose wife +was George Washington's aunt, Mildred. + +Colonel Byrd relates that after a breakfast of beefsteak, his host +walked him about "his Town." He saw the stone prison, the shops of the +tailor, the merchant, the smith, and an ordinary. There was also Mrs. +Levistone--"Who acts here in the double capacity of a doctress and +coffee woman. And were this a populous city, she is qualified to +exercise two other callings." + +"Mrs. Levistone," or Susanna Livingston, was for some years the only +physician in Fredericksburg. The vestry of St. George's Church paid her +for attending the poor who were sick in the parish: "To Mrs. Livingston, +for salivating a poor woman, promising to cure her again if she should +be sick again in twelve month, 1,000 pounds of tobacco." It was not +unusual then for a woman to be a "doctress." + +Probably the most interesting place in Fredericksburg to the Washington +children was the shop of William Lynn who sold, along with other things, +brown and white sugar candy. + +The same year that the Washingtons came to live at Ferry Farm, a law was +passed that "fairs should be held in Fredericksburg twice a year, for +the sale of cattle, provisions, goods, wares, and all kinds of +merchandise whatsoever," and "that all persons attending the Fair at +Fredericksburg were immune from arrest and execution during the fairs +and for two days before and after them." + + +_SCHOOL DAYS_ + +It was Easter, 1743. George Washington was visiting his relatives at +Chotank, in King George County. His vacation was interrupted by a +messenger from Ferry Farm who told him that he was to return home at +once as his father was ill. + +Augustine Washington died on April 12, 1743. He was buried in the old +family burial ground, near the banks of Bridges Creek, not far from his +old home on Popes Creek. + +Both of George's older half-brothers were now home; Lawrence was back +from Cartagena, and "Austin" had returned from his school in England in +June, 1742. + +Augustine left Lawrence, his eldest son, the largest part of his estate, +including all the property on Little Hunting Creek. "Austin" inherited +the Popes Creek Farm. George was left the Ferry Farm and three lots in +Fredericksburg. He was to receive his inheritance when he was +twenty-one. + +There is no definite proof as to where George lived after his father's +death, but it seems that he lived at various times, at Ferry Farm with +his mother, at Popes Creek with "Austin," and on Little Hunting Creek +with Lawrence. + +Tradition says that George had a convict-teacher named Hobby who taught +him to read, write and "cipher," that he attended a school in +Fredericksburg run by Reverend James Marye, and that while he was at +Popes Creek with his brother Augustine, he attended Henry Williams's +school near Oak Grove. These traditions have not been as yet verified. + +It is known that "ciphering" was George's "absorbing interest." +Tradition says that when he was attending school in Fredericksburg he +usually worked at his figures while the other boys were playing bandy +during recess, but one day he was "romping with one of the largest +girls; this was so unusual that it excited no little comment among the +other lads." + + +_THE INDIANS_ + +At the time of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 Powhatan had more than +thirty Indian tribes under his rule. Eight of these tribes lived in the +land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers: + +Moraughtacund, on the bank of the Rappahannock River in the territory +that was later Richmond and Lancaster Counties. Their main village was +at the junction of the Rappahannock and the Morattico Rivers. Population +about 300. + +Onawmanient (Nominies), in the section later known as Westmoreland +County, near Nominy Bay. Population about 375. + +Pissaseck, on the bank of the Rappahannock River in the area that was +later King George, Westmoreland and Richmond Counties. Its chief village +or "Kings howse" was located just above the present Leedstown. A large +number of surface artifacts found in late years indicate that it was a +large village. + +Patawomeke (Potomac), the principal village site, was in latter-day +Stafford County at the mouth of Potomac Creek. (It was here that +Pocahontas was kidnapped by Captain Argall in 1613.) Population about +750. + +Rappahannock (Toppahanock), on the bank of the Rappahannock River, in +Richmond County, from a short distance below Totuskey Creek to a point +some distance above Rappahannock Creek (later known as Cat Point +Creek). This was an important tribe with a rather large village at the +mouth of Little Carter Creek. Population about 380. + +Secacawoni (Cekacawon), in Northumberland County, along the Coan River +near its entrance into the Potomac River. Population about 110. + +Wicocomoco (Wighcocomoco), in Northumberland County on the Potomac +River, near its entrance into the Chesapeake Bay. Their principal +village was on Wicocomico River. Population about 490. + +Cuttatawomen, one town by this name was located at the junction of the +Corotoman and the Rappahannock Rivers, in what was later known as +Lancaster County. Population about 115. The other town was on the +Rappahannock at the mouth of Lamb Creek, in what was later King George +County. Population about 75. + +It is believed that the Yeocomico Indians moved to what is now +Westmoreland County in 1634, after they sold their lands in Maryland to +Calvert. + +At the time of the settlement of the New World it is evident that there +were more than two thousand Indians living in the land between the +Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. A century later the Indians were +extinct along the Rappahannock. And in Northumberland in 1700, according +to Beverley: "Wicomico has but few men living which yet keep up their +kingdom and retain their fashion; yet live by themselves, separate from +all Indians, and from the English." + +By 1700, wars, white men's diseases, liquor and a general moral +breakdown had caused the disappearance of most of the Indians east of +the Blue Ridge. Some had moved westward or southwestward. + +There was little left in the Northern Neck to mark the passing of the +Indians except their ossuaries, an occasional tomahawk or arrowhead and +the musical names of the waters. + + +_THE POW-WOW_ + +Friends and relatives had gathered at the Stratford Hall landing to +watch the sloop _Margaret_ start on a trip down the Potomac. It was a +May morning, in 1744. The forest was "a-bloom" with dogwood and redbud +and the "pyne" was sending its fragrance across the water, just as it +had when Captain John Smith traveled this way so many years before. + +On board the _Margaret_, "seven flaming fine gentlemen," headed by +Thomas Lee, were about to take off on the first lap of a history-making +mission. Indian war drums were sounding. Thomas Lee and William Beverley +had been appointed commissioners from Virginia to meet the chiefs of the +Six Nations of the Iroquois at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. + +Amid shouts and laughter and the booming of cannon the sloop headed down +the Potomac, in the direction of the Chesapeake. + +The _Margaret_ sailed up the Bay toward Maryland and before noon the +next day Annapolis had been reached. Here for five days and nights, the +party was wined and dined. Philip Ludwell Lee, eighteen-year-old son of +Thomas, danced until one in the morning with the pretty girls of +Annapolis. + +The remainder of the journey was by land. After four more days of travel +the party was refreshed near Chester by a big bowl of lemon punch. In +Philadelphia they were highly entertained for three weeks. While in that +city Lee and Beverley marched in a procession to the market place to +hear an official proclamation of a war between England and France. They +were solemn now, for their mission was more important than ever. The +colonists needed the Indians on their side. + +This excursion was turning out to be an important diplomatic mission for +the colony. It was to be Britain's first serious answer to French +encroachments. + +It was late in June when Lee's party finally reached Lancaster, a new +and still raw town. The conference convened in the court-house, with +Governor George Thomas, of Pennsylvania, presiding. On his right sat Lee +and Beverley and on his left were the two commissioners from Maryland. +The Indians occupied the space usually allotted to the audience, but the +powerful chiefs, like Jonnhaty, Canasatego and Tocanuntie, met the white +men as equals. A Pennsylvania Dutchman named Conrad Weiser, acted as +interpreter. He was trusted by both sides. + +The meeting was opened by the commissioners from Maryland, since they +had issued the invitation to the meeting. This was in accordance with a +rigid Iroquois custom. + +The complaint of the Six Nations was that the white settlers were coming +over the "Great Mountains" and moving into the Valley and trespassing on +their ancestral lands. "You English have come settling on our lands like +a flock of birds," said Canasatego. + +The white men explained that when they entered the country west of the +Blue Ridge it "was altogether deserted and free for any people to enter +upon." To which the Indians replied: "We have the right of conquest, a +right too dearly purchased and which cost us too much blood to give up +without any reason, at all.... All the world knows we conquered the +several nations living on Susquehanna, Cohongaranta and at the back of +the Great Mountains." + +Thomas Lee, when his turn came to speak, answered this charge by saying +that the King of England held Virginia by right of conquest and that the +bounds of the conquered land extended west as far as the Great Sea. +However, he continued, the "Great King" was willing to pay them for +certain lands. He was speaking, he told the Indians, for Assarogoa, +Virginia's governor. Coming to the point, Thomas Lee laid down the +customary string of wampum and said: + +"We have a chest of new goods and the key is in our pockets. You are our +brethren; the Great King is our common father, and we will live with you +as children ought to do in peace and love. We will brighten the chain +and strengthen the Union between us, so that we shall never be divided +but remain friends and brethren as long as the sun gives us light." + +The Indian spokesman replied: "We are glad to hear that you have brought +with you a big chest of new goods, and that you have the key in your +pockets. We do not doubt that we shall have a good understanding on all +points and come to an agreement with you." + +Each oration was ended with belts of wampum and "Jo-hahs." The great +Iroquois chieftains no doubt understood what was happening, but the +wampum and rum, the gifts of camlet coats and gold-braided hats, the +festivities and ceremonial dances which accompanied the conference, must +have caused them to shut their eyes to the truth. Or maybe they already +saw the handwriting on the wall. + +We can visualize the scene--the handsome and elegant Thomas Lee, in his +crimson suit and flowing white wig, and the grave and eloquent Indian +spokesman, in his equally gorgeous regalia. And the silent Indians, +listening and smoking their pipes. + +For 200 pounds in cash, and 200 pounds in knives, hatchets, kettles, +jew's harps, and other "trucke," the Six Nations, said to have been the +fiercest and most courageous of all the Indian tribes, finally put their +marks on a piece of parchment which said that the white men could have +all the country of their ancestors west of the "Great Mountains"--all +the land between the Blue Ridge and the Ohio. + +Thus it was that the red men surrendered their heritage to the white men +in the town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1744. + +[Illustration: _Young George Washington becomes a friend of Lord +Fairfax, Proprietor of Northern Neck._] + + +_MOUNT VERNON_ + +George Washington probably liked visiting his brother Austin at Popes +Creek, for there he was close to the Potomac where he could sail and +fish and go ducking, as wild fowl were plentiful there. He no doubt rode +and hunted and enjoyed the countryside just like any other Northern Neck +boy. + +Popes Creek was more luxurious than Ferry Farm. Austin kept a racing +stud that he probably raced at the Fredericksburg fairs. His wife owned +enough millinery and kid gloves to have been a "rather dashing figure at +the races." She had been Anne Aylett, of Westmoreland, a young woman of +birth and station. + +Although George was not destined to receive an English education, as his +father and brothers had, he learned, when he visited his brother +Lawrence at Hunting Creek, to move in the society of polished gentlemen. + +The old house at Epsewasson, where George had lived as a child, had +either burned or Lawrence had torn it down. Lawrence had built a new +home and he called it Mount Vernon, in honor of Admiral Vernon, under +whom he had served as captain of marines at Cartagena. + +Lawrence had married Anne Fairfax, daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, +who was a cousin and agent of Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the +Northern Neck. Belvoir, not far from Mount Vernon, was the home of the +Fairfax family. + +While he was at Mount Vernon, George visited Belvoir and became friends +with William Fairfax, the son of the house, who was seven years his +senior. At Belvoir, in 1748, he also met Lord Fairfax. They became +friends and hunting companions. Lord Fairfax remained at Belvoir, +amusing himself with reading, fishing and fox-hunting, until he moved to +his own home, Greenway Court, in 1751. + +In the spring of 1748 a party of gentlemen were about to start for the +South Branch of the Potomac for the purpose of surveying lands for Lord +Fairfax. George Washington, then sixteen, and a big lad for his age, was +invited to accompany this party. + +George was glad of this opportunity for the training it would afford +him, and because he enjoyed being in the company of polished gentlemen. +He did not go on this expedition as one of the surveyors. + +George Washington was not a rich boy but he was accustomed to nice +things. When he and his friend, "Mr. Fairfax" (George William) set out +upon this new adventure into the wilderness, he was dressed not as a +frontiersman but in "some of the clothes of fashion," and he carried a +watch. + + +_WASHINGTON WASHED HERE_ + +When George Washington came back from his trip with the surveying party, +in June, 1748, he went down into the Northern Neck and visited his +cousins at Chotank. He probably visited all of the neighbors near there +and told them of his experiences in the wilderness--of the Indians and +the frontier families. He probably stayed in the Neck for awhile. + +About this time, while he was at Ferry Farm, he decided one day to +"wash" in the Rappahannock. At that time in the Neck, and for many years +after, to "wash" meant to bathe. + +George undressed on the Fredericksburg side of the River. He probably +picked a secluded spot and believed that he was alone, for he undressed +and went in the water to "wash." + +When George came out of the water and started to dress he found that his +clothes had been robbed! + +George reported the theft to the Sheriff, or Constable. As a result two +women servants of Fredericksburg were arrested and locked in jail-- + +"Ann Carroll and Mary McDaniel, of Friedericksburg, being committed to +the gaol of this county by William Hunter, Gent, on suspicion of felony +and charged with robbing the cloaths of Mr. George Washington when he +was washing in the river some time last summer, the court having heard +several evidences are of the opinion that the said Ann Carroll be +discharged, and admitted on evidence for Lord the King against the said +Mary McDaniel, and upon considering the whole evidence and the prisoners +defense, the court are of the opinion that the said Mary Mc Daniel is +guilty of petty larcency, whereupon the said Mary desired immediate +punishment for the said crime and relied on the mercy of the court, +therefore it is ordered that the sheriff carry her to the whipping post +and inflict fifteen lashes on her bare back, and then she be +discharged." + +The case was heard, December 3, 1751, and Ann had turned King's witness +and testified against Mary. George was ignorant of the outcome of the +trial for he was far away at the time. He had sailed in September to the +Barbadoes with his brother Lawrence, who had not been well since his +return from the war at Cartagena. + +Whether George ever recovered his stolen money or valuables is not +known. + + +_THE ORDINARY_ + +At some time between 1750-55 George Fisher of London crossed the +Northern Neck on his way from Williamsburg to Philadelphia by horseback. +When he returned to England he wrote an account of his trip to America. +The following excerpt from his narrative tells of the night he spent at +Leedstown, Westmoreland County, a thriving tobacco port of the +Rappahannock River. George Fisher writes as follows: + + "So taking a feed of Corn with me into the Boat, which my Horse + eat in his passage, I crossed the River Rappahannock. In going + over the River about Two miles wide, I could see Leids Town on + the other side, two or Three miles up the River, the Place I + now intended to rest this night in.... I did not arrive till + Seven o'clock.... I put up at one Mr. T----ts, esteemed the + best Ordinary in Town, and indeed the House and Furniture has + as elegant an appearance as any I have seen in the country, Mr. + Finnays or Wetherburnes in Williamsburg not excepted. The + chairs, Tables, &c of the Room I was conducted into, was all of + Mahogany, & so stuft with fine large glaized copper Plate + Prints; That I almost fancied myself in Jeffriess' or some + other elegant Print Shops. I had the happiness, at my first + Coming in of my Landlord's Company, who understanding I came + from the Metroplis (and the Assembly now sitting) gaped after + news; he was troubled with gout, for he came limping in upon a + stick; When I had answered all his interrogatories, and he had + picked what intelligence of me he was able, and I calling at + First for a half Pint of wine only, he vanished and I could see + him no more; tho' I sent twice (at supper and afterwards) to + request the favor of his Company, in hopes of receiving in my + turn some useful directions, in the ensuing Day's Journey. His + excuse was, first, indisposition, and afterwards he was gone to + Bed; tho' the Boy who lighted me to mine assured me he was + sitting with his House-keeper, and that not one Person had been + in the House since my arrival. By what I could hear and + preceive myself this Landlord who bears the name honest Mr. + T----, like most of his Trade, proportions his regard to their + extravagance, in which respect I was doubtless too + contemptible for his notice. The Host--he could tell me nothing + of the Rout I was to take, so that I was now quite destitute of + intelligence. + + "This House stands pleasantly upon the North side of the River, + and a tolerable garden seemed to be in as decent order as most + I have seen in America. The method of Single men having + House-keepers is esteemed here very reputable and genteel. In + the morning while my Breakfast and Horse was getting ready, I + sought after some instruction for my journey, and as it + happened, I found a Person up that kepped a store, who gave me + a draught of the road to Hoes Ferry on Potomac River. I have + since been informed of my true Route was from Southern on this + Rappahannocke River to Lovels Ferry on Potomac River, it being + not only a better Road, but I should have saved at least Ten or + Twelve miles in the Riding of Thirty, the only objection being + that at the Hoes the River is not more than five miles wide; + but at Lovels to Cedar Point (in Md.) it is eight or ten, + consequently in windy weather the passage is more difficult and + unsafe; but at this time of the year no great danger was to be + apprehended. The Gentleman's name who delineated the Road for + me to Hoes Ferry is Thompson." + + +_NELLY_ + +It was for a special reason that Nelly wanted to go back home. It was +not that she was unhappy in her new home for it was beautiful there at +the head of the deeply wooded valley with the Blue Ridge towering in the +distance. The frame house, which had been built by her husband's father, +was modest but comfortable, and there were slaves to do the heavy work. +Still, she wanted to go home and her husband humoured his +nineteen-year-old wife, and prepared for the journey. + +To Nelly home was the low country--the flat lands where the air was damp +and the fogs rolled in from the River. + +Nelly probably traveled home in a carriage of some sort for the trail +led through the virgin forest. The nights were doubtless spent at +farmhouses along the way. As they neared Fredericksburg they probably +met up with other travelers on horseback, and teamsters with wagons +loaded with wheat and tobacco for export. + +Fredericksburg was all "a-bustle" at that time with foreign ships lying +at the wharves and wagons rumbling along the streets. What a welcome +sight the Rappahannock must have been to Nelly! And there was the ferry +which would carry her across to her homeland! It was a rope-hauled +ferry, pulled back and forth across the River by the ferryman. + +Once the River was crossed it was only a ten or twelve mile ride down +through King George County to her childhood home on the banks of the +Rappahannock. This was the plantation of Nelly's stepfather, John Moore. +She had known him as a father as long as she could remember, for her own +father, Francis Conway, had died when she was only a year old. Her +mother, Rebecca Catlett Conway, had soon married John Moore. Many of +Nelly's relatives lived in this region of the Northern Neck. What a +happy home-coming it must have been for Nelly. + +The chill winds of winter were still blowing across the Rappahannock, +but the crocuses were in bloom, when Nelly's baby arrived, on March 16, +1751. + +The Northern Neck relatives assembled for the christening. Nelly's +cousins, Judith and Elizabeth Catlett, acted as godmothers, and Mary +Catlett's husband, Jonathan Gibson, was godfather. The infant was named +for his father, James Madison. + +The Catletts and Conways and Madisons must have rejoiced at the birth of +Nelly's first baby, but they had no reason to think that the birth of +little "Jemmy" Madison would some day be a matter of national +importance. And little did Nelly dream when she made the long journey +home that by so doing the Northern Neck would fall heir to another +famous son. + +"Little Jemmy" grew up to be one of the foremost figures in the creation +of the American nation. He became the fourth President of the United +States, and he is remembered as "the Father of the Constitution." + +James Madison's birthsite in King George County later became known as +Port Conway. + + +_MISS BETSY_ + +In the spring of 1752 George Washington was riding down to Naylor's +Hole, in Richmond County. He had his mind set on a certain young lady +who lived there, but up to this time she had been uncooperative. George +had written to her father, Colonel William Fauntleroy: + +"I purpose ... to wait on Miss Betsy, in hopes of a revocation of the +former cruel sentence and see if I can meet with any alteration in my +favor." + +Betsy was just sixteen and she was probably having a good time at her +home on the Rappahannock. It was lively there on the River, for the +Rappahannock was the main highway for the tobacco trade and her father +was interested in ships and trade, and he operated a ferry. When she +tired of the River she could always go visiting in her father's imported +riding chair, drawn by "two horses abreast." It was a smart "turn-out"; +even the whip had her father's name on it. + +As George rode through the blossoming forest, which Betsy's ancestor had +bought from the Indians a century before, he must have had mingled +emotions. There was the pleasure of the expectation of seeing Betsy +again, mixed with the uncertainty of the outcome of his suit. Then too, +he must have wondered if she would notice the scars on his face. While +he had been in the Barbadoes, where he had accompanied his brother +Lawrence in his fruitless search for health, George had contracted the +smallpox which had left permanent scars on his face. + +Tradition says that Betsy did notice the scars. Whatever the reason may +have been--George's mission was unsuccessful. + +For years historians have tried without success to settle the +question--was Betsy Fauntleroy the "Lowland Beauty" to whom Washington +made references in his correspondence, or did he have in mind another +Northern Neck beauty named Lucy Grymes? + + +_THE PROPRIETOR OF THE NORTHERN NECK_ + +It was an autumn day in the year 1753. A group of men lounged in the +sunshine before a rudely constructed log tavern in a Virginia wilderness +clearing. Their rough attire of buckskin and homespun and their knives +and rifles proclaimed them to be hunters, trappers and settlers. + +Suddenly they were aroused by a noise in the forest. The drooping tree +boughs came to life and the tall grasses were pushed aside as an amazing +spectacle for this frontier setting emerged. With a great rattling of +wheels, creaking of leather and clumping of hooves, four shiny horses +came forth drawing behind them an English chariot that would very well +have graced the streets of London. + +The liveried driver drew up before the hitching rack and the footmen +descended from behind and opened the door of the chariot. Out stepped a +middle-aged man, so tall and so gigantic in frame, that he had +difficulty in getting through the opening. He was richly clad in a coat +of brown cloth decorated with embroidery and a waistcoat of yellow silk, +ornamented with silver thread and flowers. His peruke was carefully +powdered and his shirt ruffles were snow-white. + +As he issued from the chariot he drew about him the folds of a red +velvet cloak, and then bowing his head slightly to the admiring crowd, +he entered the tavern. + +This man was no stranger to these frontiersmen. Most of them had hunted +with him, or eaten at his "broad board," or transacted business with him +in his little stone office. But it was rarely that they saw him thus, in +the trappings of an English gentleman. They had seen him stab his +hunting-knife into a deer's throat, and hold up the brush of a fox at +the end of the chase, but then his garments had been weather-beaten and +on his head he had worn an otter-skin cap with a buck's tail stuck in +it. + +But this strange gentleman had no hunting trip in mind to-day. He soon +came out of the tavern and the chariot was rumbling away down the forest +road, for he was due to preside over a session of the justices' court at +the frontier town of Winchester. And although the Shawnee Indians were +still not too far distant, this gentleman evidently believed in carrying +into the wilds of the New World something of the English idea of the +propriety of full dress on occasions of ceremony. + +And who was this man who could change so easily from back-woodsman to +gentleman? None other than Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and +sole proprietor of that vast tract of land known as the Northern Neck. +This, his inheritance, embraced all lands lying between the headwaters +of the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers to the Chesapeake Bay, comprising +more than five million acres. + +Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax had inherited, in 1719, the Northern Neck of +Virginia, through his mother, Catherine, daughter of Thomas, Lord +Culpeper, and wife of Lord Fairfax. It was through this marriage that +the grant became known as the Fairfax Proprietary. + +In 1673, Thomas, Lord Culpeper had bought out the other grantees and had +become the sole proprietor of the original grant. He had cunningly had +the terms of the patent changed to the "first heads of springs" of the +two rivers, instead of "within the heads" of the two rivers, as +originally stated in 1649. The change in these few words changed the +size of the tract from one million to more than five million acres. This +change in description apparently was not noticed in the colony at the +time. + +It was in this way that Culpeper's grandson, Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, +through inheritance became sole proprietor of the Northern Neck. + +Lord Fairfax was born in Leeds Castle, England, in 1693. He was educated +at Oxford University and developed such a fondness for literature that +he wrote a number of papers for the _Spectator_. But he was unlucky in +affairs of the heart--he was jilted at the altar. + +After a time the embittered Fairfax decided to take a voyage to Virginia +to examine his inheritance. So well pleased was he with his domain that +he decided to make it his home. Perhaps the free way of life and new +hunting grounds appealed to him. He returned to England, arranged his +affairs and voyaged back to his wild new home, in 1748. + +Fairfax built a home in the Shenandoah Valley, called Greenway Court, +and went there to live in 1751. Tradition says that he planted a white +post--one mile distant--as a guide to his dwelling, and thus the town of +White Post was later so named. + +Lord Fairfax cultivated a large farm at Greenway Court. He had probably +one hundred and fifty negro slaves, who lived in huts scattered about in +the woods. There was very little cultivated ground around his house +because he preferred to leave the land as a natural park. The grounds +were encircled by a rude fence, which served also as a hitching rack. + +Locust trees shaded the mansion. It was a long stone building with a +slender chimney on each end and two belfries between on top of the roof. +These bells were probably used to call the servants or as an alarm when +Indians were near. There were four dormer-windows and a portico across +the front. This building was used by the steward, it was said, while +Fairfax lived and died in a single clapboard story-and-a-half house. + +Nearby the main house stood a small limestone structure, where +quit-rents were given and titles drawn of his lordship's domains. He +lived almost wholly from his rents. We can imagine him there, with a +court of deer-hounds at his feet. On the table lies a rudely drawn map +of the frontier, some folded letters, an inkstand and an eagle's quill +pen. Here he delivered the title deeds of nearly all of that portion of +Virginia over which he had dominion. + +Perhaps, too, it was here that he conversed with his young friend, +George Washington, who surveyed part of the immense tract among the +valleys of the Alleghany mountains for him. These were divided into lots +to enable Fairfax to claim quit-rents and give titles. + +In spite of the difference in their ages, Fairfax and Washington had +another interest in common--they were both passionately fond of hunting. +Tradition says that sometimes they passed weeks together in the +pleasures of the chase. + +When fox-hunting Lord Fairfax made it a rule that "he who got the fox, +cut off his tail, and held it up, should share in the jollification +which was to follow, free of expense." An early historian says that "as +soon as a fox was started, the young men of the company usually dashed +after him with great impetuosity, while Fairfax leisurely waited behind +with a favorite servant who was familiar with the water-courses, and of +a quick ear, to discover the course of the fox. Following his +directions, his lordship would start after the game, and, in most +instances, secure the prize, and stick the tail of the fox in his hat in +triumph." + +It is probable that some of these "jollifications" that followed the +hunt were held in a tavern in Winchester, for tradition says that he +occasionally held "levees" there. (This building was later used as a +stable.) + +Sometimes Fairfax entertained in the great room at Greenway Court. This +room, according to tradition, was a combination of crudity and +refinement. Rough oak furniture, carven mahogany, silver plate, cheap +crockery, leather-bound books, fishing nets, portraits, antlers and +blunderbuses, all intermingled. But Fairfax was a generous host and the +board groaned with ham, beef, fowl, game as well as mellow Jamaica rum. +But Fairfax did not drink, and women were never invited to his parties. + +When in the humor Fairfax sometimes gave away whole farms to his +tenants, simply demanding for rent some trifle like a turkey for his +Christmas dinner. + +Fairfax lived the life of a bachelor and adopted the rough customs of +his new land, but his life was not altogether happy in the New World. +Quit-rents were not willingly paid and he was constantly occupied with +lawsuits over boundaries. The Indian hostilities retarded the settlement +of his domain and therefore lessened his revenue. He was considered +eccentric and "a hoarder up of English gold." + +In spite of his friendship with George Washington, Fairfax was a Tory to +the end. When he heard that Cornwallis had surrendered he told his body +servant, "Take me to bed, John, it is time for me to die." He died +shortly after, on December 9, 1781. + +He was buried at Winchester, under the old Episcopal church, which was +on the public square. When this structure was later taken down the bones +of Fairfax were removed to a tomb in the crypt of Christ Church in +Winchester. At the time of his disinterment, it is said that a large +mass of silver was found, which was the mounting of his coffin. + +Around 1840 some excavating was done about the grounds at Greenway Court +and a large quantity of joes and half-joes were found. These were what +was termed cob-coin, of a square form, and dated about 1730. They were +supposed to have been secreted there by Lord Fairfax. + +Fairfax never married, therefore he left no child to inherit his vast +estate. He devised a large portion of his property to a nephew in +England. Later the estate passed through several hands and was finally +sold. + +A few years after the war of the Revolution an attempt was made by the +colonists to confiscate the estate. At last a compromise took place +between those who had bought it and the Virginia state government. + +During and after the Revolution no quit-rents were paid, and in 1785 an +act was passed by the Virginia Legislature which abolished the +proprietary system in the Northern Neck. The people there were finally +free of landlords, after one hundred and twenty-five years. + + +_THE MARSHALLS_ + +John Marshall "of the forest" owned two hundred acres of land in +Westmoreland County. "Of the forest" was a term used in the Northern +Neck in referring to those whose homes were some distance from the +water. + +John "of the forest" acquired this land by deed, for five shillings, +from William Marshall of King and Queen County. It is probable that this +William was the elder brother of John "of the forest" and that they were +both sons of Thomas "the carpenter," of Westmoreland. The latter's will +was probated in the same county in 1704. (In this will there was +mentioned "a heifer ... called White-Belly.") + +This land of John "of the forest" was located on Appomattox Creek. It +was low marshy land of such inferior quality that the former owners had +not bothered with it. Originally it had been a part of twelve hundred +acres which had been granted to "Jno. Washington & Thos. Pope, gents.--& +by them lost for want of seating." + +John "of the forest" married Elizabeth Markham, daughter of the Sheriff +of Westmoreland County. To John and Elizabeth were born ten children. +They lived simply on their farm until John died in 1752. + +Among the items left to Elizabeth by John was "one Gray mair named +beauty and side saddle." He also left her the use of his land "during +her widowhood and afterwards to fall to my son Thomas Marshall and his +heirs forever." + +Thomas was twenty-two years old at the time of his father's death. One +year later his mother deeded half of the two hundred acres to him. + +Thomas Marshall was fortunate in that he was powerful of stature and +intelligent. He was of a serious but adventurous nature. He and his +neighbor, George Washington, seem to have been friends from boyhood. For +about three years Thomas had been Washington's companion when he helped +him to survey the western part of the Fairfax domain. + +Thomas Marshall left Westmoreland County not long after his father's +death to seek his fortune in the frontier country toward the Blue Ridge. + +In 1754 Thomas married a well born and well educated girl named Mary +Randolph Keith. To this union were born fifteen children, the best known +being John, who became the fourth Chief Justice of the United States +Supreme Court. + + +_THE LEEDSTOWN RESOLUTIONS_ + +The town of Leeds on the banks of the Rappahannock River was a thriving +center of trade and shipping in colonial days. Here the big ships lay at +anchor while their holds were filled with tobacco for the London market. +Here the returning ships unloaded the English luxuries that were so dear +to the hearts of the Northern Neck planter-families. + +Leeds had been incorporated in 1742. When ten or twelve years later the +English visitor, George Fisher, spent a night at "Leids Town" he was +well pleased with the fine furnishings he found in the ordinary. There +were other ordinaries in the village, comfortable homes with gardens and +Leeds Church. + +George Washington often visited Leedstown. With his wife he dined there +in 1759. He spent the night there in 1763. Many times he crossed the +nearby ferry as he traveled between Mount Vernon and Williamsburg. + +On a winter's day in 1766 there was unusual activity at Leeds. The +excitement came about because Thomas Ludwell Lee had written to his +brother Richard Henry Lee as follows: "We propose to be in Leedstown in +the afternoon of the 27th inst., Feb. 1766, where we expect to meet +those who will come from your way. This would be a fine opportunity to +effect the scheme of an association, and I should be glad if you would +think of a plan." + +It is easy to visualize the arrival of the planters in their coaches and +on horseback--to hear the rattle of wheels, the thud of hoofs, the +creaking of saddle-leather and the excited voices speaking with a London +accent. + +The "plan" that Richard Henry Lee had thought of and prepared in +manuscript form and had brought to Leedstown that day could probably +have hanged him, and the one hundred and fourteen others who signed it, +if it had fallen into the wrong hands. But the Northern Neck was a +remote fortress and its inhabitants were bold when their freedom was +threatened. + +Among those who signed Lee's document were six Lees, five Washingtons, +and Spence Monroe, father of President James Monroe. The text of The +Leedstown Resolutions follows: + + "Rouzed by Danger and alarmed at Attempts foreign & domestic to + reduce the People of this Country to a State of abject and + detestable slavery by destroying that free and happy + constitution of Government under which they have hitherto + lived,--We who subscribe this Paper, have Associated, & do bind + ourselves to each other, to God, and to our Country, by the + Firmest Tyes that Religion & Virtue can frame, most sacredly + and punctually to stand by, and with our Lives & Fortunes to + support, maintain and defend each other, in the Observation and + Execution of these following Articles. + + "First, we declare all due Allegiance and Obedience to our + lawful Sovereign George the Third King of Great Britain. And we + determine to the utmost of our Power to preserve the Laws, the + Peace and good Order of this Colony as far as is consistent + with the Preservation of our Constitutional Rights and Liberty. + + "2.dly As we know it to be the Birthright Privilege of every + British Subject (and of the People of Virginia as being such) + founded on Reason, Law and Compact, That he cannot be legally + tryed but by his Peers, and that he cannot be taxed but by + Consent of a Parliament in which he is represented by Persons + chosen by the People and who themselves pay a part of the Tax + they impose on others--If therefore any Person or Persons shall + attempt by any Action or Proceeding to deprive this Colony of + those fundamental Rights we will immediately regard him or them + as the most dangerous Enemy of the Community and we will go to + any Extremity not only to prevent the Success of such Attempts + but to Stigmatize and punish the Offender. + + "3.dly As the Stamp Act does absolutely direct the Property of + the People to be taken from them without their Consent + express'd by their Representatives, and as in many cases it + deprives the British American Subject of his Right to Trial by + Jury; we do determine at every hazard and paying no Regard to + Danger or to Death; we will exert every Faculty to prevent the + Execution of the said Stamp Act in any instance whatsoever + within this Colony--And every abandoned Wretch who shall be so + lost to Virtue and publick Good, as wickedly to contribute to + the introduction or fixture of the Stamp Act in this Colony, by + using Stampt Paper, or by any other Means; we will with the + utmost Expedition convince all such Profligates, that immediate + danger and disgrace shall attend their prostitute Purpose. + + "4.thly That the last Article may most surely and effectually + be execut'd, we engage to each other, that whenever it shall be + known to any of this Association that any Person is so + conducting himself as to favor the Introduction of the Stamp + Act, that immediate Notice shall be given to as many of the + Association as possible, and that every Individual so inform'd + shall with expedition repair to a place of meeting to be + appointed as near the Scene of Action as may be. + + "5.thly Each Associator shall do his true endeavor to obtain as + many Signers to this Association as he possibly can. + + "6.thly If any attempt shall be made upon the Liberty or + Property of any Associator for any Action or Thing to be done + in Consequence of this Agreement, we do most solemnly bind + ourselves by the sacred Engagements above enter'd into, at the + utmost risk of our Lives and Fortunes to restore such Associate + to his Liberty, and to protect him in the enjoyment of his + Property. + + "In Testimony of the good Faith with which we resolve to + execute this Association, we have this 27 day of February 1766 + in Virginia put our hands & Seals hereto + + Richard Henry Lee + Will Robinson + Lewis Willis + Thomas Lud. Lee + Samuel Washington + Charles Washington + Moore Fauntleroy + Francis Lightfoot Lee + Thomas Jones + Rodham Kenner + Spencer Mottsom Ball + Richard Mitchell + Joseph Murdock + Rich'd Parker + Spence Monroe + John Watts + Robert Lovell + John Blagge + Charles Weeks + William Booth + Geo: Tuberville + Alvin Moxley + Wm. Flood + John Ballantine Jun. + William Lee + Thomas Chilton + Richard Buckner + Will Chilton + Joseph Peirce + John Williams + Jn. Blackwell + Winder S. Kenner + Wm. Bronaugh + Will Peirce + John Berryman + Jn. Dickson + John Browne + Edward Sanford + Charles Chilton + Lau. Washington + W. Roane Jr. + William Sydnor + John Monroe + William Cocke + William Grayson + Wm. Brockenbrough + Sam Selden + Daniel McCarty + Jer Rush + Edwd. Ransdell + Townshend Dade + Laur. Washington + John Ashton + W. Brent + Francis Foushee + John Smith Jr. + Will Balle + Thomas Barnes + Jos. Blackwell + Reuben Meriwether + Edw. Mountjoy + Thomas Mountjoy + William Mountjoy + John Mountjoy + Gilbt. Campbell + Jos. Lane + Richard Lee + Daniel Tebbs + Fran. Thornton Jun. + Peter Rust Jun. + John Lee Jun. + Fran Waring + John Upshaw + Merriwether Smith + Thomas Roane + James Edmondson + James Webb + John Edmondson + James Banks + Smith Young + Thomas Logan + Jo. Milliken + Rich Hodges + James Upshaw + James Booker + A. Montague + Richard Jeffries + John Suggett + Jn. L. Woodcock + Robert Wormeley Carter + John Beale Jun. + John Newton + Will B--le Jun. + Chs. Mortimer + John Edmondson + Charles Beale + Peter Grant + Thomson Mason + Jon. Beckwith + James Samford + John Belfield + W. Smith + John Aug. Washington + Thomas Belfield + Edgecomb Suggett + Henry Francks + John Bland Jun. + Jas. Emerson + John Richards + Thos. Jett + Thomas Douglas + Max. Robinson + John Orr + Ebenezer Fisher + Hancock Eustace." + + Text and names have been copied from a photostatic copy of the + original manuscript by Florienette Matter Knight, Organizing + Regent, Leedstown Resolutions Chapter, N.S.D.A.R. The original + manuscript, handwritten by Richard Henry Lee, is in the + archives of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va. + + +_FITHIAN_ + +On an October day in the year 1773 a man on horseback rode down through +Westmoreland County until he came to the entrance of a plantation known +as Nomini Hall. The avenue leading to the great house was bordered with +poplar trees, through which the white stuccoed house appeared "romantic" +and "truly elegant." + +Philip Vickers Fithian, lately graduated from Princeton, had been seven +days on the road since he had left New Jersey. He had ridden two +hundred and sixty miles and crossed a number of ferries. + +Fithian was not sure that he was doing the right thing in coming to +Virginia. His friends had tried to persuade him not to go to that +"wicked colony" where he would be sure to fall in with evil companions +and become a drunkard or a gambler. If his parents had lived Fithian +would probably have stayed in the North, but they had recently passed +away, and the salary as a plantation tutor was good. With a last prayer +to the Lord that he would be strong enough to stick to his upright way +of life, Fithian set off on his journey to the Northern Neck of +Virginia. + +Nomini Hall was the seat of one of King Carter's grandsons, Robert +Carter, III. His holdings, amounting to seventy thousand acres, were +scattered over a number of counties. He owned more than five hundred +slaves and employed numerous white overseers, clerks, stewards, +craftsmen and artisans. Tobacco was still the main crop of the +plantation, but its profits were now waning and Councillor Carter sought +other money crops to supplement this chief product. Carter also +manufactured supplies for the use of his plantations and for his +neighbors' needs. He operated grain mills, textile factories, salt works +and bakeries. + +Nomini Hall was laid off in the usual formal English style, with four +dependencies--one equally distant from each corner of the manor. These +were the large dependencies--there were many others, probably as many as +thirty. In the square thus formed by the four buildings there was a +bowling green, and gardens interspersed with oyster-shell walks. + +In one of the large dependencies, Fithian was established. Here he and +the Carter boys slept upstairs over the schoolroom. The five Carter +girls who were to be his pupils--"all dressed in white"--slept in the +great house. Fithian liked his room in the schoolhouse--"a neat chamber, +a large Fire, Books, & Candle & my Liberty to stay in this room or to +sit at the great house." In the household he held a delicate +position--equi-distant between the master and his eldest son. + +There was never a dull moment at Nomini Hall. There was the music +teacher--and the traveling dancing teacher who followed a plan of +rotation between the plantations. He spent about a week at each place, +which ended with a small informal dance. The big balls were splendid +affairs, lasting for days and nights. There was a continual procession +of chariots, drawn by four or six horses, with coachman, and +postillions, and attended by horseback riders, moving back and forth +between Nomini Hall and its neighboring plantations. The Carters often +dined and danced with the Lees at Stratford and Chantilly, the +Washingtons at Bushfield, the Tubervilles at Hickory Hill, and with the +Tayloes at Mount Airy, about twelve miles distant. Christenings, +birthdays, house-warmings--anything served as an excuse for a +celebration among these Northern Neckers! In no part of Virginia were +there more great planters than in the Northern Neck. + +Fithian observed everything and wrote it all down in his Journal. One of +the first things that he noticed were the ladies with the white +handkerchiefs: "Almost every Lady wears a red Cloak; and when they ride +out they tye a white handkerchief over their Head and face, so that when +I first came into Virginia, I was distress'd whenever I saw a Lady, for +I thought she had the Tooth-Ache!" + +Fithian walked often in the evenings in the garden with Mrs. Carter when +she was giving a last look at the poultry or the growing things. He had +a great admiration for the beauty and elegance of Mrs. Carter. With +Councillor Carter he attended the county courts and the horse-races in +Richmond County. Around the stables he watched the cock-fights. There +was skating on the "Mill-pond," and when warm weather came, the +"fish-feasts" and barbecues. The latter, he wrote, were just like the +"fish-feasts" except that they had roast pig instead of fish. + +Fithian did not approve of Sunday in Virginia--"A Sunday in Virginia +don't seem to wear the same Dress as our Sundays to the Northward. By +five o'clock on Saturday every face looks festive and cheerful.... It is +a general custom on Sundays here, with Gentlemen to invite one another +home to dine, after Church; and to consult about, determine their common +business, either before or after Service.... It is not the custom for +Gentlemen to go into Church til Service is beginning, when they enter in +a Body, in the same manner as they came out; I have known the Clerk to +come out and call them into prayers.... They stay also after the Service +is over, usually as long, or longer, than the Parson, was preaching." + +Nomini Church stood on the banks of the River Nomini about six miles +from the manor. The Carter family attended this church, traveling by +both land and water. Councillor Carter had a boat built for the purpose +"of carrying the young Ladies and others of the Family to Nominy Church. +It is a light neat Battoe elegantly painted & is rowed with four Oars." +On the way to church by boat, Fithian saw the river alive with people, +in boats and canoes, fishing. + +Whenever it was possible Fithian excused himself from the social +gatherings and stayed in his room, writing in his Journal and working on +his sermons, for he was to become a Presbyterian minister. He was +happiest there alone because he could not fit in with these strange +Northern Neckers. He felt a little sorry for himself because he was a +somber "meagre" figure in his dark clothes among these gay people. His +greatest handicap was that he had never learned to dance and--"blow +high, blow low, Virginians will dance or die!" He wrote to a friend in +the North: "Here we either strain on Horseback, from home to Church, or +from house to house if we go out at all--or we walk alone into a dark +meadow, or tall wood. But I love solitude, and these lonely recesses +suit exactly the feeling of my mind." + +In spite of his disapproval Fithian grew fond of the Northern Neck and +its people. When he returned from a visit home he wrote: "I am much more +pleased with the Face of the Country since my return than I have ever +been before--It is indeed delightsome! How natural, how agreeable, how +majestic the place seems! Supp'd on Crabs & an elegant dish of +Strawberries & Cream!" + +On Christmas morning Fithian was awakened by the guns being fired around +the house. Then the boy who made the fire came in with a "Christmas +Box," for a tip, and the other servants followed with their "Boxes." +Mrs. Carter sent him over some spermaceti candles--"large clear & very +elegant." The holidays were a round of balls and parties, which Fithian +excused himself from as much as possible. He was glad when they were +over--"We had a large Pye cut to-day to signify the conclusion of the +Holidays." + +It was so cold in January that "a cart and three pair of oxen which +every day bring in four loads of wood, Sundays excepted." In the manor +and other houses there were twenty-eight "steady fires & most of them +are very large." It grew so cold that the cart went for wood on Sunday +also. + +Mail was gotten infrequently from the post-office at Hobb's Hole, which +was the name of present-day Tappahannock. Newspapers from the North and +_The Virginia Gazette_ brought accounts of the Tea Party in Boston, and +other rumblings in the colonies. These "Golden Days" in Virginia were +not to last much longer--war was in the making. + +Fithian left Nomini Hall late in 1774. He could no longer stay away from +his Northern "dream-girl," the "fair Laura" of his Journal. He was +married to her in October, 1775. He enlisted in the Revolutionary forces +in 1776 as a chaplain, but his "meagre" body could not stand the life of +the army. He died shortly after the battle of White Plains. + +But Fithian had not lived in vain--his Journal was a legacy to +posterity. + + +_THE SCHOOL IN THE WILDWOOD_ + +In colonial days a small school was conducted in the forest of +Westmoreland County by a Scotch minister. His own sons were his pupils, +and a few children who lived close enough to walk to school through the +woodland lane which was cut for several straight miles through the woods +and was known as the Parson's Road. + +In 1755 the "Parson" had petitioned the Court of Westmoreland County to +have a road from the "new Glebe opened to Round Hill Church." The +petition was granted, for the Reverend Archibald Campbell was an +influential man in the region. + +Mr. Campbell came to Virginia from Scotland in October, 1741. The "new +Glebe" was purchased, tradition says, from Thomas Marshall, "the +surveyor," about 1753. The "Parson" moved to the "new Glebe" and lived +there until his death in 1775. It was there that he conducted his +school. + +The "new Glebe" was situated on Mattox Creek, originally called +Appamatox Creek after the Indians who had once lived there. This Glebe +was located not far from the present village of Oak Grove. + +The Reverend Archibald Campbell came from a distinguished and learned +Scottish family--his nephew, Thomas Campbell, became one of Britain's +greatest poets. The "Parson" himself was well equipped with "all the +learning which the Scottish universities could give." + +At the school in the forest it was all work and little play, for the +"Parson" was a hard taskmaster. His pupils were said to have been +"especially well grounded in mathematics and Latin ... and in their +various subsequent careers they were noted for solidity of character." +At least two of his pupils became historic figures. + + +_JAMES AND JOHN_ + +On winter mornings it was still dark when the Monroe family breakfasted, +but the "large living room" was cozy with its glowing hearth where pots +and kettles bubbled and steamed on their cranes and trivets. + +Around the breakfast table were seated Spence and Elizabeth Monroe and +their children who, according to age, were--Elizabeth, James, Spence, +Andrew and Joseph Jones. + +Breakfast at the Monroe home was not as formal as breakfast at the homes +of their neighbors at Stratford and Nomini Hall. Spence Monroe was not a +wealthy planter, although he was a gentleman and a small landowner. His +home in Westmoreland County was situated between Monroe Bay and Mattox +Creek, not far from present-day Colonial Beach. The Monroes had been +living in the Northern Neck since about 1650. + +The Monroes lived in a plain frame two-storied house "within a stone's +throw of ... a virgin forest." The Potomac flowed not far away. + +After breakfast James would start for school with his books under one +arm and his gun slung over his shoulder. The Monroe table never lacked +for game while James was around. + +James was tall for his fifteen years, and built like an athlete. He well +knew the forest and river. + +Somewhere along the woodland road James was joined by another tall +well-built youth, who was dressed in a pale-blue hunting-shirt and +trousers, fringed with white, and a black hat decorated with a buck's +tail. He also had a gun and books. There was the look of the mountains +about this lad. John Marshall's home was in Fauquier County and he was +only visiting in the Northern Neck. He had learned his classics from his +father in their frontier cabin, but now Thomas Marshall had sent his son +back to his people in Westmoreland for more schooling. + +John was three years older than James. He was dark--skin, eyes and +hair--with rosy cheeks and a round face. His eyes twinkled, for he was +as merry and fun-loving as James was solemn and serious. The two tall +boys must have made a fine-looking pair as they walked down the Parson's +Road, with gun and books, on a bright winter's morning in the year 1773. +As they come within sight of the Glebe we will leave them--in the firm +hands of the Reverend Archibald Campbell. + +Little did these boys dream of the adventures that lay ahead for them. +For these two backwoods boys were destined to become makers of history: +John Marshall, the great Chief Justice, who "found a Constitution on +paper and made it power"; and James Monroe who became the fifth +President of the United States and who formulated and declared the +Monroe Doctrine. + + +_CAPTAIN DOBBY_ + +Captains of the ships constantly lying at anchor in the rivers were +often guests at Nomini Hall and the other Northern Neck plantations. +Captain Dobby was a general favorite. Fithian described him in his +Journal as "a Man of much Spirit and Humour: A great Mimick." + +In the summer of 1774 Captain Dobby invited the Carters of Nomini and +Fithian, the tutor, "on Board his Ship next Tuesday to Dine with him & +wish them a pleasant Passage as the Ship is to Sail the day following." +Fithian must have especially liked the Captain for he commented in his +Journal: "If the Weather is not too burning hot I shall go, provided the +Others go likewise." + +On the appointed day, in August, Fithian and Ben Carter set out for the +River. They had intended to breakfast at Colonel Tayloe's, twelve miles +distant, "but the Servant who went with us was so slow in preparing that +we breakfasted before we set out. We arrived at Colonel Tayloe's however +half after nine." + +Colonel John Tayloe was one of the wealthiest men in the Northern Neck. +His manor house, Mount Airy, in Richmond County, was situated on an +elevation, and overlooked the Rappahannock River, several miles distant. +An interesting feature of the plantation was the deer park, located in a +grove of oaks and cedars. + +Fithian described Mount Airy as "an elegant Seat!--The House is about +the Size of Mr. Carter's, built with stone, & finished curiously, & +ornamented with various paintings, & rich Pictures. This Gentleman owns +Yorick, who won the prize of 500 pounds last November, from Dr. Flood's +Horse, Gift--In the Dining-Room, besides many other fine Pieces, are +twenty four of the most celebrated among the English Race-Horses, Drawn +masterly, & set in elegant gilt Frames. He has near the great House, two +fine two Story stone Houses, the one is used as a Kitchen, & the other, +for a nursery, & Lodging Rooms--He has also a large well-formed, +beautiful Garden, as fine in every Respect as any I have seen in +Virginia. In it stand four large beautiful Marble Statues." + +Mount Airy was built after the style of an Italian villa. The main +entrance was guarded by bronze dogs. + +When Fithian and Ben arrived at Mount Airy they found "the young Ladies +in the Hall playing the Harpsichord." + +Joined by the Tayloes the party set out for the River. The "Colonel and +his Lady" and daughters traveled in "their Great Coach," while Fithian +and Ben and the servants were on horseback. + +The land from Mount Airy to the ferry, opposite Hobb's Hole +(Tappahannock), was level and the road lay between fields of corn and +flax. As they neared the River the fields changed to marshes "covered +with thick high Reed." + +The Rappahannock River was about two miles wide here and they could see +ships lying at anchor on the other side near the town. They counted six +ships "riding in the Harbour, and a number of Schooners & smaller +Vessels." + +The party waited for half an hour in the burning sun. At last they saw +the long-boat coming, covered with an awning and rowed by four oarsmen. +It was past noon when they reached the ship, where they were warmly +welcomed by Captain Dobby. + +The _Beaufort_ was a "Stately Ship." For the comfort of his guests the +Captain had arranged an awning from the "Stern ... to the Mizen-Mast," +which kept off the sun but was open on the sides. + +By three o'clock the guests had arrived, forty-five ladies and sixty +gentlemen, and besides them the ship's crew, waiters and servants. +Dinner was served and "we were not throng'd at all, & dined all at +twice." + +The guests were then entertained by a boat race--"A Boat was anchored +down the River at a Mile Distance--Captain Dobby and Captain Benson +steer'd the Boats in the Race--Captain Benson had 5 Oarsmen; Captain +Dobby had 6--It was Ebb-Tide--The Betts were small--& chiefly given to +the Negroes who rowed--Captain Benson won the first Race--Captain +Purchace offered to bett ten Dollars that with the same Boat & same +Hands, only having Liberty to put a small Weight in the Stern, he would +beat Captain Benson--He was taken, & came out best only half the Boat's +Length--About Sunset we left the Ship, & went all to Hobb's Hole, where +a Ball was agreed on." + +After the ball was over the guests spent the remainder of the night at +Hobb's Hole. At half-past eight the next morning they were called to +breakfast--"we all look'd dull, pale & haggard!" + +After breakfast the party was entertained by the young ladies on the +harpsichord. At eleven o'clock they all went down to the River, where +the long-boat was waiting to take them back home to the Northern Neck. + + +_PEDLARS_ + +Probably the first pedlars in the Northern Neck were the Indians of +Cascarawaske, a merchant tribe that manufactured their products and sold +them up and down the Potomac--Patowmeke--meaning "traveling traders," or +pedlars. + +During colonial days the itinerant pedlar traveled from plantation to +plantation. He was welcome everywhere because he brought news and gossip +as well as merchandise. Children were always watching out for the pedlar +at certain seasons when he usually arrived. + +He was not hard to identify for he bore on his back, by means of a +harness of strong hempen webbing, two oblong trunks of thin metal, +probably tin. He carried a stout staff to help him to walk with his +burden and also for a weapon to ward off dogs and wild animals. He was +usually called the "trunk pedlar." + +His pack contained everything from dress materials and jewelry to +"plumpers." The latter were thin, round, light balls used to put in the +mouth and fill up hollow cheeks! + +The "indigo-pedlars" had a specialized trade. Blue, in all shades, was +the favorite color in colonial days, and indigo was used to dye this +color. It was especially in demand for dyeing wool. Pedlars traveled all +over the country selling indigo. + +Pedlars continued to travel through the Northern Neck until the early +part of the twentieth century. + + +_SEVEN SATIN PETTICOATS_ + +Settlers in the Northern Neck sometimes received boxes containing +luxuries from relatives in England. These boxes were received even until +a late date. + +In one family there were seven sisters. In probably the last box they +received from "home," as England was called for many years, there were +seven satin petticoats, some pink and some blue. They were made of heavy +satin and trimmed with lace. + +Needless to say, these petticoats were treasured and passed on for +several generations. When nothing was left of them except faded shreds, +the tradition of the "seven satin petticoats" was then handed down from +mother to daughter. + + +_PHI BETA KAPPA_ + +In Williamsburg, Virginia, on December 5, 1776, was founded the first +scholastic Greek letter fraternity--Phi Beta Kappa. That a native of the +Northern Neck had a part in this is shown by the minutes of that first +meeting: + + "On Thursday, the 5th of December in the year of our Lord God + one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six and the first of the + Commonwealth, a happy spirit and resolution of attaining the + important ends of Society entering the minds of John Heath, + Thomas Smith, Richard Booker, Armistead Smith, and John Jones, + and afterwards seconded by others, prevailed, and was + accordingly ratified." + + ".... Officers were elected--John Heath as President, Richard + Booker as Treasurer, and Thomas Smith as Clerk, the society + esteeming them as necessary persons for the functions of their + several duties accordingly selected them." + +These young gentlemen were students of William and Mary College. The +Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern is believed to be the birthplace of +the distinguished Phi Beta Kappa Society. + +John Heath was a native of Northumberland County. Heathsville, the +county seat, was named for his family. + +John Heath owned an estate called Black Point, on the outskirts of +Heathsville. Black Point was later known as Springfield. + + +_LIGHT-HORSE HARRY_ + +He rode into battle fast--with his sabre drawn and his three hundred +screaming troopers following close behind. Under him was his own horse +which he had ridden north from Virginia, one of those "fleet steeds" for +which his home country was noted. From his tall leather helmet the +horse-hair plumes streamed out behind and his jacket was a blur of +green. + +His white lambskin breeches and knee-high boots were perfection. His +troopers were brilliant and shining--that was because Henry Lee would +have his Virginians no other way. His detachment of cavalry stood out +like a torch amid the ragged forces of Washington's army. + +Henry Lee, lately graduated from Princeton, had been nominated by +Patrick Henry in 1776, to command a cavalry company raised in Virginia +for service in the Continental Army, under the command of Colonel Bland. +In 1777, Lee's Corps was placed under Washington's immediate control. It +was the "flower of Washington's troop." + +In Harry Lee's "flying detachment" there was one who was a neighbor of +his back in Northern Virginia, John Marshall. + +Light-Horse Harry Lee received his nickname because his outfit traveled +light. He never had more than three hundred men and they were as lightly +equipped as possible. Speed was necessary if they were to survive, for +to them fell the hard and dangerous assignments. + +It fell to them to spy on the enemy's movements, to harass them, to +destroy them and capture their supplies. They hunted for food for +Washington's hungry army. Their jobs were the lonesome ones, carried out +in the still of the night, while Death stalked them--waiting for them to +make just one sound, one slip, one mistake. But Light-Horse Harry and +his men were like foxes, and Luck traveled with them. + +General Washington was fond of Harry; he remembered him as a blond child +who had come with his father and mother on neighborly visits to Mt. +Vernon. He invited Harry to become one of his aides. + +It was a tempting offer. Washington had been Harry's hero since +childhood days and this was an opportunity to be near him. After a +struggle with this great temptation, Harry won and sent his answer to +General Washington: "I am wedded to my sword." + +In 1779, Light-Horse Harry decided to do the impossible. He and his men +would capture Paulus (Powles) Hook, a fort occupied by the British on a +point of land on the west side of the Hudson, opposite the town of New +York. The enemy had made the Hook an island by digging a deep ditch +through which the river flowed. It was strongly guarded on all sides by +British ships, troops or natural defenses. + +For three weeks Harry's scouting expedition had been watching the enemy, +moving among the ravines, hills and marshes, always in close touch with +the British. In this detachment of Lee's was Captain John Marshall. + +Lee laid his plans before General Washington, who approved, and made +sure that there were lines of retreat. + +On a hot day in August Light-Horse Harry and his men started on the +adventure. It was rough going--a long march through marsh land that was +doubtless swarming with mosquitoes. They had to make bridges in some +places and at other places they waded or swam. They sank deep into the +marshes. + +On the night of August the eighteenth they crept among the hills and +passed the main body of the British army, who were sleeping. At three +o'clock in the morning they crossed the ditch. From then on it was a +fast movement resulting in the capture of one hundred and fifty-nine +prisoners, which was all except a few men in the blockhouse. + +After the enemy's stores and supplies had been destroyed Light-Horse +Harry and his men returned to Headquarters with their captives. + +For this daring feat Lee received compliments from both Washington and +Lafayette. But his glory was not to last long. Some of the older +officers preferred charges against him for his conduct of the campaign. +He was court-martialed, but exonerated from the charges, and Congress +soon gave him a gold medal. + +But the happiness of it all had fled from the heart of Henry Lee. He had +fought four years with Washington in the North. Now he went South and +joined General Greene for the remainder of the war. His fame continued +to increase. Tradition says that he planned the final strategy at +Yorktown. + +At the surrender Light-Horse Harry stood in the line of officers as the +British army marched out and Cornwallis surrendered his sword to General +Washington. Lee was dressed in his usual brilliant perfection with his +hair powdered and queued in the back, but in his heart he felt old and +sad. At twenty-six he felt so old that he wanted to withdraw from the +world and sink into obscurity. + +After the war was over Light-Horse Harry turned his horse toward home. +That was where he wanted to go--home to Leesylvania on the Potomac. + + +_A BAND OF BROTHERS_ + +King Carter once wrote: "Pray God send in the next generation ... a set +of better-polished patriots." + +An example of the kind of "polished patriots" that King Carter probably +had in mind were the Lee brothers of Stratford: Thomas Ludwell, Richard +Henry, Francis Lightfoot, William and Arthur. They were the sons of +Thomas and Hannah Lee, and they were all born in the same southeast +bedroom at Stratford. + +Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot were signers of the Declaration of +Independence. All five brothers worked in various ways to win freedom +from Great Britain for the colonies in America and to shape a government +that would stand. + +President John Adams described the Lee sons of Stratford as "that band +of brothers, intrepid and unchangeable, who, like the Greeks at +Thermopylae, stood in the gap, in defense of their country, from the +first glimmering of the Revolution in the horizon, through all its +rising light, to its perfect day." + + +_THE DIVINE MATILDA_ + +Light-horse Harry Lee soon tired of his isolation and decided one day to +ride down to Stratford and call on the family of his cousin. It was a +long ride, but Virginians of that day thought nothing of traveling long +distances on horseback. + +Thomas Lee had left Stratford to his oldest son, Philip Ludwell, who had +lived there in great style. In his stables were a score or more of +blooded horses, including the imported stallion Dotterel, which was said +to be the "swiftest horse in all England (Eclipse excepted)." His +imported coaches were the finest that could be had. + +Philip had kept an open house, as Harry Lee well remembered, and he had +entertained on a lavish scale. A whole ox could be roasted for guests in +the kitchen fireplace. He had kept a band of musicians to whose airs his +daughters, Matilda and Flora, with their companions danced in the Great +Hall. But Philip Ludwell was now dead, Harry had heard, and Stratford +had passed on to his oldest child, Matilda. + +As Harry came up the oak and poplar lined road to Stratford, Matilda and +Flora recognized him "as he rode past the grove of maples" and they +"welcomed him with joy." + +Flora was described by a contemporary as being haughty in manner, "very +genteel and wears monstrous bustles." In describing Matilda the only +word used by her contemporaries was "divine." + +Harry was not prepared for this new Matilda. When he had last seen her +she was at the awkward age of thirteen. Now she was nineteen and his +first sight of her took his breath away. + +There was tea-drinking in the garden with laughter and talk of the good +old times before the war. Perhaps Matilda and Harry walked in the garden +and "sat under a butiful shade tree" or climbed to one of the +summer-houses on the roof from which they could see "Potomac's sea-like +billows." + +In less than a month Matilda was married to her cousin, Light-Horse +Harry Lee. And what was Matilda like? There are no portraits or +miniatures to tell us how she looked, no letters to unlock her +personality. Only the word "divine" bequeathed by her contempories. + +Matilda was expensive. Inventories tell us that her side-saddle cost +1,200 pounds of tobacco, and music lessons on the harpsichord cost 3,043 +pounds of tobacco. "1 pc. fine Chintz in Pocket Money for Mis Matilda," +whatever that meant, was 1,500 pounds, and another ninety pounds of +tobacco went for dental care. Listed among her belongings were a cap, a +pair of silk shoes and stays for her slender waist. + +Matilda could afford to have expensive tastes. She had inherited +Stratford and its six thousand acres of rich tobacco soil, with enough +slaves to tend it, and other lands scattered all over northern Virginia. + +Harry took Matilda to New York where for three years he represented +Virginia in Congress. They were gay and happy years, but it was over all +too soon. + +When Matilda died, Harry wrote: "Something always happens to mar my +happiness." + +At the foot of the garden at Stratford, Harry built a vault for Thomas +Lee's granddaughter, Matilda, who was called "divine." + +Matilda was twenty-six years old when she died. She left three children, +Philip Ludwell, Lucy Grymes and Henry. + + +_MADAM WASHINGTON_ + +Augustine Washington had left his wife, Mary: "the current crops on +three plantations and the right of working Bridges Creek Quarter for +five years, during which time she could establish a quarter on Deep +Run." + +Mary stayed on at Ferry Farm for twenty-nine years after her husband's +death. It is possible that she spent part of this time on some of her +adjoining property. Meanwhile her children had married--Betty Washington +Lewis was living in Fredericksburg, and George was established at Mount +Vernon, which he had inherited after Lawrence's death. + +By 1772 George had persuaded his mother to move to a house which he +owned in Fredericksburg where she would be close to Betty, at Kenmore. + +When Mary Ball Washington moved to Fredericksburg, her property in the +Northern Neck included: "43 Hoggs, Shoats and Pigs, 16 sheep, 24 head of +cattle, 2 horses; and at the Quarters (her dower land of 400 acres, some +miles down the river), 4 horses, 6 oxen, 8 cows and calves, 39 hogs." On +the two farms there were ten slaves. The "Quarters" was bringing her an +income of 30 pounds per year. + +After Mary was installed in Fredericksburg, she had her coachman, +Stephen, drive her almost every day to Ferry Farm. Mary's favorite +carriage in her old age was a light open phaeton. She was respectfully +greeted by everyone she passed on the streets of Fredericksburg. + +In her later years Mary is said to have worn a mobcap and kerchief. A +mobcap was a frilly white cap introduced from France. In summer she +probably waved a fan made from the bronze feathers of wild turkeys. + +During these years George Washington frequently visited his mother, and +other relatives in the Northern Neck. In August, 1768, he "hauled the +Sein for sheepsheads" off Hollis Marsh in Westmoreland County. In 1771, +he dined at the Glebe in Cople Parish, and "returned to my brother's in +the evening." George enjoyed the social life in Fredericksburg. He liked +to play cards, and he liked to dance--the minuet and cotillions and +country-dances. It was said that he liked beautiful women, punch, horses +and hunting, and that he could be gay or dignified, whenever the +occasion demanded. During Revolutionary days Washington and the Northern +Neck patriots often gathered at the Rising Sun Tavern in Fredericksburg. + +In 1784, while visiting Mount Vernon, Marquis de Lafayette rode to +Fredericksburg to pay a visit to Madam Washington before he returned to +France. When he returned to Mount Vernon after calling upon Mary Ball +Washington he made this comment about her: "I have seen the only Roman +Matron living at this day." + +George Washington traveled to Fredericksburg in March, 1789, to tell his +mother good-bye before leaving Mount Vernon to go to New York for his +first inauguration. She did not live to see him again. + +Mary Washington was buried in Fredericksburg, near Meditation Rock, a +spot near her home where she often went to read her Bible, pray and +meditate. It was her request that she be buried there. Many years later +a monument to her was erected there. + +The modest house where she spent her last years became a national shrine +in 1890. A college in Fredericksburg was later named for Mary +Washington. + +"All that I am I owe to my honored Mother," is the tribute that the +great George Washington paid to Mary Ball Washington. + + +_AFTER THE REVOLUTION_ + +The Northern Neck, like the rest of Tidewater Virginia, changed after +the Revolution. War had taken its toll of manpower and money. + +The tobacco lands had become exhausted, therefore the culture of tobacco +had been almost abandoned. Wheat and corn were now the main crops. + +The once thriving tobacco river ports fell into decay. Foreign ships no +longer tied up at the plantation landings. The tobacco rolling-roads +were no longer needed for their original use. + +After the war the English clergy was withdrawn and the churches were +unused and deserted for years. Some fell into ruins or were used for +other purposes. The glebes became "bones of contention" between the +Episcopal Church and the "people." In 1802 the General Assembly passed +an act by which the glebes were sold for the benefit of the public. + +After the Revolution other religious denominations gained a foothold in +the Northern Neck. + +People now turned away from anything British, even in architecture and +dress. Before the Revolution boys and girls dressed precisely like their +parents in miniature. After the war they wore a special dress of their +own. + +In 1789, there were still few conveniences of life in the Neck, or +elsewhere in the country. All cloth was woven by hand. Most of the farm +implements were made of wood. Wheat was cut with a scythe, raked with a +wooden rake and beaten out with sticks or "trodden out" by oxen. + +There were as yet no matches with which to make a fire. Flint and tinder +box were used instead and live coals were kept as a basis for the next +day's fire. Wood was the chief fuel and candles were used for light. + +Bananas and oranges were rarely seen in the Northern Neck then, for +sailboats were too slow to bring these fruits any distance in good +condition. Communication was slow. By 1790 there were fifteen +post-offices in Virginia. The postal service was crude. Mails were +carried by post-riders and stages. + +People of the Northern Neck lived comfortably but the great prosperity +was gone, and although eventually it was recovered in part, the pattern +of living was never on such a grand scale again as it was before the +Revolution. The large estates were broken up by division or sale. New +families took the places of the old. Many of the old names passed into +oblivion. The old order of social aristocracy declined, but the people +still clung to their old customs, traditions and family life. + + +_MANTUA_ + +"Chicacony" was selected as a townsite by the Burgesses some time after +John Mottrom and his friends had settled there. Mottrom had built a +wharf and a warehouse at Coan and he had plans for a "Brew-House." If he +had lived, the town might have matured. But Colonel Mottrom died and the +plans for a town seem to have been abandoned. Plantation life did not +encourage the growth of towns. + +The Coan Hall property passed on to the descendants of John Mottrom. +Coan Hall and the other early homes in the vicinity either burned or +fell into ruins. Toward the close of the eighteenth century, when the +Coan Hall property went out of the Mottrom family, there appears to have +been few traces left of the once thriving settlement at Coan. + +James Smith, a wealthy Baltimore merchant and shipowner, purchased a +portion of the Coan Hall estate from a Mottrom heir and erected a brick +mansion on a slope there, about 1785. He called his new home Mantua. + +Mantua was built along the traditional lines of a Virginia house--a +central hall, two rooms on each side and large end chimneys. From the +outside it appeared to have three stories but there were really six +floor levels. Later, identical wings were added on each side by Smith's +sons. Still later, Smith's grandson added an imposing front portico. +Before this addition coaches were driven, tradition says, right up to +the front steps and ladies could step from coach to marble steps without +soiling their dainty slippers. The conveyance could then continue around +to the stables on the west side, or follow the driveway on to Coan Stage +Road, which ran back of the plantation. + +The marble steps, marble window-sills and paneled inside blinds were +handsome details of Mantua which may have been the outcome of Smith's +residence in Baltimore. Originally he was a native of County Derry, +Ireland. + +In the rear of the house there were five terraces, planted with flowers +and, perhaps, vegetables and herbs. Brick slave quarters were ranged in +a semi-circle beyond the terraces. + +The second story front windows of Mantua overlooked both the Coan and +the Potomac. Before government lighthouses and buoys marked the +waterman's course in this section, he had only the stars, landmarks and +a lighted window here and there to guide him. Mantua was a help to the +watermen for they could always be sure of a lighted window there, a lamp +purposely placed by members of the Smith family, and by day the towering +poplar trees were familiar landmarks. + + + + +PART III + +Nineteenth Century + + + + +_ROBERT E. LEE_ + +In 1791, Light-Horse Harry Lee became Governor of Virginia. While he was +in Richmond he had the opportunity to visit the plantations along the +James River. + +When Harry rolled up before Shirley in all the trappings of a Virginia +governor, it is not surprising that the young daughter of the house saw +in him her "heart's desire." + +But Charles Carter did not see Harry through his daughter's rosy vision. +He saw him as a widower who was seventeen years older than Ann, and as a +soldier who had been disillusioned by war and had not adjusted to peace. + +However, Harry won his suit and carried the happy Ann back with him to +Stratford. Ann was a brunette of medium height and twenty years old. +Little else is known about her except that she was good. + +Ann's first impression of the Lee mansion must have been a gloomy one. +Gayety had left Stratford with Matilda. The musicians had long since +been gone, and the blooded horses. The windows once so brightly lighted +were dark, and with no voices and laughter to fill the house, one could +hear the wolves howling at night in the forest. This remote fortress in +the fastness of the Northern Neck was different from anything that this +great-granddaughter of King Carter had ever known. Shirley had been warm +and happy. + +Harry had no taste or ability as a farmer, and even if he had, +Westmoreland County was now losing ground as a tobacco country. At first +Ann may have traveled to Richmond with her husband and visited Shirley, +for Harry was thrice elected to the governorship of Virginia. But as the +years went by, Ann and her small children were more and more alone at +Stratford. As his political career waned, Harry stayed away from home +more and more, chasing various "will o' the wisps" which he believed +would recoup his fortune. + +Sometimes Ann stayed at Stratford as long as six months at a time +without going anywhere to visit, or without seeing her social equals. +Still, Ann wrote a friend that she was too busy to be bored. We can +imagine her moving about the house, sometimes carrying a charcoal +brazier with her into the living room, to warm her frail body or to give +the illusion of warmth. + +[Illustration: _Young Robert E. Lee learning to ride._] + +Into this sombre setting was born, on January 19, 1807, a new baby. He +was christened: Robert Edward Lee. He was born in the southeast bedroom +of Stratford, the same room in which the other great Lee men had been +born. + +The nursery was probably the coziest room at Stratford in those days. +Ann's one known accomplishment was singing, so we can picture her there +as she sang to the new baby while she rocked him in his wooden cradle, +and watched the flames in the fireplace as they illuminated the guardian +cherubs on the iron fireback. Perhaps those days with her children were +not unhappy. She taught her boys to be "honorable and correct" and to +"practice the most inflexible virtue." + +Meanwhile, Harry's last wild speculations had ended in his complete +financial ruin. Ann and the children were now living on a trust fund +left to them by her father, Charles Carter, when he died in 1806. + +One day, when Robert was not yet four years old, a carriage stood in +front of Stratford, waiting to take the family for their last ride down +the driveway. Stratford had been left to Matilda's son, Henry, and he +had now come of age and was ready to take over the estate. Harry and his +family traveled to Alexandria where they moved into a smaller house. + +A legend says that when everything was ready for departure little Robert +could not be found. He was finally discovered in the nursery saying +good-bye to the two cherubs on the fireback. + +After this Harry had still greater misfortunes. His body was broken and +maimed for life. In 1813, when Robert was six years old, his father left +Virginia, bound for the British West Indies, seeking health and a new +grip on life. He spent the next five years wandering about among the +islands. In 1818, he sailed for home but became so ill that he was put +off at one of the islands. There he found the family of his old friend, +General Greene. He was tenderly cared for by them during his final +illness. He died there and was buried in their family burying ground on +Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia. + + NOTE: In 1913 the body of General Henry (Light-Horse Harry) Lee + was brought from Cumberland Island and placed in the Chapel at + Lexington, Virginia, beside that of his famous son, Robert E. + Lee. + + +_SMITH POINT LIGHT_ + +For many years the watermen of the Chesapeake "steered by the stars," by +trees, and by a lighted window here and there. + +One of the earlier government lighthouses on Chesapeake Bay was the +Smith Point Light located at the mouth of the Potomac on Smith Point, +Northumberland County. + +There seem to be no available records concerning the erection of this +lighthouse. In an 1804 issue of _Blunt's American Coast Pilot_ reference +is made to a lighthouse having been "erected lately on Smith Point." +This establishes the date of its erection as prior to 1804. + +In the 1833 issue of the same book there is a small drawing of the +lighthouse at Smith Point which shows a tower with a house close by. +These structures appeared to be situated on the tip end of a point with +a gently sloping hill, or bank, in the rear. The picture shows a +lighthouse with the same general appearance as the first government +lighthouse at Cape Henry at the entrance to the Chesapeake, built in +1791. The Smith Point tower, however, was round instead of octagonal. + +According to older natives of the region who remembered the original +lighthouse at Smith Point, it was a round tower built of sandstone +blocks, approximately sixty or seventy feet high. A spiral inside +stairway with stone steps led up to the lantern at the top. + +The sandstone blocks for the tower at Cape Henry had been brought from +abroad as ballast in ships. The same thing may have been true of the +sandstone blocks of which Smith Point lighthouse was built. + +The light at Cape Henry first consisted of oil lamps burning, in turn, +whale oil, colza (cabbage) oil, lard oil, and finally kerosene after the +discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania in 1859. The same type of lamps +and fuel were doubtless used at Smith Point. + +The keeper's house at Smith Point, according to tradition, was located +thirty or forty yards back of the tower. It was a brick story-and-a-half +house with outside chimneys on each end and an ell in the back. There +were fireplaces in every room and a dark underground room which was +referred to in later years as the "dungeon." + +When this early lighthouse was built there were still a few pirates +lurking about the Bay. + + +_THE RAIDERS_ + +Frightening rumours must have flown up and down the Northern Neck in the +early part of the year of 1813. + +In June, 1812, Congress had declared war against Great Britain. The +Virginia militia had been called out to drill, and to prepare to defend +Washington if necessary. The sound of drum and fife was heard once more +in the countryside. Brass buttons were polished and firelocks were put +in good shooting condition. + +Now, in February of 1813, Admiral George Cockburn of the British Navy +had entered the Chesapeake with a flotilla of two brigs, several tenders +and a force of land troops. + +Along the grapevine ran the news that Admiral Cockburn was directing his +efforts principally against the citizens. The farmhouses and plantations +along the waterfront were being plundered and burned and the cattle were +being driven away or slaughtered. While the planters were away with the +militia some of their families had taken refuge with their tenants who +lived in the forest. + +Naval battles were taking place in the rivers. In April, the U. S. S. +_Dolphin_ was captured in the Rappahannock by the British ship _St. +Domingo_. In July a battle was fought in the Yeocomico, a tributary of +the Potomac. The U. S. S. _Asp_, a three-gun sloop, was at that time +overpowered by five British barges. + +Troops were stationed at Windmill Point, at the mouth of the +Rappahannock, in November, 1813. Here, April 23, 1814, the British made +a landing and pillaged a vessel. They were driven off by militia +stationed across the creek. It was perhaps on this same trip that the +raiders visited Corotoman. + +The crew went ashore and made themselves at home in the old house built +by John Carter, while the officers took over the home built later by his +son, King Carter. The well-stocked wine cellar and an abundance of fine +Rappahannock oysters furnished the ingredients, tradition says, for an +all-night party. + +In August, 1814, reinforcements consisting of many vessels of war and a +large number of troops arrived in the Chesapeake from Europe. Of this +force several frigates and bomb vessels were ordered to ascend the +Potomac. + +At this time the shores of the Potomac were ravaged and a number of fine +and ancient homes were burned. Washington city was captured and burned, +and President Madison and his wife Dolly were forced to seek refuge in +Virginia. + +[Illustration: _Skirmish between the Virginia Militia and the British +during the War of 1812 at Farnham Church._] + +In October, 1814, a force of British troops came up the Coan River and +marched to Heathsville. This force with some mounted troops continued +their march up through the Neck, pillaging, burning and destroying as +they went. At North Farnham Church, in Richmond County, a skirmish was +fought between the raiders and the Virginia militia, leaving bullet +holes in the walls of the church to mark the battle. + +In September, 1814, the British were on their way to bombard the city of +Baltimore. The Sunday before at their camp on Tangier Island, in the +Chesapeake Bay, they had been warned of their coming defeat by Joshua +Thomas, the Methodist "Parson of the Islands." + +At Fort McHenry the "Parson's" prophecy came true, and at the same time +an immortal song was born--"The Star-Spangled Banner." + + +_STEAMBOATS_ + +The _Chesapeake_ was the first steamboat on Chesapeake Bay. She made her +first run in 1813. The next steamer to make her debut was the +_Washington_, on the Potomac, in 1815. The next year the _Virginia_ +started running from Norfolk to Richmond. + +From then on until the Civil War the steamboat business expanded. All +the bay and river boats had both freight and passenger services to +Baltimore, Washington or Norfolk. These services were interrupted by the +war. + +During the Civil War, according to several unpublished letters of that +period, the steamboats _George C. Peabody_ and _North Point_ collided in +the Potomac on the night of August 13, 1862. Of the three or four +hundred persons on board the two boats only one hundred were saved. + +After the Civil War the steamboat services were restored. + +When the first steamboat ran up the Rappahannock, Bewdley was used as a +landing place. This Lancaster County home belonged to the Ball family, +relatives of George Washington's mother. When passengers awaited the +arrival of the boat at Bewdley, a white flag was raised as a signal by +day, and at night a light was placed in one of the many dormer-windows. + + +_HANNAH AND THE FALLING STARS_ + +It was Hannah's custom to get up before daybreak. She was a +sixteen-year-old Negro girl of Northumberland County. On this particular +morning she was to get the scare of her life. She started to go to the +well for a bucket of fresh water but when she stepped outside she +dropped her bucket and ran to her mistress screaming: "The stars are all +falling down!" Needless to say the whole plantation was aroused to watch +the strangest phenomenon they had ever beheld. + +Hannah was not the only person who was scared or bewildered that +morning. Throughout the eastern part of North America people were +exclaiming: "it is snowing fire," "the end of the world has come," "the +sky is on fire," "the Judgment Day is here!" + +What Hannah and the others had witnessed was the Leonid shower of +November 12-13, 1833, which lasted from midnight until day. People of +that time were generally uninformed about meteoric showers. It was a +topic of comment and speculation for many generations. + +Hannah lived many years to tell of the time when she saw "the stars +fall." She outlived most of her children and those who were living at +the time of her death were too feeble to attend her funeral. She was +buried in a quiet spot among the pines on the banks of the Great +Wicomico River. Her tombstone bears this inscription: "Hannah Crocket, +1817-1933, Age 116 yrs." + + +_DEAR TO HIS HEART ..._ + +Near the beginning of the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee's daughter +visited Stratford. The great manor no longer belonged to the Lee family. +She wrote to her father who was in the South at that time, and described +her visit to his childhood home. He answered her as follows: + +"I am much pleased at your description of Stratford and your visit. It +is endeared to me by many recollections and it has always been a great +desire of my life to be able to purchase it. Now that we have no other +home, and the one we so loved (Arlington) has been so foully polluted, +the desire is stronger with me than ever. The horse-chestnut you mention +in the garden was planted by my mother. I am sorry the vault is so +dilapidated. You did not mention the spring, one of the objects of my +earliest recollections." + +On Christmas Day, 1861, General Lee wrote his wife: "In the absence of a +home I wish I could purchase Stratford. That is the only other place +that I could go to, now accessible, that would inspire me with feelings +of pleasure and local love. You and the girls could remain there in +quiet. It is a poor place, but we could make enough bread and bacon for +our support and the girls could weave us clothes." + +General Robert E. Lee's desire was never fulfilled. + + +_THE BLOCKADE_ + +From time to time various writers have stated that the isolated Northern +Neck of Virginia was "out of bounds" or "bypassed" in the Civil War. +Despite these statements, which so lightly dismiss the Neck during the +war years, natives of that region, did not spend that time in the +carefree, unmolested state thus implied. + +All able-bodied men of the Neck were away on the battlefields. Anxiety +for them, and for the South, hung like a pall over the remaining +population. More tangible worries beset them also. + +Although the bordering waters of the Potomac, Rappahannock and +Chesapeake were rich with food, when the Virginians tried to take the +oysters, crabs and fish, a tug from the Federal flotilla which patrolled +these waters would come "steaming out to hasten them home, with +sometimes a six-pound shot sent after them for emphasis." + +The women, girls, old men and boys raised what they could, but many +fields, once lush with corn, tobacco, sugar cane and other crops, now +lay barren save for sedge and pine seedling. Many of the men had ridden +away to war on the horses. The people at home gave as much as they could +of what they could raise to the men at the front. + +The Federal gunboats shelled homes and landed soldiers who carried off +everything they could find. Many are the tales that lingered on in the +Neck about the geese that were struck down by swords, the bowls of milk +that were lifted to mouths and gulped down, the firkins of butter that +were carried away by soldiers who thrust their arms elbow deep in the +butter and carried it off that way, the cattle that were slaughtered +before the hungry eyes of the natives, the churches that were +profaned--the list could go on and on. And there were some instances +when the invaders were kind, or fair. + +The resourceful women of the Neck invented substitutes for lost +luxuries. Tea was brewed from sassafras, wheat, sage or mullein; coffee +was concocted from sweet potatoes and other things. Sorghum and honey +served for sugar. They got out the discarded spinning-wheels and looms +and revived those skills. They carded, spun and wove the wool from their +sheep. Polk berries and walnut hulls were used as dyes, and a special +mixture of plants produced a shade that would pass as Confederate gray. +The latter was used to dye garments made of the homespun so that there +was always a new suit ready for the soldier when he came home on +furlough. Thorns were used for pins, and seeds such as persimmon had +holes bored in them and were used for buttons. + +In spite of these and other ingenious substitutes the supplies of food +and clothing had been very nearly exhausted by 1862. Thus, the natives +of the Northern Neck were driven to running the blockade. + +At that time Hampton Roads was blockaded by Union naval forces, and the +rivers were patrolled by them. Maryland, just across the Potomac from +the Neck, was divided territory. Leonardtown, in southern Maryland, was +a trading center for the blockade runners from the Neck. + +On the Virginia side of the Potomac, Kinsale in Westmoreland County, +situated on an estuary called Yeocomico River, was one point of +departure and arrival. This village had become quite cosmopolitan, for +the country people were not the only ones who ran the blockade. +Strangers from the North and South--merchants, speculators, adventurers, +Northern draft dodgers, Southern sympathizers from the North, +pro-Unionists trying to reach the North, even ladies, usually married +women traveling with their husbands--all rubbed elbows in Kinsale. And +there was at least one blockade-runner among them who dodged the tugs on +the Potomac and blistered his hands on the muffled oars for no more +serious reason than romance. + +A steady stream of canoes from Maryland sneaked through to the Neck +bringing quinine and other drugs, food, and Southern sympathizers. They +landed anywhere in the Northern Neck. + +The rivers were probably dark, for by the latter part of April, 1861, +practically all lights in the lighthouses and lightships had been +extinguished, removed or destroyed, from the Chesapeake to the Rio +Grande by the Southerners. + + +_THE HOME GUARD_ + +Though no major battles were fought in Northumberland County during the +Civil War, it was the scene of a number of skirmishes which were never +recorded in history. + +The geographical position of this county in the tip end of the Neck and +surrounded on three sides by water isolated it from the main stream of +the war, but made it vulnerable to enemy naval raiders. Also, small +groups of Union cavalry rode through the Neck from time to time looking +for deserters from their own army and for Confederate soldiers who might +be at home on furlough. Homes were looted. + +A Federal flotilla was stationed across the Potomac at Piney Point, +Maryland, and although this river was not formally blockaded during the +war, it was patrolled, and the smaller rivers were patrolled from time +to time. Many of the homes adjacent to the shoreline were shelled by +these boats. The crew often landed and raided farms and houses. + +For the purpose of keeping these raiders away and defending the women +and children, a home guard was organized. (They were probably organized +in all the counties of the Neck.) Since the able-bodied men of +Northumberland were away on the battlefields, this group was composed of +teen-aged boys and old men. + +[Illustration: _"Yankee" foragers during the Civil War._] + +Except traditionally, very little has been known about this +organization. A notarized statement written by a former member of the +Northumberland Home Guard, sheds some light on their activities. It is +as follows: + + "I'm going to try and write something in regard to the Home + Guard to which I belonged but hardly know what to write. I was + only a boy then, and as to giving dates, I couldn't tell you + what month or even the year we organized but we didn't organize + untill those Yankee raids began to take place. The Gun Boats + would come in the rivers and land soldiers, go to the farm + Houses and carry off anything they wanted, so we organized to + try and keep off those raids and defend the Women and children + while the men-folks were in the War. Our Company, I suppose was + what you might call an independent company, don't think the + Confederate Government ever furnished us with anything except + Guns and ammunition. I think they permitted us to organize. + + "We had several skirmishes with the raiders, one in the + vicinity of Lotsburg where we captured a Horse and perhaps + killed the rider. His fellow soldiers got Him away but we got + the Horse. After getting their wounded or dead comrad aboard + ship they left. On another occasion at Glebe Point on the Great + Wicomico River, we opened fire on a Gun Boat that was going up + the river. She stoped immediately and turned around and went on + down the River. We kept up our fire untill she was out of + Gunshot. They gave us a severe shelling of shrapnell but shot + too high, didn't kill anyone. I heard one Horse was killed. And + at another time on Raisons Creek we captured a little Picket + Boat No. 2. She carried one brass cannon and a crew of seven + men. One man was shot in the leg. The Captain of the Boat gave + up His Sword and revolver to our Captain. We sent the Prisoners + to Richmond and Burned the Boat." + + (Signed) Bertrand B. Haynie + Apr 7--1927 + +Further data are added concerning this organization by Rev. C. T. +Thrift, who spent his boyhood at Wicomico Church, Northumberland County. +He writes: + + "Many Yankee gunboats came in the Great Wicomico River from + time to time. Marauding parties landed and did much pillaging. + Poultry and pigs and other things were taken. The women and + children were frightened not a little. + + "One such boat came in and anchored on the Wicomico side + between Rowe's landing and Blackwell's Wharf. A band of + pillagers landed and took what they wanted and then returned to + their boat. Young ... had hidden himself while the band was at + the home where he lived. He waited until they had left the + shore. Then he took an old rifle and crept down to the water's + edge, hiding in the bushes. The captain greeted his marauders + upon their return and stood leaning against the deckhouse + sunning himself. + + "Young ... raised his rifle aimed carefully and fired. The + bullet struck the captain in the forehead, killing him + instantly. Panic ensued on board, for they had no idea where + the shot came from nor did they have any idea how large a force + might be attacking. There was no time to be lost for they + needed to go and they could not stand on the order of their + going. + + "So they unfastened the end of the anchor chain at the capstan + and fled, leaving the chain and the anchor in the mud of the + river bottom. He said (many years later) that he supposed this + was still where it was left. He had thought of going there to + search for it but he had never done so." + +Young ..., tradition says, was a member of the Northumberland Home +Guard. + + +_THE MYSTERY OF HORSE POND_ + +When the Yankee gunboats patrolled the waters surrounding the Northern +Neck during the Civil War they found the entrance to Little Wicomico +River--where the Potomac and Chesapeake meet. They entered through its +natural channel which was open then and quite deep. + +Men went ashore to hunt for provisions--vegetables from the gardens, +eggs, milk and freshly made butter. Even preserves and jellies from the +shelves of the good housewives of Little Wicomico. They searched for men +who might be at home, too. + +One day near the beginning of the war, a small sailing vessel, probably +twenty-two feet in length, and with several persons on board, came into +Little Wicomico. She sailed in through the channel with the stone tower +lighthouse on Smith Point to her right and Tranquility Farm to her left. +She passed through Rock Hole, by tiny Bamboozle Island and around +Gough's Point. It was straight sailing then with Ellyson Creek to the +right and Sharps Creek to the left. + +When the boat passed the tract of land between Sharps Creek and Horse +Pond those on board were too far away to note the face of a woman +pressed to a window pane of the house on the left bank of the River. + +The woman, Sardelia, watched the boat with interest for it was a strange +boat, and no doubt with a little uneasiness since those were dark times. +Any unfamiliar boat was cause for alarm. + +To Sardelia's surprise the boat dropped anchor just beyond her house and +abreast of a strip of woodland near the pond where the horses drank. She +saw the persons on board go ashore and enter the woods. After a short +while they came out, boarded their boat, headed out of the River and +sailed out of sight. + +Sardelia called her little girl, Florence, and together they hurried +through their barn-yard and into the woods. They found the place where +the men had come ashore, their footprints on the sand, broken bushes +and bruised foliage in the woods, but they could find no clue to the +mysterious mission. Sardelia finally gave up her search and sat down +under the big water oak tree there in the woods to ponder what she had +seen. + +Nearly four years later, after the close of the war, Sardelia again saw +almost an exact re-enactment of the same scene she had witnessed before. +The same boat came into the River, stopped at the same place and the +persons on board went ashore and disappeared into the woods. After a +short while they boarded their boat and sailed away--for the last time, +so far as Sardelia ever knew. + +Sardelia again hastened to the woods. This time her search was not in +vain. About forty feet back from the shore amidst the trees she found a +newly dug hole. It had been hastily and loosely refilled with earth. + +This called for more than one period of meditation under the water oak +tree. Who were they? Why did they select this particular spot to bury +whatever they had buried? (The island at the mouth of the River would +have been a perfect setting for buried treasure.) Why did they come into +an inhabited area--almost in the barn-yard? Were they evading Federal +gunboats? Or, perhaps they were from the North themselves. Did they come +from one of the islands in the Chesapeake? And what did they bury? + +Tales of buried treasure circulated around Little Wicomico for a long +time, although many who lived close by never knew how it all started. +The woods became haunted, too, especially the big water oak. But the +haunts must not have been too bad because Uncle Zeke, a respected +colored man, lived peacefully for many years in his little house in the +woods by Horse Pond. + + +_SCHOONER IN A MILL-POND_ + +On November 18, 1863, Abraham Lincoln passed through Baltimore on his +way to dedicate a battlefield cemetery at Gettysburg. + +At least one Virginian, happened to be in the city on that same day +also. Captain Jehu, who hailed from the lower Northern Neck, was in +Baltimore on business. His schooner, _Pioneer_, lay at a city dock, +unloaded of her cargo of wood and ready for the return trip home, but +the Captain was having difficulty in getting his money for the wood. + +Nerves were tense in Baltimore on that day. Maryland was officially a +neutral state but her loyalties were divided. Matters were very bad with +the Confederate army near the end of 1863, and Captain Jehu was a +Virginian. He finally settled for part of a load of lime in payment for +the wood and sailed back down the Chesapeake as fast as the wind would +carry him. + +When he arrived home he found that matters were even worse there. Word +had spread that the Yankees were burning boats. Watermen were carrying +their boats to the heads of the rivers in a desperate attempt to save +them--perhaps they would be overlooked there, or the waters would be too +shallow for gunboats. + +Captain Jehu unloaded the lime and sailed the _Pioneer_, in company with +a number of other boats, far up the Great Wicomico River to a place +called Betts' Landing. The other boats were left by their owners to take +their chances there on the mud flats where the water was only two or +three feet deep, but Captain Jehu was not satisfied. He loved the +_Pioneer_; she was like a part of him, and besides that, if the war ever +got over, he had to make a living for his wife and children. In +desperation he thought of an idea that he might have laughed at in +ordinary times. + +Captain Jehu sailed the _Pioneer_ on to Public Landing at the very head +of the River. He waited there until the tide was at its full height, +then cautiously he floated the seventy-five-foot schooner through the +almost hidden entrance to a mill-pond. + +Once the schooner was well inside the pond Captain Jehu took down the +sails and bundled them up and carried them ashore and hid them in a +nearby barn. + +He then did something that any waterman would hate to do--he bored a +hole in the bottom of his boat. + +Captain Jehu went ashore again and started walking toward Burgess Store, +which was quite a distance. He had heard that men were being recruited +there for the Confederate army. He was in his late thirties and he had a +wife and several small children depending on him, but men were +desperately needed to fight and the time had come when he was needed +even more on the battlefield than at home. He joined the army that day. + +While in the Confederate army, Captain Jehu was taken prisoner by the +enemy and carried to Point Lookout, Maryland. There in a log pen he had +plenty of time to look up at the stars by which he had steered so many +times and to wonder what it was all about anyhow. He had not heard from +his family for so long--he didn't even know if they were still living. +His thoughts probably wandered to his early life. + +He had been cast out of his home by a cruel stepmother when he was +twelve years old, and had found refuge on a schooner that freighted +lumber from the river heads of the Northern Neck to Baltimore and +Philadelphia. He was too young to do much but he had helped with the +cooking. This was done in a fireplace which was in the cabin and was the +only source of heat on the "wood lugger." The fireplace was made of +brick and the chimney protruded through the top of the cabin. + +Those were hard days too. No doubt he thought of the proud day when he +finally owned his own schooner, the _Pioneer_. And how was she faring +now? Was she still sinking into the mire of the mill-pond or was she +just another charred skeleton? + +At last an eternity at Point Lookout came to an end. The prisoners were +herded on board an old tub of a steamer and carried to Richmond where +they were to be exchanged for Federal prisoners in Libby Prison. + +When Captain Jehu arrived at Libby Prison he was too weak to get in line +for mess. A big Irishman took pity on him, covered him with a blanket +where he lay on the floor and brought him his own rations. The food +tasted good after the maggoty fat back he had been living on at Point +Lookout, but the steaming coffee was the thing that revived him. + +Meanwhile, back in the Northern Neck, Captain Jehu's family was having a +hard time. His wife, who "never weighed more than a hundred pounds in +her life," raised what she could to feed her children. She grew cotton +and spun and wove it and made clothes for them. In the winter, and +winters were very cold in the Neck then, she went into the woods and cut +enough cordwood to keep them warm. In the words of one of her sons, "She +got along any way she could." + +One day, some time after the close of the war, Captain Jehu arrived +home, having walked all the way from Newport News. His wife didn't +recognize him and one of his small sons ran away and hid in the woods +all day thinking that he was a Yankee. He wore Yankee breeches and +jacket with nothing underneath. Years later one of Captain Jehu's sons +described the return of his soldier-father: "An awful-looking object +came walking home. He was hairy as a monkey, lousy, barefoot, and had +lost interest in everything." + +The happiness of being at home again and the necessity of making a +living must have aroused Captain Jehu's interest before very long. The +first thing he did was to go up the Great Wicomico River to look for his +boat. When he reached Betts' Landing he found a graveyard of blackened +ribs sticking out of the water. The Yankees had done a thorough job +there. + +It must have been with great trepidation that he once more entered the +mill-pond. But there--hidden among the cattails and deep in the mud--lay +the _Pioneer_. + +At low tide he shoveled the mud out of his boat, plugged up the hole and +bailed her out. He then floated her out of the pond on high tide and +carried her down the River to a place called Deep Landing, where he +cleaned her up and got ready for the sea once more. (He found the sails +safe in the barn, where muskrats had nested in the folds.) + +After the _Pioneer_ was put in shape again Captain Jehu freighted lumber +in her for twenty years. + + +_WAR BONNETS_ + +Shopping trips to Baltimore were curtailed by the Civil War. Even if it +had been possible to slip through the Federal patrol, Confederate money +was of little value. + +Women who still wanted bonnets for themselves and for their daughters +were forced to be resourceful. The most practical substitute they could +find for straw was the corn-shuck. They picked the shucks in the early +fall while they were still green and put them aside to work on during +the lonely winter evenings beside the fireplace. + +By that time the shucks were dry and stiff but the women soaked them in +water until they were pliable. Long strips were plaited and sewed around +and around together to form crown and brim. The finished product was +trimmed with a feather plucked from the barn-yard rooster, or with some +natural material, such as dried grasses, gum balls, sea shells or small +pine cones. + +One corn-shuck hat, made for a "Confederate bride" of the Neck, was +trimmed with flowers made of small white feathers. Each flower was +centered with a bit of gold from a raveled Confederate epaulette. + + +_AMANDA AND THE YANKEES_ + +On an April day in 1864 a young couple on horseback traveled down a +muddy Northern Neck road. Once they paused by the wayside to drink from +a spring that bubbled conveniently near, and toward evening they drew +rein under a giant mulberry tree at the head of a lane where gateposts +with acorn finials marked the entrance. From this vantage spot a cabin +roof showed here and there at the edge of the woods, and open fields +enclosed by zig-zag chestnut rail fences could be pointed out and called +by name--Upper Field, Lower Field, Middle Field, Back Field and Shelly +Bank. + +The house at the end of the lane could be glimpsed through its grove of +locusts, paper mulberry and towering ailanthus. It was a typical early +Tidewater Virginia house--story-and-a-half, without dormers. Three or +four brick outside chimneys and a small entrance porch were the +outstanding features. It was flanked on the right by a barn, cornhouse +and tobacco house, and on the left by a smokehouse, off kitchen, laundry +house and small sheds. + +In the background water gleamed where Cockerell's Creek meandered into +one of its many coves, and finally trickled up on either side to form +marshes, lush with wild flags and the foliage of wild lilies and +mallows. + +The couple were bride and groom and this was the bride's first view of +her future home, Pleasant Grove. The groom had little time to +familiarize his new wife with his ancestral acres as he was a +Confederate soldier and the honeymoon must end when his furlough ended, +which was soon. + +When the bridegroom went back to join Lee's dwindling forces, the bride +took up her new duties as mistress of Pleasant Grove. She was alone +except for the servants. How many stayed on after the war started, +tradition does not say. Amanda was well versed in the art of +housekeeping, thanks to the rigid early training of her mother. There +was plenty to do. The groom was an orphan and an only child and he had +been living in solitary freedom for some time before the war. She was +too busy at first to be lonely. + +The central passage, paneled to chair rail height and plastered above, +was as dark as night when all the doors were closed. If she opened the +heavy front door she could look out and see the little porch with its +built-in benches on each side that looked something like short church +pews. The yard was enclosed with a horizontal plank fence and the +gateposts had small acorns to match the larger ones on the Outer Gate. +They were always called the Outer and Inner Gates. + +The rooms of the house, like the fields, were named. Besides the doors +to the parlor and dining-room which opened from the passage, there was a +small door which opened to reveal a narrow twisted stairway which led up +to the Big Room and the Little Room. + +The shed addition on the rear was two steps lower than the main house. +There Amanda found the Chamber Room, the Middle Room and the Back Room. +All walls were of white-washed plaster and the floors and woodwork were +of heart pine. (The house was built of heart pine and put together with +hand-made nails. The cornhouse was fastened together with wooden pegs.) + +Amanda had fun exploring the old house and bringing it back to life once +more. One day she was dusting the clock on the dining-room mantel when +she discovered that it hid the opening to a secret metal box built in +the chimney. A hiding place for valuables! A lot of good that did her. +Confederate notes were of little value and the tobacco which she used in +place of money couldn't be hidden there. + +Amanda finally chose the Chamber Room as her bedroom, because it was +usually full of sunlight, had a cozy fireplace and a view of the creek +and garden. At the back of the house there was a combination garden of +flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruit trees, laid out in the English +manner. A walk down the center led to the Creek. Trees grew on both +sides of the Creek and Amanda's view ended where the Creek disappeared +around a point. She wondered what was on the other side and if the water +was deep enough for a Yankee gunboat. + +One afternoon Amanda was taking a nap in the Back Room when she was +suddenly and violently awakened by a great noise. The whole house seemed +to be shaking. Her eardrums felt like they would burst. After the noise +had subsided and the house became still and she had gotten her wits +together again she ventured outside. The frightened negroes pointed to a +jagged hole in the underpinning under the Back Room and a fragment of +cannon ball lying nearby. + +After the gunboat's rude salutation, Amanda was not surprised when one +day she looked up the lane and saw a number of Federal soldiers on +horseback turning in at the Outer Gate. She went out on the porch and +waited for them. + +Many years later Hannah, one of the servants, described the incident. +Through the cracks in the cornhouse where she was hiding Hannah saw the +soldiers dismount. Two of them went to the porch where "Missus" was +waiting. They talked some, then "Missus" went in the house and the men +who had talked with her sat down on the porch. The other soldiers +sprawled on the grass under the trees. Pretty soon she heard "Missus" +call so she "snuck" out of the cornhouse. + +"Hannah," said "Missus," "they are going to stay to dinner so we must +hurry and cook a good meal. Kill some chickens, put those ducks that are +already dressed in the oven and get a ham out of the meat house." + +Hannah remonstrated. "Stay to dinner, all dem men and dem wearing blue +coats, too!" But "Missus" was determined. "They are hungry, Hannah, and +I invited them. Besides, if they get a good dinner maybe they'll go away +and not burn the house or take the tobacco." + +Such a dinner! Baked duck, chicken, fried ham, batter bread and hot +biscuits--more things than Hannah could remember--and little glasses of +wine to "top off wid." After dinner the soldiers went out in the yard +again. A fat old goose came wandering around and one of the men took out +his sword and was about to cut off its head, but "de boss" who had +talked most with "missus" told him to put up his sword. + +The officer no doubt felt mellow and relaxed after the good meal. After +resting awhile they all rode away in high good humour, waving warm +good-byes. + +Thus the goose was saved. When a tired Confederate soldier came walking +home from Appomattox after the war had ended he found everything intact +as he had left it. + + +_THE HORSEHAIR RING_ + +When in the beginning of May, 1864, General Lee permitted General Grant +to cross the Rapidan without molestation in order to lure him into the +Wilderness, where it would be impossible for the Federals to use their +artillery, he intended to destroy the Federal Army in the depths of that +"bewildering thicket" by a surprise attack where Grant would be forced +to fight at a great disadvantage. + +The woods were very thick--so dense that a regimental commander could +not see the whole of his line at the same time, and in many instances +the only guides were the points of the compass. + +The battle was raging on May 6. In a bulletin sent to the Secretary of +War at the close of that day, General Lee stated: "Our loss in killed is +not large, but we have many wounded, most of them slightly, artillery +being little used on either side." + +General Grant's army had suffered severely, and he had become convinced +that it was useless to try to drive Lee from his position. He decided +to move his army southward to Spotsylvania Court House and get between +Lee and Richmond. + +During the afternoon of May 7, Grant sent his trains off in the +direction of Spotsylvania Court House, which was only fifteen miles +distant, and ordered the army to prepare to follow at nightfall. + +Among Grant's wounded men there was by some mistake a wounded +Confederate soldier. Perhaps the color of his home-made uniform, dyed +with a brew of herbs and vegetables concocted by his wife was not too +accurate a shade of Confederate gray, especially when obscured by the +blood and filth of the long battle. Whatever the reason may have been, +he was carried along by the enemy with their own wounded men. + +Near Spotsylvania Court House a home was commandeered by the Federals +for their wounded, but when the Confederate's uniform was recognized, he +was left lying in the yard. + +The lady of the house saw him there. She dared not take him inside, but +she made a pallet on the ground for him, and stayed by him, and +comforted him as best she could. + +The soldier was still conscious. He told her of his wife, her name and +where she lived, of his children, and of a ring in his pocket. He told +her that when he was holding the horses one day while a battle was in +progress, he had plucked some hairs from the mane of a horse and +fashioned a ring as a gift for his wife. It was a crude thing, he said, +entirely lacking in beauty, but he had woven his love into it. He hoped +that in some way it could be conveyed to her. + +The woman promised the dying man that his wish would be carried out, +having faith that in some way she could fulfill her promise. + +Satisfied by her promise, the soldier died quietly there on the pallet, +toward evening of May 7, 1864. + +The woman covered his body and left him there until nightfall. Under +cover of darkness she returned with a woman servant, and together they +laboriously dug a grave for him there in her yard. Before laying him to +rest she searched his pockets and found the ring and two Confederate +notes for fifty cents each, both issued April 6, 1863. Two Confederate +notes and a ring made of horse-hair--the total possessions on his +person. + +The ring, as the soldier had said, was lacking in beauty, but it was +skillfully made. He had fastened together a circle of horse-hair about +the size of a slender woman's finger, then he had covered it by weaving +a few strands of the hair around it, making a sort of button-hole stitch +on both edges. + +After the war had ended the woman managed in some way to fulfill her +promise. She wrote the soldier's widow a letter telling her the details +of her husband's death and enclosed the contents of his pockets. Whether +the postal system had been restored in the region where the letter +traveled, or whether it was conveyed by hand, is not known, but it did +finally reach its destination. + +As soon as it was possible, relatives of the bereaved family, an old man +and a small boy, made a long, weary and sad journey by ox-cart from +their home in the lower Northern Neck, through Fredericksburg to +Spotsylvania Court House, a distance of more than a hundred miles, for +the purpose of transporting the remains of their kinsman back to his +homeland. When this mission was accomplished, the remains of the young +Confederate sergeant were laid to rest in the family burial ground, near +Burgess Store, in Northumberland County. + +For many years the soldier's widow and the loyal Southern lady +corresponded. Although they never did meet, their spirits were bound +together by that common denominator--war. + + +_MIRACLE AT KETCHUM'S CAMP_ + +Toward the close of the Civil War the fortunes of the lower Northern +Neck like those of the entire South were low. This section was then so +isolated that news from the battlefields was long in coming, and usually +bad when it did arrive. Food was meager and monotonous and, despite the +ingenious efforts of the women, could only be stretched so far. + +As another war Christmas approached there was little heart to make +merry, but for the sake of the children the older people felt that an +appearance of festivity was necessary. A fowl of some sort was killed +and dressed and hung in the cold smokehouse in readiness for its last +minute stuffing. The tree had been selected but would not be cut until +late Christmas Eve. Some chose a holly, because it needed less trimming +and the berries held up for quite a while in the poorly heated rooms, +but cedar was still the favorite. The little ones were stringing long +garlands of holly berries and popcorn and making ornaments from whatever +they could find. + +On the night of December the twenty-third, the small spark of Christmas +spirit that had been kindled was dampened by a terrific storm that raged +over the Chesapeake, dashing huge breakers against the beach and shaking +and rattling the houses along its shoreline, like some monster bent on +destruction. By morning the wind and waves had subsided leaving a chill +gray atmosphere that warned of a snow-storm in the making. + +It is the natural thing for people who live close to the water to scan +the horizon the last thing before retiring and the first thing upon +arising, so on this bleak Christmas Eve it was not long after dawn when +residents along that section of the Bay between Smith Point and +Taskmakers Creek had observed two dark objects drifting toward shore +near a spot later known as Ketchum's Camp. In those uncertain days +anything unusual was viewed with great alarm. Not long before this, one +of the houses along this same stretch of beach had been fired upon by an +enemy gunboat and saved only because two daughters of the house had +waved a sheet on a pole and implored the officers who came ashore to +cease firing. + +Now, as the alarm went out members of the Home Guard swiftly assembled +with their miscellaneous firearms ready for action. These fiery lads +were sometimes overzealous in their defense tactics so on this day they +were restrained by their elders until the objects drifted in so close +that all could see that they were nothing but clumsy unmanned boats of +the scow type. + +The boys and a few very old men who were there hastened out in small +boats to the stranded vessels. As they pulled back the tarpaulin +coverings they could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw that both +boats were loaded with provisions. After much discussion, they concluded +that these must be Federal supply boats which had broken loose during +the storm while being towed up the Bay. Of course, the idea that they +were putting one over on the Yankees appealed to the Home Guard even +more than the food. They hastily and joyfully began the task of +transporting the windfall to shore. By midafternoon the beach was lined +with people who had learned the good news through the grapevine. + +A nondescript crowd they were, but representative of the countryside at +that time. Very old men, children and boys were there but the majority +were women of all ages. The clothes of every one were knitted and +homespun, their main virtue being warmth. They had come on foot, on +horseback, in carriages and wagons. Their faces were alight with the +thought of real coffee and tea on Christmas morning after months of +nauseous brews made from sweet potatoes, wheat or sage, sweetened with +sorghum. Real white loaf sugar! Their eyes glistened with delight--or +maybe, tears. Bacon, too, and flour and molasses! Plenty for all. They +did not doubt that this was a miracle. + +The children jumped and screamed in ecstatic anticipation of the +wonderful Christmas to come. Snow began to fall but now it was not the +dreaded stuff that makes the woes of the poor greater, but, instead, it +was the beautiful, dream-making substance that belongs to Christmas. It +fell softly on the loaded vehicles and on the heads of those who knelt +with one accord on the lonely sand beach and gave thanks to God. + + _Note_: This spot which was called Ketchum's Camp soon after + the Civil War, because a sawmill camp was located there, has in + recent years been known as Chesapeake Estates, a summer cottage + area. + + +_DESPERATE PASSAGE_ + +It was April of the year 1865, and Lee had already surrendered his army +at Appomattox. + +On the night of April 22nd a row-boat moved cautiously across the +Potomac in the direction of the Virginia shore. This was the second +time, it is believed, that the two men in the boat had tried to make the +river crossing from Maryland to Virginia. The night before they had +failed because it had been too dark and the tide had been too strong. +The past eight days had doubtless seemed like an eternity to them. + +Now they could see the Virginia shore and the dim outline of a landing +but the thin youth at the oars did not head for the public wharf. He +rowed on until he came to a smaller landing which belonged to a private +home. They landed there, at Upper Machodoc Creek near what later became +Dahlgren, in King George County. + +The younger man helped his passenger out of the boat and together they +approached the house on the bank of the creek, knocked on the door and +asked for lodging for the night. The mistress of the house could +doubtless see that the dark handsome man in the muddy Confederate +uniform was badly in need of rest. Tradition says that she took them in +for the night. + +The next morning the two men left the Quesenberry home. The older man +was limping badly and seemed to be in much pain. That day they traveled +slowly on foot over back roads. + +Toward dusk they came to a home set in a grove of beautiful trees. It +was Cleydael, the residence of Doctor R. H. Stuart. Tradition says that +the men knocked on the back door and asked for food and aid. + +Whether Doctor Stuart rendered surgical aid to the man in the tattered +uniform is still a controversial subject in that region. They did +receive food and were waited on by Junius and Patsy Dixon, servants at +Cleydael. Tradition says that the older man left a note to Doctor Stuart +in which he enclosed a five-dollar bill and grudgingly thanked him for +"what we did get." + +Stories vary as to where the two men spent the night of April 23rd. + +At some time or other they rested in the yard of St. Paul's Church, it +is said. One account says that they spent the night at the house of a +man named Rollins near Office Hall. Another story says that they found +shelter for the night in the cabin of William Lucas, a Negro, and that +the next day the man who was burning with fever, ordered Lucas's son to +take him and his companion to the Rappahannock ferry at Port Conway. + +All accounts seem to agree that the men came to the Rappahannock in +daylight on April 24th, and that they were in a spring wagon driven by a +Negro man. + +It seems that the ferryman was fishing and wouldn't come ashore for only +two fares. At this point three Confederate soldiers who, it has been +said, were veterans of Mosby's Raiders and were on their way home, rode +up on horseback. + +The haggard man got out of the wagon and limped over to the soldiers, +the story goes, and told them who he was and asked them to help him. +Tradition says that the young veterans moved off and held a conference +together and when they had reached a decision they told him that they +were not in sympathy with what he had done, but since he had thrown +himself on their mercy they would help him. + +One story says that the Confederate veterans then leveled their rifles +at the ferryman and ordered him to come ashore at once and get them or +he would have his head blown off. The ferryman came ashore and the two +men and at least one of the veterans got on the ferry. + +It was in this way that John Wilkes Booth, who had shot and killed +Abraham Lincoln in Washington on the night of April 14th, and his +faithful companion, Herold, finally completed their journey across the +Northern Neck, from the Potomac to the Rappahannock. In their devious +flight across the Neck they had traveled perhaps twenty miles. + +The painful journey was in vain, however, for it was only a matter of +hours before Federal soldiers would track down the assassin and his +companion and find them in a barn on Garrett's farm. + + +_AFTER THE WAR_ + +The old order of things finally died in the Northern Neck with the +surrender of 1865. But, though the splendor was gone, the people +continued to cling to the old ways--the traditions, customs, family life +and ties of kinship. + +With the younger generation--the war children--there began a new type of +manhood. Knowing nothing except privations, they grew up with hard +bodies and practical minds, and though thrust into manhood while they +were still adolescent, they shouldered their responsibilities. + +Those who lived near the water turned to it because it was now more +fruitful than the land. Its harvests could be reaped more quickly, and +they could be reaped by one man working alone, or by several men working +together. + +Bundled up in home-made garments and warmed by caps, mufflers, socks and +mittens knitted by their mothers and grandmothers, these boys sallied +forth at dawn in the bitterest weather to tong oysters. Winters were +much colder then. They worked until nightfall, often in open boats, +stopping only long enough to refresh themselves with a hearty lunch, +which was usually packed in a tin bucket, and usually included pork, +biscuits and sorghum molasses. This was washed down with cold coffee +drunk from a stone jug. + +The girls too had changed and they now belonged to this new regime. +During the winter evenings they helped the older women to knit fish +nets. They used home-made wooden needles for this, and sometimes they +fastened one end of the net to wooden pegs driven in the wall. (Years +later people were to wonder why those pegs were found in some homes of +the lower Neck.) The women helped the men to fashion sails for their +boats by sewing together pieces of canvas. + +With the nets and small sailing vessels the men caught fish in what were +known as pound nets. These were staked out on weir poles. + +The seafood and whatever other marketable farm produce they could +assemble was conveyed up the Bay to the nearest and best cash market, +which was Baltimore, one hundred miles from the end of the Neck. They +brought back from this city clothing, sugar, molasses, kerosene and +hardware, among other things. This contact with a large cosmopolitan +city greatly influenced the lives and natures of the natives of the +Northern Neck. Those who could manage it sent their children there to be +educated. Other children were educated by older relatives, or by anyone +who would teach them. Some received very little education during this +period. + +Children had few toys and those they had were almost as crude as those +of the pioneer children--toys made of corn-cobs and pieces of wood. +Children were glad to have an old coffee pot to pull on a string. There +was no money for toys. + +Farther inland men turned to the forests where they cut cordwood and +railroad ties. These were carried to the heads of the rivers and loaded +on vessels bound for Baltimore, Philadelphia or Norfolk. + +Men then did any sort of work where they could make an honest dollar and +still stay in the Northern Neck. It was rugged but they managed to +survive. + +As things began to ease up, they picked up some of the old sports +again--horse-racing, fox-hunting and jousting. The men were intensely +interested in politics. + +Court Day was one of the biggest events for the men in those days. These +were colorful occasions, with the hundreds of people gathered together, +horses tied to the rails and ox-carts, stallions and hucksters all +milling about the green. This was an opportunity for making a little +cash. There was a man at Heathsville, at one time, who made a specialty +of "cent cakes" on Court Days. These were of especial interest to little +boys who came with their fathers. The cakes were big round and flat and +had one raisin in the center of each. Negro women cooked oyster stews in +the open and served them on tables improvised from dry-goods boxes and +covered with clean sheets. Bars were in full swing, brass knucks, +pistols and knives glinted here and there. There were many fights, or +tests of prowess. It was often late at night when the revelers, or +perhaps their horses, found the way home over rough country roads. + +The women had less exciting pleasures, such as quilting parties, +"spending the day" with a neighbor, and church socials. + +The colonial pattern of living and way of speech lingered on until the +beginning of the twentieth century. Tradition tells of a wedding feast +as late as 1872 where roast suckling pig with an apple in its mouth, +conical sugar loaves and butter sculptured in the form of Solomon's +Temple were featured. The flavor of seventeenth century England still +lingered in the Northern Neck at that time. + +The marriages between the families of the Neck were endless and thus the +Anglo-Saxon strain remained pure in the region. + + +_SPEECH_ + +The early population in the Northern Neck were mostly from London and +the surrounding counties where the classic English language of +Shakespeare was spoken. + +There is evidence that the speech of the people of the Northern Neck had +from early days little of the provincial or dialectal about it. + +Until the early part of the twentieth century such Shakespearean +expressions as, "wrack upon ruin" and "all mommicked up," were commonly +used in the Neck. The now archaic word mommick meant to mutilate. The +play of the double noun was also frequently heard until a late +date--men-folks, women-folks, baby-child, man-child, boy-man, and so on. + +Many of the indentured servants came to the Northern Neck from +Warwickshire and their manner of speech was added to the region, for +instance: off sporting, or frolicking, meant, having a good time; +traipsing about, meant, off walking about; make the fire, meant, kindle +the fire, and peart, meant, lively. + +The constant reading of the Bible also helped to keep the speech pure +and simple. + + +_SHOPPING TRIPS_ + +After the war the shopping trips to Baltimore were resumed, but with a +difference. There were few men in the Neck now and the women had +changed. Hardened by sorrow and privations they were now able to face +realities. There were many widows. + +They gathered their children together, and all the produce they could +assemble, and traveled to town on the sailing vessel of some older +relative or neighbor who might be taking a cargo of oysters or cordwood +to market. + +When they arrived in Baltimore, usually in the very early morning, the +sleepy children must be aroused and dressed. Pantalettes,[10] so +painstakingly laundered before leaving home, were now dirty and +wrinkled. With the bedraggled children, coops of quacking ducks and +hissing geese, crates of eggs and firkins of lard and butter, the brave +women finally landed on the dock and made their way up Light Street to +the commission merchants, who would buy their produce. After disposing +of their business they went to the stores to shop for necessities to +carry home to the Northern Neck. + +[Footnote 10: Pantalettes were generally worn about 1830-50. The fact +that they were still being worn by children of the Northern Neck is +probably due to the isolated location of this peninsula.] + + +_MENHADEN_ + +In their voyage of discovery in the Chesapeake Captain John Smith and +his companions found schools of fish agitating the surface of the water. +The written accounts of these men state that the fish were so thick that +they attempted to dip them up in a frying-pan but it proved to be "not a +good instrument to catch fish with." + +These fish are believed to have been menhaden, known to naturalists as +brevoortia. This ordinary looking fish was destined to change the course +of history in the lower Northern Neck. + +The Indian names for this species, munnawhatteaug (corrupted to +menhaden), and pauhagen (pogy), literally means fertilizer--"fish that +enriches the earth." The Indians were accustomed to employ this species, +with others of the herring tribe, in enriching their cornfields. They +showed the white men how to make their corn grow by putting two dead +fish in each hill of corn. + +The following passage written by Thomas Morton in 1632 shows the use of +fish as fertilizer in Virginia at that time: "There is a fish at the +spring of the yeare that passe up the rivers to spawn in the ponds, & +are taken in such multitudes that the inhabitants fertilize their +grounds with them." + +The menhaden was called alewife by the Virginia colonists because of its +resemblance to the allied species known by that name in England. Alewife +was corrupted to old-wife and ell-wife. It has been said that the +half-grown menhaden were called bug-fish by Virginia negroes in early +days because they believed them to have been produced from insects. +This superstition probably arose from the fact that a parasitic +crustacean, known to watermen as "a fish louse," was often found +clinging to the roof of the menhaden's mouth. + +The menhaden had many other popular names, among them: porgie, +bony-fish, poggie, mossbunker, greentail, bunker, yellowtail, +white-fish, fat back, and another Indian name, chebog. "Mossbunker" is a +relic of the Dutch Colony at New Amsterdam. It was in use there as early +as 1661, probably a corruption of their Dutch word, _marsbancker_. + +It is said that the Indians did not like to eat menhaden because of +their oily content. Many years later it was learned that this fish was +also rich in minerals. Early settlers ate them, salted them for winter +use, and fed them to the stock. + +Catesby wrote, 1731-1742, concerning a fish called a "Fatback: It is an +excellent Sweet Fish, and so excessive fat that Butter is never used in +frying. At certain Seasons and Places there are infinite Numbers of +these Fish caught, and are much esteemed by the Inhabitants for their +Delicacy." + +Menhaden were used to some extent as a food by watermen for many years +but it does not appear probable that they were ever extensively used for +food except in seasons of scarcity. They were used for many years to +feed stock. + +Menhaden were used at an early date as a fertilizer all along the +Atlantic coast. In 1792 a paper published in New York gave directions +concerning the use of fish as a fertilizer: "Experiments made by using +the fish called menhaden or mossbankers as a manure have succeeded +beyond all expectation. In dunging corn in the holes, put two in a hill +on any kind of soil where corn will grow, and you will have a good crop. +Put them on a piece of poor loamy land and by their putrefaction they so +enrich the land that you may mow about two tons per acre." About eight +or ten thousand fish to the acre was considered about the right amount. + +Farmers also spread the fish "head to tail" in a plowed furrow and +covered them with earth. They also mixed the fish with earth in a +compost. + +It seems that the possibilities of making use of the fish oil were not +considered at this time. Whale oil was still being used. It was not +until about 1850 that the value of menhaden oil was recognized. + +The following statement of Eben B. Phillips, a Boston oil merchant, +dated 1874, throws some light on the beginning of the use of menhaden +oil: "In about 1850 I was in the oil business in Boston. An elderly lady +by the name of Bartlett, from Bluehill, Maine, came to my store with a +sample of oil which she had skimmed from a kettle in boiling menhaden +for her hens. She told me the fish were abundant all summer near the +shore. I told her I would give her $11 per barrel for all she would +produce. Her husband and sons made 13 barrels the first year. The fish +then were caught in gill-nets. The following year they made 100 barrels. +From that time and from that circumstance has grown a business as +extensive as I have represented." + +Mr. Phillips then furnished nets, and large kettles, which they set up +out-of-doors in brick frames, for drying out the fish. It was thought +that much oil was thrown away with the refuse fish or scrap, and the +idea of pressing this scrap was suggested. At first this was +accomplished by pressing it in a common iron kettle with a heavy cover +and a long beam for a lever. Later it was weighted down by heavy rocks, +in barrels and tubs perforated with auger holes. Mr. Phillips then +fitted out some fifty parties on the coast of Maine with presses of the +model known as the screw and lever press. + +Others claim to have manufactured menhaden oil at about the same time. +"At that time," according to another statement from Rhode Island, "there +were some few whalemen's try-pots used by other parties in boiling the +fish in water and making a very imperfect oil and scrap." + +Tradition says that at first some of the oil merchants mixed the +menhaden oil with whale oil, or sold it outright as whale oil. It was +used for tanning hides, currying, in paint, in soap, for "smearing +sheep" and for other things. + +After the value of menhaden oil was recognized many makeshift menhaden +fish factories were established along the coast of Maine and elsewhere +on the northern coast. It was much easier for the whaling men to go +offshore a few miles, return with a boat-load of fish and spend the +night at home. + +By the end of the Civil War the menhaden catch along the coast of Maine +was beginning to drop off. + +In 1866 a party of New Englanders visiting the Chesapeake found menhaden +in almost incredible quantities--"they were so thick that for 25 miles +along the shore there was a solid flip-flap of the northward swimming +fish." One member of the party is said to have jumped into the water and +with a dip-net thrown bushels of fish upon the beach. + +In December, 1866, the floating fish-factory, _Ranger_ of 1,500 tons, +hailing from Greenport, N. Y., came to Virginia. She was equipped to +cook fish and extract oil on board. Tradition says that on these first +floating factories the scrap was thrown overboard. The _Ranger_ remained +in Virginia only about eleven days during that year but returned each of +the two succeeding years. + +In the late summer of 1867, Elijah W. Reed, of Sedgwick, Maine, loaded +his kettles and presses on two small sailing vessels, the _Two Brothers_ +and the _A. F. Powers_, and sailed for Virginia. He landed first at Back +River, then moved up the Chesapeake and operated his kettles and presses +on the Bay shore between the Little Wicomico and the Great Wicomico +Rivers. The spot was in Northumberland County and was later known as +Ketchum's Camp. + +That winter the New Englander moved into Cockrell's Creek, in the same +county. It was a sheltered harbor near the mouth of the Bay with deep +water running close to the shore. He built there, at Point Pleasant, the +first menhaden plant on the Chesapeake Bay. + +From 1868 factories were built from time to time by local people, and +others, on points in Cockrell's Creek, and at other points on various +inlets of the Chesapeake, and on Tangier Island. + +These early factories were known as "kettle-factories." The kettles were +brought down the Bay from Baltimore. The menhaden products, oil and +green scrap in bulk, were carried back to the same city by sailing +vessels. The scrap, or guano, was sold both in the city market and +locally for fertilizer. + +These first Virginia fish factories were crude affairs consisting of +five or six iron kettles, each with a capacity of one hundred or more +gallons. They were established on a brick firebox with a chimney in the +center of the unit and openings at both ends for firing. This was +protected by a rough frame shelter with a slab-pine roof. This was a +typical factory, though the number of kettles varied. + +Cordwood was used for fuel. Scows with sails were sent to the heads of +the rivers where wood was brought down from "the forest" and loaded on +them. + +At the temporary Ketchum's Camp factory the fish were pulled up on the +shore in haul seines. After that they were caught in purse seines +operated from sailing vessels. + +It had been found, as previously explained, that by cooking the fish +much more oil could be extracted. The fish were boiled and then dipped +out with dip-nets and put in what was called a press. Burlap was then +placed over the mass of fish, and then boards on top of that. The boards +were then pulled down tight with a screw-jack. + +After the oil and water had been pressed out, the residue of fish was +spread out on the wharf in the sun to dry. To hasten this process the +mass was turned over and over by men with pitchforks. Acid was sprayed +on the "green scrap" to kill the maggots. It usually took about a week +to change the menhaden from the raw state into oil and guano. + +The following government report is probably the first of the menhaden +industry of the Chesapeake and its tributaries. It is dated 1869. + + Men employed on vessels fishing 12 + Vessels employed 4 + Men employed making guano 9 + Fish taken 3,000,000 + Oil made 200 bbls. + Guano made 300 tons + +In 1873 Reed's factory on Point Pleasant burned. The next year he built +another factory on another point on Cockrell's Creek on a spot where a +windmill for grinding corn had been previously located. This location +was known as Windmill Point. Later the village of Reedville grew up on +this small peninsula. + +By 1874 the manufacture of menhaden oil and guano had become identified +as one of the important industries of this country. The annual yield of +the menhaden oil now exceeded the whale oil (from American fisheries) by +about 200,000 gallons. + +By 1878 the menhaden industry of the Chesapeake area had grown +considerably according to the government report of that year: + + Men employed on vessels fishing 286 + Vessels employed fishing 78 + Men employed on shore 201 + Fish taken 118,309,200 + Gallons of oil made 234,168 + Tons of guano 10,832 + +The next advancement in the industry came when steam cooking superseded +the use of the kettles. The first steam factory in Virginia was built by +Elijah Reed in 1879. The first fishing steamer used in the business in +the Chesapeake, _Starry Banner_, was purchased by him in Rhode Island. +This steamer's capacity was one hundred and fifty thousand fish. + +The menhaden fishing industry continued to grow and to advance with the +times. It brought prosperity to the lower Northern Neck. Reedville +became an important menhaden fishing center and fishing port. + +Eventually menhaden became the biggest fishery in America. + + +_THE OLD STONE PILE_ + +About 1868 the tower lighthouse on Smith Point was condemned by the +government as unfit for use. At that time a new lighthouse of the screw +pile type was built two and one-half miles offshore from Smith Point. + +After the tower was condemned the keeper's house on the government +reservation was rented to various tenants. In summer the Point became a +social center for the neighborhood. Carriages, road-carts, and perhaps +even ox-carts tied up at Tranquility, the nearest farmhouse, on a Sunday +afternoon, and their occupants strolled up the beach with their picnic +baskets. + +The breakwater some distance out in the water from Smith Point was a +favorite fishing spot, but the high point of any trip there in those +days was a climb to the top of the condemned tower. The long, full +skirts of the ladies of that era were hard to maneuver up the narrow +spiral stairway. + +The tower finally became too dangerous to enter. During an easterly +storm in the spring of 1889 it crumbled in the night, so gently that the +people living in the keeper's house didn't hear it fall. + +The sandstone blocks lay there for many years and later generations knew +them as "the old stone pile." Each year the sea took its toll of the +Point until the land between the tower and the water, where "ten rows of +corn" had once grown, finally disappeared completely. And then "the old +stone pile" was swallowed by the persistent sea. + +The keeper's house gradually deteriorated and then it too was claimed by +the sea. For many years after, people of the region came at low tide and +loaded their ox-carts and wagons with the stones and bricks. The stones +were used for foundations of buildings and the bricks were used to line +wells. Only the burial ground was left at Smith Point. There on the +bank, "under the wide and starry sky," rest some of the early keepers of +the light. + + +_KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT_ + +When the new lighthouse was built two-and-one-half miles offshore from +Smith Point in 1868, it was manned by only two men. Shore leave or need +for provisions meant a trip for one man in a small open sail boat, +weather permitting, and a lonely watch for the man left behind. + +If a keeper became ill he had to make out as best he could with a chest +of medicine and a doctor's book. He had to be his own cook and +housekeeper. Due to lack of refrigeration the lighthouse diet became +monotonous, although seafood was a help. Kerosene for the lamps and +firewood was brought by a lighthouse tender. The lonely keepers of the +light often kept pets. Canaries and parrots made good companions, but +dogs sickened and died. + +The lighthouse keeper had to be a machinist, carpenter and painter, in +order to keep the lighthouse in working order. Stamina was perhaps the +quality most needed in a keeper of those days. The bell had to be wound +up like a clock every half hour and kept ringing during storm and fog. +There were instances when the keeper sometimes stayed awake for eight +days and eight nights. But he kept the bell ringing, and without the aid +of alcoholic drink. + +A lighthouse keeper had to be a waterman, and that meant a man who had +been born and bred in the region. Many lives were saved by these early +lighthouse keepers. Winters were colder then. In those days the Bay +often froze over like a mill-pond. + +The winter of 1895 was a cold winter. The Bay was frozen, and, to make +matters worse, in February there was a blizzard that went howling +through the region of Smith Point. Both keepers were on duty that night +when part of the ice started moving. They felt it hit the lighthouse and +they loaded whatever they could find on a boat and somehow they got out +alive. Before they started away the lighthouse had gone to pieces. They +took turns pushing the boat over the ice toward land. That was a long +two-and-a-half miles, but they made it. + +They were welcomed by people on shore who waited, with lanterns, to +serve them hot coffee and food. They had seen the light go out and had +been anxiously waiting, as there was nothing that they could do to help. +The lighthouse keepers were taken into warm homes that night. Later they +found that the ice had carried the remains of the lighthouse six miles +away from its foundation. + +Years later one of the keepers who had been on Smith Point lighthouse +that night said: "Things like that happened all the time then." + +A light-ship was stationed at Smith Point until another lighthouse could +be built. The new lighthouse was built on a cylindrical pier of metal. +The tower was square and made of brick, with an octagonal dwelling. It +was completed in 1897. + + +_THE HEADLESS DOG_ + +In those days between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the +century, life in the Northern Neck still followed the old Southern +pattern, but in a diminished way. War had destroyed all glamour and +pared the design down to its skeleton. The planter had become a farmer, +the mistress of the plantation a farmer's wife. An independent way of +life remained, however. Each farm was a self-sustaining unit, though +besides the occasional day hands there were usually only a colored girl +who helped with the housework, laundry and dairy and a colored boy who +tended the stock, did the chores and worked in the fields. The Boy and +Girl, as they were always called, were regarded with affection, +especially by the children. + +"Evening-time," when work was over for the day, was something to be +looked forward to by the children. They gobbled their suppers with a +listening ear toward the soft murmur of voices in the kitchen, for they +were anxious to hear the latest news about the Headless Dog, who prowled +the by-roads, bottoms and graveyards of the Neck after dark. + +As soon as permission was granted the youngsters to leave the supper +table they would make a dash for the kitchen where the Boy and Girl sat +at the big pine table lingering over their dessert. When pressed for the +latest news of the Headless Dog they pretended an indifference and +ignorance that was maddening. The children then began a breaking down +process, made up of threats and cajolery, which they had cunningly +developed from experience over a period of time. + +Finally, the Boy would remember that he did "just catch a glimpse" of +the Dog the night before when returning from the store. As he reached +the bottom it seemed that the Dog appeared for an instant and faded +before his eyes. + +Bottoms, which were low places where creeks or ponds "made up" near the +roads, seemed to be favorite haunts of the Headless Dog. This was +possibly due to the mists which arose from the marshy places and made +his appearances and disappearances quite easy, as well as dramatic. + +Sometimes, when the Boy borrowed the horse and road-cart for a Sunday's +visit to his people "up in the forest," he encountered the Dog near a +graveyard. The sudden halt of the horse and the pointing of his ears +were signals of the Dog's proximity. If you wished to see him, the +certain way was to look at the space between the horse's ears, like +sighting through a camera. You could always find him in that spot--"a +great big dog with no haid a-tall." Further details as to the Dog's +appearance were left to the imagination. When the horse lowered his ears +and began to move cautiously forward, you knew that the Dog was +continuing his journey to some other graveyard or bottom and it was safe +to proceed. + +The Boy's meetings with the Dog were much more exciting than the Girl's, +maybe because she did not travel very much at night. Sometimes she would +see him at the "edge of dark," usually just before or shortly after the +death of some local person. Her stories were always gruesomely connected +with death. + +While these tales were spinning out in the kitchen where the fire burned +low in the iron range, the children, who had heard them a hundred times +before, huddled closer and closer together. Their eyes shone round and +bright, and, if the flame of the lamp flickered, they jumped and drew +away from dark corners. When the Girl had washed and dried the last dish +and set the morning rolls to rise behind the stove, the Boy took his hat +from its peg and prepared to depart for his nightly visit to the store. + +Hours later the children, snug in their beds, were aroused by music. In +that delicious stage between sleep and waking they lay half-dreaming and +unaware that they were listening to some unwritten bars of a blues +melody that were being created and lost to posterity on the still night +air. They only knew that the perfect notes were being produced by the +Boy on his jew's-harp and accompanied by the yeast powder bottles, mouth +organs and guitars of his companions, the Nehemiahs, Daniels and +Zechariahs of the neighboring farms. (Bible names were popular then.) + +The children knew, too, that their friends were wending their leisurely +way home from the store where the nightly session was over. Their +interest was not in music, but in the hope that the Boy had met with +adventure in that marshy, ferny and woodsy-smelling place known as the +bottom. + +The lower section of the Neck was evidently a favored land at that time. +Besides being a hideout for the Headless Dog, a white mule and a +Headless Man, it also furnished a routine route for another interesting +Dog. This Dog had a head. Furthermore, the head was punctuated by +glaring red eyes. According to good authority, he was as big as a calf, +brown in color except about the mouth which was patched with gray. His +neck was encircled with a chain which dragged on the ground and rattled +as he moved. He was a methodical animal and traveled always at night, +and only between Cockrell's Neck and Heathsville, and only before or +after the death of some local person. Instead of appearing suddenly and +fading out like the Headless Dog, he had a disconcerting habit of +trailing moving vehicles. + +After motor vehicles became numerous the Headless Dog was seen no more, +but the Cockrell's Neck Dog was still seen occasionally for some time +after that. His systematic ways probably kept him going longer. Some +said that he was not brown but black, and if you struck at him with a +whip it went clear through him. + + + + +PART IV + +Conclusion + + + + +_THE ANCIENT MANSION SEATS_ + +Visitors to the Northern Neck often ask the question: "Where are the old +houses?" + +Most of the remaining ancient seats are off the beaten path due to the +fact that when they were built the rivers, creeks and bays were the +highways. + +Many of the old houses burned, either accidentally or during the wars. +Others fell into decay during the years of depression following the +Civil War, and after traffic by boat was discontinued. + +Some of the early homes were remodeled beyond recognition, or torn down +to give way for new buildings. Some were bought by persons of wealth and +faithfully restored by them. A few of the old seats are still owned and +lived in by descendants of the original planters who built them. + +Portions of some of the old mansions of the Northern Neck found their +way into museums. An instance of this is a room from Marmion, a Fitzhugh +home of King George County. The Marmion Room in the American Wing of the +Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, is described in the museum +literature as follows: "Of all the rooms we have gathered together, +possibly the most extraordinary and impressive is the one from Marmion." + +Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County had been lost to the Lee family in +1820. Many years later, in 1929, the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, +Incorporated, was organized to acquire, restore, furnish and preserve +the Stratford plantation. After a great deal of dedicated effort by a +great many people this goal was finally achieved. Under the painstaking +guidance of the ladies of the Foundation Thomas Lee's mansion was +restored to its original splendor. The garden was restored by the Garden +Club of Virginia. + +Stratford Hall and plantation is now a restored working colonial +plantation open to the public. The restored mill grinds meal. Virginia +cured hams hang in the smokehouse, and jellies and preserves are made by +old recipes. + +Thoroughbreds stand again in the stables. The fields are worked by +modern machinery, but the 1,164-acre estate is run as nearly as possible +as it was in the days of Thomas Lee. + +Stratford Hall is pronounced "of prime architectural importance" by the +American Institute of Architects. + +George Washington referred to his birthplace as "the Popes Creek home" +or the "ancient mansion seat in Westmoreland County." + +The name Wakefield seems to have been given the plantation about 1773 by +the Washington heir who lived there at that time. The name is said to +have been suggested by Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield." + +The original house at Popes Creek was destroyed by fire. It is believed +to have burned on Christmas Day, 1779. + +Thirty-six years passed before the birthsite of George Washington was +marked and then it was only by a simple stone which bore an inscription. + +In 1881 Congress authorized the construction of a monument to mark the +birthsite, but fifteen years passed before the granite shaft was +erected. + +A group of patriotic women were not satisfied. They dreamed of the +plantation as it was when George Washington was born, and they planned +to bring it alive again. In 1923, under the leadership of Mrs. Josephine +Wheelright Rust, they organized the Wakefield National Memorial +Association. Their goal was to restore the Wakefield plantation and make +it a shrine for all people. + +The Association acquired land which adjoined Government property, and +Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., purchased additional acreage of the old +Wakefield plantation and transferred it to the Federal Government. + +An act of Congress granted the Association authority to erect a building +on the birthsite "as nearly as may be practicable, of the house in which +George Washington was born." + +By act of Congress, January 23, 1930, the 394.47 acres owned by the +Federal Government was designated as George Washington Birthplace +National Monument to be administered by the National Park Service of the +United States Department of the Interior. + +The dream of the patriotic women came true when the new Memorial Mansion +was erected in 1930-31. It was immediately opened to the public. + +Reliable information concerning the appearance of the original house +could not be found, therefore the house that was erected represents a +typical Virginia plantation house of the eighteenth century. + +In the old-fashioned garden established near the Memorial Mansion there +is a sundial bearing this inscription: + + "A place of rose and thyme and scented earth-- + A place the world forgot, + But here a matchless flower came to birth, + Time paused and blessed the spot." + +Wakefield plantation is a memorial to the many people who had a part in +saving it and bringing it to life again, as well as a monument to George +Washington. + + + + +APPENDIX + + + NORTHERN NECK BURGESSES (JAMESTOWN ASSEMBLIES) + + + _Assembly of October, 1644_ + + Northumberland County + Capt. Fr. Poythers, Jo. Trussell + + + _Burgesses of the Assembly, convened November 20, 1645_ + + Northumberland County + John Matrum + + + _Assembly of 1651_ + + Northumberland County + Richard Lee + + + _Members of Assembly, convened April 26, 1652_ + + Northumberland County + John Mottram, George Fletcher + + Lancaster County + Francis Willis + + + _Members of Assembly, November, 1652_ + + Lancaster County + Capt. H'y Fleet, Wm. Underwood + + + _Assembly convened July 5, 1653_ + + Lancaster County + Capt. M. Fantleroy, William Hackett + + Northumberland County + Lt. Col. Fletcher, Walter Broadhurst + + + _Assembly convened November 20, 1654_ + + Lancaster County + John Carter, James Bagnall + + Northumberland County + John Trussell + + Westmoreland County + John Holland, Alex. Baynham + + + _Burgesses, March 13, 1657-8_ + + Lancaster County + Col. John Carter (a member of the Council) + + Northumberland County + Peter Montague, John Hanie, Peter Knight + + + _Burgesses, March, 1658-9_ + + Lancaster County + Col. John Carter, Henry Corbin + + Northumberland County + Geo. Coleclough + + + _Assembly of March, 1659-60_ + + Lancaster County + Col. John Carter, John Curtis, Henry Corbin + + Northumberland County + Capt. Peter Ashton + + Westmoreland County + Capt. Tho's Foulke + + + _Burgesses in Assembly, September, 1663_ + + Northumberland County + Wm. Presley + + Westmoreland County + Col. Gerard Fowke + + Lancaster County + Raleigh Frances + + + _Assembly convened October, 1666_ + + Lancaster County + Raleigh Traverse + + Westmoreland County + Col. Nich. Spencer, Col. John Washington + + Northumberland County + Mr. William Presley + + + _May 4,1683_ + + Nich. Spencer and Jos. Bridger were Councillors at this time. + + (_Compiled from old manuscripts and documents. This list is + probably incomplete._) + + +COUNTIES + +The formation of the counties of the Northern Neck took place as +follows: + +Northumberland, 1648; Lancaster, 1651; Westmoreland, 1653; Stafford, +1664; Richmond, 1692; King George, 1721. + +The names of these counties reflect the English origin of the first +white settlers. + + +NATIVE SONS (NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA) + +George Washington, First President of the United States; "First in war, +first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." These +famous words were written by General Henry (Light-Horse Harry) Lee. + +James Madison, Fourth President of the United States, and Father of the +Constitution. + +James Monroe, Fifth President of the United States, and author of the +Monroe Doctrine. + +Signers of the Declaration of Independence: Richard Henry Lee, and +Francis Lightfoot Lee. + +General Robert Edward Lee: Leader of the Confederate forces in the Civil +War. + +Hall of Fame for Great Americans: George Washington, James Madison, +James Monroe, Robert Edward Lee. + + + + +SOURCES + + +PART I--_SEVENTEENTH CENTURY_ + + +INDIANS AND EARLY EXPLORERS + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_The Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846. + +_History of Virginia_, by Mary Tucker Magill, 1888. + +_History of Virginia_, by R. B. Smithey, 1898. + +_A History of the United States_, by Franklin L. Riley, 1910. + + +CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_The Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846. + +_Arrival of the First Permanent English Settlers Jamestown_, by G. B. +Coale, 1950. + + +POWHATAN'S EMPIRE + +Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, 1840. + +Beverley's _History of Virginia_. + +_Virginia_, Virginia Writer's Project, 1940. + + +CAPTAIN SMITH VISITS THE NECK + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_The Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + + +"A PLAINE WILDERNES" + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + + +"WILD BEASTES" + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +Clayton's _Virginia_, p. 37, Force's _Historical Tracts_, Vol. III. + +Writings of Ralph Hamor, William Strachey and other early writers. + + +"BIRDS TO VS UNKNOWNE" + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_The Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, Vol. +I. + +Writings of: William Strachey, Thomas Hariot, Ralph Hamor, Robert +Beverley, and other early writers. + + +THE NOMINIES + +_Virginia_, Virginia Writers' Project, 1940. + +Bureau of American Enthnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington. + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, Vol. +I. + +_Our Republic_, Riley, Chandler, Hamilton, 1910. + +_History of Virginia_, Magill, 1888. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia_, by Ben C. McCary, 1957. + + +THE DISCOVERERS + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + +_History of Virginia_, by R. B. Smithey, published 1898. + + +THE RIVER OF SWANS + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +Writings of Dr. Walter Russell and Anas Todkill. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach, published 1929. + + +MOTHER OF WATERS + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +Writings of Dr. Walter Russell and Anas Todkill. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Bruce, Vol. I. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by A. P. Middleton, Ph. D. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington. + +"The Chesapeake's Million Years," by Harold A. Williams, in _Baltimore +Sunday Magazine_, October 18, 1953. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + +_The Bay_, by Gilbert Klingel. + + +QUICK-RISING-WATER + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Virginia_, Virginia Writers' Project, published 1940. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + + +HENRY AND POCAHONTAS + +HENRY AND KING PATOWMEKE + +HENRY'S RELATION + +BETRAYED + +Henry Spelman's _Relation of Virginia_, a manuscript first published in +London, in 1872. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, pp. 52-53. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_History of Virginia_, by Mary Tucker Magill, published 1888. + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach, published 1929. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + +_Virginia_, Virginia Writers' Project, published 1940. + +"The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673," by A. J. Morrison. _William & Mary +College Quarterly_, 2nd Series, vi. + +_The Genesis of the United States_, by Alexander Brown, Vol. 2, pp. +1020-1021. + +_Howes' Abridgment._ + +_Observations of William Simmons_, Doctor of Divinity, 1609. + +_Writings of William Box_, 1610. + +_Narratives of Early Virginia_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia_, by Ben C. McCary, 1957. + + +KIDNAPPED + +_Smith's Generall Historie_, Book IV. + +_State Historical Markers of Virginia_, Sixth Edition, 1948, p. 16. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_History of Virginia_, by Mary Tucker Magill, published 1888. + + +THE INDIAN TRADER (_also_ FLEET'S POINT) + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, p. 238. + +_Cavaliers and Pioneers_, by Nell M. Nugent. + +"The Money of Colonial Virginia." _Virginia Magazine of History and +Biography_, Vol. 51, pp. 36-54, January, 1943, by Mrs. Philip W. Hiden. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington. + +_Smith's Generall Historie_, Book IV. + +Henry Fleet's _Relation_. + +"The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673," by A. J. Morrison. _William & Mary +College Quarterly_, 2nd Series, vi. + + +A PETITION + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, p. 289. + + +FROM NORTH OF THE POTOMAC + +_Jamestown and St. Mary's, Buried Cities of Romance_, by H. C. Forman, +1938. + +"The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673," by A. J. Morrison. _William & Mary +College Quarterly_, 2nd Series, vi. + +_Narratives of Early Virginia_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_History of Virginia_, by R. B. Smithey, 1898. + +_Our Republic_, by Riley, Chandler & Hamilton, 1910. + +"Roving Maryland's Cavalier Country," by William A. Kinney. _The +National Geographic Magazine_, April, 1954. + +"History of Northumberland County," by Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe. +_Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December, 1951. + +"Maryland Influence in the Northern Neck," by Henry Wright Newman. +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1954. + + +THE FIRST SETTLER + +"Mottrom," _William and Mary Quarterly_, Vol. 17, p. 53. Archives of +Maryland, Vol. IV, p. 269. + +York County Records (Shallop). + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, Vol. I, by P. A. +Bruce. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by Arthur Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., published 1953. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, published 1953. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, published +1934. + +_State Historical Markers of Virginia_, Sixth Edition, 1948, p. 180. + +"A Little Tour of Northumberland County," by Thomas Lomax Hunter, +(published in the _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, date unknown). + +"Northumberland, Mother County," by Thomas Lomax Hunter, (published in +the _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, date unknown). + +"History of Northumberland County," (From 1648 to War of Revolution), by +Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe. _Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, +Vol. I, December, 1951. + +_History of Northumberland County_, by Miss Lucy Brown Beale. (Pageant) + +"Old Northumberland," by Elwood Street. (An article in the _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, April 19, 1942.) + +_Virginia Magazine_, X, (402). + +Northumberland County Records. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach, published 1929. + + +COAN HALL + +_Jamestown and St. Mary's, Buried Cities of Romance_, Henry C. Forman, +p. 33, 1938. + +The Holy Bible, Genesis 2: 8-10, 19. + +"Log Cabin or Frame," by Janet Foster Newton. _Antiques Magazine_, Nov. +1944. + +1953, Williamsburg Antiques Forum, Theme: "European Influence on +American Craftsmanship"; "Architecture Up to the Time of the +Revolution." Speaker, Dr. Richard H. Howland, Chairman of the Art +Department of Johns Hopkins University. + +_The Log Cabin Myth_, by Harold R. Shurtleff. + +_The Homes of Our Ancestors_, by R. T. H. Halsey and Elizabeth Tower, +1937. + +_A Treasury of Early American Homes_, by Richard Pratt, published 1946. + +"Notes on Imported Brick," by Charles E. Peterson. _Antiques Mag._, +July, 1952. + +_Glassmaking at Jamestown_, by J. C. Harrington, published 1952. + +"Roving Maryland's Cavalier Country," by William A. Kinney. _The +National Geographic Magazine_, April, 1954. + +_Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +"The Buttolph-Williams House," (In Wethersfield, Connecticut) by +Frederic Palmer. _Antiques Magazine_, September, 1951. + +"Hurstville," by Jennie Harding Cornelius, in _Northumberland Echo_, +Heathsville, Va. + +"Green Spring," by Leonora A. Wood, in _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, March +27, 1955. + +Westmoreland County Records, 1661-1662. + +"A Visit to Historic Old Marmion," by Joseph A. Billingsley, Jr., in +_Richmond Times-Dispatch_, August 6, 1939. + + +NEIGHBORS + +Maryland Archives (Vol. V: 204). + +_The Homes of Our Ancestors_, by R. T. H. Halsey and Elizabeth Tower, +1937. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + + +THE "KIDS" + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman. + +_Diary of John Harrower_, (A journal by an indentured servant-teacher.) + +"_Spirits_," from a treatise published in 1657, by Lionel Gatford, B. +D., p. 278. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + + +INDIAN SERVANTS + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_William Presley_, by Miss Lucy Brown Beale. + + +MONEY + +"The Money of Colonial Virginia," by Mrs. Philip W. Hiden. _Virginia +Magazine of History and Biography._ + +Northumberland County Records. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbors_, by John Fiske, Vol. I. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by A. P. Middleton, 1953. + +_James Madison_, by Brant, p. 413. + + +A PARADISE DISCOVERED + +_Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia_, +edited by William Waller Hening. Richmond, 1809. 1619-60. + +_Jamestown and St. Mary's: Buried Cities of Romance_, by Henry Chandlee +Forman, Baltimore, 1938. (The Johns Hopkins Press.) + + +A VISIT TO JAMESTOWN + +_Jamestown and St. Mary's: Buried Cities of Romance_, by Henry Chandlee +Forman, Baltimore, 1938. (The Johns Hopkins Press.) + +_The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and Its First Statehouse_, +by Charles E. Hatch, Jr. Washington: 1943. + +_The Cradle of the Republic, Jamestown and James River_, by Lyon G. +Tyler, Richmond, Va., 1906. The Hermitage Press, Inc. + +_Minutes of the Council and General Court of Virginia, 1622-1632, +1670-1676_, edited by H. R. McIlwaine, Richmond, 1924, pp. 497-498. + +_Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1619-1658-59_, edited +by H. R. McIlwaine, Richmond, 1915, p. 36. + +_Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + + +FRANCES + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934. + +"Old Northumberland," by Elwood Street. (An article in the _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, April 19, 1942.) + +Northumberland County Record Book, 1652-1665, p. 47. ("cow calfe") + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +_Child Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +_The Homes of Our Ancestors_, by R. T. H. Halsey and Elizabeth Tower, +1937. + + +FOREVER LOST + +Hening's _Statutes at Large_, 1619-60. + +_Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December 1951, p. 6. + + +URSULA + +_William and Mary Quarterly_, Vol. 17, p. 53. (Archives of Md., Vol. IV, +p. 269.) + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +Northumberland County Records, 1655-56, 1657-58. + +Maryland Archives, Vol. V: 204. + +_Homes of Our Ancestors_, by Halsey and Tower, 1937. + +Records of Lancaster Co., Orig. Vol., 1690-1709, p. 21. (Ref. to leather +coverlet.) + +Records of Lancaster Co., Orig. Vol., 1674-1687, p. 77. (Wardrobe of F. +Pritchard.) + + +THE YARD + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Patrician and Plebeian in Virginia_, by T. J. Wertenbaker. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +Beverley's _History of the Present State of Virginia_. + + +KITTAMAQUND + +_Genealogy of the Brent Family_, compiled by W. B. Chilton, Washington, +D. C. + +_Virginia Magazine of History & Biography_, V. 12, July, 1904-April, +1905. + +(Relatio Itineris, _Father Andrew White, S. J._, pp. 74, 76 & 82.) + +_Maryland Historical Magazine_, Vol. III, p. 30. + +_Landmarks of Old Prince William_, p. 43. + +_Maryland Council Proceedings_, Vol. 3, p. 403. + +"Maryland Influence in the Northern Neck," by Harry Wright Newman, in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1954. + + +THE GIFT + +_The First Patent of the Proprietary._ + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_History of England_, by Charlotte M. Yonge, 1879. + +_Our Republic_, by Riley, Chandler & Hamilton, 1910. + + +THE CAVALIERS + +Smithey's _History of Virginia_, 1915. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by A. P. Middleton, 1953; pp. 8, 15, 16. + +_Cavaliers and Pioneers_, V. I, by N. M. Nugent, published 1934. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary N. Stanard, 1928. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, by John Fiske, 1897, V. I. & V. II. + +_Patrician and Plebeian in Virginia_, by Thos. J. Wertenbaker, 1910. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, 1927. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833. + +"Cavaliers of the Northern Neck in the 17th Century," by Dr. J. E. +Monohan, in _Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1953. + +_Virginia, A History of the People_, by John Esten Cooke, 1883, p. 227. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_William and Mary Quarterly_, V. 17, p. 196. + +"Perfect Description of Virginia," Force's _Tracts_ II, No. viii. + +Hammond's, _Leah and Rachel_. + + +"CHARLIE-OVER-THE-WATER" + +_Life of General R. E. Lee_, by J. D. McCabe, Jr., 1866. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick, 1935. ("Introductio ad +Latinam Blasoniam," by John Gibbon, 1629-1718. Lee's trip to Brussels.) + +_Stratford Hall and the Lees_, by F. W. Alexander, 1912. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, John Fiske, 1897. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by E. D. Neill, 1886. + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman, pp. 452-453. + + +THE LEGACY + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, V. II, p. 19, by John Fiske, 1897. + +_Stratford Hall and the Lees_, by F. W. Alexander, 1912. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Hendrick (B. J.). + +_Life of General R. E. Lee_, by J. D. McCabe, Jr., 1866. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +THE INDIAN DEED + +_Barons of the Potomack and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach, p. 247. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, # 148. + + +A SUMMONS TO JAMESTOWN + +Archives of Maryland, V. IV, 269. + +_The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and Its First Statehouse_, +by Charles E. Hatch, Jr., Washington: 1943. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934. +(Northumberland County, Record Book, 1652-1665.) + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by E. D. Neill, 1886. + +_Virginia and Its Antiquities_, about 1840. + +Magill's _History of Virginia_, 1888, p. 80. + +"The Treaty of Jamestown, 1652," by W. H. Gaines, Jr., in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Spring, 1952. + + +THE OATH + +"The Treaty of Jamestown, 1652," by W. H. Gaines, Jr., in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Spring, 1952. + +"History of Northumberland County," by Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe, +_Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December, 1951. (Northumberland +Order Book, 1650-53.) + +_Virginia's First Century_, by M. N. Stanard. + + +THE CHALLENGE + +"Courthouses of Lancaster County, 1656-1950," Abstracted and Compiled +from County Court Records by Elizabeth Combs Peirce, in _Northern Neck +Historical Society Magazine_, December, 1951. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, pp. +250-252. + +_Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, V. II, p. 96. + +_Patrician and Plebeian_, by T. J. Wertenbaker. + +Lancaster County Records, V, 1652-56, p. 64. + + +TRADE + +_Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, by John Fiske. + +_Economic History of the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +Lancaster County Records, Original volume, 1654-1702. + +Lancaster County Records, 1652-57. + +_Orders of Wm. Fitzhugh._ + +Records of Lancaster County, Original volume, 1682-1687. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by E. D. Neill, 1886. + +_Virginia and Its Antiquities_, p. 67. + + +JOHN CARTER + +_Virginia's First Century_, by M. N. Stanard. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle. + +_Robert Carter of Nomini Hall_, by Louis Morton, 1945. + +_Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia_, edited by H. R. +McIlwaine (1619-1658/59, p. 94). + +_Economic History of Virginia_, by P. A. Bruce, V. II, p. 124. + +"Old Virginia Bottles," by Walter J. Sparks, in _Richmond Times-Dispatch +Sunday Magazine_, 1938. + + +FLEET'S POINT (_see_ chapter, The Indian Trader) + + +GEORGE MASON + +_The Life of George Mason_, by Kate M. Rowland (1725-1792). + +Westmoreland Court House Records, 1664. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by E. D. Neill, 1886, p, 344. From a MS. owned by +the Virginia Historical Society. + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. II (storehouse). + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. III (boats). + +Copy of an old paper of 1793, by Geo. Mason, of Lexington. + +Westmoreland Court House and Virginia Land Registry Office (patent). + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. II, 1661-2 (Indian trouble). + + +MARY CALVERT + +Northumberland County Records, 1655. + +"History of Northumberland County," by Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe, +in _Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December 1951. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, 1927. + + +HE LIVED BRAVELY + +_William and Mary Quarterly_, vol. 17, p. 53. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +Surry County Records, vol. 1645-72, p. 246. + +Lower Norfolk County Records, vol. 1686-95, f. p. 171. + +York County Records, vol. 1675-84, p. 87. + +Westmoreland County Records, vol. 1655-77, p. 186. + +_Virginia Historical and Genealogical Magazine_, vol. X, p. 402. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934. + +Northumberland County Records, 1655-56. + +_George Washington_, by D. S. Freeman (V. I, p. 4). + + +WITCHCRAFT + +Northumberland County Records, 1656. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833, pp. +280-283. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, vol. I, p. 127. + + +SEAHORSE OF LONDON + +_Virginia Carolorum_ (1625-85), by E. D. Neill, 1886. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +1 Westmoreland Deeds and Wills, 88. + +Westmoreland County Records. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +"TENN MULBERRY TREES" + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard. + +_The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and Its First Statehouse_, +by Charles E. Hatch, Jr., Washington: 1943. + +_Plants of Colonial Days_, by Raymond L. Taylor, pub. 1952, +Williamsburg, Va. + +_Child Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + + +ROADS + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, Vol. II, by John Fiske. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Sara Pryor. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Roads and Vehicles_, _William and Mary Quarterly_, vol. III, pp. 37-43. + +_The Journal of Philip Vickers Fithian._ + +_Cavaliers and Pioneers_, by Nell M. Nugent, 1934. + + +MARKETS + +Records, original volume 1652-1657, p. 214. + +_Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, 1886. + +THE OLD DOMINION + +Smithey's _History of Virginia_, published 1898. + +_Young Folks History of England_, by Charlotte M. Yonge, published 1879. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard. + +Magill's _History of Virginia_, published 1888. + + +THE PROPRIETARY + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, published +1833. + + +A FIRST LADY OF JAMESTOWN + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard, p. 252. + +_Virginia Magazine_, V. II, p. 33. + +_New England Hist. and Gen. Reg._, Vol. XLV, p. 67. + +_Virginia Magazine_, Vol. V, p. 257 (Anne Mottrom). + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +A collection of magazine and newspaper articles on early wedding +customs. + +_Historic Dress in America_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +"Cavaliers of the Northern Neck in the 17th Century," by Dr. John E. +Monohan, in _Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, +1953. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +Westmoreland County Records, Vol. 1665-77, folio p. 79 (Madam Spencer). + +"Old Northumberland," by Elwood Street, in the _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, April 19, 1942. + + +PROCESSIONING + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +_George Washington_, V. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_James Madison_, V. I, by Irving Brant, p. 44. + + +"THE BANQUETTING HOUSE" + +9 Westmoreland Deeds and Wills, 344-45, March 30, 1670. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 103, +106, 110, 112. + +"The First Country Club in America," by Arnold Jones, in _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, 1953. + +"A Mayflower Relic in Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Autumn, 1952. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + +Maryland Archives, IV, 109, March 21, 1639. + +_Buried Cities, Jamestown and St. Mary's_, by Henry Chandlee Forman. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by B. J. Hendrick. + +"Revolutionary Suffragists," by Elizabeth Dabney Coleman, in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Autumn, 1953. + + +THE LAND AGENT + +Westmoreland Orders, 1676-89, p. 529. + +"Land Agents in Virginia," by G. H. S. King, in _Northern Neck of +Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1954. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, D. S. Freeman, p. 458. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + + +HANNA AND THE HORSESHOE + +Northumberland County Records, 1671. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. 17, pp. 247-48. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833, pp. +280-83. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + + +MUSTER + +Virginia County Records, 1689. + +_Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1904-06, p. 191. + +Minutes of the House of Burgesses, Sept. 30, 1696, B. T. Va., L 11. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast_, by E. R. Snow. + +_Pirates of Colonial Virginia_, by Lloyd H. Williams. + + +THE STORE + +_Virginia and Her Neighbours_, Vol. II, p. 213, by John Fiske. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, 1886. + +_Historic Dress in America_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + + +THE WOLF-DRIVE + +Northumberland County Records, Orders, September 16, 1691. + +Clayton's _Virginia_. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +Force's _Historical Tracts_, Vol. III. + +_Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber, p. 60. + +Beverley's _History of Virginia_. + +Lancaster Court Records: 1677. + +Northumberland County Record Book, 1666-78, p. 107. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle (McDonald Lee). + + +THE INDIANS AND ROBERT HEN + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, pp. 18-34. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary N. Stanard. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, pp. 347-49. + +_Virginia and Her Neighbours_, Vol. II, by John Fiske. + +Spencer ii, 61, 80, 89, 111. + +_Descendants of Coll: Giles Brent_, by Chester Horton Brent, 1946. + +Force's _Tracts_, Vol. I, tract viii. + +_The Life of George Mason_, by Kate M. Rowland. + + +THE ROYAL CAVALCADE and THE KING OF THE NORTHERN NECK + +_Robert Carter of Nomini Hall_, by Louis Morton, Williamsburg, 1945. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle. + +"Colonel Robert (King) Carter," by Samuel Bemiss, in _Northern Neck of +Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1953. + +"The Fruits of His Labor," by Samuel Bemiss, in _Virginia Cavalcade_, +1953. + +_Old Churches and Families of Virginia_, by Meade, V. II, p. 116. + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_King Carter, the Man_, by James Wharton. + + +KITH AND KIN + +_Robert Carter of Nomini Hall_, by Louis Morton. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_King Carter, the Man_, by James Wharton. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + +_Baron of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + + +THE FIELDINGS + +_Virginia Historical Magazine_, V. 12, pp. 98, 101, 215. + +_Robert Carter of Nomini Hall_, by Louis Morton, p. 64. + + +PIRATES + +"Pursuits of a Pirate," by Wm. H. Gaines, Jr., _Virginia Cavalcade_, +Autumn, 1952. + +"Treasure Trove," in _News from Home_, Autumn, 1955. + +_Pirates of Colonial Virginia_, by Lloyd Haynes Williams, published +1937. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by Arthur Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., 1953. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, 1953, p. 198. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Sara Pryor. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, V. II, by John Fiske, p. 338. + +_Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast_, by Edward Rowe Snow. + +Records of Middlesex County, original volume, 1679-1694, p. 472. + + +CHRISTMAS AT COLONEL FITZHUGH'S + +_Description de la Virginie & Marilan dans L'Amérique_, by Durand Du +Dauphine. + + +INDIAN VISITORS + +_Description de la Virginie & Marilan dans L'Amérique_, by Durand Du +Dauphine. + + +HORSE RACING + +_The Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +Minutes of House of Burgesses, Sept. 30, 1696. B. T., Va., Vol. LII. + +_Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, Vol. VIII, p. 130. + +Northumberland County Records, Orders, January 17, 1693-4. + +Northumberland County Records, Orders, August 22, 1695. + +Westmoreland County Records, Vol. 1665-77, folio p. 211. + +Westmoreland County Orders, January 11, 1687-8. + +Westmoreland County Records, Orders, April 7, 1693. + +Northumberland Orders of August 22, 1695. + + +MANUFACTURE + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +Lancaster County Records, 1654-1702; 1674-78; 1690-1709. + +Letters of Wm. Fitzhugh. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + +Hening's _Statutes_, 1, 336, 337. + + +THE POTOMAC RANGERS + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. II. + +_The Life of George Mason_, Vol. I, by K. M. Rowland. + +_Virginia Calendar Papers_, Vol. I, pp. 44, 60. + +_Ibid._, p. xlvi. + +_James Madison_, Vol. I, by Irving Brant, pp. 408-09. + + + + +PART II--_EIGHTEENTH CENTURY_ + + +MURDERS IN STAFFORD + +_The Life of George Mason_, by Kate M. Rowland. + +_Ibid._, p. 69. + +_Letters of Col. George Mason_, II. + + +FREE SCHOOLS + +_Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_History of Virginia_, by Robert Beverley, 1703. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. 17, pp. 244-247. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. xvii, p. 188. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_A History of Education in Virginia_, by C. J. Heatwole. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. XIII, Series I, p. 158. +(Landon Carter) + + +THE HOME IN THE FOREST + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +10 R. Lancaster Wills and Inventories, 88. + +"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 159, 161, 162. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + + +CHERRY POINT + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Sara Pryor. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"Will of Mary Hewes," found in Archives of Northumberland County, by +Rev. G. W. Beale, published in _Virginia Historical Magazine_. + +19 Northumberland Orders, 42. + +Northumberland County Order Book, No. 6, p. 17. + + +SANDY POINT + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 115, 117, 121. + +Will of Mary Hewes, (19 Northumberland Orders, 42). + +_Yeocomico Church, Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Mrs. Roger A. Pryor, 1903. + +_Virginians at Home_, by Edmund S. Morgan, 1952. + +Westmoreland Deeds and Wills, 72. (Will of Samuel Bonum.) + + +AUGUSTINE + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. I, p. 160. (Fees) + +"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + +_Wakefield, The Birthplace of Washington_, by Paul Hudson, Museum +Specialist National Park Service. + +"Colonel George Eskridge," by Lucy Brown Beale, in _Northern Neck of +Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + + +POPES CREEK + +19 Northumberland Orders, 42. (The will of Mary Hewes.) + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Wakefield, The Birthplace of Washington_, by Paul Hudson, Museum +Specialist National Park Service. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +THE WAR PATH + +_James Madison_, Vol. I, by Irving Brant. + +_The Life of George Mason_ (1725-1792), by Kate M. Rowland. + +_Colonial History of New York_, Vol. V, pp. 655-677. + +_Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1904-06. + +_James Mooney, The Siouan Tribes of the East_, Smithsonian Institution: +1894. + +_Archeologic Investigation in James and Potomac Valleys_, by Gerad +Fowke, Smithsonian Institution: 1894. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +Byrd Manuscripts, Vol. II, p, 262. + + +FALMOUTH + +_The Life of George Mason_ (1725-1792), by Kate M. Rowland. + +Address of Rev. Phillip Slaughter before Virginia Historical Society, +1850. + +_In Tidewater Virginia_, by Dora Chinn Jett, 1924. + +A letter written by a Scotch girl while on a visit to Falmouth, +published in _The Herald_, Fredericksburg, June 3, 1854. + + +BURNT HOUSE FIELD + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by B. J. Hendrick. + +"President Thomas Lee of Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Summer, 1953. + +"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, _Holiday Magazine_, +January, 1953. + +"Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," Department of Conservation and +Development of Virginia. + + +STRATFORD HALL + +Stratford Hall and the Lees, by F. W. Alexander. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, _Holiday Magazine_, +January, 1953. + +"President Thomas Lee of Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Summer, 1953. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +A poem which described the early Stratford, by Carter Lee, brother of +General R. E. Lee. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +"The Summerhouse," a talk by Marcus Whiffen, Williamsburg Antiques +Forum, February, 1956. + + +GEORGE WASHINGTON + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +"Wakefield, The Birthplace of Washington," by Paul Hudson, published in +_The Commonwealth_, February, 1954. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +EPSEWASSON + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +FERRY FARM + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_King George Inventories_, 1721-44, pp. 285-91. + + +FREDERICKSBURG + +Act of establishing town of Fredericksburg. + +_Diary of Col. Wm. Byrd of Westover, 1732._ + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. M. Conway. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + + +SCHOOL DAYS + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_The Private Life of George Washington_, by F. R. Bellamy. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_Wakefield_, by Paul Hudson. + + +THE INDIANS + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, Vol. II, by John Fiske. + +_Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia_, by Ben C. McCary, 1957. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle. + +Beverley's _History of Virginia._ + + +THE POW-WOW + +"President Thomas Lee of Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Summer, 1953. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +A pamphlet: "A Treaty held at the town of Lancaster, Penn., with the +Indians of the Six Nations, in June, 1744, Philadelphia; printed and +sold by Benjamin Franklin at the New Printing Office near the Market, +1744." + +A pamphlet describing the conference at Lancaster, published by William +Parks, in Williamsburg, Va. + +_Virginia Magazine of History_, XIII, 5. + +_James Madison_, Vol. I, by Irving Brant, p. 46. + + +MOUNT VERNON + +"To the Walls of Cartagena," by Wm. H. Gaines, Jr., _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Winter, 1955. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_The Private Life of George Washington_, by F. R. Bellamy. + + +WASHINGTON WASHED HERE-- + +Spotsylvania Orders, 1749-55, p. 141. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + + +THE ORDINARY + +"Narrative of George Fisher (1750-55), His Voyage from London to +Virginia," _William and Mary Quarterly._ + + +NELLY + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_James Madison_, by Irving Brant, 1941. + +"James Madison, Father of the Constitution," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, +_Virginia Cavalcade_, Winter, 1951. + +"The Evening of Their Glory," by Wm. H. Gaines, Jr., _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Summer, 1953. + + +MISS BETSY + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + + +THE PROPRIETOR OF THE NORTHERN NECK + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, circa 1840; pp. 235-36, 275. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833. + +Smithey's _History of Virginia_, 1915; pp. 72-79. + +Magill's _History of Virginia_, 1888. + +_Fairfax_, by J. Esten Cooke, 1868. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_State Historical Markers of Virginia_, 1948. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + + +THE MARSHALLS + +_The Life of John Marshall_, by A. J. Beveridge. + +Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, viii, 1, 276. + +Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, xi, 419. + +Will of John "of the forest," made April 1, 1752, probated May 26, 1752, +and recorded June 22, 1752; Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and +Wills, xi, 419. + +_Autobiography, John Marshall._ + +_Binney, in Dillon_, iii, 287-88. (Description of J. Marshall.) + +Will of Thomas Marshall, "carpenter," probated May 31, 1704; Records of +Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, iii, 232, _et seq._ + + +THE LEEDSTOWN RESOLUTIONS + +Fithian's _Journal_, pp. 84, 248, 258. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, No. 75. + + +FITHIAN + +_The Journal of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1773-74_, edited by Hunter +Dickinson Farish, Williamsburg, Va., 1945. + + +THE SCHOOL IN THE WILDWOOD + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 31, 59. + +_Historical Atlas of Westmoreland County, Virginia_, by David W. Eaton, +p. 44. + +_The Life of John Marshall_, by A. J. Beveridge. + +_Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia_, by Bishop Meade, +Vol. II, pp. 159-161. + +_James Monroe_, by W. P. Cresson. + +Manuscript by Rose Gouveneur Hoes, in James Monroe Law Office, +Fredericksburg, Virginia. + + +JAMES AND JOHN + +_James Monroe's Childhood and Youth_, by Rose Gouveneur Hoes. + +_James Monroe_, by W. P. Cresson, 1946, Chapel Hill. + +_The Life of John Marshall_, by Albert J. Beveridge. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 31, 58, 63. + +_Meade's Old Churches, etc._, V. 2, pp. 159-161. + +_Historical Atlas of Westmoreland County, Virginia_, by D. W. Eaton, p. +44. + +_Binney, in Dillon_, iii, pp. 287-288. + + +CAPTAIN DOBBY + +Fithian's _Journal_. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +PEDLARS + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846. + +_Historic Dress in America_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + + +SEVEN SATIN PETTICOATS + +_Olivia Frances Jett Williams_ (1874-1940). + + +PHI BETA KAPPA + +_Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography_, under the editorial supervision of +Lyon Gardiner Tyler, LL.D., Vol. II, 1915. + +_The History of Phi Beta Kappa_, by Oscar M. Voorhees, D.D., LL.D., +1945. (The Founding of the Society, 1776.) + +"Records of Phi Beta Kappa Society of William and Mary College," printed +in _William and Mary College Quarterly_, IV, 236. + + +LIGHT-HORSE HARRY + +"Speech Delivered at Spring Celebration at Stratford," by Blake Tyler +Newton, May 6, 1951. _Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December, +1952. + +_The Life and Campaigns of General Robert E. Lee_, by James D. McCabe, +Jr., published 1866. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +_John Marshall_, by Albert J. Beveridge, p. 138. + + +A BAND OF BROTHERS + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"The Six Brothers of Stratford Hall," by Rev. Edmund J. Lee, D.D., in +_Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December, 1952. + + +THE DIVINE MATILDA + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +_Stratford Hall and the Lees Connected With Its History_, by F. W. +Alexander. + +"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, _Holiday_, January, +1953. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +Fithian's _Journal_. + +_Journal of a Young Lady of Virginia_, 1782, published in Baltimore, +1788, by Lucinda Lee (daughter of Thomas Ludwell Lee). + + +MADAM WASHINGTON + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Sara Pryor. + +"Betty Lewis," by Elizabeth Dabney Coleman, _Virginia Cavalcade_, +Winter, 1952. + + +AFTER THE REVOLUTION + +"After the Revolution," by Arthur H. Jennings, _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_. + +_Virginians at Home_, by Edmund S. Morgan, 1952, p. 3. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by Arthur Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., 1953, p. 42. + +_Historic Dress in America_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_Virginia Methodism_, by W. W. Sweet. + +"The Colonial Glebes," by Emily Blayton Major, in _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_. + +_Our Republic_, by Riley Chandler Hamilton, 1910. + + +MANTUA + +"Old 'Mantua'," by Lucy Brown Beale, from notes of Dr. George William +Beale, published in the _Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, 1951. + +Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Chatfield-Taylor, Mantua, Northumberland County, +Virginia, 1952. + +The late Miss Sallie H. Barron, Warsaw, Virginia, 1952. + + +PART III--NINETEENTH CENTURY + + +ROBERT E. LEE + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +_The Life of General Robert E. Lee_, by James D. McCabe, Jr., published +1866. + +"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, _Holiday Magazine_, +January, 1953. + +"W & L's 'Maybe Portrait'," by Sally Leverty, _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, +Sunday Features, June 7, 1953. + + +SMITH POINT LIGHT + +Blunt's _American Coast Pilot_, 1804 and 1833 issues, (courtesy of +Robert H. Burgess, The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va.). + +U. S. Coast Guard, Public Information Division, Washington, D. C. +(Historically Famous Lighthouses.) + +Capt. Clem F. Haynie, Reedville, Va. + +Capt. Henry Haynie, Reedville, Va. + +Miss Maggie Gough, Sunny Bank, Va. + + +THE RAIDERS + +"Memoirs of Judge Samuel Downing," published in _Northern Neck +Historical Magazine_, 1951. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"Old Virginia Bottles," by Walter J. Sparks, published in _Richmond +Times-Dispatch Sunday Magazine_, 1938. + +_Virginia Methodism_, by W. W. Sweet. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, 1953. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +Hale's _United States_, 1844. + +"The Chesapeake's Million Years," by Harold A. Williams, published in +_The Baltimore Sun_, October 18, 1953. + + +STEAMBOATS + +Civil War letters (unpublished). + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, 1953. + + +HANNAH AND THE FALLING STARS + +As told to the writer in 1932, by: Hannah Crockett (1817-1933). A native +of Northumberland County, Virginia. + +_Virginia Cavalcade_, Winter, 1955. + +The Diary of Governor John Floyd, of Virginia, 1833. (Virginia State +Library.) + +_Northern Neck News_, Warsaw, Va., February, 1931. + + +THE BLOCKADE + +Unpublished Civil War letters (private collection). + +"Annals of the War," by Col. Joseph Mayo, Hague, Va., published in +_Philadelphia Public Ledger_, 1880. + +Dr. Douglas S. Freeman, (correspondence). + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926). + +_Historically Famous Lighthouses_, published by U. S. Coast Guard. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, 1953. + + +THE HOME GUARD + +A notarized statement written in 1927 by a former member of the +Northumberland Home Guard, Bertrand B. Haynie, Reedville, Va., addressed +to the Virginia Pension Office in Richmond, and later transferred to the +Archives of the Virginia State Library, Richmond. (This document was +brought to the attention of the writer by Miss Eva Jett, Reedville, Va.) + +"Rev. C. T. Thrift," Durham, N. C., in the Voice of the People, +_Richmond Times-Dispatch_, April 5, 1952. + +Incidents related to the writer by Hon. Theodore Augustus Jett +(1850-1920), a member of the Northumberland Home Guard. + + +THE MYSTERY OF HORSE POND + +As related to the writer by Hon. C. O. Hammack, Sunny Bank, Va., a +grandson of Sardelia Evans. + + +SCHOONER IN A MILL-POND + +As told to the writer in 1953 by two of Capt. Jehu's sons: Capt. Henry +Haynie and Capt. Clem F. Haynie, both of Reedville, Va. + + +WAR BONNETS + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926), a native of Northumberland +County. + +Estelle Betts Haynie, Reedville, Va., 1955, a native of Northumberland +County. + + +AMANDA AND THE YANKEES + +Olivia Frances Jett Williams (1874-1940). + +Hannah Crocket (1817-1933). Interviewed by writer in 1932. + +Bible records, letters, documents, etc. + + +THE HORSEHAIR RING + +Olivia Frances Jett Williams (1874-1940). + +Confederate Army records, Bible records, letters, obituaries, etc. + +Tangible Proof: the Horsehair Ring and Confederate Note. + + +MIRACLE AT KETCHUM'S CAMP + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926). + +Hon. Theodore Augustus Jett (1850-1920), a member of the Northumberland +Home Guard. + + +DESPERATE PASSAGE + +"Rappahannock Ferry," by Turner Rose, published in _Washington Post_, +March 13, 1938. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"On the Trail of an Assassin," by Benjamin Herman, published in +_Baltimore Sun Sunday Magazine_, 1954. + +"America's Greatest Unsolved Murder," by Joseph Millard, published in +_True Magazine_, February, 1953. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle, pp. 96-97. + + +AFTER THE WAR + +Hon. J. J. McDonald, in _Northumberland Echo_, 1923. + +S. Roland Hall, in _Northumberland Echo_, September 28, 1934. + +Hon. Theodore Augustus Jett (1850-1920). + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926). + + +SPEECH + +_Warwickshire Dialect_, by Appleton Morgan. + +_The Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +Writings of Rev. Hugh Jones, A. M., 1722. + + +SHOPPING TRIPS + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926), a native of Northumberland +County, Va. + + +MENHADEN + +_Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_The Menhaden Industry of the Atlantic Coast_, by Rob Leon Greer, Bureau +of Fisheries Document No. 811, Washington Government Printing Office, +1917. + +_An Account of the Reed Family_, written by the late George N. Reed, +Reedville, Virginia. + +_American Fisheries: A History of The Menhaden_, by G. Brown Goode and +W. O. Atwater. New York, Orange Judd Company, 245 Broadway. Pub. 1880. +(The fifth annual report of the Commissioner of Fisheries.) + +Capt. Henry Haynie, Reedville, Va. + +W. Harold Haynie, Reedville, Va. + + +THE OLD STONE PILE + +Miss Maggie Gough, Mrs. Ruth Dodson, Capt. Clem Haynie and Capt. Henry +Haynie, all natives of Northumberland County, Va. + +1939 issue of the _Light List of the South Atlantic Coast_, (courtesy of +Robert Burgess, Mariners' Museum). + + +KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT + +_Light List of the South Atlantic Coast_, 1939 issue. + +Capt. J. R. Moore of the Wicomico River Light, 1952. + +Miss Maggie Gough, Sunny Bank, Va., and Mrs. Ruth Dodson, Edwardsville, +Va. + + +THE HEADLESS DOG + +From many traditional accounts. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +This is a rule 6 clearance. Extensive research indicates the copyright +on this book was not renewed. + +Spelling variations have been left as printed. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stronghold, by Miriam Haynie + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRONGHOLD *** + +***** This file should be named 36749-8.txt or 36749-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/4/36749/ + +Produced by Mark C. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Stronghold + A Story of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia and Its People + +Author: Miriam Haynie + +Release Date: July 16, 2011 [EBook #36749] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRONGHOLD *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1><i>The Stronghold</i></h1> + +<h3>A Story of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia and Its People</h3> + +<h2><i>By</i> MIRIAM HAYNIE</h2> + +<h3><i>The Dietz Press, Incorporated</i><br /> +<i>Richmond, Virginia</i><br /> +<i>1959</i></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Copyright by</span><br /> +MIRIAM HAYNIE<br /> +1959</h3> + +<h3>Second Printing July, 1960<br /> +Third Printing September, 1964</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Printed in the United States of America by</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Dietz Press, Incorporated</span></h3> + + +<p class="center"> +TO MY HUSBAND<br /> +<span class="smcap">William Harold Haynie</span><br /> +AND<br /> +TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER AND FATHER:<br /> +<span class="smcap">Olivia Frances Jett Williams, and</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Thomas Jackson Williams, of</span><br /> +"PLEASANT GROVE"<br /> +NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY,<br /> +VIRGINIA</p> + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> +<h2>Acknowledgements</h2> + + +<p>References have been given for each chapter so that in this way the +persons who so kindly gave personal interviews could be recognized +specifically.</p> + +<p>I wish to express my appreciation to the personnel of the Reference and +Circulation Section, General Library Division, of the Virginia State +Library, for their splendid service. Without the books from the Library +it would have been impossible for me to have accumulated the material +for this book.</p> + +<p>I wish to thank the <i>Richmond Times-Dispatch</i>, the <i>Fredericksburg Free +Lance-Star</i> and <i>Virginia</i> and <i>The Virginia County Magazine</i>, for their +kind permission to use any material which might be needed from articles +written by myself and previously published in those publications.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">M. H.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Reedville, Virginia,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>June, 1959.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_ix" id="page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<h3><a href="#Introduction">Introduction</a></h3> +<h3><a href="#PART_I">PART I—<span class="smcap">Seventeenth Century</span></a></h3> + +<table width="50%"> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_1"><i>Tidewater</i></a></td><td align="right">3</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_2">"<i>Ye Northerne Neck</i>"</a></td><td align="right"> 3</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_3"><i>The People</i></a></td><td align="right">4</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_4"><i>Indians and Early Explorers</i></a></td><td align="right">5</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_5"><i>Captain John Smith</i></a></td><td align="right">5</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_6"><i>Powhatan's Empire</i></a></td><td align="right">7</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_7"><i>Captain Smith Visits the Neck</i></a></td><td align="right">7</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_8">"<i>A Plaine Wildernes</i>"</a></td><td align="right"> 8</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_9">"<i>Wild Beastes</i>" </a></td><td align="right">10</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_10">"<i>Birds to Vs Unknowne</i>"</a></td><td align="right"> 11</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_11"><i>The Nominies</i></a></td><td align="right">12</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_12"><i>The Discoverers</i></a></td><td align="right">13</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_13"><i>The River of Swans</i></a></td><td align="right">15</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_14"><i>Mother of Waters</i></a></td><td align="right">18</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_15"><i>Quick-Rising-Water</i></a></td><td align="right">20</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_16"><i>Henry and Pocahontas</i></a></td><td align="right">23</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_17"><i>Henry and King Patowmeke</i></a></td><td align="right">25</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_18"><i>Henry's Relation</i></a></td><td align="right">28</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_19"><i>Betrayed</i></a></td><td align="right">28</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_20"><i>Kidnapped</i></a></td><td align="right">31</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_21"><i>The Indian Trader</i></a></td><td align="right">33</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_22"><i>A Petition</i></a></td><td align="right">34</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_23"><i>From North of the Potomac</i></a></td><td align="right">35</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_24"><i>The First Settler</i></a></td><td align="right">37</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_25"><i>Coan Hall</i></a></td><td align="right">38</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_26"><i>Neighbors</i></a></td><td align="right">41</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_27"><i>The "Kids"</i></a></td><td align="right">42</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_28"><i>Indian Servants</i></a></td><td align="right">43</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_29"><i>Money</i></a></td><td align="right">44</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_30"><i>A Paradise Discovered</i></a></td><td align="right">45</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_31"><i>A Visit to Jamestown</i></a></td><td align="right">46</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_32"><i>Frances</i></a></td><td align="right">48</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_33"><i>Forever Lost</i></a></td><td align="right">51</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_34"><i>Ursula</i></a></td><td align="right">52</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_35"><i>The Yard</i></a></td><td align="right">54</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_36"><i>Kittamaqund</i></a></td><td align="right">55</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_37"><i>The Gift</i></a></td><td align="right">57</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_38"><i>The Cavaliers</i></a></td><td align="right">58</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_39">"<i>Charlie-Over-The-Water</i>" </a></td><td align="right">59</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_40"><i>The Legacy</i></a></td><td align="right">60</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_41"><i>The Indian Deed</i></a></td><td align="right">61</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_42"><i>A Summons to Jamestown</i></a></td><td align="right">62</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_43"><i>The Oath</i></a></td><td align="right">64</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_44"><i>County Officers</i></a></td><td align="right">64</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_45"><i>Epraphrodibus's Will</i></a></td><td align="right">65</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_46"><i>The Challenge</i></a></td><td align="right">65</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_47"><i>Trade</i></a></td><td align="right">67</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_48"><i>The Colonial Sailor</i></a></td><td align="right">67</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_49"><i>John Carter</i></a></td><td align="right">68</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_50"><i>Fleet's Point</i></a></td><td align="right">69</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_51"><i>George Mason</i></a></td><td align="right">70</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_52"><i>Mary Calvert</i></a></td><td align="right">71</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_53"><i>He Lived Bravely</i></a></td><td align="right">72</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_54"><i>Witchcraft</i></a></td><td align="right">74</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_55"><i>Seahorse of London</i></a></td><td align="right">75</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_56">"<i>Tenn Mulberry Trees</i>" </a></td><td align="right">76</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_57"><i>Roads</i></a></td><td align="right">77</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_58"><i>Markets</i></a></td><td align="right">78</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_59"><i>The Old Dominion</i></a></td><td align="right">79</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_60"><i>The Proprietary</i></a></td><td align="right">80</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_61"><i>A First Lady of Jamestown</i></a></td><td align="right">81</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_62"><i>Land</i></a></td><td align="right">83</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_63"><i>Processioning</i></a></td><td align="right">84</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_64">"<i>The Banquetting House</i>" </a></td><td align="right">85</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_65"><i>The Land Agent</i></a></td><td align="right">87</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_66"><i>Hanna and the Horseshoe</i></a></td><td align="right">89</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_67"><i>Muster</i></a></td><td align="right">91</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_68"><i>The Store</i></a></td><td align="right">92</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_69"><i>The Wolf-Drive</i></a></td><td align="right">92</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_70"><i>The Indians and Robert Hen</i></a></td><td align="right">93</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_71"><i>The Royal Cavalcade</i></a></td><td align="right">95</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_72"><i>The King of the Northern Neck</i></a></td><td align="right">97</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_73"><i>Kith and Kin</i></a></td><td align="right">100</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_74"><i>The Fieldings</i></a></td><td align="right">101</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_75"><i>Pirates</i></a></td><td align="right">102</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_76"><i>Christmas at Colonel Fitzhugh's</i></a></td><td align="right">104</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_77"><i>Indian Visitors</i></a></td><td align="right">104</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_78"><i>Horse Racing</i></a></td><td align="right">105</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_79"><i>Manufacture</i></a></td><td align="right">106</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_80"><i>The Potomac Rangers</i></a></td><td align="right">107</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3><a href="#PART_II">PART II—<span class="smcap">Eighteenth Century</span></a></h3> + +<table width="50%"> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_81"><i>Murders in Stafford</i></a></td><td align="right">111</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_82"><i>Free Schools</i></a></td><td align="right">112</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_83"><i>The Home in the Forest</i></a></td><td align="right">113</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_84"><i>Cherry Point</i></a></td><td align="right">114</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_85"><i>Sandy Point</i></a></td><td align="right">117</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_86"><i>Augustine</i></a></td><td align="right">118</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_87"><i>Popes Creek</i></a></td><td align="right">119</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_88"><i>The War Path</i></a></td><td align="right">120</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_89"><i>Falmouth</i></a></td><td align="right">121</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_90"><i>Burnt House Field</i></a></td><td align="right">122</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_91"><i>Stratford Hall</i></a></td><td align="right">124</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_92"><i>George Washington</i></a></td><td align="right">125</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_93"><i>Epsewasson</i></a></td><td align="right">127</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_94"><i>Ferry Farm</i></a></td><td align="right">129</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_95"><i>Fredericksburg</i></a></td><td align="right">130</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_96"><i>School Days</i></a></td><td align="right">131</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_97"><i>The Indians</i></a></td><td align="right">132</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_98"><i>The Pow-Wow</i></a></td><td align="right">133</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_99"><i>Mount Vernon</i></a></td><td align="right">137</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_100"><i>Washington Washed Here—</i></a></td><td align="right">138</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_101"><i>The Ordinary</i></a></td><td align="right">139</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_102"><i>Nelly</i></a></td><td align="right">140</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_103"><i>Miss Betsy</i></a></td><td align="right">141</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_104"><i>The Proprietor of the Northern Neck</i></a></td><td align="right">142</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_105"><i>The Marshalls</i></a></td><td align="right">146</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_106"><i>The Leedstown Resolutions</i></a></td><td align="right">147</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_107"><i>Fithian</i></a></td><td align="right">150</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_108"><i>The School in the Wildwood</i></a></td><td align="right">154</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_109"><i>James and John</i></a></td><td align="right">154</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_110"><i>Captain Dobby</i></a></td><td align="right">156</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_111"><i>Pedlars</i></a></td><td align="right">158</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_112"><i>Seven Satin Petticoats</i></a></td><td align="right">158</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_113"><i>Phi Beta Kappa</i></a></td><td align="right">159</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_114"><i>Light-Horse Harry</i></a></td><td align="right">159</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_115"><i>A Band of Brothers</i></a></td><td align="right">161</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_116"><i>The Divine Matilda</i></a></td><td align="right">162</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_117"><i>Madam Washington</i></a></td><td align="right">163</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_118"><i>After the Revolution</i></a></td><td align="right">165</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_119"><i>Mantua</i></a></td><td align="right">166</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3><a href="#PART_III">PART III—<span class="smcap">Nineteenth Century</span></a></h3> +<table width="50%"> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_120"><i>Robert E. Lee</i></a></td><td align="right">171</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_121"><i>Smith Point Light</i></a></td><td align="right">174</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_122"><i>The Raiders</i></a></td><td align="right">175</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_123"><i>Steamboats</i></a></td><td align="right">176</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_124"><i>Hannah and the Falling Stars</i></a></td><td align="right">178</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_125"><i>Dear to His Heart</i></a></td><td align="right">178</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_126"><i>The Blockade</i></a></td><td align="right">179</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_127"><i>The Home Guard</i></a></td><td align="right">181</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_128"><i>The Mystery of Horse Pond</i></a></td><td align="right">184</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_129"><i>Schooner in a Mill-pond</i></a></td><td align="right">185</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_130"><i>War Bonnets</i></a></td><td align="right">188</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_131"><i>Amanda and the Yankees</i></a></td><td align="right">188</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_132"><i>The Horsehair Ring</i></a></td><td align="right">191</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_133"><i>Miracle at Ketchum's Camp</i></a></td><td align="right">193</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_134"><i>Desperate Passage</i></a></td><td align="right">195</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_135"><i>After the War</i></a></td><td align="right">197</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_136"><i>Speech</i></a></td><td align="right">199</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_137"><i>Shopping Trips</i></a></td><td align="right">199</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_138"><i>Menhaden</i></a></td><td align="right">200</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_139"><i>The Old Stone Pile</i></a></td><td align="right">205</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_140"><i>Keepers of the Light</i></a></td><td align="right">205</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SECTION_141"><i>The Headless Dog</i></a></td><td align="right">207</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3><a href="#PART_IV">PART IV—<span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></a></h3> + +<table width="50%"> +<tr><td><a href="#THE_ANCIENT_MANSION_SEATS"><i>The Ancient Mansion Seats</i></a></td><td align="right">213</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#APPENDIX"><i>Appendix</i></a></td><td align="right">217</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SOURCES"><i>Sources</i></a></td><td align="right">219</td></tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>List of Illustrations</h2> + +<table> +<tr><td><a href="#illus1">John Smith in the shallop exploring the waters of Northern Neck, +Virginia </a></td><td align="right">14</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus2">Henry Spelman living amongst the Indians </a></td><td align="right">24</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus3">Pocahontas is traded for a copper kettle and becomes an hostage to +Captain Argall </a></td><td align="right">30</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus4">First settlers at Coan </a></td><td align="right">36</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus5">"King" Carter attends Christ Church </a></td><td align="right">96</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus6">Mary Ball at Yeocomico Church </a></td><td align="right">116</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus7">The infant, George Washington at Wakefield, his birthplace </a></td><td align="right">126</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus8">Young Washington helping in the handling of "seine" on the Potomac </a></td><td align="right">128</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus9">Young George Washington becomes a friend of Lord Fairfax, Proprietor of +Northern Neck </a></td><td align="right">136</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus10">Young Robert E. Lee learning to ride </a></td><td align="right">172</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus11">Skirmish between the Virginia Militia and the British during the War of +1812 at Farnham Church </a></td><td align="right">176</td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#illus12">"Yankee" foragers during the Civil War </a></td><td align="right">182</td></tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_xv" id="page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Introduction" id="Introduction"></a><i>Introduction</i></h2> + + +<p>I have read with a great deal of pleasure the book called <i>The +Stronghold</i>, which relates the history of the Northern Neck of Virginia +in story form and was written by my good friend, Miriam Haynie of +Reedville, Virginia. Mrs. Haynie is a native of the Northern Neck of +Virginia, her family on both sides having settled there in the +seventeenth century, and her direct ancestors having remained there +until this day. She is the author of a number of articles dealing with +the history and traditions and customs of the peninsula between the +Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers that have appeared in the <i>Richmond +Times-Dispatch</i>, the Washington papers and national publications. She is +devoted to this section of Virginia and has spent a large part of her +life in accumulating an enormous fund of historical data of the region.</p> + +<p><i>The Stronghold</i> is a most interesting book, especially to Virginians +and to natives and descendants of natives of the Northern Neck of +Virginia. It is divided into three sections, the seventeenth century, +the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century. It tells a great deal +about the early history of the Colony and more especially of that +portion of the Colony of Virginia, of which she is a native, from the +days when the white man first came to the Potomac and Rappahannock +Rivers down to the beginning of the twentieth century. She relates in a +most pleasing language the first visits of Captain John Smith to the +waters surrounding the Northern Neck, also the capture of Princess +Pocahontas by the colonists, which occurred on the Potomac River or on +one of its tributaries, and many other events connected with our early +history that we are prone to overlook in the rush and whirl of these +modern days. Her book will be particularly interesting to children as it +is written in simple language and in story form so that a child in the +fifth grade may read and understand it. It is a most entertaining and +interesting work and will impress upon children the early history of our +part of the Colony of Virginia and the hardships endured by our +ancestors who came here to settle in the wilderness. In saying that it +will be particularly interesting to children I do not mean to restrict +interest in the book entirely to children for it will be both +interesting and educational to all lovers of history regardless of age.</p> + +<p>As is true in all works of this kind some of the historical statements +she has made will be open to contention but in the main it<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_xvi" id="page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span> is a true +and correct history of the Northernmost Peninsula of the Old Dominion +and pays proper attention to the distinguished men and women who first +saw the light of day within its confines. It will be excellent parallel +reading to be engaged in by every student of history in the high schools +of the State. It is also interesting in that it discusses and makes a +record of many traditions and customs peculiar to the region. It will be +both interesting and valuable as a reference book for future historians +of Virginia and will afford great pleasure to all of us who love to read +about the history of our State.</p> + +<p>Prior to the coming of good roads to Virginia and the building of the +bridges across the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers what is known as the +Northern Neck, although actually a peninsula, was to those living in the +eastern portion almost an island and it was but natural that marked +peculiarities of the people of this section distinguished them not only +from those who lived in other sections of the country but to a less +extent from those living in other parts of Virginia. These distinct +peculiarities appeared in pronunciation, in folk-lore and traditions. +With the exception of the colored people at least ninety-five per cent +of the ancestors of the present population of this section came from +Great Britain and preserved with little change the speech, the culture +and the habits of the British people and it is these things that +distinguished them to some extent from people living in other parts of +the country. In Colonial days a very high state of culture was in +existence among the great plantations of the Northern Neck and their +contributions to the development of this country have included several +of the great heroes of the nation. To a considerable extent all these +attributes have been handed down from generation to generation and every +one in the Northern Neck well knows and is proud of the fact that George +Washington and Robert E. Lee were natives of the section.</p> + +<p>All these things are emphasized by Miriam Haynie in her most excellent +and readable book, which will be a real contribution to the history of +Virginia.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Robert O. Norris, Jr.</span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Lively, Virginia,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>May 16, 1959.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_1" id="page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PART_I" id="PART_I"></a>PART I</h2> + +<h3>Seventeenth Century</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_3" id="page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a name="SECTION_1" id="SECTION_1"></a><i>TIDEWATER</i></h3> + +<p>The country surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, which is known as the +Tidewater, has been compared to the Bible Lands, the Netherlands and +Venice.</p> + +<p>Captain John Smith, military leader of the expedition to Virginia in +1607, who explored and mapped the Chesapeake Bay and the Bay Country, +described it thus:</p> + +<p>"There is but one entrance by sea into this country, and that is at the +mouth of a very goodly Bay, the widenesse whereof is 18 or 20 miles.</p> + +<p>"Within is a country ... heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a +place for man's habitation.... Here are ... hils, plaines, valleys, +rivers and brookes all running most pleasantly into a faire Bay +compassed but for the mouth with fruitfull and delightsome land...."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_2" id="SECTION_2"></a>"<i>YE NORTHERNE NECK</i>"</h3> + +<p>On the western shore of the Bay there are three peninsulas, or necks, +carved out of Virginia's shoreline by the tidal rivers.</p> + +<p>The third, and northernmost, of these peninsulas lies between the +Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers. It was probably referred to orally +by the first white men who settled at Jamestown as "the northern neck." +The name appeared in print certainly as early as 1677, when in an +official document it was mentioned as "ye Northerne Neck."</p> + +<p>This third peninsula north lies aloof, and long, between its broad +rivers, as they flow into the Chesapeake Bay on the east.</p> + +<p>From the Bay the narrow strip of land, only fifteen or twenty miles +wide, runs inland between the rivers for almost a hundred miles, until +it narrows near Fredericksburg so that the rivers almost join—not quite +an island but more cut-off than the usual peninsula. In the old days +when there were almost no roads, and no bridges,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_4" id="page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> the Neck was to those +living in the eastern portion more like an island than a peninsula. Only +from the west could one travel in or out by land and that exit was +rarely used.</p> + +<p>Its geographical position made the Northern Neck for many years almost +as inaccessible as an ancient stronghold surrounded by a moat.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_3" id="SECTION_3"></a><i>THE PEOPLE</i></h3> + +<p>The Northern Neck could be compared with ancient Mesopotamia—a land +between two rivers where a new civilization started.</p> + +<p>The early settlers came to the wilderness in satins and velvets, they +surrounded themselves with the niceties of living, as near like those +they had left in England as was possible. They shopped in London as they +had before and traded with the world directly from their own +habitations.</p> + +<p>But the conditions of their new wilderness home changed and moulded them +and made them into something different—a new breed of men.</p> + +<p>By the time unusual men were needed to shape an unusual type of +government, descendants from this stock were ready for the undertaking.</p> + +<p>In the Northern Neck there are still so many reminders of these +remarkable people that it is not hard to imagine them as they might have +been in their habitat several centuries ago—John Mottrom sailing into +the Coan in his brightly-colored shallop; the Mottrom children playing +their medieval games in the shadow of the primeval woods; Ursula +twirling the venison roast on its hempen string before the fire; Hanna +Neale passing the witchcraft test; young Jack Lee dashing down the +forest aisles on his spirited mount; George Mason pulling the arrows +from the "poor people"; Moore Fauntleroy measuring off his thirty arm's +lengths of rhoanoke for the waiting Accopatough; King Carter rumbling +down his avenue in his coach and six; Mary Ball on her dapple gray; +James Monroe and John Marshall walking down the Parson's Lane with +school books and muskets; Nelly Madison singing to her new baby; young +George Washington riding down to see "Miss Betsy" on a fruitless +mission, and little Robert E. Lee saying good-bye to the cherubs in the +nursery fireplace....<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_5" id="page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_4" id="SECTION_4"></a><i>INDIANS AND EARLY EXPLORERS</i></h3> + +<p>What men first knew this land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac +Rivers?</p> + +<p>It is believed that Indians lived along the shores of the Chesapeake +Bay's tributaries three thousand years ago.</p> + +<p>The Vikings may have entered the Bay and explored the nearby streams and +lands in the eleventh century.</p> + +<p>Cabot, an Italian seaman under commission from King Henry VII of +England, may have entered the Chesapeake at the end of the fifteenth +century.</p> + +<p>Spaniards sailed into the Bay and explored some of the region in the +sixteenth century.</p> + +<p>European traditions tell of adventurers of other nations who may have +visited this region.</p> + +<p>Late in the year 1607, Captain John Smith traveled from Jamestown as far +north as the Potomac when, as a captive of Opechancanough, he was +paraded before the Indian tribes of the Tidewater region. He may have +been the first white man to make a comprehensive tour of the Northern +Neck of Virginia.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_5" id="SECTION_5"></a><i>CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH</i></h3> + +<p>When John Smith heard about the New World across the seas it sounded +good to him—it was the sort of adventure that he had been waiting for +all of his life.</p> + +<p>He had been born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1579. Even as a small lad +John Smith had been "set upon brave adventures." Tradition says that he +sold his books and satchel and was preparing to run away to sea when he +was stopped by the death of his father.</p> + +<p>He was soon apprenticed to a merchant but he hated the counting-house. +He longed to be free and go to sea. When he was about fifteen he could +no longer stand being caged so he ran away. After a number of adventures +he became a soldier in the Netherlands.</p> + +<p>Some time later he went home on a visit to Lincolnshire, where he "lived +a great deal in society." He soon tired of this way of life and retired +to a wooded pasture where he built himself a shelter of boughs and +became a hermit.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_6" id="page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the peace and solitude of the pasture he studied Machiavelli's <i>Arte +of Warre</i> and the writings of Marcus Aurelius. He exercised with a good +horse, a lance and a ring, and lived mostly on venison, which he took +without worrying too much over the game laws. His other wants were +supplied by a servant, his only contact with the world.</p> + +<p>Because of his unusual mode of life news of John Smith traveled around +the countryside but it did not worry him because "he provoked the wonder +of the peasantry."</p> + +<p>At length an Italian gentleman, who had become interested in what he had +heard of John Smith, penetrated his forest hideout and persuaded him to +come into society once more. After many more adventures and hairbreadth +escapes in foreign lands he returned to England in 1604, in time for +another adventure. He was still a young man, about twenty-five, but he +was matured and hardened far beyond his years.</p> + +<p>When the little band of colonists set sail for America from Blackwall, +England in December 1606, John Smith was with them.</p> + +<p>The voyage was a stormy one in more ways than one. By the time the +little "sea-wagons" arrived in the West Indies Smith, who had been put +in irons, came very near being hanged, according to tradition.</p> + +<p>It was April when the ships with their bedraggled passengers entered the +Chesapeake Bay. The fragrance of "pyne" reached them from the virgin +forest that covered the face of the land. It was a New World in every +sense of the meaning—new, fresh, untouched.</p> + +<p>When the sealed orders of the King were opened it was found that John +Smith had been named a member of the Council. He demanded trial for the +charges preferred against him: "that he plotted on arrival in Virginia +to murder the Council and make himself the king there." He was tried and +acquitted by the first jury to serve in America. Smith was released but +was not yet admitted to the Council.</p> + +<p>As it turned out John Smith was the only man among them who was prepared +to build a new country. In the beginning he warned the colonists that +"no man is entitled to a place in America, he must make his own."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_7" id="page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_6" id="SECTION_6"></a><i>POWHATAN'S EMPIRE</i></h3> + +<p>When John Smith started exploring the region around the Chesapeake he +found that it was inhabited by a number of small Indian tribes. These +Indians were known as the Algonquians.</p> + +<p>These tribes made up a confederation under the iron rule of a powerful +"king" called Powhatan. At his command there were about twenty-five +hundred warriors.</p> + +<p>Smith made a map which shows a total of one hundred and sixty-one +villages within Powhatan's "32 Kingdomes."</p> + +<p>Indian villages were owned in common. The hunting grounds, and pieces of +cleared land used for the cultivation of corn, tobacco and vegetables +belonged to the tribe. A warrior owned nothing except his garments, +tomahawks, bows and arrows.</p> + +<p>The Algonquians had no written laws. Their customs were handed down +through the old men around the campfires from generation to generation. +These unwritten laws were well-defined and worked in a positive and +forceful way.</p> + +<p>The tribes between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers belonged to +the Powhatan confederacy. Their language was a variety of the Delaware +Indian language.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_7" id="SECTION_7"></a><i>CAPTAIN SMITH VISITS THE NECK</i></h3> + +<p>It was bitterly cold, "with frost and snow," when Captain John Smith +first saw the land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers.</p> + +<p>Captain Smith's first visit to the Neck was not one of pleasure or +exploration. He came as a captive of the Indian chief, Opechacanough.</p> + +<p>It was in the winter of 1607-08. During that year Smith made "3. or 4. +journies and discovered the people of Chickahamania." It was on the last +of these "journies" that he was taken prisoner, and led about in triumph +and exhibited to the tribes of the Tidewater region, from the James to +the Potomac.</p> + +<p>Smith was carried to Tophanocke, "a kingdome upon a River northward." +This river was the Rappahannock. Here they stopped at the village of the +Nantaughtacunds.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_8" id="page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>Smith and his captors may have sped swiftly and silently through the +forest but when they approached a village a triumphal procession was +formed which was marked by "a barbarous sort of pomp."</p> + +<p>Captain Smith was guarded on either side by a savage who kept fast hold +upon his wrist. Opechacanough moved in the middle of the column and the +swords, guns and pistols which had been taken from Smith and his +companions were borne before the Indian chief.</p> + +<p>Their approach was heralded by the songs and shrieks and dances of the +warriors. Their yells of death and victory brought out the women and +children to behold their triumph over this strange-looking creature from +another world, after which there was great feasting.</p> + +<p>Smith was feasted, too. He was fed so well "with bread and venison that +would have served 20 men" that he believed that he was being fattened to +be eaten later on.</p> + +<p>From the Rappahannock the procession pushed on across the Neck until it +reached the village of the Nominies,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> near the Potomac. Here the same +procedure was again repeated.</p> + +<p>After their stay near the Potomac the parade turned back from whence it +had come. The destination, now, was Powhatan's favorite spot on the York +River, where that great chief was waiting to settle the fate of Captain +John Smith.</p> + +<p>When at length Smith was brought before Powhatan, he was received with +all the formal pomp and state known to the savage court. A long +consultation was held by the council there assembled.</p> + +<p>Captain Smith knew what the decision was when two large stones were +brought in by the warriors. His end was not yet, however, for Powhatan's +daughter, Pocahontas, according to Smith, saved the day by thrusting +herself between him and the up-raised club.</p> + +<p>By the time Captain Smith reached Jamestown again nearly seven weeks had +elapsed since his capture. Though his tour of the Tidewater country had +been under humiliating conditions he had gathered by observation and +from the Indians a large amount of useful knowledge.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_8" id="SECTION_8"></a>"<i>A PLAINE WILDERNES</i>"</h3> + +<p>How did the Northern Neck look to Captain John Smith on his first visit +there?</p> + +<p>Just like the rest of the Chesapeake Bay country—"all<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_9" id="page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> over-growne with +trees and ... being a plaine wildernes as God first made it."</p> + +<p>The size of the trees impressed him most, and the lack of undergrowth +beneath them.</p> + +<p>"So lofty and erect," he wrote, "were many of these trees and so great +their diameter that their trunks afforded plank twenty yards in length +and two and a half feet square."</p> + +<p>Freedom from undergrowth he found was due to the annual burnings of the +Indians in their efforts to capture whole herds of deer by surrounding +them with a belt of fire. These firings made no impressions upon the +giant trees.</p> + +<p>The trees were so far apart, Smith says, "... that a man may gallop a +horse amongst these woods any waie, but where the creeks or Rivers shall +hinder." (Other early writers say that a coach could have been driven +through the trees, and a person could be seen in the forest at a mile +and a half.)</p> + +<p>It was winter when Captain Smith first saw the Neck therefore he had a +view unobstructed by foliage of the great tree trunks and spacious +forest aisles, "bespred" with brown pine needles and ornamented with +green vines and scarlet turkey berries.</p> + +<p>Since it is impossible to travel far in the Neck without coming upon +some stream of water, many of John Smith's forest vistas must have ended +with a glimpse of a river or frozen pond. He wrote of the many "sweete +and christall springs" that flowed through the woods on their way to the +sea.</p> + +<p>Many of the forest trees were white oaks, and some may have been a +thousand or more years old. These groves were revered by the Indians. +Indians were fond of the mulberry tree. Smith notes: "By the dwelling of +the savages are some great Mulberry trees; and in some parts of the +country, they are found growing naturally in prettie groves."</p> + +<p>Besides pine, oak and mulberry, there were, Smith writes, "... goodliest +Woods as Beech, Cedar, Cypresse, Walnuts, Sassfras, and other trees +unknowne." Chinquapin was one of the "trees unknowne."</p> + +<p>Locust and tulip poplar were plentiful. Sweet gum, live oak, holly and +cedar flourished in low grounds. Bayberry grew in the swamps and near +the edge of the water.</p> + +<p>When Captain Smith first saw the Neck it was bitterly cold, with "frost +and snow," so he may not have seen the pine needles and scarlet turkey +berries. The forest aisles may have been deeply covered with snow.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_10" id="page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_9" id="SECTION_9"></a>"<i>WILD BEASTES</i>"</h3> + +<p>If the forest floor was covered with snow when Captain John Smith was +led a captive across the Northern Neck in the winter of 1607, it is +probable that he saw snowshoe rabbits scampering about between the big +trees. Porcupines lived there too, and wild-cats, pole-cats and a marten +known as "black fox." The little animal he saw with the spotted coat, +like the skin of a fawn, was a ground squirrel.</p> + +<p>John Smith saw the flying squirrel and the opossum for he describes +them: "A small beast they haue ... we call them flying squirrels, +because spreading their legs, and so stretching the largeness of their +skins, that they have bin seene to fly 30 or 40 yards. An opassom hath +an head like a Swine, and a taile like a Rat, and is the bigness of a +Cat."</p> + +<p>Ordinary squirrels, rabbits, foxes and "Rackoones" were abundant. +Captain John Smith no doubt saw beaver at work when they crossed the +many streams. "The Beaver," he wrote, "is as bigge as an ordinary water +dogge ... His taile somewhat like ... a Racket, bare without haire."</p> + +<p>The procession of Indians and the lone white man may have come upon a +herd of heavy, slow-moving "Kine." (These were buffalo but are believed +to have lacked the hump.) They were not as wild as the other animals of +the wilderness. Perhaps Smith caught glimpses of the elk that roamed the +forest.</p> + +<p>At night John Smith heard the sounds of many wild beasts. The wolves +were small but numerous and ravenous. In the evening they hunted like a +pack of beagle hounds.</p> + +<p>If the procession happened to be encamped near the head of a river he +probably heard before morning the scream of a panther as he stalked his +prey.</p> + +<p>But of all the animals in the Tidewater region at that time, Smith says +"Of beastes the chiefe are Deare."</p> + +<p>The Northern Neck had been hunted less by the Indians than the lower +peninsulas, and it was teeming with wildlife. The primeval forest +furnished home and food for the "wild beastes."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_11" id="page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_10" id="SECTION_10"></a>"<i>BIRDS TO VS UNKNOWNE</i>"</h3> + +<p>When John Smith traveled across the Northern Neck, from the Rappahannock +to the Potomac, in the winter of 1607, he probably saw many birds, for +this was their season.</p> + +<p>"In winter," he wrote, "there are great plenty of Swans, Craynes gray +and white with blacke wings, Herons, Geese, Brants, Ducke, Wigeon, +Dotterell, Oxeies, Parrots, and Pigeons. Of all those sorts great +abundance, and some other strange kinds, to vs unknowne by name. But in +sommer not any, or a very few to be seene."</p> + +<p>For ages wildfowl had been multiplying with little to hinder them. The +Indians killed only what they needed and their weapons were too +primitive to make an impression on the great flocks of waterfowl that +came to the rivers and marshes to feed on the heavy growth of wild +celery, oats and other aquatic plants.</p> + +<p>In early winter when these fowl gathered in their annual migration from +the North the sky, it was said, was darkened with them as they arose and +descended from their feeding grounds in the marshes lying along shore.</p> + +<p>John Smith probably heard the trumpet notes of the swans and saw the +pattern of flight of the wild geese many times while on his "journie."</p> + +<p>He may have at some time seen one of the flightless Great Auks, swimming +along down the Bay on its way South for the winter. Or he may have +espied a heath hen on the shores of the Chesapeake.</p> + +<p>It is doubtful if he saw very many of the "Parrots" he mentioned. They +were nocturnal creatures—small, swift, bright and beautiful. The +passenger pigeons came in such flocks that their "weights brake down the +limbs of large trees thereon they rested at night."</p> + +<p>There were many red birds to brighten the somber forest aisles. A little +bird with white breast and black wings and back was called "snow-bird" +by the English because it arrived at the first fall of snow. Captain +Smith probably saw these in the vicinity of the Indian villages as they +stayed near habitations.</p> + +<p>Turkeys were common in the reedy marshes. Flocks of four and five +hundred were not unusual. These wild turkeys, early writers say, +averaged forty pounds in weight.</p> + +<p>Quail and other common varieties of birds were abundant.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_12" id="page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_11" id="SECTION_11"></a><i>THE NOMINIES</i></h3> + +<p>The Indians reckoned their years by winters, or cohonks, as they called +them, "which was a name taken from the note of the wild geese, +intimating so many times of the wild geese coming to them, which was +every winter."</p> + +<p>There is no way of knowing whether it was the first or second moon of +cohonks when John Smith and his captors arrived at the village of the +Nominies, near the Potomac. It was so cold that Smith marveled at how +some of the scantily clad warriors could endure it. He felt thankful +that his own "gowne," which he had lost when he was captured, had been +returned to him.</p> + +<p>The village must have appeared bleak and primitive, with its fifteen or +twenty arbor-like dwellings scattered among the sparse trees, its barren +garden plots, its cornfields, marked by last season's dead stalks and +some burned-out tree stumps.</p> + +<p>As the procession approached there is little doubt that the scene came +to life. The dogs were probably the first to join their howls with the +death and victory yells of the warriors. These Indian dogs resembled a +cross between a male wolf and an ordinary female dog. There were no +other domestic animals, no beasts of burden, and no way to travel except +by foot or canoe.</p> + +<p>The women and children who emerged from the mat-covered doors of their +houses were dressed in garments made of the skins of wild beasts with +the hair left on for winter. Some wore long cloaks, made of skins +embroidered with beads, others wore beautiful mantles of turkey +feathers. Some wore feathered headgear, and jewelry fashioned of shells, +beads and copper.</p> + +<p>Smith wrote that the Indians gazed upon him "as he had beene a monster."</p> + +<p>He was probably deposited in one of the houses, with a guard of six or +eight warriors. These houses were built of flexible boughs, set in two +parallel rows with floor space between, and lashed together at the top +to form an arch-shaped roof. The entire framework was covered with bark +or woven grass mats. "He who knoweth one such house," wrote Smith, +"knoweth them all."</p> + +<p>Inside the houses were "drie, warme, smokie." There was no chimney to +conduct the smoke from the fire on the dirt floor to the vent in or near +the roof. If the fire ever went out it was hard to start a new +one—"their fire they kindle by chafing a dry pointed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_13" id="page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> stike in a hole +of a little peece of wood, that firing itselfe will so fire mosse, +leaves, or anie such like drie thing that will quickly burne."</p> + +<p>John Smith was no doubt glad to have a "warme," "drie" place to rest, +even though "smokie." He could stretch out on one of the platforms +running down each side of the building. There were no partitions in +these houses. The platforms, about a foot high, served as beds, and were +spread with "fyne white mattes" and skins. Whole families, from six to +twenty persons, slept in these one-room dwellings, some on the +platforms, some on the ground.</p> + +<p>Captain Smith could probably hear the celebration going on outside. The +Indians had a large plot which they used for feasts and a place where +they made merry when the feasts were over.</p> + +<p>With the abundance of wildfowl and game and the harvest of corn stored +away, this was an ideal time for feasting. Oysters from the Potomac were +probably included in the menu for the Indians were fond of roasted +oysters.</p> + +<p>Smith was not forgotten. He noted that they "fedde" him "bountifully," +but would not eat with him. We can imagine him there at his solitary +meal, supping on corn pone, "fish, fowle, and wild beastes, exceeding +fat," by the light of "candells of the fattest splinters of the pine."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_12" id="SECTION_12"></a><i>THE DISCOVERERS</i></h3> + +<p>When Captain John Smith was in the Northern Neck he saw the Potomac and +heard tales from the "Salvages" of a place where there was a mine of +"glistering mettal." He made up his mind that if he got out of this +predicament he would explore the river "Patowmeke," find the gold mine, +and perhaps a passage "strait through to the South Sea."</p> + +<p>When he finally did get back to Jamestown the colony was in a bad way. +During the extreme cold of the winter of 1607-8, the heavy fires +necessary for warmth had caused the thatch-roofed town to burn. This +included the granary with all their provisions, and the "palisadoes."</p> + +<p>By the time the town had been rebuilt, and other difficulties adjusted, +it was summer. John Smith was impatient to begin his next adventure but +he waited until the corn crop had been "laid by."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_14" id="page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a> +<img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>John Smith in the shallop exploring the waters of +Northern Neck, Virginia.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_15" id="page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<p>He left the fort on the second of June, 1608, in an open barge of "less +than three tons burthen." His only instrument was a compass. His +companions were—a physician, six gentlemen and seven soldiers.</p> + +<p>They crossed the Chesapeake Bay to the eastern shore, proceeding along +the coast, "searching every inlet and bay fit for harbours and +habitations." The Bay was easy to navigate, the greatest menace were the +sudden thunder squalls.</p> + +<p>Smith soon became disgusted with his crew. He wrote that they had not "a +marriner or any that had skill to trim their sayles, use their oares, or +any business belonging to the Barge, but 2 or 3, the rest being +Gentlemen, or as ignorant in such toyle and labour."</p> + +<p>For provisions they had "nothing but a little meale or oatmeale and +water to feed them; and scarse halfe sufficient of that for halfe that +time, but by the Savages and by the plentie of fish they found in all +places, they made themselves provision as opportunitie served."</p> + +<p>A thunder-storm took mast and sails and they were so "over-racked" by +such "mightie waves," that it was with great difficulty that they kept +the barge from sinking. They repaired the sails with their shirts. The +crew begged to turn back to Jamestown but Captain Smith spoke to them in +this manner:</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen—</p> + +<p>"You cannot say but I have shared with you of the worst that is past; +and for what is to come, of lodging, diet, or whatsoever, I am contented +you allot the worst part to my selfe. As for your feares, that I will +lose my selfe in these unknowne large waters, or be swallowed up in some +stormie gust: abandon those childish fears, for worse then is past +cannot happen, and there is as much danger to returne, as to proceed +forward. Regaine therefore your old spirits: for returne I will not (if +God assist me) til I have—found Patawomeck, or the head of this great +water you conceit to be endlesse."</p> + +<p>It was now the thirteenth of June.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_13" id="SECTION_13"></a><i>THE RIVER OF SWANS</i></h3> + +<p>Captain John Smith headed the barge toward the western shore of the Bay. +On the sixteenth of June "we fel with the river Patawomeck."</p> + +<p>When John Smith had last seen this River of Swans, as the Indians had +named it, water and sky were darkened by hordes of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_16" id="page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> wildfowl. There had +been the sound of the whirring of many wings and great clamour. Now all +was quiet. There was nothing to remind him of that amazing congregation +of fowl that he had seen during "cohonks" except the marshes, lying here +and there along shore.</p> + +<p>"Feare being gone and our men recovered, wee were all contented" as the +barge sailed into the mouth "of this 9 myle broad river." On the south +lay the Northern Neck, indented by numerous inlets that promised +harbours, its eastern end extending into Chesapeake Bay. Its virgin +forest was now decked out with leaf and flower which sent fragrance to +the sea-weary voyagers.</p> + +<p>For thirty miles they sailed without adventure. Then two +Indians appeared and conducted them up a little creek towards +Onawmanient—"where all the woods were laid with Ambuscadoes to the +number of 3 or 400 Salvages; but so strangely painted, grimed, and +disguised, shouting, yelling, and crying, as we rather supposed them so +many divels."</p> + +<p>Captain Smith thought it best to scare them a little, so he trained his +guns so that the bullets would graze the water. This and the "eccho of +the woods so amazed them, that down went their bowes and arrowes." Peace +was made, hostages were exchanged and James Watkins, one of the company, +was sent with them "6 myles up the woods to their king's habitation. Wee +were kindly used by these Salvages: of whom we understand they were +commanded to betray us by Powhatan."</p> + +<p>Powhatan had his forces well organized. As they progressed up the river +they found the Indians ready for them: "The like incounters were found +at Patawomeck, Cecocawone, (Coan) and divers other places."</p> + +<p>The only tribes that received them with friendliness were the Moyaones, +Nacotchtants and Toags. There seems to be no further record of these +tribes.</p> + +<p>They went as far up the river as they could go in the barge, "140 +myles"; this was above the site of the present city of Washington, and +about ten miles above Georgetown. Captain Smith was stopped here by +impassable falls. His disappointment must have been great that his +search here did not yield an outlet to the "South Sea."</p> + +<p>On the return trip they had the good fortune to meet a number of Indians +in canoes loaded with slaughtered game—bears, deer and other "beasts." +Smith and his party were given liberal portions of the fresh meat, which +must have cheered them some.</p> + +<p>In this part of the river there were great rocks on the shores<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_17" id="page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> towering +above the trees, and the high banks gleamed in places like "a tinctured +spangled skurfe, that made many places seeme as guilded." Dreams of gold +were always in the minds of men at that time. Perhaps here was to be +found the "glistering mettal" that John Smith had heard about from the +Indians the winter before.</p> + +<p>Most of the company clambered up the banks and burrowed in the earth +among the cliffs. The ground was so sprinkled with gleaming spangles as +to seem "halfe pin dust." Smith refrained from this made scramble and +proceeded in a more organized way.</p> + +<p>With Japazaws, King of Patowmeke, as guide, he ascended one of the +tributaries of the river, called Quiyough, as far as the depth of water +would allow. Here Captain Smith left the barge, taking with him six men. +He was surrounded by Indians. Some of these he decorated with chains and +told them that if they conducted him safely to the mine they could keep +the ornaments.</p> + +<p>When they arrived at the place of the treasure, nine or ten miles +inland, the Englishmen saw that the Indians had been digging there with +their shells and hatchets for a long time.</p> + +<p>To their great disappointment the mine was not gold but antimony. The +Indians, who had been in the habit of digging there, washed the element +of its dross "in a fayre brooke of christel-like water" which "runneth +hard by it" and put it in little bags and sold it all over the country. +It was used to paint their idols and themselves. Smith noted that it +made them look like "blackmoores dusted over with silver."</p> + +<p>No minerals were discovered in this search either. They were rewarded in +a slight degree by some furs of mink, beaver, otter, bear and marten, +which they obtained mostly from the Indians of Cascarawaoke. This was a +merchant tribe that did much of the manufacturing and trading of this +country. The Potomac must have been used as a highway for trade as the +word Patowmeke is said to mean "to bring again," or, in a freer +rendering, "traveling traders, or pedlars."</p> + +<p>Smith's party found "plentie" of fish, "lying so thicke, with their +heads above the water, as for want of nets (our barge driving amongst +them) we attempted to catch them with a frying pan; but we found it a +bad instrument to catch fish with."</p> + +<p>Smith now continued toward the mouth of the Potomac and the Chesapeake. +He had little of tangible value to show for the trip up the river but he +had added greatly to his store of knowledge and could now add the +Potomac to his map of the Chesapeake and surrounding country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_18" id="page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> + +<p>He notes that the Potomac was "inhabited on both sides. First on the +South side at the very entrance is Wighcocomoco (Little Wicomico) and +hath some 130 men, beyond them Sekacawone (Coan) with 30. The +Onawmanient with 100. And the Patawomekes more than 200."</p> + +<p>A point of land at the mouth of the Potomac, on the south side, he named +for himself, Smith's Point.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_14" id="SECTION_14"></a><i>MOTHER OF WATERS</i></h3> + +<p>When Captain John Smith and his bargeload of adventurers left the +Potomac they passed the tip of Smith's Point and headed south. They were +now on the Chesapeake Bay.</p> + +<p>Indians had long used this great inland sea as their waterway. Their +word, Chesapeake, has been translated in a number of ways, among +them—country on a great river and great salt bay.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards, who visited the Bay in the sixteenth century, had +documented it as Bahia de Santa Maria (St. Mary's Bay). Later, they +called it Bahia del Xacan (Axacan Bay), and a very old Spanish map calls +it, Madre de Aguas, meaning Mother of Waters.</p> + +<p>Captain Smith describes it simply as "a goodly bay." He wrote: "This Bay +lyeth North and South, in which the water floweth neare 200-myles, and +hath a channell for 140 myles, of depth betwixt 6 and 15 fadome, holding +in breadth for the most part 10 or 14 myles."</p> + +<p>Two of Smith's company recorded the fact that "Neither better fish, more +plenty or variety, had any of us seene in any place, swimming in the +water, then in the bay of Chesapeake."</p> + +<p>The Indians well knew the riches of their great Bay. They caught the fat +fish in weirs, with nets and lines for their angles made by their women +from thread spun from "the barkes of trees, Deeres Sinews, or a Kind of +Grass." They ate the sea-crabs that were said to be so large that four +Englishmen could feast on one of them. They roasted the oysters reported +to have been thirteen inches long at the time of the coming of the white +man. The shells were not wasted by the Indians—they were used for +medicine, ornaments, and wampum was made from the purple edges of the +clams. Even the lowly periwinkle was eaten.</p> + +<p>As the first English ships entered Chesapeake Bay the crews were +startled to see whales and schools of tumbling porpoises. The early<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_19" id="page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +colonists were soon to learn that there were so many porpoises in the +Bay that canoes were sometimes overturned by them.</p> + +<p>When the Jamestown colony was starving they lived on the bounties of the +Bay—they caught the sea-crabs and sturgeons and sheepshead; the latter +they likened to the broth of their English mutton. And these same +strangers "groped in the deep for oysters which lay in places thick as +stones," according to an early writer.</p> + +<p>There were many oddities in the Bay which intrigued the Europeans—a +small fish that resembled St. George's Dragon, with legs and wings +omitted, the stinging nettle, and "the Todefish which will swell till it +be like to brust, when it commeth into the aire."</p> + +<p>As Captain John Smith and his crew proceeded down the Bay in the barge +they passed the end of the Northern Neck and came to the mouth of the +Rappahannock River. It was the intention of Smith to explore this river +and visit the acquaintances he had made "upon the river of Toppahannock" +during his captivity the preceding winter. But they were stopped by the +ebb-tide. The following account of what happened at the mouth of the +Rappahannock was written by members of the company, Dr. Walter Russell +and Anas Todkill.</p> + +<p>"But our boate (by reason of the ebbe) chansing to ground upon many +shoules lying in the entrance, we spied many fishes lurking amongst the +weedes on the sands. Our captaine sporting himselfe to catch them by +nailing them to the ground with his sword, set us all a fishing in that +manner. By this devise, we tooke more in an houre then we all could eat.</p> + +<p>"But it chanced, the captaine taking a fish from his sword (not knowing +her condition) being much of the fashion of a Thornebacke with a long +taile whereon is a most poysoned sting of 2 or 3 inches long, which shee +strooke an inch and (a) halfe into the wrist of his arme. The which, in +4 houres, had so extremely swolne his hand, arme, shoulder and part of +his body, as we al with much sorrow concluded (anticipated) his +funerall, and prepared his grave in an Ile hard by (as himselfe +appointed); which then wee called Stingeray Ile, after the name of the +fish. Yet by the helpe of a precious oile, Doctor Russell applyed, ere +night his tormenting paine was so wel asswaged that he eate the fish to +his supper: which gave no lesse joy and content to us, then ease to +himselfe.</p> + +<p>"Having neither Surgeon nor surgerie but that preservative oile, we +presently set saile for James Towne."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_20" id="page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_15" id="SECTION_15"></a><i>QUICK-RISING-WATER</i></h3> + +<p>It was not until August of 1608 that Captain John Smith had the +opportunity to explore the Rappahannock River. With him in the barge +were twelve men—"nearly the same persons as before"—and an Indian +guide named Mosco, "a lusty Salvage of Wighcocomoco."</p> + +<p>Unlike the other Indians, Mosco had a fine black bushy beard, of which +he was proud. Because of this peculiarity he ranked himself with the +Englishmen. Smith believed him to have been the son of a Frenchman.</p> + +<p>It was probably due to Mosco's influence that Smith's party was kindly +received and entertained by the Moraughtacunds. Mosco hurried about, +bringing wood and water, and guiding them throughout the neighborhood. +When Smith decided that it was time to push on Mosco warned him not to +visit the Rappahannock Indians. He described them as hostile to the +Moraughtacunds, and would be to the English too, because of their +friendly visit.</p> + +<p>Captain Smith believed that Mosco was using this argument to keep all +their trade for his friends. He headed the barge across the river toward +the forbidden territory.</p> + +<p>All seemed well as they neared the shore. A dozen or more Indians were +on hand to direct them to a good landing in a creek, where three or four +canoes filled with corn and other commodities for barter, were already +lined up.</p> + +<p>When in doubt Smith's custom was to exchange hostages. He made this +known but the Indians were reluctant to comply. After consultation among +themselves four or five of them ran out in the creek bringing with them +their hostage.</p> + +<p>Still distrustful, Smith sent one of his men, Anas Todkill, ashore to +look around. Within a stone's throw of the landing Anas discovered two +or three hundred Indians in ambush among the trees. Todkill attempted to +return to the barge but was intercepted by the Rappahannocks. At the +same time the Indian hostage jumped from the barge but was instantly +killed in the water by the English. A volley of shot from the barge +scattered the Indians and Todkill managed to escape. Several Indians +were wounded and killed but the English were unharmed.</p> + +<p>In this short while many arrows were shot but the barge was protected by +Indian shields, or targets, woven so firmly of sticks<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_21" id="page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> and grass that no +arrow could penetrate them. These Smith had gotten from the Massawomeks.</p> + +<p>Captain Smith and his comrades carried the captured canoes and arrows +across the river as gifts to Mosco and his friends. The return of the +English "was hailed with a trumpet."</p> + +<p>When the barge started up the river the next day Mosco was one of the +company. As they passed through a narrow place in the river, arrows that +seemed to fly from unseen hands began to hit the shields around the +boat. At the first arrow Mosco fell flat, hiding his head against the +bottom of the barge, but he directed his friends where to look in the +marsh, at the little bushes growing amongst the grass. The guns were +trained accordingly and at the first volley the bushes fell down and the +ambush disappeared. After the barge had moved about half a mile away the +Englishmen looked back and saw the thirty or forty Rappahannocks of the +ambuscade "dancing and singing very merrily."</p> + +<p>As the barge progressed up the river the explorers were kindly treated +by the several tribes that they encountered. But the company was +saddened, and lessened, by the death of Richard Featherstone, whose body +had weakened under the excessive heat and humidity of this unaccustomed +climate.</p> + +<p>The body of the young Englishman was laid to rest on the shores of a +little bay. His comrades honored him as best they could by firing a +volley of shot, and naming the bay for him—Featherstone Bay. Smith +marked it on his map and it is believed by some to have been near the +site of the present city of Fredericksburg.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>The next day they sailed as high up the river as the barge would float. +Smith went ashore and set up crosses of wood and brass and cut their +names upon trees to signify that possession had been taken of the +country by English authority.</p> + +<p>While Smith was thus occupied the sentinel was surprised by an arrow +that fell beside him. The white men found that they were surrounded by +Indians who were hiding behind trees. After a half-hour skirmish the +Indians disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. Mosco was the hero +of the battle—he emptied his quiver, ran to the barge for fresh +supplies and pursued the fugitives. Coming upon a wounded enemy Mosco +would have beaten his brains out except for the English.</p> + +<p>After the physician, Anthony Bagnalle, had dressed the prisoner's +wounds, he recovered enough to answer Smith's questions. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_22" id="page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> belonged, +he told them, to the nation of the Mannahocks and was the brother of a +chief. He had heard that the English were a people come from under the +world to take their world from them. When asked what was beyond the +mountains, he answered, "The sun." This Indian's name was Amoroleck.</p> + +<p>Mosco was not in sympathy with these proceedings. He told the English +that the Mannahocks were a "naughty" race, as bad as the Rappahannocks, +and that they had better be on their way.</p> + +<p>Smith did not take Mosco's advice. It was night when the party finally +embarked and started back down the river. Before long the arrows started +rattling against the shields and dropping into the barge. The stream was +narrow here, with high banks on one side. Amoroleck called to his +people, but in vain; he could not be heard above the shrieks of the +warriors. Every now and then Smith discharged a musket in the direction +of the most noise. The Indians were persistent and followed the barge +for about twelve miles. The darkness was probably all that saved the +Englishmen.</p> + +<p>At daybreak the barge emerged into a wide place, where the weary +adventurers dropped anchor out of arrow-shot, and ate breakfast. They +were so tired and hungry that they paid no attention to the four or five +hundred warriors crowded along the banks, until after breakfast. Then +they took down the shields and showed themselves, with Amoroleck in +plain view amongst them. After a consultation the Indians hung their +bows and arrows upon trees and two Indians, with bows and quivers on +their heads, swam out to the barge and presented these in token of +friendship.</p> + +<p>Captain Smith now went ashore and told the Indians to send for their +kings. Four kings, or chiefs, soon appeared. Smith gave them back +Amoroleck. The Indians were happy over this and gave the English bows, +arrows, pipes and pouches, but in return they asked for the pistols +which the English carried. Smith satisfied them with less dangerous +trinkets, and left them dancing and singing and making merry.</p> + +<p>The barge continued its journey downstream until the neighborhood of the +Moraughtacunds was reached. They stopped here to tell these friends of +Mosco of their victory over the Mannahocks. The Moraughtacunds were a +feeble race, and small in stature. They begged Smith to subdue the +Rappahannocks also.</p> + +<p>Smith decided to help this weak tribe, as he would be at the same time +helping the English. He summoned the kings of the Rappahannocks to a +conference. When they had assembled Captain Smith threatened to burn +their villages, destroy their canoes and corn and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_23" id="page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> prove himself a bad +enemy. Among the things that Smith demanded was the son of a "king," +named Rappahannock, as a hostage. The chief objected to this—he had +only one son and he could not live without him—but he would give up +certain of his women who had been stolen by the Moraughtacunds. Smith +found that this was the cause of the recent wars.</p> + +<p>Captain Smith returned to the Moraughtacunds<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and had the three women +brought before him. He had a chain of beads put around the neck of each. +He then sent for the King Rappahannock to come, and bade him choose the +one he most desired. The second choice was given to the "king" of the +Moraughtacunds. Then Smith generously presented Mosco with the third +woman. All parties seemed to be satisfied with this distribution.</p> + +<p>The next day six or seven hundred Indians of both tribes assembled to +celebrate the peace that had been thus established. No weapons were to +be seen, friendship was pledged with the English, and the Indians +volunteered to plant corn for them. In return John Smith promised +hatchets, beads and copper.</p> + +<p>Mosco was so pleased that at the height of the celebration he renounced +his name in favor of one meaning "stranger" and voluntarily became a +subject of the English King, James the First.</p> + +<p>After the celebration Captain Smith sailed again into the Chesapeake, +leaving behind this river that the Indians called Quick-Rising-Water.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_16" id="SECTION_16"></a><i>HENRY AND POCAHONTAS</i></h3> + +<p>In 1609 an English boy landed at Jamestown. He was probably about +fourteen years old at that time since records show that he had been +baptized in England in 1595.</p> + +<p>In a short while Henry Spelman was to find himself in a virgin forest +among painted savages and wild beasts. What a change for this young son +of a British nobleman!</p> + +<p>Harry had no doubt been accustomed to a quiet and bookish atmosphere at +his home at Congham, Norfolk. His father, Sir Henry, was interested in +history and antiques, and in fact was noted for his studies along those +lines.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_24" id="page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a> +<img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>Henry Spelman living amongst the Indians.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_25" id="page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>And why did Sir Henry permit a boy so young to set out upon such a +dangerous expedition? Was it because Harry was a third son and could +therefore expect little in the way of lands and riches? Since Sir Henry +was one of the Council for New England, and treasurer of the Guiana +Company, he may have had his eyes on broader horizons.</p> + +<p>It was August when Henry arrived in Virginia. It was the hot, muggy +season when mosquitoes were plentiful. Shortly after his arrival Captain +John Smith took him on a little journey to visit Powhatan. How excited +Henry must have been at the prospect of seeing the great chieftain! How +little did he suspect what Captain Smith had planned to do with him. +Henry later wrote the following account:</p> + +<p>"I was carried by Capt. Smith, our President, to ye litell Powhatan +where unknowne to me he sould (sold) me to him for a towne called +Powhatan (site of present Richmond city) and leavinge me with him, he +made knowne to Capt. Weste, (Francis, brother of Lord Delaware) how he +had bought a towne for them to dwell in...."</p> + +<p>Soon after Captain Smith left Henry with the Indians a massacre ensued +in the Indian village. According to early writers of Jamestown, Henry's +life was saved by Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas.</p> + +<p>At this time the King of Patowmeke was visiting his emperor, probably to +pay his tribute, and to save the white boy from the "furie of Powhatan" +he took him home with him when he returned to the land between the +Rappahannock and the Potomac.</p> + +<p>This arrangement was probably made by Pocahontas. Before very long she +too would be hiding out in the Northern Neck as a guest of the King and +Queen of Patowmeke. It is believed by some that Pocahontas and Henry +fled with the King of Patowmeke to his village on the Potomac at the +same time.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_17" id="SECTION_17"></a><i>HENRY AND KING PATOWMEKE</i></h3> + +<p>Henry probably adjusted himself quickly to the way of life in the +village of the Potomac Indian tribe. He was probably soon wearing a skin +belt and a cord as a breechclout like the Indian boys of his age.</p> + +<p>Henry doubtless played a game with them that was like football for he +later described this game and indicated that it was played by both boys +and women but with different rules: "They use football play which wemen +and young boyes doe much play at. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_26" id="page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> men never. They make their gooles +as ours only they never fight nor pull one another doune.</p> + +<p>"The men play with a litel balle lettinge it fall out of ther hand and +striketh it with the tope of his foot, and he that can strike the ball +furthest winns that they play for."</p> + +<p>We can visualize Henry learning to shoot the bow and arrow, and learning +to follow a trail through the forest. The Indian boys probably taught +him to snare beaver, otter and other small animals, and to fish with +hooks of bone or stone, and to catch crabs with dip-nets made of silk +grass.</p> + +<p>We know that Henry watched the women gather corn in hand baskets and +dump it into larger baskets for he later recorded these facts. He no +doubt learned quickly to like the Indian food—the corn pones that came +brown-crusted and smoking from the ashes, the fish and meat broiled on +hurdles over the fire or turned on a spit. He doubtless tasted the broth +and bread made from chestnuts and chinquapins and reserved for the chief +men at the greatest feasts, and opossum and beaver, stews of fish and +vegetables, and doves and partridges baked in wet clay, and dined on +venison, turkey and oysters.</p> + +<p>Henry had chores to do too. He wrote that one of his duties was +"stilling the king's young child, for none could quiet him so well as +myselfe." This undoubtedly makes Henry Spelman the Neck's first white +baby-sitter.</p> + +<p>He perhaps had his turn with the Indian boys to sit in a little hut on a +platform in the field and scare crows away from the newly planted corn.</p> + +<p>We can be certain that Henry avoided the hideous priests and their +temples and the houses where the bodies of the dead kings and statues of +their god Okee were kept. These places were considered too holy for +ordinary people to enter. Indians passed these houses quickly, and even +when going up or down the river they would throw "some peece of copper, +white beads or pocones into the river for feare their Okee should be +offended and revenged of them."</p> + +<p>Henry attended funerals of the common people where he saw the body +wrapped in mats and placed on a scaffold ten or twelve feet high. The +relatives mourned greatly and threw beads among the poor. After the +funeral the relatives entertained with feasting, music and dancing.</p> + +<p>The corpse stayed on the scaffold until the flesh had disappeared and +then it was wrapped in a new mat and later buried.</p> + +<p>In the Potomac country punishment for crime was swift and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_27" id="page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> often final. +Henry was an eye-witness to such punishment: "Then cam the officer to +thos that should dye, and with a shell cutt off ther long locke, which +they weare on the left side of ther heade, and hangeth that on a bowe +before the kings house. Then thos for murther weare beaten with staves +till ther bonns weare broken and beinge alive weare flounge into the +fier, the other for robbinge was knockt on the heade and beinge deade +his bodye was burnt."</p> + +<p>The white boy saw many moons come and go there in the wilderness—the +moon of stags, the corn moon, the first and second moon of cohonks. He +was there at the budding of the spring, the earing of the corn, the +highest sun, the fall of the leaf, and then again—cohonks.</p> + +<p>He witnessed the solemn celebrations of the plentiful coming of the wild +fowl to the river, the return of the hunting season and the ripening of +certain fruits. He saw the greatest annual festival at the time of the +corn gathering with its war dances, heroic songs, the music rattles and +drums, and then the feasting.</p> + +<p>One day news came to the village of a boat with sails that was moving up +the river and stopping at the Indian settlements in quest of corn. The +white men sent from Jamestown by Lord De la Ware were ready to barter +copper, beads and other "trucke" for corn. While Henry had been dining +so well with the Indians his own people at Jamestown were starving.</p> + +<p>As the boat neared the village of the Potomac Indians a messenger came +to the chief with word from the captain. Captain Samuel Argall had heard +that in the village there was an "English boy named Harry" and he +desired to "hear further of him."</p> + +<p>King Patowmeke sent the boy to the ship where he conversed with Captain +Argall and then returned to the village with an invitation to the chief +to visit the ship. The chief accompanied the boy back to the ship.</p> + +<p>The visit was pleasant and a deal was made between the chief and the +captain—the vessel was "fraughted with corne" and Henry was exchanged +for some copper.</p> + +<p>Henry had lived with the Indians for "a year and more." Captain Argall +found him healthy and apparently contented. He returned to Jamestown and +stayed there until the following spring at which time he sailed for +England in company with Lord De la Ware.</p> + +<p>How different Henry must have seemed to his family! And he was different +for he had become almost more like an Indian than a white boy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_28" id="page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_18" id="SECTION_18"></a><i>HENRY'S RELATION</i></h3> + +<p>While on his return visit to England Henry Spelman wrote a manuscript, +entitled "Relation of Virginia," in which he described the country +between the Rappahannock and the Potomac. It is probably the first +recorded specific description of the Northern Neck:</p> + +<p>"The cuntry is full of wood in sum partes, and water they have +plentifull, they have marish (marsh) ground and smale fields, for corn, +and other grounds wher on their Deare, goates, and stages feadeth, ther +be in this cuntry Lions, Beares, Wolves, foxes, muske catts, Hares, a +fleinge squirel, and other squirls beinge all graye like conyes, a great +store of foule, only Peacockes and common hens wanting: fish in +aboundance wher on they (Indians) live most part of the Summer time. +They have a kind of wheat cald locataunce and Pease and Beanes, Great +store of walnuts growing in every place. They have no orchard frutes, +only tow kind of plumbes, the one a sweet and lussius plumbe, long and +thicke in forme and liknes of A Nutt Palme, the other resemblinge a +medler." (Persimmon)</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_19" id="SECTION_19"></a><i>BETRAYED</i></h3> + +<p>IN 1616 Henry Spelman returned to Virginia and was employed as +interpreter to the colony. In 1618 he was again in England but returned +to Virginia on board the <i>Treasurer</i> in that same year. By now he "knew +most of the kings of Virginia and spake their languages very +understandingly."</p> + +<p>In August, 1619, Spelman was tried by the House of Burgesses for +speaking disparagingly of Governor Yeardley to Opechancanough. These +charges were preferred by Robert Poole, interpreter. Poole said that he +had been present at the court of Opechancanough when Spelman had talked +"unreverently and maliciously" against the colony government.</p> + +<p>Spelman denied most of the charges but admitted that he "hade informed +Opechancanough that within a yeare there would come a governor greater +then this that nowe is in place."</p> + +<p>For this misdemeanor Spelman lost his title of Captain and was sentenced +to serve the colony seven years in the nature of interpreter<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_29" id="page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> to the +Governor. Many thought that he had been "badly rewarded for much good +service" that he had done.</p> + +<p>When the sentence was read to Spelman it was reported that he showed no +signs of remorse for his offenses and muttered to himself and acted more +like a "Savage than a Christian."</p> + +<p>It was not long before Henry was again in good standing in the colony. +He was put in command of a small bark called <i>Elizabeth</i>, and was +trading with the Indians along the Potomac at the time of the massacre +in March, 1622. At Chicacoan (Coan) an Indian stole aboard his boat and +told of the massacre and that Opechancanough had "plotted with his King +and countrey to betray them also, which they refused; but them of +Wighcocomoco (Little Wicomico) at the mouth of the river, had undertaken +it." When Spelman heard this he went to Wicomico but the Indians seeing +his men were so well armed appeared friendly and loaded his boat with +corn.</p> + +<p>In March, 1623, an expedition of twenty-six men, in the <i>Tiger</i> under +the command of Captain Spelman, went to trade for beaver and corn with +the Anacostan and other Indian tribes between Potomac Creek and the +falls of the Potomac (probably near the present site of Washington, D. +C.).</p> + +<p>Captain Spelman, Henry Fleet and twenty of their companions went ashore, +believing the Indians to be their friends. Spelman was "a warie man, +well acquainted with the savage nature" but evidently he was not aware +how bitterly these Indians had been antagonized a short time before by a +party under the command of Captain Isaac Matthews.</p> + +<p>While Spelman and his men were ashore the pinnace with only five men +left on board was surrounded by Indians in canoes, some of whom climbed +up on the deck. The sailors were thus surprised and one of them fired a +cannon at random. The savages were so frightened that they jumped +overboard and swam ashore leaving their canoes drifting.</p> + +<p>The sailors then heard an uproar on shore. It sounded as if a fight was +in progress. Suddenly they saw a man's head thrown down the bank. They +recognized it as the head of Henry Spelman.</p> + +<p>The Anacostan Indians had proved themselves to be too "subtile" for +Henry Spelman. But "how he was surprised or slaine is uncertaine." The +sailors hastily weighed anchor and set sail for Jamestown.</p> + +<p>This ends the true story of the "English boy named Harry" who was +betrayed twice in the wilds of Virginia—first by his own people and +then by his adopted people.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_30" id="page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a> +<img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>Pocahontas is traded for a copper kettle and becomes an +hostage to Captain Argall.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_31" id="page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<p>Henry Spelman was about twenty-eight years old when he was killed. He +had contributed in many ways to the building of a new country. He left +to posterity his valuable recorded observations so that others could +profit by his courage and industry.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_20" id="SECTION_20"></a><i>KIDNAPPED</i></h3> + +<p>In the autumn of 1609, Captain John Smith was disabled when his +powder-bag was accidentally fired. He sailed for England and never +returned to Virginia.</p> + +<p>After Captain Smith left, Pocahontas came no more to Jamestown. But she +did visit elsewhere. In the spring of 1613 she was visiting in the +Northern Neck with her relatives and friends along the Potomac.</p> + +<p>The sympathy which Pocahontas had shown for the colonists had caused an +estrangement between her and her father, Powhatan. She lived with him no +longer and was staying in some secrecy with her relations, the King and +Queen of Patowmeke.</p> + +<p>For the trip Pocahontas probably wore her robe of deer skins, which was +lined with pigeons' down, and her royal jewels of shell, and the white +feather in her hair which signified that she was a princess. Though +slight of stature, she was doubtless impressive when dressed in her +regalia.</p> + +<p>In April, Captain Samuel Argall was sent to the Potomac to trade for +corn. There, he became acquainted with Chief Japazaws, an old friend of +Captain Smith, and learned from him that Pocahontas was his guest.</p> + +<p>This knowledge gave Captain Argall an idea. Since Captain Smith had left +the colony at Jamestown the Indians had again become troublesome. If, +thought Captain Argall, Powhatan's favorite daughter could be captured +and held as a hostage peace might be made. The idea grew, and he plotted +to steal the little Indian princess.</p> + +<p>Captain Argall bargained with Japazaws—a copper kettle in exchange for +his guest. The chief agreed, but how could he get Pocahontas aboard the +English ship?</p> + +<p>Japazaws turned the details of the plot over to his wife. It was up to +her to lure the princess into the hands of Captain Argall.</p> + +<p>The chief's wife told Pocahontas that she had a great desire to see an +English ship and that her husband had promised to take her<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_32" id="page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> aboard if +the princess would go with her. Although she had no idea that her +identity was known to Captain Argall, Pocahontas refused to go. She had +seen "great canoes" before and did not care to see this one.</p> + +<p>Japazaws threatened to beat his wife unless she could persuade +Pocahontas to go aboard the ship. In tears the chief's wife again begged +Pocahontas to go with her. The kind-hearted girl finally consented.</p> + +<p>Captain Argall welcomed his three guests and ushered them into the +ship's cabin where a feast had been spread for them. While the banquet +was in progress, Japazaws stepped often on the Captain's foot, under the +table, to remind him that his part had been done.</p> + +<p>At an opportune time the Captain persuaded Pocahontas to go into the +gun-room, pretending to have something to talk over in private with +Japazaws. Presently, he sent for her and told her, before her friends, +that she must go with him and "compound peace betwixt her countrie" and +the English before she should ever see her father again.</p> + +<p>Pocahontas began to weep and Japazaws and his wife joined in, howling +and crying louder than the girl they had betrayed. Soon the chief and +his wife, with the copper kettle, went "merrily on shore."</p> + +<p>A messenger was sent to Powhatan by Captain Argall, to tell him that he +must ransom his beloved daughter with the "men, swords, peeces, tools, +&c. hee trecherously had stolne."</p> + +<p>Powhatan did not respond to these demands as Captain Argall had planned. +His stand against the invaders was more important to him than his own +daughter.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, fate took a hand—at Jamestown, Pocahontas and "Master +John Rolfe, an honest gentleman," fell in love and were married. In this +way peace was established, for a time, between the Indians and the +colonists.</p> + +<p>As "Lady Rebecca," wife of John Rolfe, Pocahontas traveled to England +and had other adventures, but her last happy days as a free Indian +maiden were spent in the land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac, +later known as the Northern Neck. An Indian village called "Petomek," +near the mouth of Potomac Creek, was the scene of her kidnapping.</p> + +<p>Potomac Creek is located in Stafford County, three miles north of +Falmouth. Some believe that Captain Argall found Henry Spelman and +Pocahontas at the village of the Potomacs at the same time.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_33" id="page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_21" id="SECTION_21"></a><i>THE INDIAN TRADER</i></h3> + +<p>Henry Fleet was one of the expedition of twenty-six men aboard the +<i>Tiger</i> who under Captain Spelman in March, 1623, went to trade for +beaver skins and corn with the Anacostan and other Indian tribes near +the head of the Potomac.</p> + +<p>Fleet was with Spelman when he went ashore. After Spelman was killed and +his head tossed over the river bank, Fleet was taken prisoner and +carried to the village of the Anacostans. This is believed to have been +located not far from the present monument of Washington, in Washington, +D. C.</p> + +<p>Fleet was about twenty-five years old and had but recently arrived in +Virginia. His father was William Fleet of the London Virginia Company, +which may have been the reason that Henry came to the New World. Henry +was adventurous, quick-witted and intelligent. He made good use of his +stay in the wilderness of the Northern Neck by studying his new +environment. Later he wrote down some of these observations:</p> + +<p>"It aboundeth in all manner of fish. The Indians in one night will +commonly catch thirty sturgeons in a place where the river is not above +three fathom broad. And as for deer, buffaloes, bears, turkeys, the +woods do swarm with them, and the soil is exceedingly fertile." He also +wrote that he had seen "plenty of black fox, which of all others is the +richest fur." This animal was a large marten, so fierce that it was the +match for any forest animal up to the size of a deer.</p> + +<p>Henry was kept in captivity for four years, when his friends managed to +ransom him. Small vessels were then trading with the Indians of the +Potomac and news of him was probably carried to Jamestown in this way.</p> + +<p>During the year 1627 the London Merchants were surprised by the arrival +of Henry Fleet from Virginia. Startling tales of his adventures spread +abroad. It was said that he had lived with the Indians so long that he +had forgotten his own language, that he had often seen the South Sea; +that he had seen Indians "besprinkle their paintings with powder of +gold."</p> + +<p>These stories impressed William Cloberry, a merchant adventurer, and +chief man in the Guinea trade. Cloberry believed that Fleet could be +useful to him as a trader among the Indians.</p> + +<p>On September 6, 1627, the ship <i>Paramour</i> of London, one<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_34" id="page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> hundred tons +burden, was licensed to clear with Henry Fleet as master. William +Cloberry and Company were the owners.</p> + +<p>Captain Fleet was well suited by nature and experience to be +an Indian trader. For years he traded with the Indians along the +Potomac—bartering "beads, bells, hatchets, knives, coats, shirts, +Scottish stockings and broadcloth" and other "trucke," for beaver fur, +tobacco and corn. Some of the Indian tribes traveled "seven, 8 and 10 +days journey" to trade with him. He was the most regular and dependable +trader the Indians knew.</p> + +<p>By 1632 Captain Fleet was operating several boats in the Indian trade, +and in that year he built a shallop and a "Barque" of sixteen tons for +his own use. He also opened a trade between the Massachusetts settlement +and the Potomac River. Sometimes he carried as much as eight hundred +bushels of corn at one time from the Potomac to New England.</p> + +<p>One day, while trading for beaver with the Anacostans, Captain Fleet ran +into trouble. He met the pinnace of a rival trader, and on board was +John Utie of the Virginia Council. The latter arrested him by order of +the Council for trading with the Indians without license. Fleet had to +stop his activities and set sail for Jamestown, where he was tried, but +soon given his liberty.</p> + +<p>Captain Fleet became a powerful man in Indian affairs. After the +massacre of 1644 he was commissioned to negotiate a peace, at his own +expense should he fail. He was successful in arranging a treaty with +Necotowance, successor of Opechancanough, "in terms that showed a marked +advance of civilization; Necotowance must do homage for his land to the +King of England, in token whereof he was fined 20 beaver skins at the +going away of the Geese yearly."</p> + +<p>When bargaining with Necotowance Captain Fleet had been authorized to +build a fort on the Rappahannock, "an important station."</p> + +<p>Fleet remained in the region of the Potomac long enough to see the first +settlers come to the Northern Neck. He was their friend and interpreter +and helped them with their Indian troubles.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_22" id="SECTION_22"></a><i>A PETITION</i></h3> + +<p>In July, 1639, owing to the increase of population in Bermuda, the +Proprietors of the Island, in London, petitioned for the region +"scituate betwixt the two Rivers of Rapahanock, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_35" id="page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> Patowmack wch by +good Informacon your petit'iors finde to be both healthful and +otherwise—not yet Inhabited." (Lefroy's <i>Bermudas</i>, Vol. I, p. 558.)</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_23" id="SECTION_23"></a><i>FROM NORTH OF THE POTOMAC</i></h3> + +<p>The first settlers did not come to the Northern Neck from the direction +of Jamestown, which would have been the natural direction. Nor did they +come for the natural reason—new lands.</p> + +<p>Instead, they came from north of the Potomac. In order to understand the +reason for the migration of these pioneers from the north side of the +Potomac to its south side, it is necessary to go back a few years and +study the situation in the upper Chesapeake Bay region.</p> + +<p>Before 1640 the activity of white men in the Chesapeake Bay centered +about a trading post at Kent Island, situated far up the Bay. The trade +there was with the Indian tribes in "fur, skins and Indian baskets."</p> + +<p>Captain Henry Fleet, William Claiborne, a Virginian, and Lord Baltimore +and his brother were chief among those who were making history in this +region at that time.</p> + +<p>Claiborne and a number of Virginians had established a colony on Kent +Island under a charter secured before Lord Baltimore had settled his +colony on the north side of the Potomac in a region that he called +Maryland.</p> + +<p>When Lord Baltimore was granted a charter to settle in this area, his +charter included Kent Island. The charter, however, had said that he +should have authority only over uninhabited lands.</p> + +<p>Claiborne considered that Kent Island was inhabited and was not, +therefore, a part of Maryland.</p> + +<p>In 1634, the second Lord Baltimore sent about one hundred settlers, +under the leadership of his brother, Leonard Calvert, to a point of land +across the Potomac from the Northern Neck, and a settlement was +established there, known as the "Citie of St. Mary's."</p> + +<p>A year after this colony had been planted the settlers were instructed +by their Governor, Leonard Calvert, to seize Kent Island.</p> + +<p>Claiborne appealed to the Crown but the decision was in favor of Lord +Baltimore's claim.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_36" id="page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a> +<img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>First settlers at Coan.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_37" id="page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>Claiborne did not give up so easily. With the help of Puritan rebels he +seized Kent Island, captured the "Citie of St. Mary's" and drove Calvert +from the colony.</p> + +<p>But Calvert was also tenacious. He returned a year later, regained +control of his Maryland possessions and forced Claiborne to give up Kent +Island. Later, the English government decided, once and for all, in +favor of Lord Baltimore's claim.</p> + +<p>At this time there was much religious dissension in England and in +Virginia. Lord Baltimore, a Catholic himself, had hoped to establish a +colony where religious freedom could be had by all. Many Puritans left +the lower Tidewater Virginia and joined the Maryland settlers.</p> + +<p>But Lord Baltimore's plan for a harmonious mingling of all religions did +not work out. The Puritans seized the reins of government and there +followed years of intolerance and persecution in the "Citie of St. +Mary's."</p> + +<p>Many Protestants and Royalists in the Maryland colony decided to look +for a new home where they could live as they pleased.</p> + +<p>Across the Potomac there was a long peninsula inhabited only by Indians. +What better place was there to find peace?</p> + +<p>It was in this way that the first settlers came to the Northern Neck +from north of the Potomac.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_24" id="SECTION_24"></a><i>THE FIRST SETTLER</i></h3> + +<p>IT WAS probably about the year 1640 when the Indians of Chicacoan<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> saw +a white man's boat turning from the Potomac into their inlet, +Sekacawone.</p> + +<p>The boat was of the type called a shallop, built and used by Indian +traders. This one may have been of fifteen or twenty tons burden, with +two masts, and square sails that were higher than they were wide. The +wood may have been turpentined, or painted in a gay combination of +colors, such as red, blue, green or yellow. If oars were used as well as +sails they were probably painted red.</p> + +<p>The white men on board the shallop were doubtless dressed in the manner +of seamen of their day—loose breeches and jerkins of canvas, hose of +coarse wool and boots of leather. They may have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_38" id="page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> worn woolen stocking +caps or felt hats, depending upon the season.</p> + +<p>The owner of the vessel was an Englishman, not over thirty years of age. +His clothes were probably of a finer weave and cut than those of his +men. Unless he was different from other men of his time and station, he +wore his natural hair long and flowing about his shoulders. He may have +worn a sword at his side. This young gentleman's name was John Mottrom, +formerly of Maryland, but more recently from the vicinity of the York +River.</p> + +<p>If the inhabitants of Chicacoan thought that the shallop held "trucke" +to barter for their corn, they were mistaken. Far better for them had +this been so.</p> + +<p>John Mottrom was not looking for trade but for a new home, and he liked +what he saw here—a wilderness peninsula, shut-away from the government +at Jamestown by miles of water and forest, protected from Maryland by +the Potomac, but close enough to keep in touch with his friends in the +"Citie of St. Mary's."</p> + +<p>He could see, too, that this wilderness held promises of future riches. +He had done well as a merchant, trading with Maryland, around the +Potomac and up the Bay at Kent Island, but now the fur trade was on the +wane and tobacco was taking the place of beaver skins as currency.</p> + +<p>Here, in this peninsula of northern Virginia, new lands could be had for +the taking—fields for tobacco. This inlet of the Potomac that the +Indians called Sekacawone was a sheltered harbor but deep enough for big +ships to come in and take the tobacco away to foreign markets. The +adjacent lands had been cleared by the natives; the forest would furnish +materials for homes and boats.</p> + +<p>There are no records to tell what kind of bargain Mottrom made with the +Chicacoans for their land, but apparently the relations between the +white men and the Indians were friendly. Marshvwap, King of the +Chicacoan and Wicocomoco Indians, became a friend of his new neighbor, +John Mottrom.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_25" id="SECTION_25"></a><i>COAN HALL</i></h3> + +<p>When John Mottrom came to the Indian district of Chicacoan to live, it +must have been like the Garden of Eden. The river was there; the trees +that were pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the beast of the +field and the fowl of the air. Except for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_39" id="page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> the Indian clearings along +the margin of the river it was new, untouched and as it was in the +beginning.</p> + +<p>Mottrom chose a site for his house on the east bank of the Coan, and +like all early Virginia settlers he knew how to select the spot. Springs +were numerous in this region so that it was not necessary to dig a well.</p> + +<p>And how did he go about building a house in this wilderness, so far from +any place where skilled labor, tools and bricks, glass and nails could +be obtained? No records to answer this question have been uncovered to +this date. Perhaps, he brought indentured servants and a few crude tools +with him in the shallop.</p> + +<p>What kind of a house did he build? It is fairly certain that he did not +build a log cabin, even for a temporary shelter.</p> + +<p>In the seventeenth century the English settlers in Virginia built log +forts, log prisons and log garrison houses but they were of "logs hewn +square," and they were built in the traditional Old World manner.</p> + +<p>These early settlers mentioned living in cottages, huts and frame cabins +but, so far as is known, they never said that they lived in log cabins. +The American-type log cabin is believed to have developed later and in +another part of the country.</p> + +<p>Mottrom and his men may have erected temporary shelters of saplings, +boughs and bark, similar to the Indian houses.</p> + +<p>If wood was cut from the forest for his permanent home, time was needed. +Locust for sills, oak for framing, heart pine and cedar were at hand, +but green lumber had to be seasoned.</p> + +<p>Mottrom may have made several trips to Jamestown or Maryland for +artisans and building supplies before his new home was completed. +Meanwhile, he may have brought his family to live in one of the +temporary shelters.</p> + +<p>There are no buildings surviving in Virginia that were known to have +been built before 1650, therefore, no true picture of the Mottrom home +can be presented.</p> + +<p>However, there are enough facts known of the period to enable one to +reconstruct a reasonably accurate picture of the first house on the +Coan.</p> + +<p>First of all—the house had to be strong, for life itself might depend +upon the house. Its style was, no doubt, patterned after the +architecture of England but modified by circumstances in the New World.</p> + +<p>A framed building, one storey and a half high, with brick underpinning, +and brick chimneys at either end, was the typical dwelling<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_40" id="page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> of Virginia +about the middle of the seventeenth century. Its size would have been +about forty by twenty feet, with downstairs ceilings about nine feet +high.</p> + +<p>We can visualize those workmen at Coan "riving" out the weather boards +for the first known house in the Northern Neck. One of the men would be +holding a rough-squared length of timber on a "frow" horse, while +another would be pounding, with a wooden mallet, a wedge-shaped knife +into the wood. Presently a board would fall off. With the same tools +shingles for the roof would be split from cedar.</p> + +<p>John Mottrom may have bought English bricks from some ship bound +homeward with a load of tobacco and eager to get rid of the ballast of +bricks at any price. It is more likely that his bricks were burned in a +kiln at Coan, made with clay dug from the riverbank.</p> + +<p>Nails were so hard to get that settlers when they were leaving to settle +elsewhere burned their homes in order to get the nails to start a new +house. Mottrom probably brought some nails from his former home and +supplemented them with wooden pegs.</p> + +<p>Rarely before 1720 were "windows sasht with crystal glass." Casements +were used. Glassmaking had ended at Jamestown in 1624. Mottrom's windows +may have been diamond-shaped panes of oiled paper with solid wooden +shutters, or merely sliding panels of wood. But it was possible to get +imported glass and he may have had some glass, drawn lead and solder +from England. The window openings were a structural part of the framing, +not just holes cut in the sheathing. Sometimes the windows did not open, +as they were mainly intended to let in light. In this case the leaded +glass was permanently set in the frames in diamond-shaped panes.</p> + +<p>Mottrom's front door may have had hinges made in the shapes of the +letters H and L, to stand for Holy Lord, for it was believed then that +such hinges would drive ghosts away from the door. The door may have had +panels in the form of a cross to keep out the witches. Or, the door may +have been made of oak battens, heavy enough to keep out wolves, Indians +and "hurry-canes." In either case, it was fastened with a latch and +string, with possibly an oaken bar inside for added strength.</p> + +<p>The chimneys of Virginia houses were much larger than those in England, +and the fireplaces were at least seven feet across, for the hearth was +the heart of the home.</p> + +<p>From these various facts of the time, we assume that the first house in +the Northern Neck which John Mottrom named Coan Hall was strong, simple, +functional, and its character was medieval.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_41" id="page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_26" id="SECTION_26"></a><i>NEIGHBORS</i></h3> + +<p>In spite of its isolation Coan Hall was probably not a lonely place. +Besides John Mottrom and his wife there were two children, and probably +several indentured servants. There were at least a few domestic animals. +The Indians were near, the forest was alive and rustling and "nimble" +with wild beasts, the sky was darkened and animated by the various birds +in their season. The shallop lay at anchor not far away and was a +reminder that it was possible to reach some civilization beyond the +woods and water.</p> + +<p>And Coan Hall was hardly established before guests began to arrive. They +came by boat, and perhaps after dark. These Protestant friends and +refugees were from Lord Baltimore's "Citie of St. Mary's."</p> + +<p>It was whispered in that unhappy "citie" north of the Potomac that +treason was being plotted at Coan Hall.</p> + +<p>John Mottrom's new home must have been filled to capacity in those days. +Although the rooms were few we can be sure that there was no lack of +beds or chairs. Rooms then, with the exception of the kitchen, had no +distinct character. Beds were in every room, even in the hall where +meals were taken.</p> + +<p>On a winter's night we can imagine John Mottrom dispensing hospitality +at Coan Hall—food, drink and roaring fires. Great plotting and planning +must have gone on before the hearths, while the passing tankards of +metheglin cheered and warmed the indignant gentlemen from Maryland.</p> + +<p>Perhaps John Mottrom's guests were charmed with his new home and decided +that it was easier just to settle at Chicacoan. At any rate we hear no +more of treason. Instead, settlers begin to arrive in the Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>William Presley and his English wife were among the first to arrive at +Chicacoan. They built at the head of a creek not far from Coan Hall.</p> + +<p>Richard Thompson and his family probably arrived early too. Richard was +a young man, about twenty-seven, when he came to live at Chicacoan. He +was a native of Norwich, Norfolk County, England. As a boy he had come +to Virginia as an indentured servant and had served William Claiborne on +Kent Island for three years.</p> + +<p>When at twenty-one Richard became a free man, he went into<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_42" id="page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> business for +himself, trading with the Indians for beaver. He must have been a good +trader for he acquired a considerable estate. He also worked as an agent +for William Claiborne, which in the end brought about his downfall. When +Claiborne was proclaimed an enemy by the Maryland Council, Thompson was +denounced also. He was in this way forced to flee to Chicacoan.</p> + +<p>Before long a settlement had sprung up along the Coan. John Mottrom +became the unofficial leader of this first white settlement in the +Northern Neck. Although he did not know it, there was one among them who +was to play an important part in his life—her name was Ursula, wife of +Richard Thompson.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_27" id="SECTION_27"></a><i>THE "KIDS"</i></h3> + +<p>As soon as their homes were built the settlers at Chicacoan began to +remove the forest and clear the ground for tobacco fields.</p> + +<p>The sound of axes was no doubt heard from sunrise until sunset. Then the +stumps had to be dug up, and the soil had to be broken up with hoes. +This hard labor was probably done by white indentured servants.</p> + +<p>These British servants were commercially known as "kids," probably +because most of them were young, their ages ranging from thirteen to +thirty as a rule.</p> + +<p>An early English writer described the manner in which these "kids" were +obtained to send to Virginia—"very many children ... were violently +taken away or cheatingly duckoyed without the consent or knowledge of +their Parents by ... persons ... called Spirits ... into private places +or ships, and there sold to be transported, and then resold there to be +servants to those that will give most for them."</p> + +<p>A letter written in England in 1610 says that—"there are many ships +going to Virginia with them 14 or 15 hundred children w'ch they have +gathered up in divers places."</p> + +<p>The shipmaster who brought the children over could sell the indentures +for whatever he could get for them. If he could not find a purchaser, he +could sell the children to persons known as "soul drivers" who would +"buy a parcel of servants" to fill his wagon and drive through the +country until he could sell them at a cash profit.</p> + +<p>Other indentured servants were brought over by planters as +"head-rights," which meant that the planter paid for their<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_43" id="page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +transportation and received fifty acres of land as a reward for +transporting an immigrant to Virginia.</p> + +<p>The indenture was a simple bargain between master and servant with +protection by law for each. The treatment of the servant depended upon +the nature of his master.</p> + +<p>The boys who had long terms to serve became restless and often ran away +across the Potomac to Maryland or to an Indian village. They were +usually caught and punished and put back to work. In Virginia the +punishment was sometimes thirty lashes and the letter R branded on the +cheek, forehead or shoulder. The hair was sometimes cropped, and the leg +shackled with irons, even during working hours. There is no evidence +that the settlers of the Northern Neck did anything more severe than to +whip their "kids."</p> + +<p>Food, clothing and shelter was provided by the master. The shelter was +usually in "a house set apart for him." The list of clothing might +include a coat of frieze, a pair of leather breeches, a black hat, or +cap of fur, a pair of "wooden heel shoes," and underclothes of dowlas +and lockram.</p> + +<p>The indentured girl servants did not work in the fields unless they were +slattern and offensive. Their work was to bake and brew, clean, milk, +churn, wash and sew.</p> + +<p>Due to the scarcity of women in Virginia the girl servants usually +married within the first three months. If their reputation was good, +they often married into a higher station.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_28" id="SECTION_28"></a><i>INDIAN SERVANTS</i></h3> + +<p>The settlers at Chicacoan may have had some Indian servants. Tradition +says that William Presley of Coan employed Indians to care for his +"roaming stock."</p> + +<p>It was customary in Virginia to take Indian children as apprentices to +learn a trade, and to learn to read and write. This was with the consent +of the parents that the child should be instructed in the Christian +religion.</p> + +<p>The children were usually taken at thirteen or fourteen years of age and +the apprenticeships lasted until they were twenty-one.</p> + +<p>The value of the Indian servant was about the same as that of the +English indentured servant. The relationship between the Indian boy and +his master was the same as that between the master and the English +servant. Food, clothing and shelter was furnished by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_44" id="page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> master. +Records of the clothing lists included leather breeches, cotton +waistcoats, shoes and stockings.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_29" id="SECTION_29"></a><i>MONEY</i></h3> + +<p>The indian word wampum meant "shells." Wampum and copper were the +Indians' substitute for gold and silver. The early settlers also used +the Indian wampum as a medium of exchange.</p> + +<p>Wampum, in Virginia, was usually made from the oyster shell. The dark +wampum, which was made from the black or purple part of the shell, had +twice the value of the white. For instance, three of the dark beads or +six of the white beads equalled one English penny.</p> + +<p>The beads were cylindrical in shape about an eighth of an inch in +diameter and one-fourth of an inch long. They were rubbed against stones +until they were polished smooth. A hole was bored through the center of +each bead with a flint instrument so that it could be strung on thread. +Much of this wampum was made by tribes who manufactured and carried on +commerce.</p> + +<p>The most common wampum, made of white shell, was called rhoanoke. In old +records wampum was sometimes referred to as "a chain of pearl." In a +Northumberland County record there is listed among the items in the +estate of "James Claughton, dec'd: Mr. Richard Thompson per order 20 +arms length of Rhoanoke." Another early settler of the Northern Neck, +Moore Fauntleroy, paid the Indians for his land "ten fathoms of peake" +and "thirty arms length of Rhoanoke."</p> + +<p>The English went so far as to import imitation wampum of white porcelain +for sale to the Indians.</p> + +<p>The early settlers also used beaver skins as currency. Northern Neck +records about 1656 show that Colonel Nathaniel Pope offered to go +security for John Washington "in beaver skins." Even hens were used for +currency.</p> + +<p>Tobacco soon became the most important currency in the colony. The words +of the old song—"Where money grows on white oak trees," was almost true +in Virginia for there tobacco was money and tobacco grew everywhere. +Instead of gold and silver the colonial had his "tobacco note." The +chief reason that metallic coin was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_45" id="page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> scarce throughout the whole +colonial period in Virginia was the fact that tobacco was currency.</p> + +<p>It seems that there was always a small stock of coin in the colony, but +it was either used in trade with other countries or it was hoarded by +the colonists. A Virginia county record of 1700 says that: "Spanish +money may not be exported out of this colony, but that it may pass +currently from man to man and that all pieces of eight pass for five +shillings specie."</p> + +<p>The most convenient metallic money in Virginia (1722-1835) was a +Portuguese gold coin called a johannes. A full johannes was called a +"half-joe," and a double johannes was called a "joe."</p> + +<p>As banking institutions were non-existent in the colony in the early +days, and as robbers sometimes lay in wait in the woods for a lone +horseman, travelers used to carry gold coins sewed under the lining of +their waistcoats or quilted into their coats.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_30" id="SECTION_30"></a><i>A PARADISE DISCOVERED</i></h3> + +<p>For several years the settlers at Chicacoan lived in a dream-like +paradise—ungoverned and untaxed.</p> + +<p>But this state of freedom could not last. News of the thriving young +settlement in the Northern Neck was probably carried to Jamestown by the +stream of travellers who plied back and forth along the waterways +between that city and St. Mary's in Maryland.</p> + +<p>How great the consternation must have been at Chicacoan when one day a +boat arrived from Jamestown. There may have been soldiers on board or +other representatives of the government. They brought a startling +message.</p> + +<p>The message was in the form of an Act passed by the House of Burgesses +at an Assembly in 1644. It said:</p> + +<p>"Whereas, the inhabitants of Chicawane, alias Northumberland, being +members of this colony, have not hitherto contributed toward the charges +of the war (with the Indians) it is now thought fit that the said +inhabitants do make payment of the levy according to such rates as are +by this present Assembly assessed."</p> + +<p>The rates were "for every 100 acres of land, 15 pounds tobacco; for +every cow above 3 years old, 15 pounds tobacco."</p> + +<p>But the real shock came at the end of the message: "And in case the said +inhabitants shall refuse or deny payment of the said levy, as above +expressed, that upon report thereof to the next Assembly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_46" id="page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> speedy course +shall be adopted to call them off the said Plantation."</p> + +<p>The settlers were no doubt infuriated at this command. They ignored it, +and continued to live in their independent way.</p> + +<p>John Mottrom, however, must have thought it high time to look into the +situation. In the fall of 1645 he sailed for Jamestown.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_31" id="SECTION_31"></a><i>A VISIT TO JAMESTOWN</i></h3> + +<p>Although a trip to Jamestown would have been an exciting change after +years of wilderness living, there is reason to believe that Mrs. Mottrom +did not accompany her husband to the capital city. She probably +supervised the preparation of food for the voyage, and packed his +clothes.</p> + +<p>John Mottrom's clothes were no doubt as fashionable as the English +tailors could furnish. Rich fabrics and bright colors were worn by +Virginia gentlemen of the seventeenth century, and they never seemed to +think that their "citified" garments looked out of place in the +primitive setting of the New World.</p> + +<p>Among the clothes that Mrs. Mottrom may have packed, there might have +been "a sea-green scarf edged with gold lace," a scarlet coat with +silver buttons, a camlet coat with sleeves ending in lace ruffles, a +pair of red slippers, a Turkey-worked waistcoat, a whole suit of +olive-color plush, silk stockings, a beaver hat, neckcloths of finest +holland and muslin, shoes with shining silver buckles, delicately +scented handkerchiefs of silk and lace, and a gold belt for her +husband's sword.</p> + +<p>The Mottrom household was probably on the bank of the Coan to wave +good-byes when the anchor was weighed and the sails of the shallop were +hoisted.</p> + +<p>Out of the Coan sailed the shallop, and into the Potomac. Out of the +Potomac into the Chesapeake. Then it was straight sailing down the Bay, +past the mouths of the Rappahannock and York, and finally, into the +James. It usually took four average sailing days to travel from the +Northern Neck to Jamestown.</p> + +<p>As the boat neared Jamestown Island John Mottrom could doubtless see the +orange-tiled roofs and tall red chimneys of the "citie," which had long +ago burst from its palisades and was now stretched for half a mile along +the river front, as well as backward into the swamps and meadows.</p> + +<p>He could no doubt see the tower of the new brick church, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_47" id="page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> east of it +the State House, which looked so "London-like" with its three steep +gable ends facing the river.</p> + +<p>Captain John Smith had written that the water here was deep "so neare +the shoare that they moored to the trees in six fathom water," but the +Mottrom boat may have tied up at Friggett Landing in the rear of the +Island. There were probably other vessels already tied up there, and +others still arriving for the Assembly.</p> + +<p>Mottrom may have seen a barge coming down from the upper James, loaded +with gaily dressed men and women—a Burgess or Councillor and his family +and retinue, perhaps.</p> + +<p>Once ashore John Mottrom probably took a walk to stretch his legs and +see what changes had taken place since he had last visited "James +Citie." He may have passed the new church, which was still unfinished, +and strolled along some of the narrow lanes. Outside the town there were +some "cart paths," and over some of the swamps there were bridges. Back +of the Island lay the forested Indian district of the "Passbyhaes."</p> + +<p>"New Towne" was the most thickly settled part of "James Citie." Most of +the houses were a story-and-a-half of "framed timber" with +steeply-pointed roofs of tile, and a few of slate. Each had its garden +and was enclosed with palings. The road along the river bank was edged +with mulberry trees.</p> + +<p>The State House, situated near the river and down stream from the +church, was probably the most imposing building in the town. It was +really three brick houses joined together in a row to form a block, like +the medieval gabled houses in London. Its windows were casements with +lattices of lead and diamond-shaped panes of greenish colored glass. The +place had a garden, fruit trees and vines, all enclosed by palings.</p> + +<p>This State House was the focal point of the government and the center of +social life at Jamestown. John Mottrom probably stayed there during his +visit for the governor, Sir William Berkeley, who lived in the building +on the western end, acted as host to all important visitors.</p> + +<p>The Assemblies, courts and councils were held in the "middlemost" of the +three houses. The Assembly would soon convene and the visitor from the +Northern Neck had come a long way to be present at that meeting of +November 20, 1645.</p> + +<p>We can imagine him there on that important day, sitting with that +dignified group of men, dressed in their rich bright garments, all with +their hats on in imitation of the House of Commons in far away England.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_48" id="page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>Little is known of what took place in that meeting that concerned +Chicacoan except that John Mottrom was accepted and recognized in this +Assembly as a Burgess from the "Plantation of Northumberland." It seems +that an English name was preferred instead of the Indian name for that +land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_32" id="SECTION_32"></a><i>FRANCES</i></h3> + +<p>Mrs. Mottrom probably did not accompany her husband to Jamestown because +in that same year a baby was born at Coan Hall.</p> + +<p>What a time that must have been in the wilderness household—the little +indentured English maids scurrying about with wooden pails of steaming +water, perhaps, and the curtains all drawn about the great bed, and John +Mottrom pacing the floor no doubt like any modern father-to-be!</p> + +<p>Frances Mottrom, for thus she was christened, may have been the first +white baby to have been born in the Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>The neighbors doubtless came to Coan Hall for a christening for it is a +matter of record that Colonel William Presley's wife was named as the +child's godmother. There must have been great cheer at the manor on that +occasion, and many toasts drunk from the same tankard. Maybe a whole +horn of metheglin was passed around in true medieval fashion to "speed +the parting guests."</p> + +<p>Frances probably lay in a wooden cradle with high paneled sides to keep +out draughts. Its logical place was near the fireplace where she would +be warm. She was doubtless clothed in white linen exquisitely +embroidered and made. Perhaps her six-year-old sister Anne rocked the +cradle now and then as she played around the floor, and little John +Mottrom may have peered into its shadows to look at her face.</p> + +<p>Among the first sounds that Frances knew were no doubt the ringing of +the axes in the forest from sunrise until sunset in winter, and at night +the howling of the wolves in the forest. The first light that she +remembered was probably the firelight and the light from pine-knot or +candle, or daylight filtered through diamond-paned windows of greenish +glass or oiled paper.</p> + +<p>One of the first familiar faces may have been that of her father's +friend, Marshvwap, King of Chickacoan.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_49" id="page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>Frances must have been a sturdy baby to have survived the cold, heat, +fevers, and all the other hazards to child-life in the seventeenth +century.</p> + +<p>When Frances was old enough to toddle about, Anne and John may have +played a game with her called "honey-pots," in which they carried her +about in a "chair" made by crossing hands, while they chanted:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Carry your honey-pot safe and sound<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or it will fall upon the ground."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A little later they may have jumped a hop-scotch, but if so, they called +it "scotch-hoppers." They probably played tag, ball, prisoner's base, +asked riddles and blew soap-bubbles, as these simple amusements dated +from medieval days.</p> + +<p>Children of the seventeenth century played games but had few toys. There +may have been a top to spin, and John probably played Indian with bow +and arrow and club. Anne, who had been born in England, may have brought +with her to the New World a stiff little puppet-like doll with a wooden +face and painted hair. Frances may have had a doll made of corn-shucks, +rags, corn-cobs or nuts. Or she may have had a doll like those of the +Indian children, made of rawhide, feathers and wood.</p> + +<p>The Mottrom children may have had wild animals for pets—a deer, a +squirrel, or a raccoon, perhaps. The children could not venture far into +the forest to play because of the dangers that lurked in its depths, but +they could stand at its edge and look down the aisles between the trees, +some of them "twenty feet round and Ninety high." In spring and summer +the forest floor was "bespred with divers flowers" and wild +strawberries. In winter they might glimpse a snowshoe rabbit flying over +the snow, or a herd of deer. We can imagine them there—three little +figures dressed in long clothes, exactly like those of their parents, +looking into the forest and pondering upon its mysteries.</p> + +<p>When Frances was nine years old, Colonel William Presley presented her +with "one cow calfe ... she being my wife's God daughter." This was +great potential wealth for a little girl! A cow over three years old was +at that time worth exactly the same as one hundred acres of land. +Frances probably thought of the "cow calfe" only in terms of milk and +butter and future cakes that might be baked. She may have named the calf +Pansy, Daisy, Cinnamon or Nutmeg, as such names were then popular for +cows.</p> + +<p>As Frances grew older there was little time for play. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_50" id="page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> Mottrom +household was doubtless astir by daybreak. We can picture the sleepy +child pushing aside the heavy red or green curtains of linsey-woolsey +that surrounded her bed, or if it was summer, the hangings of "muskitoe" +net.</p> + +<p>Her toilet equipment was no doubt simple—a basin and ewer, and a "pot +de chambre," all of pewter. She may have owned a gilded hand +looking-glass and a comb of ivory or horn. She washed her face with +home-made soap which may have been soft or, more likely, a hard green +soap made from the berries of "sweet myrtle."</p> + +<p>Frances' clothes were probably kept in a "case of drawers." Her everyday +dress was perhaps of blue holland, but for special occasions she wore +silk or brocade. In either case the skirt was full and long. Over this +she wore a white linen apron with bib, and on her head a close-fitting +cap of white linen. The latter was always worn by little children at +that time, and sometimes the cap was beautifully embroidered. When +Frances went out-of-doors she probably wore a loose silken hood over the +cap.</p> + +<p>Her hair, if she was fashionable, was cut in bangs across her forehead +with long flowing locks in front dropping forward on her chest. Her back +hair was stuffed out of sight in the cap.</p> + +<p>After she had dressed Frances probably ate a simple breakfast of +porridge from a wooden bowl with a pewter spoon. Anne and John probably +ate their breakfasts from the same bowl with their pewter spoons.</p> + +<p>Lessons may have come next. Education was simple then, especially for +girls—"bookes to bee learned of children" were "abcies" and primers, +then the Psalms in metre, then the Testament. Frances' teacher may have +been her mother or an indentured servant.</p> + +<p>Little girls were taught to knit as soon as they could hold the needles. +Frances probably knitted stockings and mittens when she was four or five +years old. Children also made quilt-pieces. Girls did household chores +and learned early the duties of a housewife.</p> + +<p>Anne was old enough now to embroider the family coat-of-arms, or to +paint it on glass in rich colors. Young girls in the families of +seventeenth century gentlefolk spent much time in the study of heraldry.</p> + +<p>Frances may have been taught to play a musical instrument—the hand +lyre, hautboy or virginal. The latter was most commonly used by young +girls, from which its name was derived. It was a small rectangular +spinet without legs.</p> + +<p>John may have played the flute. We can imagine him earnestly playing for +guests at Coan Hall, dressed in his best, which probably<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_51" id="page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> would have +been a dark suit with a white square collar, the pants ending in +light-colored ruffles that fell over his boottops. From under his +wide-brimmed hat, which he would wear indoors on such occasions, his +hair probably fell to his shoulders, with bangs on his forehead.</p> + +<p>It is safe in assuming that the Mottrom children looked forward to +guests for they doubtless liked to listen to the talk around the +fireplace. Here the men discussed taxes, the colonial government, the +English King and his followers who were called Cavaliers. They talked of +witchcraft, ghosts, wolves, Indians and the Assembly at "James Citie."</p> + +<p>Did all this talk make little Frances long to visit Jamestown and see +the fine ladies who came from their plantations with their husbands at +the time of the Assemblies? If so, her dream was one day to come true. +She would not only visit Jamestown and see the ladies in their silks and +satins but she would be one of them. For Frances Mottrom was destined to +leave her wilderness home some day and become the first lady not only of +Jamestown, but of the whole Colony of Virginia.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_33" id="SECTION_33"></a><i>FOREVER LOST</i></h3> + +<p>Although John Mottrom was recognized at Jamestown in the Assembly of +November 20, 1645 as a Burgess from the "Plantation of Northumberland," +Chicacoan was not established as a county and the order concerning taxes +was not changed. The settlers continued to ignore the order and went on +living as usual in their independent way.</p> + +<p>In 1647, the Assembly passed another act for the "reducing of the +inhabitants of Chicacoan and the other parts of the Neck of Land between +the Rappahannock and the Potomack River."</p> + +<p>This must have been an unhappy and unsettled time at Chicacoan, but in +some way a compromise was reached the following year. In 1648, the +Assembly repealed the act for "reducing the inhabitants of Chicacoan," +and enacted instead that "the said tract of land be hereafter called and +knowne by the name of the Countie of Northumberland and from henceforth +they have power of electing Burgesses for the said county."</p> + +<p>The settlers of the Northern Neck had now gained representation in the +colonial government but the price they were forced to pay for it was +dear—their tax-free paradise was forever lost.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_52" id="page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_34" id="SECTION_34"></a><i>URSULA</i></h3> + +<p>John Mottrom's wife may ever remain a mystery. There seems to be no clue +to her personality, no facts that would make her into a flesh and blood +woman. Even her name is unknown. She was John Mottrom's wife and the +mother of his three children, Anne, John and Frances. The records +disclose not even a crumb more.</p> + +<p>Between the years 1645 and 1655 Mrs. Mottrom passed away. She may have +died in childbirth when Frances was born, or shortly thereafter. It was +after her death that Ursula came into the life of John Mottrom.</p> + +<p>Ursula Bish Thompson had been among the refugees who fled to Coan from +the "Citie of St. Mary's." Her husband, Richard Thompson, was now dead. +A young widow's position in a frontier community was dangerous and +insecure and quick remarriages were a practical necessity. John Mottrom, +the widower, was in urgent need of someone to look after his children +and home. Ursula and John were married.</p> + +<p>Ursula probably brought the Thompson children with her to live at Coan +Hall. Colonial households more often than not included several groups of +children by former marriages.</p> + +<p>Ursula's name reveals the fact that she was British, named perhaps for +the martyred princess, St. Ursula. The facts of her later career assure +us that she was a healthy and attractive woman.</p> + +<p>As the wife of a prominent man of the colony it was Ursula's duty to +hold to the high standard of living that had been transferred from +England to this wilderness, and to maintain this standard it was +necessary for all to work from morning until night.</p> + +<p>Ursula doubtless loved the gay rich clothes that were so fashionable at +this period. Her wardrobe may have included a pair of scarlet sleeves, a +petticoat of flowered tabby and several pairs of green stockings.</p> + +<p>We can imagine Ursula hustling about at Coan Hall, her clothes a blur of +brightness, as she supervised the servants, disciplined the children, +twirled the roast of venison on the spit in passing, or lowered her +candle or betty-lamp into the cooking pot to see if the stew was ready.</p> + +<p>The rooms of Coan Hall were probably part "waynscot" and part "daubed +and whitelimed," the latter plaster being made from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_53" id="page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> plentiful +oyster shells. The woodwork may have been painted "deep blued olive +green" or "dragon's blood."</p> + +<p>The rooms of seventeenth century houses were usually identified by +names, such as "the outward," "the lodging," "the chamber," and so on.</p> + +<p>The kitchen and pantry were probably detached or in a wing. This was the +busiest and coziest spot in all early homes, and the hearth was its +glowing heart. There were the fire-dogs holding the big logs and the +little andirons used with them called "creepers." On pothooks and +trammels hung the brass and copper kettles, some with a fifteen gallon +capacity, and that most beloved pot of iron, which sometimes weighed as +much as forty pounds. In summer when a large part of the cooking was +done out-of-doors this iron kettle was the main utensil used.</p> + +<p>A boiler of copper and brass may have been imbedded in brick and mortar +and heated from beneath for the purpose of brewing the ale that was so +necessary to a transplanted Englishman.</p> + +<p>When the chimney was built there was usually a brick oven on one side. +This oven was as a rule heated once a week. Convenient to the oven was a +long-handled shovel called a peel, which was used for placing the dough +in the oven, or for tossing it on cabbage or oak leaves which were often +used instead of pans.</p> + +<p>The simplest way of roasting a fowl or joint of meat was to suspend it +in front of the fire by a hempen string.</p> + +<p>The laundry was allowed to accumulate into great monthly washings. This +seems to have been the custom for a hundred years after the colony was +first settled. Soft soap was made by the barrel from refuse grease and +wood ashes. This soap was used for the laundry but a toilet soap was +made from the bayberry, or "sweet myrtle," as it was called in Virginia. +Candles were also made from the myrtle berries, and from tallow. The +myrtle berry candles were prettier and more fragrant.</p> + +<p>The brick-floored milkhouse at these early plantations was a separate +building. Besides the milk pails, bowls, skimmers and churn, this house +was a storage place for pewter that needed repairing, powdering tubs for +salting meat, rum casks, spinning-wheels, chamber pots, fish kettles, +stillyards, hides, tanned leather and so on.</p> + +<p>Brooms were made at home, and turkey wings were saved for brushing the +hearth.</p> + +<p>Perhaps another duty of Ursula and her indentured maids was the picking +of the tame geese. Their feathers were more valuable to the colonists +than their meat. Goose feathers were prized for beds<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_54" id="page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> and pillows, which +were handed down as heirlooms. The feathers were stripped from the live +geese three or four times a year, but the quills, which were used for +pens, were never pulled but once. Ursula probably dreaded goose-picking +because it was a hard and cruel work. Feathers from wildfowl were also +carefully saved for beds and pillows.</p> + +<p>Probably the last chore on a winter's night was the warming of the beds. +The brass or copper warming pan with its long handle hung by the +fireplace where it reflected the firelight. At bedtime, which was early, +the pan was filled with hot coals and thrust within the beds and moved +rapidly back and forth so as to warm the bed but not burn the linen. +Sometimes a large chafing-dish was used in the bed-chambers for +"knocking the chill off" the ice-cold room.</p> + +<p>And so at last, after the last chore had been attended to, Ursula could +crawl between the warm sheets, pull up her quilt, or leather coverlet, +and fall into a well-earned sleep.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_35" id="SECTION_35"></a><i>THE YARD</i></h3> + +<p>The surroundings of a seventeenth century planter's house, such as Coan +Hall, were simple, lacking in ornament of any kind.</p> + +<p>Near the back door was a garden in which vegetables and a few simple +flowers grew side by side. Real flower gardens were not developed until +the next century.</p> + +<p>Some flax and hemp were probably included in the garden at Coan. And +herbs, such as thyme, rosemary and marjoram were considered almost a +necessity at that time.</p> + +<p>There was usually an orchard, containing a few apple, pear, cherry and +peach trees.</p> + +<p>There may have been a dovecote at Coan Hall. There must certainly have +been a tall pole in the yard with a bee-martin's house on top, for these +birds notified the settler and his household of the approach of hawks +and other enemies of the poultry. They were the watch-dogs of the yard. +There may have been a few birdhouses made Indian fashion of gourds.</p> + +<p>The planter's dwelling, even though it was little and plain, sometimes +no larger than 24 × 24, was referred to as the "manor house," "great +house" or "mansion," in order to distinguish it from its<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_55" id="page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> dependencies, +the kitchen, milkhouse, smokehouse, henhouse, stable, barn and cabins +for servants.</p> + +<p>According to an early order by the Assembly, all dwelling houses +throughout the Colony of Virginia must be palisaded. This order was +still in effect when Coan Hall was built, but as the Indians were +friendly in this region and there was no one at Chicacoan to enforce the +law, the yard may have been surrounded by a stout fence of locust +instead, or by palings to keep out hogs and cattle which wandered +without restraint.</p> + +<p>Needless to say, a bubbling spring was somewhere close by the dwelling, +and perhaps a gourd dipper.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_36" id="SECTION_36"></a><i>KITTAMAQUND</i></h3> + +<p>Pocahontas was not the only Indian girl of royal blood who once lived in +the Northern Neck. Kittamaqund, too, lived for awhile, died and, it is +believed, was buried in the land between the Rappahannock and the +Potomac.</p> + +<p>Kittamaqund was the only child of the Tayac, or Emperor, of the +Piscataway Indians. Their village was located on Piscataway Creek on the +Maryland side of the Potomac. At this point the Potomac, which separated +the Province of Maryland from the Colony of Virginia, was less than a +mile wide.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1640 Father Andrew White, a Catholic missionary, came +to "Piscatoe" to baptize the Indians. Among those whom Father White +baptized were the Emperor and his wife.</p> + +<p>Shortly after the missionary's visit, the Emperor brought his +seven-year-old daughter, Kittamaqund, to St. Mary's "Citie," Maryland, +and put her in the care of Father White. He loved his daughter very +dearly and he wanted her to be educated and "when she shall well +understand the Christian mysteries, to be washed in the sacred font of +baptism."</p> + +<p>The "little Empress," as she was called by the settlers, was adopted by +Mistress Margaret Brent of St. Mary's. By 1642 Kittamaqund had become +"proficient in the English language" and she was baptized by Father +White at that time and given the Christian name Mary.</p> + +<p>Before long romance took a hand in the situation. Mistress Margaret had +a brother, Giles Brent, who had left England with her on the ship +<i>Elizabeth</i> in 1638, and they had arrived together at St.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_56" id="page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> Mary's. Giles +had been born in Gloucestershire, England, about 1600.</p> + +<p>Giles and the little Indian "Empress" were married when she was about +twelve years old. Giles had a home on Kent Island where they lived for +part of the year and the rest of the year they stayed with Margaret at +her home "in St. Maries, where he had certain goods etc."—"divers cattle +and other commodities ... linen, shoes, stockings, sugar ... and also a +little cabbonett containing Jewels etc."</p> + +<p>About 1646 Giles took his Indian bride and crossed the Potomac to the +Northern Neck of Virginia. He settled on the north shore of Aquia Creek +and there built a house which he called Peace. This name seems to +indicate that he may have had troubles, probably religious persecution, +in Maryland. He had also failed in his attempt to claim Kittamaqund's +royal domain, which was most of Maryland.</p> + +<p>The home of Giles and Kittamaqund in the Northern Neck was in the midst +of the wilderness. They were the northernmost English residents in +Virginia. When in 1651 settlers pushed northward to patent land above +the Brent home they all stopped at Peace for refreshments and +information. It was the point of departure into the unknown.</p> + +<p>Giles built another home in the same region which he called Retirement. +Their second son, Giles, was born there.</p> + +<p>Giles traded with the Indians and continued to keep open house for the +settlers from the southern region. He also patented thousands of acres +of land in Westmoreland and Northumberland.</p> + +<p>Kittamaqund, the little wilderness flower, wilted and died before she +scarcely had time to blossom. She left three children, Richard, Giles +and Mary. Before she died Kittamaqund made a deed of gift to her +daughter of her inheritance in Maryland, since she herself had no +brother or sister to inherit it.</p> + +<p>Giles again laid claim to most of Maryland in his daughter's name, but +the Indians opposed the claim as being contrary to their tribal customs. +They chose a king of their own instead.</p> + +<p>Thus Kittamaqund lost her royal heritage. According to traditions she +was buried somewhere in the upper Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>Giles Brent became a great landowner in his own right. He was largely +responsible for opening up the northern part of the "Chicakoun country" +to the white settlers. His homes at Peace and later at Retirement were +outposts of civilization.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_57" id="page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_37" id="SECTION_37"></a><i>THE GIFT</i></h3> + +<p>While the settlers of the Northern Neck of Virginia were hacking away at +the forest, planting crops in the land thus cleared and building houses +of the felled timber, events were taking place across the sea that would +eventually change the history and culture of the land between the +Rappahannock and the Potomac.</p> + +<p>For some time a civil war had been in progress in England and early in +the year of 1649 Charles I was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell's men. A new +government, known as the Commonwealth, was immediately established in +England, under the direction of Cromwell.</p> + +<p>The late king's oldest son, Charles, had escaped from England and was +now living in exile in France. His misfortune was shared there by some +of his father's supporters, who now had plenty of time to brood over +their lost estates back in England. These gentlemen with the flowing +hair had little left except the clothes on their backs, plumed hats and +buckled boots. Some of them were walking the streets of Paris in search +of cheap board and lodging, for which they would pay with their +jewels—pawned or sold. Some had already gotten into the clutches of +money-lenders. Their only hope was that Charles would be restored some +day to the throne of England.</p> + +<p>Charles wished that he could in some way repay these noblemen, soldiers, +diplomats and favorites of his parents who had proved their loyalty. But +what, he may have wondered, did he have to give? Apparently nothing +remained. Then he thought of land—other land to replace the estates his +followers had lost. This was not a new idea of his own for the English +government had at times awarded frontier lands to deserving soldiers.</p> + +<p>But where could lands-to-give-away be found? It was then that Charles +remembered the colony across the sea—Virginia. That was the answer—a +slice of the Virginia wilderness as a grant to his courtiers!</p> + +<p>Charles apparently knew little about Virginia, or about the size of the +slice which he selected as a gift to his friends—"all that entire +Tract, Territory, or porcon of Land situate, lying and beeing in +America, and bounded by and within the heads of the Rivers of +Rappahannock and Patawomecke," and "said Rivers."</p> + +<p>A patent was written, dated September 18, 1649, at St. Germaine-en-Laye, +France. It was written in close fine writing on both sides of a small +piece of parchment and bore "Our Great Seale of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_58" id="page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> England." Charles +signed it simply in the upper left-hand corner of the front page +"Charles R." Thus the deed was done.</p> + +<p>True, the grant was worthless unless Charles was restored to the throne +of England, which event seemed improbable at the moment. However, he had +paid off his obligations as best he could. The courtiers may have +appreciated his gesture but some of them placed no value on their part +of the patent.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, back in Virginia the colonists went on as usual for news was +slow in crossing the ocean. The pioneers of the Northern Neck had their +own problems—fevers and bloody flux, Indians, wolves, witches, and +taxes to be paid to the Colonial Government at Jamestown. It would be a +long time before they would know that their land had been given away +lock, stock and barrel, for Charles had given his followers not only the +land and the rivers, but all rights pertaining to them, even to the +"wild beasts and fowle," the fish and the "wrecks of the Sea."</p> + +<p>And should the grant ever become valid, future generations in the +Northern Neck would have landlords over them and pay rent for the land +that their forefathers had believed to be their own.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_38" id="SECTION_38"></a><i>THE CAVALIERS</i></h3> + +<p>A man stood on the deck of the <i>Virginia Merchant</i>, a leaky English +vessel bound for Jamestown. He had once been a fine gentleman, clothed +in satin and velvet and gold lace. His beard had been trimmed to a peak, +with small upturned mustaches, and his shoulder length hair had been +curled and perfumed. "Love-locks" his curls were called.</p> + +<p>Now the velvet was stained and the lace tarnished and his silver buckles +looked more like pewter. The plumes on his hat dangled against his +salt-matted hair. The ship was loaded with men just like him. In England +they were called Cavaliers because they had been loyal followers of the +King. A writer of that time described these Cavaliers as "of the best +material in England"—the nobility, the clergy, the landed gentry and +officers in the King's army.</p> + +<p>Tradition says that there were three hundred and thirty Cavaliers on +board the <i>Virginia Merchant</i>. This number included the wives and +children, and probably the ship's company.</p> + +<p>The voyage had been a nightmare. Rats lived in the dark cabins with the +people, and when the cabin doors were opened a stench<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_59" id="page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> rushed out. Some +lay ill from the ship's diet of "pease-porridge" and salt beef. Worms +wriggled in the cheese and hard bread that was called ship's biscuits. +And there was not even enough of this food to last the trip.</p> + +<p>Desperation had driven these people to make this voyage, and they were +lucky to have the six pounds to pay their passage. Their England was no +longer good for them. It was a place to "fly from ... as from a place +infected with the plague." Some of their comrades were now rotting in +English prisons, their estates confiscated and sold to members of +Cromwell's party.</p> + +<p>Virginia seemed to be the only "city of refuge" left in his Majesty's +dominions. When the <i>Virginia Merchant</i> at last arrived at Jamestown the +Cavaliers were received with open arms by the colonists, whose sympathy +was predominantly with the royalist cause. Still other Cavaliers reached +Virginia from time to time during Cromwell's reign in England.</p> + +<p>The <i>Virginia Merchant</i> had sailed from the Old World about the middle +of September 1649. This was almost exactly the same time that the exile +in France was affixing his signature to a bit of parchment. Both +incidents were destined to change the pattern of life in the Northern +Neck of Virginia.</p> + +<p>A number of the Cavaliers settled in the Neck, bringing with them into +the wilderness the grace and manners of the English Court and the way of +life of the English country gentleman.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_39" id="SECTION_39"></a>"<i>CHARLIE-OVER-THE-WATER</i>"</h3> + +<p>In the spring of 1650 a small Dutch vessel, according to one tradition, +was bucking her way across the Atlantic. On board was a young man named +Richard Lee. Richard had arranged this trip and "freighted" the vessel +himself, it was said, and he was now on his way to visit England's royal +exile who was at this time living in Brussels.</p> + +<p>In Richard's pocket, the story goes, was Sir William "Barcklaie's" +commission for the government of Virginia, which hadn't been worth a +shilling since the execution of England's late King. But Sir William and +Richard, who was his Secretary of State, were determined to hold the +colony firm in its allegiance to "Charlie-Over-The-Water."</p> + +<p>Richard arrived safely in Breda and made himself known to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_60" id="page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> Charles. +Thereafter, it is said, a little comedy ensued which we can imagine.</p> + +<p>The gentleman from Virginia, dressed in his finest trappings, kneels +before the exiled prince and surrenders the Governor's commission. He +then in flowery words extends a warm invitation to Charles to return +with him to the New World and become "King of Virginia."</p> + +<p>Charles is pleased, but he has other plans. Bigger plans. He thanks +Richard and graciously presents him with a new commission for Governor +Berkeley, which isn't worth the paper on which it is written.</p> + +<p>After this little farce was attended to, Richard Lee, tradition says, +returned to Jamestown to deliver the commission to Governor Berkeley. +Richard was probably disappointed with the unsatisfactory outcome of his +mission.</p> + +<p>How different the history of the New World would have been if Richard +Lee had brought Charles back with him to be crowned "King of Virginia!"</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_40" id="SECTION_40"></a><i>THE LEGACY</i></h3> + +<p>It was a place especially dear to the Indians. They were still in the +region when Richard Lee built his simple home in the wilderness.</p> + +<p>He chose for his home site a neck of land in the southeastern part of +Northumberland County. A creek flowed in here from the Chesapeake and +divided into two parts. The neck was between these two branches of the +creek. Richard called the estuary, Dividing Creek, and he named his +home, Cobbs Hall.</p> + +<p>It was wild and beautiful at Dividing Creek. The primeval forest with +its savages and "beastes" was so close, and out in front the Creek led +directly into the Bay—a highway to any place in the world. The Creek +was deep so that foreign ships could come right up to his wharf and take +away the loads of tobacco that this fertile soil would grow.</p> + +<p>Richard knew that in this New World land was wealth, so he began to +acquire land by purchase of head-rights. He acquired land along the +Potomac from its mouth to the site that later became Washington. He had +laid the foundation for the future Lees of Virginia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_61" id="page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<p>Richard Lee represented Northumberland in the House of Burgesses at +Jamestown in 1651, which establishes the fact that he was living in the +Northern Neck at that early date. He was also a justice, a member of the +King's Council and Secretary of the Colony.</p> + +<p>Richard had business interests abroad and he lived there part of the +time. He owned partnerships in several ships, he was a tobacco merchant +in London with his own warehouse and counting-house. He crossed and +re-crossed the Atlantic almost as often as a modern American tycoon.</p> + +<p>A London merchant at that time held a high social rating. In England he +owned a country estate three miles from London. Whether Richard had +inherited the estate or purchased it himself is not known. This was the +property that caused him to sign his will, "lately of Stratford-Langton +in the County of Essex, Esquire." The "Esquire" signified that he was +the proprietor of land with tenants of his own.</p> + +<p>Each morning Richard's coach appeared at his door and he emerged +"silver-buckled and knee-breeched" and rumbled away along the road +called "Strat-by-ford" toward London and his counting-house. And back +again each evening, just like a modern American business man shuttling +between his city office and his suburban home. But Richard finally sold +his home and furnishings in England and returned to his home at Dividing +Creek.</p> + +<p>Richard Lee was the largest landowner in Virginia at the time of his +death in 1664. He left his family firmly established with probably more +than thirteen thousand acres of virgin tobacco land. He left his son, +Hancock, land near Cobbs Hall. This son established his home there, +called Ditchley.</p> + +<p>Richard Lee stated in his will that he desired his family to live in +Virginia. Perhaps after all that was his greatest legacy to his family. +It turned out to be an important legacy not only to the Northern Neck, +but to the American nation.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_41" id="SECTION_41"></a><i>THE INDIAN DEED</i></h3> + +<p>Perhaps one of the strangest deeds on record is the one signed by +Accopatough, King of the Rappahannock Indians.</p> + +<p>An Englishman named Moore Fauntleroy came to the Northern Neck about +1650, settling on the Rappahannock, rather far up from its mouth. He +must have been very exact in his business dealings,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_62" id="page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> because when he +purchased a tract of land from the Indians it was conveyed to him by a +written deed, dated April 4, 1651, and signed by:</p> + +<p>"Accopatough, the true and right Born King of the Indians of Rappahannoc +Town and Towns."</p> + +<p>For the land, it is said, Fauntleroy paid the Indians "ten fathoms of +peake and thirty arms lengths of Rhoanoke." The tract is said to have +been a vast domain which extended from the Rappahannock to the Potomac +and some distance along both rivers.</p> + +<p>Later, after the Northern Neck became a proprietary, Moore Fauntleroy +had his Indian deed confirmed at Jamestown:</p> + +<p>"Act I, the grande assemblie at James Cittie, Va., the 23rd March, +1660-1; Sir William Berkeley, his Majesties Governor, 13th year of +Charles II."</p> + +<p>Fauntleroy's "ancient mansion seat" was located on the Rappahannock, +above Cat Point Creek, and it was known as Naylor's Hole. This section +of the Neck was established as Richmond County in 1692.</p> + +<p>Colonel Moore Fauntleroy was said to have been the great-great grandson +of Edward Lord Stourton. He came to the Northern Neck during the +Cavalier migration.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_42" id="SECTION_42"></a><i>A SUMMONS TO JAMESTOWN</i></h3> + +<p>After the county of Northumberland was created from Chicacoan, John +Mottrom had many extra duties. As a justice he held court at Coan Hall. +A unit of militia had been formed and he had been named by Governor +Berkeley as its chief officer—it was <i>Colonel</i> Mottrom, now!</p> + +<p>On the river just above Coan Hall Colonel Mottrom had started the +nucleus of what he hoped would be a future town. He had built there the +first wharf and the first warehouse in the Northern Neck. He had plans +for a "Brew-house" where "ye good ale of England" might be had.</p> + +<p>His activities were interrupted in the spring of 1652 by a summons from +the Governor to appear at a meeting of the House of Burgesses.</p> + +<p>The grapevine said that danger threatened the colony. It said that +Cromwell's government had sent "a powerful fleet" from England with "a +considerable body of land forces on board" and that the vessels had +already arrived and had cast anchor before<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_63" id="page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> Jamestown. It said that the +Governor himself was saying that the strangers were pirates and robbers +who had come to steal the lands of the colonists.</p> + +<p>Colonel Mottrom may have had two other burgesses to keep him company on +this trip—George Fletcher from Northumberland, and Francis Willis from +the newly organized county of Lancaster.</p> + +<p>When Colonel Mottrom arrived within sight of the Island, he could +probably see that the royal standard was still flying above the town, +even though the English warship <i>Guinea</i> and her armed fleet of +merchantmen had weighed anchor and were moving in closer.</p> + +<p>All was astir at Jamestown, especially in the State House. The +"middlemost" of the "stack" of brick buildings was like a busy hive, +with burgesses pouring in and out, and conversing in agitated groups, +while they warmed themselves before the fireplaces in the two rooms.</p> + +<p>Governor Berkeley was very much disturbed. Ever loyal to the Crown, he +had boasted that Cromwell's forces would not risk an attack on the +colony. But to be on the safe side, Sir William had, during the fall and +winter, reinforced his defenses. The militia, which he had called up, +was strengthened by the veteran Cavaliers from the King's army who had +so recently come to the colony. He had the promise of help from five +hundred Indian braves, and several armed Dutch ships which were lying in +the river were pressed into service.</p> + +<p>In spite of these plans for defensive measures the House of Burgesses +showed no enthusiasm for going into active warfare. They reasoned that +the loyalty of the Indian allies might be uncertain, and the presence of +the enemy fleet in the James was but a reminder of England's sea power. +The Governor was finally persuaded to disband his small army.</p> + +<p>An agreement was signed on March 12, 1652, between the commissioners +from the Commonwealth of England and the "Governor and counsel for a +cessation of Arms."</p> + +<p>This was probably the most stirring event ever associated with the first +State House at Jamestown.</p> + +<p>The agreement was favorable to Virginia, even though the colony was +subdued. Most of the essential liberties of the colonials were retained. +One of Cromwell's commissioners, Richard Bennett, was chosen as Governor +by the Assembly.</p> + +<p>Sir William had refused to serve under the Commonwealth. He retired to +his estate, Green Spring, near Jamestown, where he could entertain +Cavalier guests and drink toasts to King Charles as much as he pleased.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_64" id="page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_43" id="SECTION_43"></a><i>THE OATH</i></h3> + +<p>When Colonel Mottrom and the other burgesses from the Northern Neck +returned home from Jamestown after the treaty with Cromwell's +commissioners had been made, they brought news that every "white male" +in the colony would be required to take an oath of loyalty to this new +government in England. If any should refuse to do so they would have to +move away within a year.</p> + +<p>As the news traveled into the creeks and coves to the homes of the +planters on the fringes of the wilderness, we can visualize the +reluctant men of Northumberland straggling along to "Cone"—in shallops, +sloops, barges, canoes, and perhaps a few on horseback. A disgruntled +lot no doubt.</p> + +<p>But "within the year" of 1652, one hundred "white males" had signed a +statement at Coan which said that they would be "true and faithful to +the Commonwealth of England as it is established without King or House +of Lords."</p> + +<p>Under the treaty the people might toast the late King in private as much +as they liked, but no public stand against the Commonwealth would be +tolerated.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_44" id="SECTION_44"></a><i>COUNTY OFFICERS</i></h3> + +<p>The highest office in the county was that of county lieutenant. In early +records he was called "Commander of Plantations." In England this office +was usually held by a knight, and in Virginia it was always conferred on +the class of "gentlemen," and they were chosen usually from the large +landholders. He was appointed directly by the governor.</p> + +<p>The county lieutenant commanded the militia, with the rank of colonel, +and was entitled to a seat in the Council, and as such was a judge of +the General Court. His powers were great in the civil and military +control of the county. He presided over the county courts at the head of +the justices.</p> + +<p>The executive officer of the county court was the sheriff. The judges in +this court were called justices of the peace. They were important men +and had almost entire control of the affairs of the county. They were +chosen from the gentlemen class of the community and received their +commissions from the governor with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_65" id="page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> advice of the Council. They +received no compensation for their services, the office being considered +one of honor, not of profit. In this way a high standard of men were +obtained for this important office.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_45" id="SECTION_45"></a><i>EPRAPHRODIBUS'S WILL</i></h3> + +<p>In 1640 a patent was granted to Epraphrodibus Lawson, in Tarrascoe Neck +Chuckeytuck Parish, Nansemond County. Lawson must have migrated to the +Northern Neck. His will was recorded there, in Lancaster County, in +1652. It is believed to be the oldest recorded will in the United +States. The will follows:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"In the name of God, Amen, I Epraphrodibus Lawson, of Rappahannock, +being sick of body, but of perfect memory, Glory be to God, do make this +my last will and testament. I make and ordain, ye child of my wife ... +my heir ... my wife ... third ... March 31st, 1652.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Epraphrodibus Lawson.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Witness:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">"Elos Lors,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">"Joan Lee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">"Wm. Harper,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">"Recorded June, 1652.<br /></span> +<span class="i8">"G. John Phillips."<br /></span> +</div></div> +</blockquote> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_46" id="SECTION_46"></a><i>THE CHALLENGE</i></h3> + +<p>Young Richard Denham almost broke up the Lancaster County court when he +burst into the room bearing a message that challenged Mr. Daniel Fox to +a duel.</p> + +<p>The court was being held in the home of one of the justices as no +court-house had yet been built for the new county. Lancaster had been +formed from Northumberland in 1651. The date of the present court was +about 1653.</p> + +<p>Richard bore the challenge from his father-in-law, Captain Thomas +Hackett. It ran as follows:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Fox, I wonder ye should so much degenerate from a gentleman<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_66" id="page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> as to +cast such an aspersion on me in open Court, making nothinge appear but I +knowe it to be out of malice and an evil disposition which remains in +your hearte, therefore, I desire ye if ye have anything of a gentleman +or of manhood in ye to meet me on Tuesday morninge at ye marked tree in +ye valey which partes yr lande and mine, about eight of ye clocke, where +I shall expect ye comeinge to give me satisfaction. My weapon is rapier, +ye length I send ye by bearer; not yours present, but yours at ye time +appointed. THOMAS HACKETT. Ye seconde bringe along with ye if ye please. +I shall finde me of ye like."</p> + +<p>This message could not have been delivered at a worse time or place, for +Mr. Fox, a justice, was at the time sitting on the bench with his fellow +justices. That dignified group, dressed in their velvets and gold lace, +were shocked by the lad's audacity.</p> + +<p>One of the justices, John Carter, sharply scolded Richard—"saying that +he knew not how his father would acquit himself on an action of that +nature which he said he would not be ye owner of for a world."</p> + +<p>Richard answered in a slighting way "that his father would answer it +well enough!"</p> + +<p>When sternly questioned by the court, Richard admitted that he knew that +the message he bore was a challenge. He then boldly demanded of Fox what +answer he proposed to send back to Captain Hackett.</p> + +<p>The court then made a quick and emphatic decision that Richard was "a +partye with his father-in-law in ye crime," and that for bringing the +challenge, whose character he well knew, and for delivering it while the +justices were sitting, as well as for his contemptuous manner and bold +words he was "adjudged"—"to receive six stripes on his bare shoulders +with a whip," at the hands of the sheriff.</p> + +<p>The sheriff was then directed to arrest Captain Hackett and have him +"detained in safe custody without baile" until he should "answer for his +crimes" at the next session of the General Court at Jamestown.</p> + +<p>Thus a duel was averted, and Mr. Fox did not meet Captain Hackett "in ye +valey." The valley was probably chosen by Captain Hackett so that the +duel could take place without observation or interruption, and it was +the dividing line between their estates.</p> + +<p>Hackett was scrupulous to inform Fox of the length of the rapier he +intended to use, but had he followed regulations exactly, he would have +left the selection of the weapon to his opponent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_67" id="page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_47" id="SECTION_47"></a><i>TRADE</i></h3> + +<p>In the early days the Northern Neck carried on trade with various places +besides England. Lancaster County seems to have been especially active +in this trade. From the following record it appears that tobacco and +grain were not the only articles used in trading with the Barbadoes: "In +1686 the sloop Happy transported from Lancaster County to that island, 2 +firkins of butter, 2 barrels of pork, and 22 sides of tanned leather, in +addition to 144 bushels of Indian corn." Trade to the West Indies was +conducted in small Virginia-built sloops.</p> + +<p>The Dutch brought to the Neck to exchange for tobacco such things as +linen, coarse cloth, beer, brandy and "other distilled spirits." In 1653 +Henry Mountford of Rotterdam appointed an agent in Lancaster. About the +same time, Jacobis Vis had "important transactions in exchange of +merchandise for tobacco in the counties of the Northern Neck." It was +said by the Dutch that Virginians could beat them in a deal.</p> + +<p>A letter from Captain James Barton of New England to a citizen of +Lancaster indicates that there was commerce between these places. Barton +stated in the letter that he wished to secure a cargo of tobacco, hides +and pork for market in the Barbadoes. His ketch, with a cargo of rum, +salt, sugar, cloth and salted cod and mackerel, would sail from Salem +and exchange cargoes in Virginia and then continue to the West Indies. +Boats from the West Indies sailed to Virginia and then on to New +England.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_48" id="SECTION_48"></a><i>THE COLONIAL SAILOR</i></h3> + +<p>A sailor was always a source of interest to the public in colonial days, +whether he wore his tarry working clothes or his shore outfit. There was +the aura of foreign lands about him—he brought stories of far places to +the news-hungry colonists of the New World.</p> + +<p>On shore the sailor was a glamorous figure in his flapping trousers, +scarlet sash and cutlasses, or dressed "in a strange habitt with a +four-cornered Capp instead of a hatt and his Breeches hung with Ribbons +from Wast downward a great depth, one over the other like Shingles of a +house." He wore his pigtail shoved into an eelskin, which was supposed +to make his hair grow longer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_68" id="page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_49" id="SECTION_49"></a><i>JOHN CARTER</i></h3> + +<p>One day in the year 1654 the frontier home of Thomas Meade on the +Rappahannock, in Lancaster County, was the focal point toward which the +men of the Northern Neck were converging. Some came galloping on +horseback between the big forest trees and others probably came by +sloop.</p> + +<p>The Assembly at Jamestown had recently ordered that an armed force be +raised in the Northern Neck: "100 men from Lancaster, 40 from +Northumberland and 30 from Westmoreland." After meeting at Meade's house +the force under John Carter was to proceed to the Rappahannock Indian +town and demand satisfaction for injuries done the white settlers in +that region, but they were to commit no acts of hostility unless +attacked.</p> + +<p>Swords and firearms were glinting that day, and no doubt the flagon was +passed many times. Among the men assembled, there was Captain Henry +Fleet, the old Indian trader. He and David Wheatliff were to act as +interpreters.</p> + +<p>There seems to be no record of the outcome of this expedition. With the +assistance of Captain Fleet, who was well known as "a powerful man in +Indian affairs," it probably turned out well.</p> + +<p>After this affair John Carter was known as "Colonel Carter of Lancaster +County."</p> + +<p>Colonel Carter had but recently settled in the Northern Neck. He had +sailed one day from the Chesapeake into the Rappahannock and there +before him lay virgin territory—tobacco soil and a ready-made highway +where ships could sail to his dooryard and carry his tobacco straight to +foreign markets.</p> + +<p>He patented land and built his home on a neck cut out from the land by a +creek and a river. He gave his home the Indian name of the river, +Corotoman. The creek was called Carter's.</p> + +<p>John Carter left England in 1649 when Cromwell seized the government. +Little is known of his family in England. When he came to Virginia he +settled first in Upper Norfolk and lived there five years. He probably +came to Lancaster County because he saw more opportunity there.</p> + +<p>John Carter prospered in the wilderness of the Northern Neck. He +acquired many acres, considerable wealth and all the offices and honors +that went with his position as a substantial landowner. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_69" id="page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> was even +appointed to his Majesty's Council in Jamestown, which was a high honor.</p> + +<p>His dwelling at Corotoman was no doubt a good house for that time. +Inventories show that it had glass windows, and the basement was floored +with paving stones which he had imported from England. The floors of the +dependencies were probably of the same.</p> + +<p>He wanted his children to have religious training. He built a church on +his property so that his family could have a place to worship God.</p> + +<p>Although women were scarce in this frontier country, Colonel Carter +managed to find five wives within twenty years.</p> + +<p>In 1669, Colonel Carter died at Corotoman and was laid to rest in the +yard of his church.</p> + +<p>Colonel John Carter of Lancaster County was the founder of the Carter +family in Virginia. His son, Robert, was left to carry on the family +traditions. He did so in a spectacular way.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_50" id="SECTION_50"></a><i>FLEET'S POINT</i></h3> + +<p>When a sailing vessel left the Potomac and headed south toward Jamestown +it traveled about six miles down the Chesapeake and then it came to the +entrance of the Great Wicomico River.</p> + +<p>On the north side of the mouth of the Great Wicomico there was a point. +This point was called Fleet's Point because the plantation of Captain +Henry Fleet, the Indian trader, was located there.</p> + +<p>Between the year 1650 and 1655 Captain Fleet had patented large tracts +of land in Northumberland and Lancaster. He apparently lived in +Lancaster for awhile because he was a burgess from that county in 1652.</p> + +<p>But Captain Fleet finally settled in Northumberland at Fleet's Point. In +that region there had been an Indian village named Cinquack. It was thus +marked on an early map. By the time Captain Fleet settled on the point +the Indians may have moved inland, or to an island in the Chesapeake. Or +Fleet may have bought the land from the Indians.</p> + +<p>Weary voyagers on the Chesapeake, if evening was near, must have looked +for the lights of Captain Fleet's dwelling on the point. Probably +because of its location Fleet's Point became a stopping place for +"persons passing from Maryland to Virginia."</p> + +<p>Captain Fleet no doubt welcomed these guests, but he would stand<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_70" id="page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> for no +misconduct at Fleet's Point, as is shown by a deposition that has been +preserved:</p> + +<p>"One Henry Carline, of Kent County, Maryland, in 1655, stopped at his +house with a woman, and that he provided lodgings also for another +woman, and a man. Fleet becoming indignant at Carline's loose behavior, +turned him, and the woman who came with him, out of his house, and had +them arraigned before the Rappahannock Court. Carline was fined for +keeping the servant woman from her employer, and disowning his wife, and +the woman was ordered to receive 30 lashes."</p> + +<p>All records concerning Captain Fleet seem to end here. Did he ever +return to England? Or was he killed by the Indians?</p> + +<p>Perhaps he spent the rest of his life at Fleet's Point and was buried +there.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_51" id="SECTION_51"></a><i>GEORGE MASON</i></h3> + +<p>George Mason was another early settler in the upper wilderness of the +Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>The first George Mason came to Virginia during the Cavalier emigration. +He "went up the Potomac River and settled at Accohick, near Pasbytanzy."</p> + +<p>Apparently the first mention of this founder of the Mason family in +Virginia occurs in the patent of land obtained by him in March, 1655: +"Said land being due the said George Mason by and for the transportation +of eighteen persons in to the colony." Mason was married but it is not +known if his wife or family were among these persons transported as +"head-rights."</p> + +<p>The next mention of George Mason in the records is in 1658 when he sold +five hundred acres of land to Mr. John Lease for "five cows with calves +and two thousand five hundred pounds of tobacco." Westmoreland County at +this time included land on the Virginia side of the Potomac from the +northern boundary of Northumberland to the present site of Georgetown in +the District of Columbia. With the land sold to Mr. Lease, Mason +included "all privileges of hawking, fishing and fowling."</p> + +<p>By this time George Mason was fairly well established in his wilderness +home among the Indians, some of whom were friendly and some were not.</p> + +<p>George Mason, Giles Brent and Gerrard Fowke were the "men<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_71" id="page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> of the +border" at this time. From time to time they were involved in troubles +with the Indians.</p> + +<p>Colonel Mason's death occurred probably in 1686. He was buried in the +"Burying Place, at Accokeek." He was the great-grandfather of George +Mason, the Revolutionary patriot and author of the Bill of Rights.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_52" id="SECTION_52"></a><i>MARY CALVERT</i></h3> + +<p>"Ye said Mrs. Calvert shall personally receive thirty stripes upon her +bare shoulders for her offence." Thus the court of Northumberland +decided in the case of Mary Calvert in the year of our Lord 1655.</p> + +<p>This court was probably held at Coan Hall, the home of Colonel John +Mottrom, as it is doubtful that a court-house had yet been built.</p> + +<p>Court Day was a great event to the men of Virginia in colonial times. It +created an opportunity for the discussion of politics, for trading +livestock, bargaining for the sale of tobacco, catching up with the +news, and last but not least, a free enjoyment of rough horse-play, +accompanied by the passing of the jug.</p> + +<p>Let us imagine this Court Day at Coan Hall. If the weather was warm +enough the session may have been held out of doors under the trees. In +the rear the virgin forest must have furnished an impressive background. +In front flowed the river where the small sailing vessels, barges and +log canoes belonging to the men who had come to court were tied or +anchored. A few horses may have been tied in the barn-lot or tethered +out to graze, but there were not many horses in the Neck at that time, +probably not more than fifteen or twenty in the county.</p> + +<p>In cold weather court was doubtless held inside before the blazing fire +in the great hall. Colonel Mottrom, if he was presiding, was no doubt +dressed in his best, as befitted the occasion and his position as +justice. Ursula was probably in the kitchen supervising preparations for +a feast for those among the gathering who would be their guests.</p> + +<p>If the crowd overflowed outside there was perhaps an outdoor fire near +the stables for warmth. And the passing flagon of ale no doubt helped to +warm and cheer the crowd. Contests of strength and skill, such as +wrestling, cudgeling, running, riding and shooting<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_72" id="page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> may have been going +on there while the court was in progress inside the house.</p> + +<p>Mary Calvert must have been embarrassed to have been the only woman in +such a crowd of men, for as a rule women stayed out of sight on Court +Days. The records reveal only enough information about Mary Calvert to +arouse the curiosity. What sort of woman was she?</p> + +<p>She was perhaps fairly young, as women of that day usually married early +and died early. There is no clue as to her appearance but it is safe to +assume that her clothes were bright because colonials wore gay colors, +and that she wore a hood of some sort over her head, and if it was cold +a mantle that covered her other garments.</p> + +<p>What heinous crime had this woman committed that she deserved to be +lashed thirty times across her bare shoulders?</p> + +<p>Mary Calvert had been so bold as to speak in public against Oliver +Cromwell and the Parliament of England. She had called them "rogues and +rebells."</p> + +<p>Now, Mrs. Calvert confessed in court that she had made this statement, +but in her own defense she stated that she was in danger of being +murdered by her husband and "spake those words" to bring about her +arrest and thus be "secured from her husband."</p> + +<p>Was Mary telling the truth? The true answer will never be known. But the +ancient county records do reveal the fact that her husband either loved +her and could not stand by and see her lashed, or that he wanted to save +his own self-respect.</p> + +<p>Whatever his reason may have been he did come forward and beg to pay a +fine in order that Mary's sentence be revoked—</p> + +<p>"Upon Mr. Calvert's petition in behalfe of his wife," the court ordered +him to pay a thousand pounds of tobacco for commuting "of ye corporall +punishment to be inflicted upon his said wife, with charges of court."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_53" id="SECTION_53"></a><i>HE LIVED BRAVELY</i></h3> + +<p>Colonel John Mottrom may not have presided at the county court of 1655 +for he died about that time. He was but forty-five years old and he had +not yet built his brew-house or seen his vision of the town at Coan come +true.</p> + +<p>The funeral was no doubt a big affair for Colonel Mottrom was a +prominent man, and all funerals then were important occasions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_73" id="page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> These +early funerals were carried on in a reverent manner but there was a +cheerful side too. Funerals could even be called festive. The reason for +this was that a funeral brought about one of the few chances friends and +neighbors had for a reunion, and for feasting and drinking together.</p> + +<p>The guests had to travel a long way by boat or on horseback to attend a +funeral and these funeral guests were regarded as even more "sacred" +than ordinary guests. The unwritten laws of hospitality would have been +broken if these guests had been allowed to return home without more than +ample food and drink.</p> + +<p>Thus the bereaved Mottrom household probably had to put their sorrows +aside while they made preparations for the funeral.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the minister and pall-bearers, who were usually the leading +citizens of the county, were directed to wear certain special items, +such as gloves, ribbons and a "love scarf." Mourning-rings and gloves +were often gifts to chief mourners from the family of the deceased. +Often the will of the deceased directed the family to make such gifts.</p> + +<p>Colonel Mottrom may have desired to be "buryed ... in the garden plote." +It was the usual custom to be buried not too far away from the dwelling.</p> + +<p>It could be truly written of this first settler of the Northern Neck, as +it had been said of another early Virginian—"he lived bravely, kept a +good house and was a true lover of Virginia."</p> + +<p>After the body was laid to rest the memory of the deceased was usually +honored by a furious fusillade. This may have been done more for the +entertainment of those who came to bury the deceased than to honor the +dead. Sometimes as much as ten pounds of powder were used. Many +accidents occurred at funerals because of the wild firing of guns by +persons who had been drinking.</p> + +<p>The extravagant use of powder was nothing when compared to the amount of +liquor, of all kinds, consumed at a funeral. At one funeral sixty +gallons of cider, four gallons of rum, two gallons of brandy, five +gallons of wine, and thirty pounds of sugar to sweeten the drinks were +used.</p> + +<p>Food for the occasion may have included geese, turkeys and other +poultry, a pig, several bushels of flour and twenty pounds of butter. +Sometimes a whole steer and several sheep were prepared for the crowd. A +big funeral cost many pounds of tobacco.</p> + +<p>Colonel Mottrom's inventory was valued at 33,896 pounds of tobacco, +which was as large as any estate in the colony at that time.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_74" id="page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> His +inventory was recorded in Northumberland County in 1657, and shows that +he was a man of "wealth and literary pretensions."</p> + +<p>He left his children "well-fixed" as to land. In Northumberland alone he +had patented 3700 acres. Tradition says that he left the daughter of his +associate, Nicholas Morris, "a riding mare." His will was referred to +the governor "because of some ambiguities in the procurings of it." No +copy of it can now be found.</p> + +<p>Due to distances and lack of fast transportation the widow's hand was +sometimes spoken for at the funeral of her husband by one of the guests +who was afraid that he might lose out if he waited to make another +visit. This was probably not true in Ursula's case, but she did remarry +soon enough for her new husband to act as one of the executors of +Colonel Mottrom's will.</p> + +<p>Major George Colclough, Ursula's third husband, was a burgess in 1658. +After his death Ursula Bish Thompson-Mottrom-Colclough married Colonel +Isaac Allerton. Even after she had married this fourth time she +continued to have trouble in settling Colonel Mottrom's estate, because +of the "ambiguities" of his will.</p> + +<p>Colonel and Mrs. Allerton lived at his home, The Narrows, which was +located in the new county of Westmoreland, formed from Northumberland in +1653.</p> + +<p>Colonel Allerton was the son of Isaac Allerton, who came to Plymouth on +the <i>Mayflower</i> in 1620, and of Fear Brewster, only daughter of Governor +William Brewster, of Plymouth. He was born in 1630 and was one of the +early graduates of Harvard College. He came to Virginia and settled in +the Northern Neck at The Narrows.</p> + +<p>From Ursula and Isaac Allerton was descended President Zachary Taylor.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_54" id="SECTION_54"></a><i>WITCHCRAFT</i></h3> + +<p>The belief in witchcraft was prevalent amongst the early settlers of the +Northern Neck. The Neck at this time was beset with wolves and Indians +and was a true type of a frontier colony.</p> + +<p>To the witch was ascribed the power of inflicting strange and incurable +diseases, of changing men into horses when they were asleep at night, +and after bridling and saddling them, riding them at a gallop over the +countryside to the places where the witches had their frolics. Horses +too were thought to be ridden at night, unbridled and barebacked. In the +morning these horses would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_75" id="page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> fagged-out and caked with sweat and mud +and their manes plaited into "witches' stirrups."</p> + +<p>That witches were taken seriously by settlers of the Neck in the +seventeenth century is proven by the following abstract from the +Northumberland County records:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"20 Nov., 1656.</p> + +<p>"Whereas, Articles were Exhibited against Wm. H—— by Mr. +David Lindsaye (Minister) upon suspicion of witchcraft, +sorcery, etc. And an able jury of Twenty-four men were +empanelled to try the matter by verdict of which jury they +found part of the Articles proved by several depositions. The +Court doth therefore order yet ye said Wm. H—— shall +forthwith receave ten stripes upon his bare back and forever to +be Banished this County and yet hee depart within the space of +two moneths. And also to pay all the charges of Court."</p></blockquote> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_55" id="SECTION_55"></a><i>SEAHORSE OF LONDON</i></h3> + +<p>On a cold day in the late winter of 1657 some men were busily working in +the Potomac near the mouth of Mattox Creek. They were trying to lift a +foundered ketch, the <i>Seahorse</i> of London. Among the men was young John +Washington, son of an English clergyman.</p> + +<p>John had sailed for Virginia in the winter of 1656, as mate and voyage +partner in the <i>Seahorse</i>. After arriving in the Potomac the ketch was +loaded with a cargo of tobacco. On her way out of the river she ran +aground. Before she could be floated a storm hit and sank her. The +entire cargo of tobacco was ruined.</p> + +<p>During the delay John made friends with a wealthy planter named +Nathaniel Pope, who lived in the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>The <i>Seahorse</i> was finally raised but by that time John did not wish to +return to England. Perhaps Nathaniel's daughter, Anne, was the +attraction in Virginia.</p> + +<p>John prevailed on Edward Prescott, the master and part owner of the +<i>Seahorse</i>, to release him from further service in order that he might +remain in the Northern Neck of Virginia. He also demanded payment of his +wages. Prescott countered that Washington owed him money and was partly +responsible for the damage done to the vessel. He threatened to have +John arrested and imprisoned.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_76" id="page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + +<p>John's new friend, Pope, offered to go his bond in beaver skins. If +there was a suit the outcome is unknown. Prescott finally sailed away in +the <i>Seahorse</i> and Washington remained in Virginia, but they parted on +bad terms and this was not the last of their quarrel—but that is +another story.</p> + +<p>John soon married Anne Pope. As a wedding gift Nathaniel gave them a +seven-hundred-acre tract of land near Mattox Creek, in Westmoreland +County. In 1664 John and Anne moved to a new home four miles eastward on +Bridges Creek.</p> + +<p>John Washington was the first of that name to settle in the Northern +Neck. In Westmoreland he led an active life as a planter and as a leader +in county affairs. He had received "decent schooling" before he left +England. John and Anne were the great-grandparents of that most famous +Washington—George.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_56" id="SECTION_56"></a>"<i>TENN MULBERRY TREES</i>"</h3> + +<p>In the fall or early spring of 1656-57 the Virginians were planting +trees.</p> + +<p>Since the pioneers of the Northern Neck were living on the edges of a +virgin forest and had been trying desperately to clear away enough of it +to make fields for tobacco and corn, it seems strange that they would +now be engaged in planting more trees.</p> + +<p>But these trees were different—they had been imported from China. The +Assembly at Jamestown had recently declared that "whereas by experience +silke will be the most profitable commoditie for the country ... that +everie one hundred acres of land plant tenn mulberry trees."</p> + +<p>When the colonists came to Virginia they noticed the abundance of +mulberry trees. These native trees, such favorites of the Indians, had +reddish-blue berries. The early colonists thought that "the climate and +soil of middle America were ... adapted to the culture of silke."</p> + +<p>So, the first Assembly, in 1619, in the church at Jamestown, had adopted +measures on the planting of mulberry trees:</p> + +<p>"About the plantation of mulberry trees, be it enacted that every man as +he is seatted upon his division, doe for seven years together, every +yeare plante and maintaine in growte six Mulberry trees at the least, +and as many more as he shall think conveniente."</p> + +<p>But the silkworms would not cooperate—they refused to eat the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_77" id="page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> leaves +of the red mulberry tree. In 1621, the white mulberry was imported from +China. But still the silk industry languished, this time it was said, +for want of cheap labor.</p> + +<p>In the beginning the care of the silkworms was held to be specially +suitable work for children. The mulberry trees were kept like a low +hedge so that children could pick the leaves to feed the worms. This is +probably where the singing-game originated:</p> + +<p>"Here we go 'round the mulberry bush, mulberry bush—."</p> + +<p>Tradition said that two boys, "if their hands be not sleeping in their +pockets, could care for six ounces of seed from hatching till within +fourteen days of spinning." After that three or four helpers, "women and +children being as proper as men," were needed to assist in feeding the +worms, airing, drying, cleansing and "perfuming" them.</p> + +<p>Now, under the Commonwealth, the silk industry was again being +stimulated. But all was in vain—the colonists had their minds set on +raising tobacco and they could not be diverted.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_57" id="SECTION_57"></a><i>ROADS</i></h3> + +<p>As a rule the settlers of the Northern Neck built their homes on the +banks of rivers and creeks. Since travel was by boat there was little +need at first for roads through the forest.</p> + +<p>The Indians traveled through the woods over narrow footpaths not much +over twenty inches wide. These had been made originally by animals. Now +they were traveled by both Indians and wild beasts. These paths usually +ran along high ground or where there was little undergrowth and few +streams to cross.</p> + +<p>When it was necessary for settlers to penetrate the interior they used +these Indian and animal paths, or cut new paths and blazed the trees so +that the blazes stood out clear and white in the forest.</p> + +<p>Northumberland County records mention a horse path "wch leadeth from +Wicocomoco to Chickacoon buttin upon the north west side of an Indian +field knowne by the name of Fairefield." There was a cart path near the +Corotoman river "knowne by the name of Morratico & Wiccomcomico Path." +Early land patents mention other paths, horse paths and Indian paths.</p> + +<p>Rolling-roads were narrow roads cut through the woods over which +hogsheads of tobacco fitted with axles could be rolled or drawn. In this +way inland plantations could send their tobacco to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_78" id="page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> wharves and +warehouses on the waterfront for shipment overseas.</p> + +<p>The parish church, court-houses, ferries and ordinaries became the focal +points that led from crude interplantation lanes. In 1658 the General +Assembly appointed surveyors whose responsibility it was to clear +general ways from county to county. These roads were to be forty feet +wide and the surveyors were to see that the citizens kept them up. This +last order was hard to enforce because for a long time the planters had +little interest in highways on land.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_58" id="SECTION_58"></a><i>MARKETS</i></h3> + +<p>The custom of Market Day, which was a form of the English fair, was +brought to Virginia by the colonists. In 1649 it was decided to hold +markets every week in Jamestown, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.</p> + +<p>The Assembly decided in 1655 to establish one or more market-places in +each county. These were to be located on a river or creek, and all the +trade of the surrounding country was to be concentrated at these places. +Imported articles were to be brought from certain ports to each market +place. Here were to be built the court-house, prison, offices of the +clerk and sheriff, ordinaries and churches. Nothing seems to have come +of this attempt.</p> + +<p>Again, about 1679, certain places were designated as public marts, to +which all the Indians who were at peace with the white settlers were +invited to come, one day in the spring and one day in autumn. A +government clerk was to keep records of all the trading which took place +at each mart.</p> + +<p>One of these marts was situated in Lancaster County, and another in +Stafford. In Northumberland, the Wicocomico Indians were to be permitted +to trade with the English under special regulations adopted by the +authorities in that county.</p> + +<p>The purpose of these market places was to encourage the building of +towns, but the attempts were all unsuccessful. The settlers preferred +their independent way of life on the plantations.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_79" id="page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_59" id="SECTION_59"></a><i>THE OLD DOMINION</i></h3> + +<p>In May, 1660, Charles II returned to England by invitation of a new +Parliament. Cromwell was dead and his son and successor, "Tumbledown +Dick," had abdicated.</p> + +<p>Charles rode into London, where the streets were dressed with green +boughs and the windows hung with tapestry in his honor. Since everyone +was so glad to see him he wondered why he had stayed away so long.</p> + +<p>When the Virginians heard the news they went wild with joy!</p> + +<p>Sir William Berkeley already had control of the Virginia government +again. The Assembly at Jamestown had foreseen the restoration of the +king and they had called Sir William back from his self-imposed exile at +his plantation, Green Spring, in March, 1660—two months before Charles +was actually crowned King of England.</p> + +<p>It took four months for the news of the restoration to reach Virginia. +In September, Sir William issued a command that the news be proclaimed +in every county in Virginia.</p> + +<p>This was what the Virginians had been waiting for and they celebrated in +their typical way—by drinking healths and by making every kind of noise +that they could contrive to make.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of pounds of tobacco were exchanged for barrels of gunpowder +and kegs of cider. In some places "ye trumpeters" were paid as much as +eight hundred pounds of tobacco for their music, and at least one +minister was paid five hundred pounds of tobacco for a service of +thanksgiving.</p> + +<p>In recognition of Virginia's loyalty to him, Charles II caused her to be +proclaimed an independent member of his Empire. He had it engraved on +coins that the English Kingdom should henceforth consist of "England, +Scotland, Ireland and Virginia." Virginia's coat-of-arms was added to +those of the other three countries comprised in his dominions. +Traditions say that Charles wore a robe of Virginia silk at his +coronation.</p> + +<p>It was in this way that Virginia acquired the title of "The Old +Dominion."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_80" id="page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_60" id="SECTION_60"></a><i>THE PROPRIETARY</i></h3> + +<p>The settlers of the Northern Neck had hardly ended their celebrations in +honor of England's new king when they received a great shock.</p> + +<p>One of the first things that Charles II did, at the insistence of those +courtiers who had shared his exile, was to have the Northern Neck +patent, which he had issued while he was in France, recorded and put on +the market to be leased for the benefit of those courtiers to whom he +had given it. Thus in 1661, the Northern Neck became a proprietary—that +is, it was owned now by the seven courtiers.</p> + +<p>In 1662, several English merchants took a lease of the proprietary from +the original courtiers who owned it. The merchants hoped to settle new +"adventures" in the land between the Potomac and the Rappahannock. King +Charles then wrote a letter to Governor Berkeley instructing him to +assist these men who had leased the patent.</p> + +<p>Even Sir William who had always been fanatical in his loyalty to the +Crown was shocked. The royal order aroused the opposition of both the +governor and the council to the proprietorship and to the lease of it. +It was a threat to the colonial government and they were afraid that +they would lose their power to defend themselves. They felt that the +rights of the colonists should be protected.</p> + +<p>Before 1661, a total of 576 grants of "headright" lands in the Northern +Neck had been made in the King's name by the Colonial Governor. The +meaning of "headright" was that any person who paid his own way to +Virginia would receive 50 acres of land. He would also be assigned 50 +acres for each person he transported "at his own cost."</p> + +<p>Now titles to these lands previously taken would be clouded. Or the +lands might be completely lost.</p> + +<p>Instead of assisting the lessees of the patent the colonial government +at Jamestown prepared an address to the Crown and sent one of their +ablest citizens to England to act as an agent for Virginia.</p> + +<p>The King ignored this protest, rebuked the colonial government and sent +their representative back to Virginia with a renewed petition of the +proprietors and orders to "protect his agents and encourage them."</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, no more was heard of the English merchants. The colonials +had scored their first victory in the war over the Northern Neck patent, +but many troublesome years were still to follow.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_81" id="page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_61" id="SECTION_61"></a><i>A FIRST LADY OF JAMESTOWN</i></h3> + +<p>While life flowed on at Chicacone, what had become of little Frances +Mottrom?</p> + +<p>Frances had been growing up. She was now, in 1662, seventeen years old +and about to become the bride of one of the most important men in +Virginia.</p> + +<p>Since her step-mother's marriage Frances had probably been living with +her sister, Anne, who had been married for five or six years to Richard +Wright, formerly a merchant of London. The Wrights lived part of the +time at Coan Hall and part of the time at Cabin Point, in Westmoreland +County. The latter estate had been left to Anne by her father, Colonel +John Mottrom.</p> + +<p>And how did Frances find a suitable bridegroom in the wilderness of the +Northern Neck? Probably through her brother-in-law, Richard Wright. Her +future husband, the Honorable Nicholas Spencer, Esq., had also been a +London merchant who had taken up lands in the Neck. He was now a +neighbor of the Wrights, in Westmoreland County.</p> + +<p>And where was the wedding to take place? There are no records to tell +us, but a deed made a few years after Frances' marriage refers to her as +being "late of Chickacone." It is doubtful if a church had been built as +yet, although the Parish of Chicacoan had been established in 1653, and +the Reverend David Lindsaye, of the Established Church of England, had +arrived in the Northern Neck as early as 1656.</p> + +<p>Let us assume that Frances and Nicholas were married at Coan Hall by the +new minister, who would have been dressed for the occasion in a white +surplice with bands and a "close" cap of black velvet.</p> + +<p>The ceremony would probably have taken place on a Wednesday morning +between eight and noonday.</p> + +<p>The bride was doubtless radiant in a low-cut gown of the latest London +fashion. It may have been pink, yellow or some other pastel shade but we +can be sure that it was not white. The gown, no doubt fell in soft folds +to the ground, as hoops had not yet come into vogue. Her hair was +probably arranged just as she wore it as a child, with a veil in place +of the cap.</p> + +<p>Coan Hall was no doubt "passing sweet trimmed up with divers flowers" or +evergreens. All the kettles were doubtless a-bubble in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_82" id="page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> the kitchen, and +the silver, pewter, brass and copper gleamed in the firelight.</p> + +<p>There seem to be no surviving records of the festivities accompanying a +seventeenth century wedding in Virginia, but we may be sure that there +was "an open cellar, a full house and a sweating cook," three things +dearly loved by these transplanted English people.</p> + +<p>They also loved noise—the sound of guns and firecrackers, bells and +music. They liked to sing the old ballads brought from "home," as they +still called England.</p> + +<p>The wedding guests may have brought small spiced buns to the wedding and +piled them high in the center of the table. If the bride and groom +succeeded in kissing each other over the mound, lifelong prosperity was +assured.</p> + +<p>Dancing and games were very likely to have followed the feasting. The +wedding guests may have lingered on a week or more at Coan. It is +possible that the wedding party followed the bride and groom to the +groom's house in Westmoreland and continued the festivities for awhile +there.</p> + +<p>And how did Frances reach her new home? Most likely by sailing vessel, +up the Potomac. If she traveled by land it was doubtless on horseback as +there were few if any carriages then, nor any roads. She may have been +seated on a pillion behind her new husband, holding on tight to his +waist. If the wedding party traveled by land they must have made quite a +clatter—riding at the reckless "planter's pace" between the big trees, +shouting and singing and making the forest ring with happy sound.</p> + +<p>Two wedding gifts that Frances may have brought to her new home were a +"garnish of pewter," that is a full set of pewter platters, plates and +dishes, and a bread "peel," which was significant of domestic utility, +plenty, and was a symbol of good luck. These were favorite wedding gifts +then. Glass and earthenware were scarce at that time because of breakage +on the trip across the Atlantic. An inventory later on shows that +Frances had only twelve glasses and not more than eighty-eight pieces of +earthenware. Silver plate was abundant in the homes of the wealthy.</p> + +<p>At the time of their marriage Frances' husband was a member of the House +of Burgesses. Later (1679-89) he was Secretary of the Colony which made +him, next to the Governor, probably the most powerful man in Virginia at +that time. People started calling his home on Nomini River, Secretary's +Point, by which name it was ever after known.</p> + +<p>Colonel Spencer's neighbors named their parish "Cople" in honor<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_83" id="page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> of his +ancestral parish in Bedfordshire, England.</p> + +<p>About 1675 Colonel Spencer and John Washington procured a patent for +five thousand acres of land on Little Hunting Creek, which later became +famous as the Mount Vernon estate. This land descended to the heirs of +Spencer and Washington.</p> + +<p>Colonel Spencer became President of the Council, which was a position of +great honor and dignity. As President of the Council in the absence of +the Governor, his cousin Lord Culpeper, he became acting governor from +1683-84.</p> + +<p>"Madam Spencer," as Frances was now respectfully addressed, had seen +many changes since she had left her wilderness playground in the +Northern Neck, to become for awhile the "First Lady of Jamestown." She +had borne six children. One son went to England and remained there to +claim the large estates which his father had inherited.</p> + +<p>After Governor Spencer's death Frances married Reverend John Bolton.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_62" id="SECTION_62"></a><i>LAND</i></h3> + +<p>"Clear titles" to their lands were extremely important to the +landholders of the Northern Neck, probably because for many years due to +the proprietary their land was not wholly their own.</p> + +<p>To the natives of the Neck, land was an almost sacred possession. To +acquire more and more of it was an obsession with some of them. Land was +their wealth—without it tobacco could not be grown. The virgin soil +lasted only about three years under tobacco cultivation. It was easier +and cheaper to look for new lands than to enrich old acreage so the +planter was always looking for new lands, in the fertile river margins +or in the vast forests. It was a wasteful system.</p> + +<p>Land made a man's social position then. For social rating purposes the +amount of land he owned did not matter so much, but if he was to be +"somebody" he must own some land. Common expressions in those days +were—"he is a big landowner" or "he owns land." This manner of social +rating persisted for many years in the Neck.</p> + +<p>Land was a man's security—even if he could no longer make money on it +"the land was still there." If he did not have wealth he still had land +and a social position.</p> + +<p>The landowner rarely sold his land. The bulk of it was left to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_84" id="page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> the +oldest son; other sons received smaller portions and the daughters +received still smaller portions. The girls were supposed to marry into +landed stock.</p> + +<p>The importance of land to natives of the Northern Neck in bygone days +can hardly be exaggerated.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_63" id="SECTION_63"></a><i>PROCESSIONING</i></h3> + +<p>A morning in spring between Easter and Whitsuntide found all Virginians +out-of-doors. This special day came once each year—it was the day of +the "processioning."</p> + +<p>On this day, required by law, the planters would ride and walk over +their lands and inspect their property lines. We can visualize the +scene—the planter and his older sons leading the way, servants +following with axes and other implements, chattering women and girls, +servant women bringing up the rear with lunch baskets, and children +riding pillion, or in front of some older person, or when the procession +halted, darting about chasing a butterfly or rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Processioning" day was an important time, for in those days land +surveys were not always true and the boundaries of each man's plantation +were uncertain. At this time the various landmarks were impressed upon +the minds of the older sons—"yonder is a corner pine," "the four red +and the one white oak," "there is the grove of tulip poplars," "the +dogwood corner," "the hickory corner," "the two gums and the white +oak"—there was so much to remember!</p> + +<p>Sometimes the lands were divided by ditches, for ditches would last a +hundred years or more it was said. Landmarks were renewed at this time. +Blazes were recut on trees and in the places where trees had fallen +during the winter new ones were planted. Tradition says that pear trees +were often planted as they were long-lived trees.</p> + +<p>Here and there processions from neighboring plantations would meet at +the boundaries where the lands joined. A sociable time then followed, +and if it was at lunch time, perhaps a picnic. Disputed boundaries were +decided upon at these times and announced to all persons present so that +at the next "processioning" those who were still living would be able to +testify as to the correct line.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_85" id="page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_64" id="SECTION_64"></a>"<i>THE BANQUETTING HOUSE</i>"</h3> + +<p>Among the planters whose lands adjoined near Machodoc Creek, in +Westmoreland County, were John Lee, Henry Corbin, Thomas Gerrard and +Isaac Allerton.</p> + +<p>John Lee was the oldest son of Richard, the immigrant, of Cobbs Hall in +Northumberland. John was the first of the Lees to establish a seat on +land acquired by his father on the Potomac. This first Lee home in +Westmoreland was called Matholic. John had been educated at Oxford and +had graduated at Queen's College, 1658, and then studied medicine. He +had probably returned to Virginia with his father in 1664. Two years +later he was seated at Matholic, and he immediately took his place among +the leading planters in the county. Besides the usual offices that went +with his station, he was on a committee appointed by the governor for +the defense of the Northern Neck against Indians. Later he served on a +commission with Colonel John Washington and others to "arrange the +boundary line between Lancaster and Northumberland Counties." But what +Jack really liked to do was to ride, shoot and fish. He liked the +militia training and the celebrations that went with it. He was young, +gay and a bachelor.</p> + +<p>Henry Corbin had been born in Warwickshire, England, about 1629. His +family was of high standing among the English gentry. Henry came to +Virginia during the Cavalier emigration and took up an estate on the +Potomac near Matholic. His home was named Pecatone for an Indian chief +of the region, according to tradition. Pecatone was one of the great +manors of Westmoreland. It was built of brick with a terrace and stone +steps in front. The large rooms were wainscoted. The house was set in a +grove of trees and the lawn sloped to the Potomac. The house had the +massive look of a fort and it was plain to severity. Life at Pecatone +was carried on in the grand manner.</p> + +<p>Doctor Thomas Gerrard lived not far from Isaac Allerton on a plantation +called Wilton. Gerrard had once owned lands and had been a prominent +figure in the Province of Maryland, but because of religious persecution +he had crossed the Potomac and found sanctuary in the Northern Neck. +Wilton had originally been patented by Major William Hockaday in 1651. +At that time the Indians were still living on the land and Hockaday had +to wait to seat the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_86" id="page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> place "until the Indians could be removed." Doctor +Gerrard purchased Wilton from Hockaday in 1662.</p> + +<p>Isaac Allerton was the grandson of that celebrated Puritan, Governor +William Brewster of Plymouth. After Isaac graduated from Harvard +College, in 1650, he left New England and settled in Westmoreland +County, near the plantations of John Lee and Henry Corbin. Isaac called +his home The Narrows. He became a leading planter of the county and was +one of the men of Westmoreland "upon whom Governor Berkeley relied." In +1675 Allerton was second in command under Colonel John Washington to +fight Indians. Allerton married Ursula, the widow of John Mottrom. From +the union of Ursula and Isaac was descended President Zachary Taylor, as +has been stated before.</p> + +<p>These then were the four neighbors with such diverse backgrounds, whose +plantations adjoined and who all came together each year at +"processioning" time.</p> + +<p>In March of 1670 these men decided to build a "banquetting house for the +continuance of good Neighborhood."</p> + +<p>The plan was that each neighbor, or his heirs, would take turns in +preparing the banquet and entertainment "yearly, according to his due, +to make an Honorable treatment fit to entertain the undertakers thereof, +their wives, misters & friends yearly and every year, & to begin upon +the 29th of May."</p> + +<p>Thus the agreement was written, witnessed, and signed by Henry Corbin, +John Lee, Thomas Gerrard and Isaac Allerton, on the 30th of March 1670. +Jack Lee was assigned the responsibility of the building of the +"banquetting house." There is documented proof that the house was built +in "Pickatown field," and that the yearly celebrations were held.</p> + +<p>At these celebrations Jack Lee, arriving on his spirited mount dressed +in his "gray suit with silver buttons" and "gloves with silver tops," +must have been a dashing figure.</p> + +<p>We can imagine Ursula at "Pickatown field," escorted by her fourth +husband, Colonel Allerton; Henry Corbin with his wife Alice and +daughter, Laetitia; and the Gerrards—Thomas and Rose.</p> + +<p>Since friends were to be invited, Colonel Nicholas Spencer of +Secretary's Point may have been there with his wife, Frances Mottrom +Spencer. The host would probably have been afraid to omit from the guest +list Dick Cole of Salisbury Park, and his wife Anna.</p> + +<p>Perhaps a little eight-year-old girl from Tucker Hill was dancing gaily +at "Pickatown field" in the year 1671. In three more years<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_87" id="page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> "little +Sarah Tucker" was to put away childish things to become the bride of +Colonel William Fitzhugh, one of the wealthiest planters in the Neck. +And in two more years the laughter of young Jack Lee would be stilled +forever.</p> + +<p>But in the springtime of 1671 there was probably no small cloud over +"Pickatown field," and the "banquetting house" was filled with happy +sound.</p> + +<p>Here end all known records concerning the "banquetting house in +Pickatown field"—America's first country club, circa 1671.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_65" id="SECTION_65"></a><i>THE LAND AGENT</i></h3> + +<p>Now, in the year 1670, something new had been added to the Northern +Neck—a land agent.</p> + +<p>The grapevine must have been buzzing in those days—what is a land +agent?—a man who represents the proprietary—what is a proprietary, +anyway?—the people who have taken our land away from us—who is this +land agent?—Thomas Kirton, from England—what will he do?—make us pay +rent—rent our own land?—something like taxes—I won't do it—how can +he make us?—what right have they—</p> + +<p>The Northern Neckers had probably not fully realized that they no longer +owned their own land until they came face to face with a land agent.</p> + +<p>Thomas Kirton came to Virginia in 1670 and opened a land office in +Northumberland County. He was to be assisted by Edward Dale, a prominent +citizen of Lancaster.</p> + +<p>Kirton came armed with credentials, a copy of the patent and power of +attorney for himself and Dale. He presented these documents to the +General Court at Jamestown, April 5, 1671. He was recognized and action +was prompt "... the said letters, patent being read in court ...," +"obedience" and "submission" was given and recorded.</p> + +<p>This complete acceptance of Kirton, and what he stood for, by the +Colonial Government was another shock to the settlers of the Northern +Neck. There had never been "anything to so move the grief and passion of +the people as uncertainty whether they were to make a country for the +King or for the Proprietors."</p> + +<p>It had become a very real fact to the settlers now that they had +landlords over them. They had been accustomed to the utmost<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_88" id="page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> freedom and +independence and this was an almost unbearable blow.</p> + +<p>A strange thing about the story of the proprietary is that the people +who lived within it had very little understanding as to what it was all +about. Most of them lived all of their lives without understanding the +terms of the proprietary. This was partly due to the fact that +everything was done in secret. Even the Colonial Government was kept in +the dark as to the various changes and renewals, while the proprietors +increased their authority over the domain of the Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>Kirton's main duty was to collect quit-rents. The quit-rent was handed +down from the feudal system of medieval times. In simple terms—it was +the "bond between the lord and the land." The quit-rent was a monetary +payment to relieve the tenant of obligations, such as laboring for the +lord of a manor on a certain number of days a week, or paying him with a +portion of the produce.</p> + +<p>Under the system of the quit-rent the tenant still had complete control +of his land although he did not own it. He was free to bequeath the land +to his heirs.</p> + +<p>Kirton had little success in collecting quit-rents although they were +small, only two shillings per one hundred acres. The settlers had no +intention of paying anything to the proprietors unless they were +compelled to do so. As the years went on they acquiesced to a certain +degree, but the quit-rents were never willingly paid.</p> + +<p>However the settlers did not object to patenting new lands. These could +be paid for in English coins, Spanish pieces of eight, or in tobacco, if +metallic money was not to be had.</p> + +<p>Kirton was ousted from his office, in 1673, because for some time he had +failed to remit the quit-rents. Before this Kirton and Dale had +quarreled and Dale had ceased to act as an agent.</p> + +<p>Thomas Kirton probably had few friends in the Northern Neck. The fact +that he married Anna, the widow of Dick Cole, tells quite a lot about +him. She was despised and feared by her neighbors because of her +slanderous tongue.</p> + +<p>Kirton's home was in Westmoreland County, near the Northumberland +boundary. He probably remained in the Northern Neck, for in 1686 he +informed the Westmoreland court that its records were "somewhat delayed +and the transfers through time and carelessness were scarcely legible." +The court directed him to transcribe all the records in one book. For +this he was paid 2,000 pounds of tobacco and cask, if he finished the +work by 1688.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_89" id="page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_66" id="SECTION_66"></a><i>HANNA AND THE HORSESHOE</i></h3> + +<p>In early days the horseshoe was believed to have a magic potency. When +butter was slow in coming, a heated horseshoe was thrown into the churn. +A horseshoe was also believed to keep off witches. Doubtless most of the +early settlers of the Northern Neck had one nailed over the threshold.</p> + +<p>An instance of the belief in the power of the horseshoe is found in the +seventeenth century records of Northumberland County. From three sworn +statements filed in that county, "April ye 11, 1671," let us reconstruct +the strange happenings that were reported.</p> + +<p>The story starts on board a vessel at sea, bound home to the Northern +Neck from a trip to the Barbadoes. ("I Edw: Le Breton deposeth that +being aboard of our ship & Mr. Edward Cole talking then and there of +severall psons (persons) & among all ye rest of Mrs. Neall, Hanna +Rodham, daughter of Matthew Rodham, and wife of Christopher Neall.")</p> + +<p>We can imagine Le Breton and Cole in their ship's cabin relaxing a bit +as they neared home—two mariners dressed in loose breeches and jerkins +of canvas or frieze, with their warm Monmouth caps and outer garments +swaying on the pegs where they hung and the swinging lanthorn casting +crazy shadows over all. Perhaps a bottle of the West Indies rum had +loosened the tongue of Edward Cole as he told of "a certyne time some +yeares past" when "there grew difference" between himself and the family +of Hanna Neall. "She then," continued Cole, "made a kind of prayer that +he nor none of his family never prosper and shortly after his people +fell sick & much of his cattle dyed."</p> + +<p>When Edward Cole arrived home from the Barbadoes he found his wife ill +and the "suspition of Doctor S——, & others was that his wife was under +an ill tongue, & if it was soe he concluded yt (yet) it was Mrs. Neall +by reason of imprecations made by her & yt indeed he thought soe," and +"he did accuse Mrs. Neall of it alsoe."</p> + +<p>Edward Cole was greatly troubled. If Hanna Neall could do this much, she +could do worse things. He was almost "beside himself" with fear and +worry when he remembered the horseshoe nailed over his threshold. It was +there to keep off witches. If he could induce Hanna Neall to cross over +the horseshoe he could find out once and for all if she was a woman or a +witch.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_90" id="page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<p>And so it came about that Edward Cole at "a certyne time sent for Mrs. +Neall to come to see his wife."</p> + +<p>Witches are usually thought of as being old hags, but from portions of +these statements it seems that Hanna was not an ordinary witch. She was +at least a fairly young woman, and quite possibly an attractive one. +Records of early land patents show that she and her father were +landowners, which gave her certain social distinctions, and only a small +number of persons of the best condition had the designation of Mr. and +Mrs. prefixed to their names in the seventeenth century. The +Northumberland records prove that she was fearless, for she answered +Edward Cole's invitation by coming at once.</p> + +<p>Did she live near enough to walk? Since individual landholdings were +large then we do not think that she lived close enough to walk. Did she +come riding on a pillion? Or did she come across the water in a barge +rowed by her servants? These are questions for speculation.</p> + +<p>We can assume that she was dressed in the usual outdoor costume of women +of that time and place. In April the air is still sharp in the Northern +Neck of Virginia so she probably wore a linsey-woolsey gown of blue with +undersleeves of white kenting, a dark mantle of wool, a hood with a +bright lining turned back around her face, and a white muslin apron. +Perhaps she carried a basket with some delicacy for the sick woman—a +pair of quail shot by her husband and roasted by herself on the spit in +her fireplace.</p> + +<p>What feelings of dread must Edward Cole have had as he watched the +approach of Hanna Neall! We can see him slowly opening the door and +standing far aside for her to enter.</p> + +<p>We can picture Hanna, looking into the dark room where the candle in the +tin lanthorn threw shadows across the strained faces, and a pomander +ball gave off the sickening odors that were supposed to ward off +infection. And there in the dimness of the bed with its heavy hangings +lay the sick woman.</p> + +<p>Was Hanna frightened when she looked into the face of her accuser? Was +she angry? Or did she pity him? In any case, when she trod on the +threshold, brushed the horseshoe with her skirts, and entered the +room—nothing happened.</p> + +<p>Hanna crossed to the sick woman, knelt beside the bed and "shee prayed +so heartily for her" that Edward Cole believed in her sincerity.</p> + +<p>It was in this way that Hanna Neall was saved from being banished from +the county, or from lashes at the whipping post, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_91" id="page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> from the ducking +"stoole" at Northumberland County court-house, down in Hull's Neck. +Saved by a horseshoe and a prayer!</p> + +<p>And Edward Cole straightened matters out with the following statement:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I, Edward Cole, doe acknowledge yt ye words which I did speake +concerning Mrs. Neall as tending to defame her with the +aspersion of being a witch, were passionately spoken.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Edward Cole"<br /></span> +<span class="i1">April ye 11, 1671<br /></span> +</div></div> +</blockquote> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_67" id="SECTION_67"></a><i>MUSTER</i></h3> + +<p>In the early days of the colony there was a unit of militia in each +county. The governor, who was in command, appointed for each unit a +colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major, who had lesser officers under +them. Every freeman between the ages of sixteen and sixty was subject to +this military duty. Single troops and companies were mustered four times +a year, and once a year there was a general muster.</p> + +<p>Everyone looked forward to the general muster—on that day all roads led +to the county seat. Some of the people came as far as they could by boat +and then walked the rest of the way. Others came in carts and on +horseback, with the women and girls riding pillion behind their +husbands, fathers or brothers. Small children were probably perched up +in front of the riders. All were dressed in their bravest clothes.</p> + +<p>At the county seat there was excitement in the air—the British flags +were all flying, swords were glinting, and there was the sound of the +"brass Trumpetts w'th silver mouth pieces" and the roll of drums. There +were "Troopes of horse & Companies of Foot ... provided w'th Armes & +Ammunition" and with their "coullours" flying. The officers wore +handsome belts and "Bootes." The men carried "firelock musketts" and had +"Pistolls & Houlsters."</p> + +<p>After the parades and drills were over the people mingled and enjoyed +being together. It was probably the second day before the crowd broke up +and the people started homeward. Liquor was no doubt flowing freely +among the men.</p> + +<p>The citizens of Northumberland petitioned the House of Burgesses in +1696, "praying" that no musters should be allowed to take place on +Saturday, "as it led to the profamation of Sunday."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_92" id="page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_68" id="SECTION_68"></a><i>THE STORE</i></h3> + +<p>The store was one of the principal institutions in the colony in early +days. Every important planter kept a store somewhere on his plantation. +Sometimes it was in a room in the manor but usually it was in a detached +building. Storehouses were small, often not more than sixteen by +eighteen feet.</p> + +<p>The contents of these stores included nearly every article used by +Virginians. A plantation store of 1667, with contents valued at six +hundred fourteen pounds sterling, carried merchandise such as: materials +of all kinds, carpenters' tools, bellows, sickles, locks, nails, +staples, cooking utensils, flesh forks, shovels and tongs, medicines, +wool cards, compasses, needles, stirrups, looking-glasses, candlesticks, +candles, raisins, brandy, wine, and many other items.</p> + +<p>Most of the manufactured articles came from England. To be very salable +merchandise had to bear an English label.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_69" id="SECTION_69"></a><i>THE WOLF-DRIVE</i></h3> + +<p>For a century after the first settlers came to the Northern Neck the +forest was still alive with wolves. In the evenings they could be heard +hunting and they sounded "like a pack of beagles."</p> + +<p>These wolves were small, not much larger than a fox, but so ravenous +that if a traveler was forced to spend the night in the woods he could +hardly keep his horse from being devoured even though tied close to him +and to the light of the fire.</p> + +<p>The scattered sheepfolds and grazing pastures had to be guarded. Wolves +were such a nuisance to the planters that authorities sought ways to +destroy them. Rewards were offered for any person killing a wolf +"provided the said wolf shall not be so young that it is not of age to +do mischief."</p> + +<p>The planters caught the wolves in various ways—in wolf-pits, log-pens +and log-traps. Several mackerel hooks were fastened together and then +dipped in melted tallow which hardened and concealed them. These were +fastened to a chain so that after the wolf had swallowed the hooks he +could not wander away in the forest and his head be lost for bounty.</p> + +<p>In 1674, John Mottrom, II of Coan was rewarded with fourteen<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_93" id="page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> hundred +pounds of tobacco for "killing seven wolves in a pitt." The settlers +often paid their public dues in the skins of wolves.</p> + +<p>As late as 1691 the county court of Northumberland made public +arrangements for an annual wolf-drive. The wolves were hunted on +horseback with dogs, very much in the manner of fox-hunting. Early +writers state that it was possible while going at full speed to run down +a wolf.</p> + +<p>The wolf-drive was somewhat like the old English "drift of the forest," +where a ring of men and boys with guns surrounded a large tract of +woods. The wolves scenting them would retreat to the center of the +circle, where the hunters would close in on them. Many were killed in +this way. "Wolf-driving" was considered great sport.</p> + +<p>Wolf-Trap Light, in Chesapeake Bay, is said to have been named because +ashore near there was a famous place for catching the last of the +wolves.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_70" id="SECTION_70"></a><i>THE INDIANS AND ROBERT HEN</i></h3> + +<p>In the year 1675, strange things were happening in the Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>Thomas Matthews, a planter, whose "dwelling was in Northumberland, the +lowest county on Potomack River," recorded these strange events—there +"appear'd three prodigies in that country, which from attending +disasters were look'd upon as ominous presages.</p> + +<p>"The one was a large comet every evening for a week, or more at +Southwest; thirty-five degrees high streaming like a horse taile +westwards, until it reach'd (almost) the horizon, and setting toward the +North-west.</p> + +<p>"Another was, fflights of pigeons in breadth nigh a quarter of the +mid-hemisphere, and of their length was no visible end; whose weights +brake down the limbs of large trees whereon these rested at nights, of +which the ffowlers shot abundance and eat 'em; this sight put the old +planters under the more portentous apprehensions, because the like was +seen, (as they said), in the year 1644 when th' Indians committed the +last massacre, ...</p> + +<p>"The third strange appearance was swarms of fflyes about an inch long, +and big as the top of a man's little finger, rising out of spigot holes +in the earth, which eat the new sprouted leaves from the tops of the +trees without doing other harm, and in a month left us." (This insect +was the seventeen-year locust.)<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_94" id="page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>The events which followed these strange occurrences not only justified +the apprehensions of the old planters but also changed the course of +history in the New World.</p> + +<p>Thomas Matthews, of Cherry Point in Northumberland, also had a +plantation, servants and cattle in Stafford County. His over-seer there +had bargained with an Englishman, Robert Hen, to come "thither" and be +herdsman of the Stafford flocks.</p> + +<p>Robert Hen arrived in due course of time and made his habitation on the +Stafford plantation.</p> + +<p>On a Sunday morning in the summer of 1675, people on their way to church +found Hen lying across his threshold, and an Indian lying in the +dooryard—"both chopt on their heads, arms and other parts, as if done +with Indian hatchetts, th' Indian was dead, but Hen when asked who did +that? answered Doegs, Doegs, and soon died, and then a boy who came out +from under a bed where he had hid himself, told them, Indians had come +at break of day and done those murders."</p> + +<p>"Ffrom this Englishman's bloud," wrote Matthews, "did (by degrees) arise +Bacon's rebellion."</p> + +<p>Matthews continues: "Of this horrid action Coll: Mason who commanded the +militia regiment of ffoot & Capt. Brent<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> the troop of horse in that +county ... having speedy notice raised 30, or more men, & pursu'd those +Indians 20 miles up & 4 miles over that river into Maryland, where +landing at dawn of day, they found two small paths ... each leader with +his party took a separate path and in less than a furlong either found a +cabin, which they (silently) surrounded. Capt. Brent went to the Doegs +cabin (as it proved to be) who speaking the Indian tongue called to have +a council ... such being the usual manner with Indians ... the king came +trembling forth, and would have fled, when Capt. Brent, catching hold of +his twisted lock (which was all the hair he wore) told him he was come +for the murder of Rob't Hen, the king pleaded ignorance and slipt loos, +whom Brent shot dead with his pistoll, th' Indians shot two or three +guns out of the cabin, th' English shot into it, th' Indians throng'd +out at the door and fled, the English shot as many as they could so that +they killed ten ... and brought away the kings son of about 8 years +old ... the noise of the shooting awaken'd the Indians in the cabin, +which Coll: Mason had encompassed, who likewise rush'd out and fled, of +whom his company (supposing from that noise of shooting Brent's party to +be engaged) shot fourteen<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_95" id="page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> before an Indian came, who with both hands +shook him (friendly) by one arm saying Susquehanoughs netoughs, meaning +Susquehanoughs friends and fled. Whereupon Col: Mason ran amongst his +men crying out for the Lords sake shoot no more, these are our friends +the Susquehanoughs."</p> + +<p>This attack upon the friendly Susquehannocks was a very unfortunate and +costly mistake. The incensed Indians took to the warpath and murders +were committed in both Virginia and Maryland. A body of Virginia militia +under the command of Colonel John Washington, Colonel George Mason and +Major Allerton, all of the Northern Neck, crossed the Potomac after the +Indians.</p> + +<p>This warfare ended, after much bloodshed, with Bacon in command. The +allied Indians were defeated and the once friendly Susquehannocks were +anihilated. And it was in this way, with an army at his command, that +Bacon established his power and became strong enough to fight Governor +Berkeley.</p> + +<p>Thus it was, according to Thomas Matthews, that Bacon's Rebellion +started with the murder of Robert Hen in the Northern Neck.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_71" id="SECTION_71"></a><i>THE ROYAL CAVALCADE</i></h3> + +<p>When Robert Carter of Corotoman, Lancaster County, dressed on Sunday +mornings he had a choice of several dress swords and of several belts to +hold them—there was the silken belt, the buff, and the one of tan +leather which was both "genteel and strong." His coat was of velvet with +lace choker and cuffs, and his satin shorts were fastened at the knees +with silver buckles to match those on his shoes.</p> + +<p>If he looked in the mirror, as a servant adjusted his wig, he saw a +strong man of medium height with a plump clean-shaven face and dark eyes +that observed everything but saw no humour in anything.</p> + +<p>When Carter and his lady, equally as splendid, stepped outside their +mansion, a coach was a-waiting them, with liveried servants to help them +inside. The coach was a heavy, four-wheeled, enclosed vehicle with two +seats facing each other, and it carried four or more passengers. Most +likely it was painted in shades of yellow and green, or a subdued red, +with the family crest or coat of arms painted on the doors.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_96" id="page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus5" id="illus5"></a> +<img src="images/illus5.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>"King" Carter attends Christ Church.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_97" id="page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + +<p>The six matched horses which drew the coach were being held in check by +the driver and the outriders. A chaise may have been waiting behind the +coach for the older daughters and guests. The sons of the house, if they +were old enough, were mounted and attended by servants on horseback, one +for each gentleman. Other mounted servants with led horses may have +brought up the rear, but it is doubtful, as the distance to be traveled +was only three miles.</p> + +<p>There must have been a great rumbling of wheels, creaking of saddle +leather and clatter of hoofs when the cavalcade swung onto the road +which led from Corotoman to Christ Church. The master had built the road +high, drained by deep ditches, and bordered on both sides by closely set +cedars. It was like a long formal alley.</p> + +<p>When the churchyard came into view people could be seen waiting there. +The procession came to a halt with noise and "a great to-do." The family +alighted and the master led the way. At the church door he halted and +drew a key from his vest pocket with which he unlocked the door. It was +customary for gentlemen to remove their swords at the church door and +place them in a rack provided for the purpose, but whether or not the +head of the Carter family did so is not known.</p> + +<p>The Carters entered the church and proceeded to their high boxed pews, +where curtains on gilt rods screened them from the gaze of the +congregation.</p> + +<p>According to tradition, this bit of pageantry was put on by Robert +(King) Carter every Sabbath, and the congregation, it was said, waited +rain or shine in the churchyard until he came to unlock the door. If he +chose to take a Sunday off, services were held in the churchyard, it was +said.</p> + +<p>Though it was the custom for the rector to sign the vestry minute book +first and then the members in order of their rank, in Christ Church the +Carters always signed first, tradition says.</p> + +<p>King Carter was a vestryman at Christ Church. He wanted his children to +belong to the Established Church—"As I am of the Church of England way +so I desire they should be."</p> + +<p>The first Christ Church had been built by John Carter, the immigrant, in +1669. The second Christ Church was built on the same site by King Carter +in 1732.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_72" id="SECTION_72"></a><i>THE KING OF THE NORTHERN NECK</i></h3> + +<p>Robert Carter was born to be a king among men. His fellow countrymen +called him "King" and his real name was eventually forgotten. Like King +Midas, everything that King Carter<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_98" id="page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> touched turned to gold, but in the +case of the latter there was no magic in it—he planned it that way and +worked to make his plans succeed.</p> + +<p>Robert Carter was the second son of John, the immigrant and Indian +fighter. His mother was Sarah Ludlow Carter, his father's fourth wife.</p> + +<p>Robert Carter was born in 1663, at his father's plantation, Corotoman, +in Lancaster County. The foundation had already been laid there for his +future success. The immigrant Carter had done well. His plantation was +orderly and successful and he had accumulated considerable wealth.</p> + +<p>John Carter died when Robert was six years old, and the elder son +inherited the bulk of the estate, as was the custom then according to +the law of primogeniture and entail.</p> + +<p>But John Carter did not forget Robert. He left instructions that his +younger son should be well educated, specifying that "during his +minority" he should have a man or youth servant bought for him. This +servant was "not only to teach him his books ... but also to preserve +him from harm and evil." He further specified that his son should learn +both Latin and English. These instructions were followed and Robert's +education was completed in England.</p> + +<p>The elder brother soon died, without male heir, and the whole estate +reverted to Robert. It was now up to him to carry on the family +traditions.</p> + +<p>Corotoman, a bee-hive of activity, was typical of the plantations of +that day. It was like a village, which was dominated by the manor house. +There were the cottages of the white indentured servants, the slaves' +quarters, the barn and farm buildings, the spinning-house, the +laundry-house, the milk-house. There were the shops of the artisans who +manufactured and repaired the articles used on the plantation. There was +a shop where boats were built. Corotoman had everything that it needed +to make it a self-sustaining unit.</p> + +<p>To the sloop-landing, near the mouth of Carter's Creek, ships came +directly from foreign ports with cargoes of clothing, furniture and +luxuries for the manor, and shoes and other necessities for the white +serfs and negro slaves. These vessels went away loaded with tobacco and +grain.</p> + +<p>Robert Carter was aware of everything that went on at Corotoman and on +his other plantations, not the smallest detail escaped him. He knew when +a slave's shoes didn't fit, or when a servant's child needed medical +attention. When his sons were in school in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_99" id="page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> England he followed their +progress by remote control and never let them forget that he was holding +the purse-strings—"Mind your book," he wrote his son, Landon. He wanted +them to have a classical education, a thorough understanding of Latin +and English. He also wanted them to have religious training.</p> + +<p>Robert Carter was a politician as well as a planter. He held every high +office in the county and colony, and even acted as governor for more +than a year.</p> + +<p>But most of all, the land fascinated Robert Carter. He loved the rich +virgin soil that would grow tobacco. It was the same thing as growing +money. But in about three years time tobacco had worn out the soil and +new fields must always be on tap in this tobacco game.</p> + +<p>Carter's big opportunity came in 1702 when he was appointed as a land +agent of the Northern Neck proprietary. He set up a land office at +Corotoman and began to acquire lands for himself as well as for others. +He had accumulated 20,000 acres by 1711, at which time he lost the +agency to Thomas Lee, of Westmoreland.</p> + +<p>In 1719 Carter regained the agency and again became the representative +of the Fairfax interests in the Northern Neck. In 1726 he took an even +bolder step by leasing the entire Northern Neck from the proprietor for +a fixed rental of 450 pounds a year. Now he had the income from the +quit-rents for the entire region.</p> + +<p>When King Carter died in 1732, he owned 330,000 acres of land, a +thousand slaves and 10,000 pounds sterling. The latter fact was +remarkable because there was such a small amount of metallic money in +the colony. He also left more than a hundred head of horses, over two +thousand cattle and swine and several hundred sheep. These slaves and +stock were scattered over his various plantations. His estate also +included indentured servants, ships and nautical equipment, crops, +farming equipment, cabins and mansions, furnishings, personal effects +and a library of 521 volumes.</p> + +<p>King Carter had done well for himself, and well for the proprietor. He +had also opened up the back lands of the Northern Neck to settlers, +which automatically forced the Indians back.</p> + +<p>King Carter was a builder. He had a large brick kiln at Corotoman, which +doubtless furnished the bricks for some of his homes and the church. He +built a breakwater at Corotoman to save the waterfront from being washed +away by tide and storm. It was made of huge rocks, probably brought as +ballast in some of the ships. He dug a well at Corotoman and had it +lined with stone. It was a far-cry from the early settlers' "spring near +the door."</p> + +<p>King Carter built a road from Corotoman to Lease-Land<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_100" id="page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> (Fredericksburg), +a distance of almost a hundred miles. It was known as the King's +Highway.</p> + +<p>In everything that King Carter did he looked ahead. He was building for +the future generations of his family. When he died he was the richest +and most powerful man in Virginia. His given name had long since been +forgotten. He was known to everyone in the Northern Neck as King Carter. +He was laid to rest in the yard of Christ Church.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_73" id="SECTION_73"></a><i>KITH AND KIN</i></h3> + +<p>There used to be an old saying—"everybody in the Northern Neck is kith +and kin." This was almost a fact.</p> + +<p>It all came about because in the early days the families of wealth and +ability assumed leadership locally and in the Colonial Government. It +was the custom of these families to intermarry in order to keep the +power of wealth and influence within their own circle.</p> + +<p>By the end of the eighteenth century it was hardly possible to find a +prominent Northern Necker who was not "kin" to some other outstanding +Virginian. This rigid rule of "keeping up the bars," as they called it, +resulted in an aristocracy similar in many ways to the nobility of the +Old World. This system accounts for the high political intelligence for +which Tidewater Virginia was noted.</p> + +<p>The marriages of King Carter's children illustrate this characteristic +of colonial life in the Northern Neck, and in Virginia. King Carter +married only twice but he had twelve children.</p> + +<p>By his first wife, Judith Armistead, King Carter had four children, +John, Elizabeth, Judith and Anne.</p> + +<p>Judith died in 1699, and he married Elizabeth Landon Willis, a widow and +daughter of Thomas Landon of England. She died in 1719. The best known +of her eight children are Robert, Charles, Landon, Mary and Lucy.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, was married to Nathaniel Burwell. King +Carter gave her Carter's Grove. After Burwell died she married George +Nicholas. Judith married Mann page of Rosewell, in Gloucester County. +Anne married Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley, on the James.</p> + +<p>Mary married George Braxton of Newington, in King and Queen County. Lucy +married Colonel Henry Fitzhugh of Eagle's Nest, in Stafford County, on +the Potomac.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_101" id="page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>John became a barrister in the Middle Temple, London, and married +Elizabeth Hill of Shirley, on the James. Robert settled on the +plantation of Nomini, on the Potomac. He married Priscilla, the daughter +of William Churchill, a member of the Council.</p> + +<p>Charles married three times—Mary Walker, Anne, daughter of William Byrd +of Westover, and Lucy Taliaferro. His home was Cleve on the +Rappahannock.</p> + +<p>Landon's home was Sabine Hall, on the Rappahannock. He married three +times—an Armistead of Hesse, a Byrd of Westover and a Wormeley of +Rosegill.</p> + +<p>King Carter's direct descendants include: a signer of the Declaration of +Independence (Carter Braxton), two Presidents of the United States (the +Harrisons), and General Robert E. Lee.</p> + +<p>Thus King Carter's children were well established. These Carters and the +heads of other top-ranking families were sometimes known in the Northern +Neck as the "river barons."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_74" id="SECTION_74"></a><i>THE FIELDINGS</i></h3> + +<p>Ambrose Fielding was a justice of the peace for Northumberland County in +1670.</p> + +<p>Ambrose's son, Edward, came to Virginia from England, about 1687-88, to +take up his inheritance of three hundred twenty-five acres left him by +his father in 1675. His Northern Neck holdings were increased in 1695 by +the will of his "Uncle Edward" Fielding, a great merchant of Bristol, +England, who left him "500 acres at Wiccomocco in the County of +Northumberland, in the Country of Virginia beyond the seas." In the same +year Edward, by grant from Lady Culpeper and Lord Fairfax, acquired four +hundred twenty-five more acres on "Wicocomoco river ... near ye Mill Dam +of ye sd. Fielding, of Lee parish."</p> + +<p>Edward owned a snuff box, marked with his initials, "E.F.," and the date +"1716." The portrait of a young woman was painted on the lid. It is +believed to have been his wife, or his daughter Sarah. The girl in the +picture wears a dress of satin, with white skirt, green stomacher and +plain colored bodice; the head-dress, which is like a scarf or loose +hood, is of white and green, and the flower held in her hand is blue, as +are the velvet cushions of the chair.</p> + +<p>Edward's oldest son was born in 1689. Edward named him for his father, +Ambrose.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_102" id="page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>When Ambrose was about twenty-one years old he married the daughter of a +"chirugeon," Mark Attkins. After their marriage Ambrose and Catherine +moved to Lancaster County and settled on a plantation known as Broad +Neck Quarter.</p> + +<p>The house of Ambrose Fielding II, was built like a small fort in the +wilderness, probably for defense against Indians. It was built of brick +with loop-holes in the walls. A brick wall surrounded the house, and it +too was pierced with loop-holes.</p> + +<p>This house is said to have been located near the seat of the Carters at +Corotoman. This statement seems to have been borne out by the will of +King Carter, 1728, in which he mentions a "Fielding's Place." In 1749 +the King's grandson, Robert Carter III, of Nomini Hall, owned about two +thousand acres in a tract in Northumberland called Fielding's Quarter.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_75" id="SECTION_75"></a><i>PIRATES</i></h3> + +<p>In the time of King Carter of Corotoman, the Chesapeake was alive with +pirates. He wrote that they were "very bold and roguish ... miserable +case, the Crown takes no more care of so vast a fleet of ships as uses +this bay."</p> + +<p>The pirates reaped a rich harvest from the unprotected ships that +traveled to and from foreign ports. In one year four ships bound back to +Virginia from England had been sunk.</p> + +<p>There were three types of pirates—the "bloody pirate," who was simply a +robber on the high seas; the privateers, who commanded armed private +vessels commissioned to cruise against the commerce or war vessels of +the enemy; and buccaneers, who were freeholders who preyed upon Spanish +as well as American vessels and settlements.</p> + +<p>With its many bays and rivers the coastline of Tidewater Virginia was +hard to defend. Pirates could swoop down in their fast boats and rob +vessels and plunder the plantations along the shore. It was easy to make +a landing in the lower counties of the Neck where the land was low and +there were wharves at the plantations.</p> + +<p>In 1699, Captain Kidd, who tradition says wore a gold chain around his +neck and picked his teeth with a toothpick of gold, entered the +Chesapeake in his vessel <i>Alexander</i>. The militia of the maritime +counties was called out but Captain Kidd, after plundering several +ships, sailed away.</p> + +<p>Louis Guittar entered the Bay in 1700 and plundered and destroyed five +vessels while there. At some time during this period, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_103" id="page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> ship-load of +pirates reached the waters of the upper Chesapeake, where they captured +a large sloop. They anchored that evening not far from shore and, +tradition says, "the pirates were heard beating their drums all night +long."</p> + +<p>The pirate, George Lowther, entered the Bay in 1722. Roger Makeele was +another Bay pirate. He and his gang of thirteen men and four women +preyed on small craft in the Bay channels. After a successful venture +they celebrated by "drinking and feasting with Rumm or Brandy, mutton, +Turkey etc." This gang was captured and brought to trial by the Governor +of Virginia.</p> + +<p>The Virginia government used several methods of defense: look-outs, +militia, forts and guard-ships. There was a fort with twenty-four guns +and one hundred fifty "available shot" at Corotoman, on the +Rappahannock. At Yeocomico, on the Potomac, there was a fort with six +guns. Since almost no maintenance was given to the forts in Virginia +they were in a dilapidated condition by 1691. The guns were "spoiled in +the sand with the water flowing over them at high tide." This form of +defense proved to be ineffective. The colony had already turned to +guard-ships as a means of protection.</p> + +<p>These guard-ships were used to convoy merchant vessels to their +destination, or to a safe "riding place." The designated "riding place" +on the Rappahannock was above the fort at Corotoman. On the Wicomico and +on the Potomac the "riding places" were "as high as they can go."</p> + +<p>One of these guard-ships, <i>H.M.S. Deptford</i>, a ketch, under command of +Captain Thomas Berry, was upset in a squall in the Potomac. Captain +Berry, who was ill at the time, was drowned along with eight members of +his crew.</p> + +<p>In 1726, Joseph Parsons, mate of the ship <i>Tayloe</i> of Bristol, was tried +in the court of Richmond County and convicted of piracy and the murder +of Captain John Heard of the <i>Tayloe</i>. Parsons was sent to the "gaol" at +Williamsburg. The Council in Williamsburg re-examined the case and +discharged Parsons because of lack of sufficient evidence. The silver +plate and other articles found in the possession of the crew were held +by the authorities until the rightful owners could claim them. The crew +said that they had taken the property from the <i>Tayloe</i> "for sustinance +while journeying through the colony."</p> + +<p>After Blackbeard was captured by Maynard, in 1718, piracy in the +Tidewater declined. The last pirate reported in the Chesapeake was in +1807. Tales of pirates, piracy and buried treasure were told in the +region for many years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_104" id="page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_76" id="SECTION_76"></a><i>CHRISTMAS AT COLONEL FITZHUGH'S</i></h3> + +<p>An account of a Christmas spent at Bedford plantation in the Northern +Neck was written by Monsieur Durand, a Frenchman, who was journeying +through Virginia in the holiday season of the year 1686. He wrote:</p> + +<p>"We were now approaching the Christmas Festival.... It was agreed that +all should go to spend the night with Colonel Fitzhugh, whose house is +on the shore of the great river Potomac....</p> + +<p>"By the time we reached Col. Fitzhugh's we made up a troop of 20 horse.</p> + +<p>"The Colonel's accomodations were, however, so ample that this company +gave him no trouble at all; we were all supplied with beds, though we +had to double up. Col Fitzhugh showed us the largest hospitality. He had +store of good wine and other things to drink, and a frolic ensued.</p> + +<p>"He called in three fiddlers, a clown, a tight-rope dancer and an +acrobatic tumbler, and gave us all the divertisement one would wish. It +was very cold but no one thought of going near the fire because they +never put less than the trunk of a tree upon it and so the entire room +was kept warm."</p> + +<p>William Fitzhugh, the owner of Bedford, came to Virginia in 1670. He +secured a grant of land in the upper Neck, in what later became King +George County. He married "little Sarah Tucker" of Tucker Hill when she +was only eleven years old, and then sent her to England to be educated. +Sarah and William reared a family of five sons. Colonel Fitzhugh became +one of the largest landowners in the Northern Neck. At the time of his +death in 1701 he owned 54,054 acres of land.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_77" id="SECTION_77"></a><i>INDIAN VISITORS</i></h3> + +<p>When the French Huguenot, Monsieur Durand, was in Stafford County in +1686 he described the Indians who lived along the Rappahannock River as +follows:</p> + +<p>"As we were about to take horse all those savages, men, women & little +children, came to return our visit. Those who had been able to procure +jerkins from the Christians were wearing them, as also<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_105" id="page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> the women who +wore some kind of petticoats, others wore some pieces of shabby cloth +from which were made the blankets they had traded on some ships in +exchange for deer skins. They had a hole in the center to put their +heads through & fastened it around their body with deer-thongs. The +women were wearing theirs as a mantilla, like the Egyptian women in +Europe, & their children were entirely naked. They had taken to adorn +themselves some kind of pure white fishbones, slipping a strand of hair +through a bone, & so on all around their head. They also wore necklaces +& bracelets of small grains which are found in the country."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_78" id="SECTION_78"></a><i>HORSE RACING</i></h3> + +<p>Horse racing was the most popular form of amusement in Virginia in the +seventeenth century. The lower counties of the Northern Neck were the +center of horse racing in the colony at that time.</p> + +<p>These races had many spectators, including women, but only gentlemen +could participate. Racing was considered "a sport for gentlemen alone," +and records show that if one not of that class presumed to enter his +horse in a race he was heavily fined.</p> + +<p>The races were taken seriously and conducted with fairness, even if it +might be necessary to be assisted to this end by the courts. There are +many records of contested decisions decided by jury.</p> + +<p>Saturday was the customary day for the races. These occasions when a +crowd was gathered together were used by the public authorities for +making announcements to the people.</p> + +<p>In 1696 citizens of Northumberland complained to the House of Burgesses +that the races on Saturday often caused the Sabbath to be profaned. The +races may have been carried over into Sunday, or they may have ended in +drinking and fighting bouts which continued on that day.</p> + +<p>There were three racing tracks in the lower Neck: Coan Race Course, +Willoughby's Old Field, located in Richmond County, and a third course +at Yeocomico. Of these the principal and the most popular was the Coan +track. These race-tracks were kept in good condition. Early race-courses +were not always oval. Some were over "race paths." The "quarter race" +was the outcome of this—where two horses ran a straight quarter of a +mile. The stretch was sometimes a quarter and a half-quarter of a mile.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_106" id="page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> + +<p>Smoker, owned by Mr. Joseph Humphrey, was one of the most famous +race-horses in the colony. He was later owned by Captain Rodham Kenner, +who was High Sheriff of Northumberland. Prince, owned by Captain John +Haynie, II, was another noted race-horse. In 1695 Smoker was run in a +race against Prince on Coan Race Course. The stake was four thousand +pounds of tobacco and forty shillings. The race was won by Smoker.</p> + +<p>Betting was part of the pleasure of the races. The stakes ran high—they +were usually made up of a large amount of tobacco with a small addition +of metallic coin.</p> + +<p>Another horse celebrated in the region was Young Fire, owned by John +Gardiner. This horse was snow-white in color. Captain John Hartley owned +a horse called Campbell. Folly was a mare owned by Mr. Peter Contanceau. +The owners were sensitive as to the reputations of their horses and +would go to great lengths to preserve them.</p> + +<p>Other Northern Neck turfmen mentioned in seventeenth century records +were: Mr. Yewell of Westmoreland, John Hartridge, Daniel Sullivant, Mr. +Raleigh Travers, Mr. John Clemens, Captain William Barber and John +Washington.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_79" id="SECTION_79"></a><i>MANUFACTURE</i></h3> + +<p>Early attempts at manufacture were begun in Virginia. The Assembly +estimated that five children not over thirteen years of age could spin +and weave enough to keep thirty persons clothed. In 1646 it was ordered +that two houses be erected in Jamestown for spinning-schools.</p> + +<p>These "Flax-Houses," as they were called in some records, were to be +"one-storey, measuring eight feet from floor to ceiling, with a loft of +sawn boards above." A "stack" of brick chimneys were to stand in the +middle of each house, and suitable partitions were to be made.</p> + +<p>Each county was to send to these schools two "poor children," about +seven or eight years old, who were to work at carding, knitting and +spinning. For their maintenance the county authorities were to supply +each of their children when they were admitted with: "6 barrels of +Indian corn, a pig, 2 hens, clothing, shoes, a bed, rug, blanket, 2 +coverlets, a wooden tray, and 2 pewter dishes or cups."</p> + +<p>This plan was not very successful and it probably failed before<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_107" id="page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> the +counties of the Northern Neck had advanced far enough to send children +to the spinning-schools.</p> + +<p>To encourage manufacture in early Virginia, prizes in tobacco were given +for every pound of flax raised, for every skein of yarn, and for every +yard of linen produced.</p> + +<p>In 1697, Tobias Hall of Lancaster County, claimed the reward for the +production of linen. Inventories of Lancaster disclose woolen-wheels and +wool cards. A loom was owned by Charles Kelly. Flannel, and even +blankets, were manufactured on these looms.</p> + +<p>Between 1660 and 1702 there were at least two tailors in Lancaster +County. Daniel Harrison, of the same county, must have manufactured +quite a lot of shoes, for the time and place. He employed three +shoemakers, and his personal estate included: "122 sides of leather, 72 +pairs of shoes, 37 awls, 26 paring knives, 12 dozen lasts and numerous +curriers' and tanners' tools."</p> + +<p>A reward of fifty pounds of tobacco was offered for any sea-going vessel +built in Virginia. There was no lack of Virginia-built small vessels, +such as barges, shallops and sloops.</p> + +<p>Rural life was not favorable to manufacture, although each plantation +manufactured those articles necessary to its needs. William Fitzhugh, a +wealthy landowner of the upper Neck, wrote to his London agent in 1692 +and requested him to send to his plantations several shoemakers, "with +lasts, awls and knives, together with half a hundred shoemaker's thread, +some 20 or 30 gallons of train oil and proper colorings for leather." He +had set up a tan-house and wished to convert the product into shoes on +his own plantation.</p> + +<p>Later on, in the eighteenth century, Robert Carter of Nomini Hall, a +grandson of King Carter, manufactured on quite a large scale.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_80" id="SECTION_80"></a><i>THE POTOMAC RANGERS</i></h3> + +<p>The Potomac rangers were appointed by the governor for frontier duty. +The county lieutenant, in command of the county militia, was given the +power to impress men who lived in the region for this service.</p> + +<p>The outfit was composed of a commander and eleven men with horses, arms, +and necessary equipment. The Rangers had orders from the Jamestown +government to "seize any Indian or Indians whatsoever," and have him, or +them, put in jail to remain there until "delivered by due process of +law."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_108" id="page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<p>Indians were not the only public enemies in the frontier country. In +1698, the gentlemen of Stafford sent a letter of "grievances" to +Jamestown asking that the "bloody villain, Squire Tom, a convict upon +record," be demanded from the "Emperor of Piscataway," who was then +protecting him from punishment.</p> + +<p>The activities of the Potomac Rangers are described in a quaint journal +kept by one of the Rangers in 1692:</p> + +<p>"A Journiall of our Ranging. Given by me, David Strahan, Lieutenant of +ye Rangers of Pottomack. June the 17th; We ranged over Ackoquane, and so +we Ranged Round persi-Neck and ther we lay that night. And on ye 18th +came to Pohike, and ther we heard that Capt. Mason's Servt-man was +missing. Then we went to see if we could find him, and we followed his +foot abut a mile, to a house that is deserted, and we took ye tract of a +great many Indians and we followed it about 10 miles, and having no +provisions we was forced to return. June 26th: We Ranged up to Jonathan +Matthews hs. along with Capt. Masone, and ther we met with Capt. +Houseley, and we sent over for the Emperor, but he would not come, and +we went over to ye towne, and they held a Masocomacko and ordered 20 of +their Indians to goe after ye Indians that carried away Capt. Masone's +man, and so we returned. July the 3d ... July 11th; We ranged up to +Brenttowne and ther we lay.... The 19th we ranged up to Ackotink, and +discovered nothing.... So we Ranged once in ye Neck till ye 20th +Sept<sup>br</sup>, then we mercht to Capt. Masone's and ther we met with Capt. +Houseley and his men; so we draved out 12 of our best horses, and so we +ranged up Ackotink and ther we lay that night. Sept 22^d ... Sept. 23^d +We marcht to the Suggar Land<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>.... And the 24th we Ranged about to see +if we could find ye tract of any Indians, but we could not see any fresh +signe ...; the 26th marcht to Capt. Masone's, and ther dismissed my men +till ye next March."</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PART_II" id="PART_II"></a>PART II</h2> + +<h3>Eighteenth Century</h3> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_111" id="page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="SECTION_81" id="SECTION_81"></a><i>MURDERS IN STAFFORD</i></h3> + +<p>Thomas Barton, of Stafford County, asked a neighbor to stay with his +children while he and his wife went away for a day. The obliging +neighbor, his wife and three children, came to the Barton plantation on +a Sunday, June 16, 1700.</p> + +<p>There were three children in the Barton family, and an orphan boy. On +that peaceful June day all must have been drowsy contentment at the +wilderness plantation—six children at play in the house, and the +neighbor and his wife trying perhaps to take a nap. Only the orphan boy +was outside, playing alone.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the peaceful Sunday afternoon was turned into a nightmare. A +party of Indian warriors swooped down in a sudden attack on the Barton +place. All was over in a few minutes no doubt. Only the orphan boy +escaped and ran to a neighboring plantation.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Barton was on the way home. His wife had probably decided to +stay overnight wherever they had visited for he was alone. He stopped by +a mill where he had left some corn to be ground and picked up his bag of +meal. When he was almost home about twenty Indians started up from the +woods and closed in about him in a "half-moon." They were naked and +unarmed.</p> + +<p>Barton had a good mount but the meal was heavy. He finally got the bag +loose and threw it off, and then at full speed he "broke through the +woods and got safe to a neighbor's house."</p> + +<p>Colonel George Mason II, who was probably at the head of the Stafford +militia, was notified of the outrage. When he and a "small parcel of +men" arrived at the Barton place they found plenty of work to do. They +"pulled out of the people and a mare, sixty-nine arrows." They also +found five "ugly wooden tomahawks." Mason and the men buried the "poor +people." Arrows had made holes in the roof of the house as "big as swan +shot."</p> + +<p>From the tracks about the house Mason judged that there had been at +least forty Indians in the party. He was of the opinion that most of +them had gone back to Maryland.</p> + +<p>After Mason returned to his home he wrote a long letter to the governor +in which he described the murders as the "horriblest that ever was in +Stafford." These two plantations would be deserted for the year, he +wrote, and he was afraid that all the people would leave their +plantations. "I am afraid," wrote Colonel Mason, "that we shall have a +bad summer, but ... if I can keep them upon their<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_112" id="page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> plantations, it will +be some discouragement to the enemy ... but God knows what I shall do +now, for this has almost frighted our people out of their lives."</p> + +<p>In another letter written in July, Colonel Mason seemed to have gotten +the situation well in hand: "The Rangers continue their duties ... they +range ... four days a week, which is as hard duty as can be +performed.... The inhabitants still continue from their homes, but the +abundance are better satisfied since part of the Rangers are constantly +ranging among them." The Rangers had been re-enforced by the sons of the +planters and other young men.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_82" id="SECTION_82"></a><i>FREE SCHOOLS</i></h3> + +<p>In 1652 the court of Northumberland County granted the petition of +Richard Lee of Cobbs Hall "concerning a free school to be set up."</p> + +<p>Francis Pritchard, 1675, Lancaster County, left a large estate for the +establishment of a free school.</p> + +<p>In 1700 William Horton endowed a free school in Westmoreland County.</p> + +<p>In 1702 John Farneffold made provision in his will for a free school in +Northumberland as early as August, 1672. In 1680 he was minister of St. +Stephen's Parish, and remained such until his death in 1702. He was the +son of Sir Thomas Farneffold of Sussex, England.</p> + +<p>The provisions in John Farneffold's will concerning the free school were +as follows:</p> + +<p>"I give 100 acres where I now live for the maintenance of a free school, +and to be called Winchester Schoole, for fower or five poore children +belonging to ye parish and to be taught & to have their dyett, lodging & +washing, & when they can read the Bible & write a legible hand, to +dismiss them & take in more, such as my exors. shall think fitt, and for +the benefitt of the said school, I give five cows and a Bull, six ewes, +and a ram, a carthorse & cart and two breeding sowes & that my two +mulatto girles, Frances and Lucy Murrey, have a yeares schooling & be +free when they arrive at the age of 22 years, to whom I give a sow shoat +to each, & for further encouragement of a schoolmaster, I give dyett, +lodging & washing & 500 pds. of tobacco & a horse, Bridle & Saddle to +ride on during his stay, the place where the school house is to be +directed, my will is to have it neare my<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_113" id="page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> dwelling house, some part of +which may serve for a school house til another may more conveniently be +built. Item what schoole books I have in my study, I leave for ye +benefit of ye schoole. Then my will is that some of my estate be sold +for the maintenance of the said schoole except what my exors. shall +think fitt to select necessary for use as bedding, potts, & pewter. My +will is that Mr. Tarpley, Mr. Leo Howson, Richard Nutt and Edward Cole +carry me to the grave, three to have guineas, and Richard Nutt a gold +ring.... If the school fail for want of maintenance, which I hope it +will not, give that hundred acres & all the rest of my land to +Farneffold Nutt, son of Richard Nutt; to the minister who preaches my +funeral sermon, my Preaching gown & Cassocke."</p> + +<p>Another school was provided for by Daniel Hornby, of Richmond County. In +his will, proved April 2, 1750, he made provision that a Latin master +should attend Travers Colston, a relative, at twenty pounds per year, +and that he should be obliged to teach ten children.</p> + +<p>In 1770-71 Colonel Landon Carter of Sabine Hall, Richmond County, was +supporting a free school in that county. William Rigmaiden was the +master of this school.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_83" id="SECTION_83"></a><i>THE HOME IN THE FOREST</i></h3> + +<p>Mary Ball was born on a plantation "up in the forest," which was the way +the Northern Neckers described any place that was not on the water.</p> + +<p>In this Neck where one is never far from the water, river plantations +were the rule in colonial days, and it is an unusual fact that Colonel +Joseph Ball established his seat in the forest. Lancaster was still a +frontier county and there were only horse paths through the woods, for +the rivers were still used as highways.</p> + +<p>Joseph Ball had inherited his forested lands from his father, William +Ball, the founder of the Ball family in Virginia. William came to +Virginia, probably as a merchant, in 1650, but he did not settle until +about 1663, at which time he purchased land in Lancaster County and +established his seat on the east side of the Corotoman River, where it +empties into the Rappahannock. This location, which he called +Millenbeck, became the county seat.</p> + +<p>Joseph Ball followed in the footsteps of his father as a man of +prominence in county affairs. He was Lieutenant-Colonel in the militia, +and vestryman of St. Mary's White Chapel. This chapel<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_114" id="page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> was known as "the +Balls' church" just as Christ Church was known as the "Carters' Church." +Both churches were in Christ Church Parish.</p> + +<p>Joseph Ball was married twice. Just before his second marriage he gave +to the children of his first marriage certain portions of his estate, +reserving the right of dower for his second wife.</p> + +<p>Little is known of Joseph's second wife, Mary Johnson, except that she +was a widow. When Mary Ball was born to Joseph and Mary, probably in the +winter of 1708 or 1709, there was nothing to indicate that she was +destined to become the most important woman of the Northern Neck. She +was at that time just another baby born into the gentle, distinguished +and religious Ball family.</p> + +<p>Joseph Ball, who was no longer a young man, died when Mary was about two +years old. In his will he left Mary four hundred acres of land near the +head of the Rappahannock River, three slaves, fifteen cattle and "all +the feathers in the kitchen loft to be put in a bed for her."</p> + +<p>Within about one year, Mary Johnson Ball married again. Her third +husband was a prominent merchant-planter, Captain Richard Hewes, who +lived on his plantation Cherry Point in the upper part of Northumberland +County, in the neck between Yeocomico and Coan Rivers.</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Hewes went to Cherry Point to live she took her son by her +first marriage, John Johnson, and Mary Ball with her. Thus Mary at three +years of age had few, if any, memories of her birthplace "up in the +forest" of Lancaster County.</p> + +<p>Several generations later this Ball plantation became known as Epping +Forest. It was named, it is believed, for a Ball estate in England.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_84" id="SECTION_84"></a><i>CHERRY POINT</i></h3> + +<p>Mary Ball's first memories were probably of the fields and rivers at +Cherry Point. It was a pleasant place to remember. The responsibility of +the plantation soon fell on Mary's mother, for Captain Hewes died in +1713.</p> + +<p>There were few toys then. Mary may have had one of those wooden dolls +with stiff joints and staring eyes. She probably played out-of-doors and +had animals for pets.</p> + +<p>There were no childrens' books then. A Mother Goose book was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_115" id="page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> published +in Boston in 1719, but that was too late for Mary. She probably had only +a horn-book from which to learn her A B C's. Perhaps there was an +indentured servant who could teach her a little.</p> + +<p>On Sundays the family probably attended church at Upper St. Stephen's +Parish<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>, where Captain Hewes had been one of the vestrymen. There may +have been some sort of a road from the plantation to the church over +which a coach could be pulled, but if so it certainly did not travel at +the lively speed of King Carter's! More than likely they rode there on +horseback—little Mary sitting up in front of some older person. She +doubtless learned to ride at an early age.</p> + +<p>Mary probably valued the feather bed left her by her father far more +than she did the legacy of land. She had never even seen the land, but +every night she could sink into the warmth and softness of the feather +bed.</p> + +<p>Mary's childhood days at Cherry Point ended in 1721. The child's +half-brother, John Johnson, and her mother both died in that year.</p> + +<p>Mary Ball was now an orphan, but her mother had planned it so that she +would not be alone in the world. Mary Hewes had stipulated in her will +that—"my said Daughter Mary Ball—be under Tutiledge and government of +Captain George Eskridge during her minority." Colonel Eskridge was also +named as executor of Mary's estate. She had received almost the whole of +her mother's estate, consisting of lands, two horses and personal +property. And she had received all of her half-brother's estate, +consisting of land in Stafford County.</p> + +<p>Mary Hewes had chosen wisely in selecting her "trusty and well beloved +friend George Eskridge" as guardian of her youngest child. Colonel +Eskridge was not only a lawyer of distinction, an experienced business +man, a leading man in his community, but he was also a gentleman. And +Colonel Eskridge was "connected by marriage" with Mary Ball's +half-sister Elizabeth Johnson who had married Samuel Bonum. Mary was +therefore equally welcome to make her home at her guardian's plantation +or at the farm of the Bonum's.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_116" id="page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus6" id="illus6"></a> +<img src="images/illus6.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>Mary Ball at Yeocomico Church.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_117" id="page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_85" id="SECTION_85"></a><i>SANDY POINT</i></h3> + +<p>Both the Bonums and the Eskridges lived in lower Westmoreland County, +just across the Yeocomico River from Cherry Point.</p> + +<p>Colonel Eskridge's plantation, Sandy Point, was directly on the Potomac. +Its name gave but a vague idea of the beauty of the beach and the sweep +of river beyond. There was a feeling here of space. It was a place of +restless sounds, made by the wind and waves. It was quite different here +from the quieter waters and forest walls that Mary Ball had known.</p> + +<p>Bonum's Creek Farm, the home of Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth, was east +of Bonum's Creek. The "home-place" was situated on the bank of the +Potomac, in sight of Pecatone, the manor home of the Corbin family.</p> + +<p>Mary now had the choice of these two delightful places for her future +home. She probably divided her time between the two. Perhaps Mary Hewes +had this in mind when she left Mary a "good Pacing horse together with a +good silk plush saddle," thus taking care of the problem of +transportation.</p> + +<p>Among the other things "bequeath unto" Mary by her mother were two gold +rings, the "one being a large hoop and the other a stoned ring," a trunk +and "all the rest of my wearing apparel." So when Mary went to her new +homes she had a trunkful of clothes which would come in handy as she +grew older, for it took a long time to receive an order from England, +and ships were being taken by pirates during these years. It was lucky +that fashions did not change much then, and that clothes were made to +last.</p> + +<p>Mary had a maid, who probably looked after her and her wardrobe. Mary +had enough income for her needs, therefore she was more fortunate than +most orphans of that time.</p> + +<p>Sandy Point was doubtless the scene of many larks after Mary joined the +Eskridge girls who lived there. In the evenings there was probably much +talk around the fireplace—of pirates and witches and houses where +mysterious lights flitted at night. And much giggling and chatter +upstairs after the candles had been put out.</p> + +<p>In 1726 Mary's life was again saddened, this time by the death of her +brother-in-law, Samuel Bonum. In his will he left her "a young gray +dapple horse."</p> + +<p>While at Sandy Point Mary attended Yeocomico Church, where her guardian +was a vestryman. She rode there on horseback, tradition<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_118" id="page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> says. In cold +weather she probably wore a red cloak, and a hood or scarf to protect +her head and face.</p> + +<p>The simple church, cloistered in the virgin forest, invited worship, but +the churchyard on Sundays was a festive place in those days. And it was +a noisy place—there was the rattling of wheels, the cracking of whips, +the neighing of horses and the chattering of the people, who were so +glad to see each other. There were "rings of Beaux chatting" around the +girls in their bright mantles.</p> + +<p>It was cold inside the church in winter, sometimes too cold to have even +the usual short sermon. The high-backed pews shielded their occupants +from drafts, and some people had their servants bring in little stoves +of perforated tin containing coals, or hot bricks to place under the +feet.</p> + +<p>After the service there was more "visiting together" in the churchyard, +and the men had business transactions to make.</p> + +<p>Near the church there was a spring, and a kiln where the bricks had been +burned for the church when it was built in 1706.</p> + +<p>Mary Ball lived among the gentle people of this region until she was +married. There are no early portraits of Mary Ball, but tradition says +that at the time of her marriage she was "a healthy orphan of moderate +height, rounded figure and pleasant voice, aged 23."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_86" id="SECTION_86"></a><i>AUGUSTINE</i></h3> + +<p>Augustine Washington was "connected by marriage" with Colonel Eskridge. +He probably met Mary Ball on one of his visits to Sandy Point.</p> + +<p>Sandy Point was an ideal place for romance but there is not even a +traditional account of the courtship of Mary Ball. Even the scene of her +marriage is not known, but it was probably at Sandy Point or at the +Bonum home. Mary Ball and Augustine Washington were married by the +Reverend Walter Jones, on March 6, 1731. Ministers at that time usually +received "for marriage two shillings."</p> + +<p>Mary's new husband was "blond, of fine proportion, great physical +strength and stood six feet in his stockings, and had a kindly nature." +He was called Gus by his friends.</p> + +<p>Gus took his bride to his home on Popes Creek, in upper Westmoreland +County. Mary was not the first mistress at Popes Creek, for Augustine +had been married before, to Jane Butler, half-sister<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_119" id="page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> to Colonel +Eskridge's second wife. Jane had been dead for about three years.</p> + +<p>At Popes Creek now there were the servants and little Jane, who was +about nine years old. Augustine's other two children were teen-age boys, +Lawrence and Augustine, who were then at Appleby's School in England. +Gus himself had been educated at that school.</p> + +<p>Augustine Washington, while not a man of great wealth, owned land and +buildings in at least three counties, and he was part owner of two iron +furnaces. He was prominent in his community, having held at various +times the positions of Justice of Westmoreland County court, Captain in +the county militia, Sheriff of Westmoreland County, and he was a +vestryman in the church. Although he was not one of the wealthiest +planters in the Northern Neck, he was on an equal footing with them +socially.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_87" id="SECTION_87"></a><i>POPES CREEK</i></h3> + +<p>When Mary came to Popes Creek to live she had some housefurnishings of +her own to bring with her. There was the feather bed, and her mother had +left her a bedstead to go with it, a quilt and a pair of blankets. She +had also left Mary two table-cloths "marked M. B. with inck," two pewter +dishes, two basins, one large iron "pott," one frying pan, one "Rugg" +and "one suit of good curtains and fallens" (valance). It must have been +with great joy that Mary arranged these things in her own home.</p> + +<p>The house at Popes Creek was not a magnificent residence such as +Stratford Hall or King Carter's manor at Corotoman. It is believed to +have been "a simple abode," but it was comfortable and it had a quality +that was lacking in the splendid mansions—it was homely. It was the +kind of place where a planter could sit with his family in the evening +and feel close to them and close to his earth.</p> + +<p>The house was situated on the west side of Popes Creek, about +three-quarters of a mile from the point where the creek emptied into the +Potomac. About a mile to the northwest was the last habitation of John +Washington, the immigrant, and near it was the family burying ground.</p> + +<p>Augustine had bought his tract of one hundred and fifty acres of land on +Popes Creek from Joseph Abbington in 1718. David Jones, a local builder +and undertaker, had contracted to build the home for five thousand +pounds of tobacco with extra amounts in cash for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_120" id="page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> incidentals. He was +probably assisted by Augustine's slaves and indentured servants. The +house was completed and occupied by Augustine and his first wife about +1726, so it was still rather new when Mary came to live there.</p> + +<p>Mary probably found it not too difficult to assume her duties as +mistress of the plantation for the farm activities at Popes Creek were +about the same as those she had known before her marriage on the +plantations in lower Westmoreland.</p> + +<p>Many years later the Popes Creek plantation became known as Wakefield.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_88" id="SECTION_88"></a><i>THE WAR PATH</i></h3> + +<p>The Shenandoah Valley was the historic war trail of the Six Nations of +Indians of the north in their warfare with the southern Indian tribes. +These wars had commenced before the settlement of Jamestown. There is no +evidence to show that the Valley was inhabited to any extent by Indians +immediately before the coming of the white man to the New World. +Scattered burial mounds prove that Indians lived there at an early +period but their history has been lost.</p> + +<p>Governor Spotswood believed that this migration of Indian warriors from +north to south would hold back the settlement of Virginia. He called a +conference which was attended by the northern Indians and the governors +of New York and Pennsylvania, and himself and other representatives from +Virginia. At this conference the Indians were persuaded to limit their +travel. In the Treaty of Albany, signed in 1722, the northern Indians +promised to let the southern Indians live in peace, and agreed that +their warriors would not cross Virginia without a passport. Disregard of +this treaty was punishable with death or transportation to the West +Indies and sale into slavery.</p> + +<p>Governor Spotswood bound the bargain by dramatically handing the +interpreter his "golden-horseshoe," which had been pinned at his breast, +and bidding him to give it to the speaker and to tell him that "there +was an inscription on it which signified that it would help him to pass +over the mountains; and that when any of their people should come to +Virginia with a pass, they should bring that with them."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_121" id="page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<p>After this treaty was signed the Northern Neck could be opened to +settlers westward. And the planters could now patent immense tracts of +land.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_89" id="SECTION_89"></a><i>FALMOUTH</i></h3> + +<p>About this time there was considerable trade between the Northern Neck +and both Ireland and Scotland. It has been said that Virginia tobacco +helped Glasgow, Scotland, to prosperity. A street in that city was named +for Virginia, and at one time Virginia merchants "thronged that street +and were regarded with such respect that other men gave way that they +might pass." Among these gentlemen were some of the planters from the +Potomac. In 1720 George Mason III, was given the freedom of the city of +Glasgow, in the form of a parchment "Burgess Ticket."</p> + +<p>Falmouth, in Stafford County, was founded in 1727 by Scotch merchants. +Boats from Scotland came directly to this trading village situated near +the head of the Rappahannock River. Something of this once thriving +trading center of the Neck is told in a letter written by a visitor by +the name of Ellen Gray. The undated letter was written to her friend, +Rose Douglas of Loch Lomond, Scotland. It says:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Dear Rose:</p> + +<p>"Falmouth is on a river that empties into Chesapeake Bay. The +houses are perched on declivities and hills. There are mills. I +love water wheels when they glisten.... We saw scenery much +wilder than any in Scotland. It consisted of islands in the +Rappahannock, lying above Falmouth. We gazed on them from a +long plank bridge. What a pity the Virginians will span their +streams with plank instead of stone! A stone bridge overgrown +with moss is a bewitching sight. Several Scotch families have +lived in Falmouth, tho the place is called Fal from a river in +England. Among its most successful merchants was Basil Gordon. +He arrived a poor boy in Falmouth. He died a millionaire after +a life of patient industry."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Basil Gordon is believed to have been one of America's first +millionaires.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_122" id="page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_90" id="SECTION_90"></a><i>BURNT HOUSE FIELD</i></h3> + +<p>It was a cold night in January, 1729. Thomas Lee was ready to go to bed. +He had probably checked the doors and windows and all seemed well at +Matholic.</p> + +<p>His family were already asleep but perhaps Thomas lingered awhile, +thinking about his new home, Stratford, which he was building on his own +plantation twenty miles away. How good, he may have thought, it would be +to have something of his own. For Matholic, this ancestral Lee estate in +Westmoreland where he was now living, did not belong to Thomas. He was +leasing it from his older brother, the third Richard Lee.</p> + +<p>Thomas Lee was a younger son and therefore he had received little in the +way of a heritage; even his education had been neglected. His older +brothers had received the customary classical education, while Thomas +learned only reading, spelling and ciphering, probably from an +indentured servant. He had been ashamed of his lack of education. To +pass in the elegant society to which his family were accustomed it was +necessary to have a knowledge of Latin and Greek. After he was a mature +man he studied long hours alone until he had mastered these subjects.</p> + +<p>Thomas' father, the second Richard, had thrown at least one crumb in the +direction of his younger son. When he was compelled by age to resign as +naval officer of the Potomac, in 1710, the elder Lee persuaded Governor +Alexander Spotswood to give this post to his son, Thomas. So, before he +was twenty-one, Thomas was reporting on the maritime trade of his +district, and collecting fees from the ships' captains.</p> + +<p>Through his uncle, Edmund Jenings, Thomas had acquired the position of +manager of the Northern Neck proprietary. His uncle, who was then in +England, had a lease on the proprietary at that time. Thomas had opened +a land office at Matholic. He also traveled on horseback all over the +Northern Neck so that in this way he well knew the lands of that vast +domain.</p> + +<p>By the time Thomas was established, and thirty-two years old, his +thoughts turned to marriage. He went "a-courting" down at Green Spring, +near Jamestown, and won the hand of young Hannah Harrison Ludwell. When +Hannah came as a bride to Matholic she added to the family fortune with +her dowry of six hundred pounds sterling.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_123" id="page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>Things were going well with Thomas Lee. Now, on this winter's night, he +probably went up to bed with a contented mind.</p> + +<p>Sometime during the night Thomas awoke suddenly to find the house in +flames around him. He shook Hannah and they grabbed up the children from +their beds and started for the stairs only to find that it was too late +to get down that way. The heat was hot on his back when he helped Hannah +over the window sill and watched her fall to the ground—fifteen feet. +He dropped his small children and then jumped himself. Just in time, +too, for he was hardly on the ground before the roof caved in—too late +to save the twelve-year-old white servant girl who was asleep in the +house.</p> + +<p>Shivering in their night clothes the family watched the barns and +outbuildings burn to the ground, shocked into silence by the loss of the +little servant.</p> + +<p>Later the ashes of the house were searched for Hannah's silver. When not +a trace of it was found the origin of the fire seemed evident—burglars +had broken in, stolen the silver and other valuables, and then set fire +to the house.</p> + +<p>The villians who burned the house were never caught. There were at large +a number of English convicts who had been transported to Westmoreland as +indentured servants. They had joined together and formed a lawless +gang—they frightened and robbed the citizens of the countryside. Thomas +Lee in his line of duty as a local magistrate had no doubt at some time +given them reason to want revenge. These convicts may have burned the +house.</p> + +<p>As naval officer of the Potomac, Thomas had to prevent smuggling. A year +before Matholic was burned his life was threatened by the crew of the +<i>Elizabeth</i>. No doubt some of his enemies made in the line of his duties +were at the bottom of this outrage. At any rate the Lords of Trade in +London thought so, for they sent him a bounty, three hundred pounds of +which was from the privy purse of Queen Caroline. Tradition says that +this bounty helped Thomas Lee to finish building his home, Stratford.</p> + +<p>In the meantime he built another house on the Matholic estate at a spot +removed from the original house. The new house was called Mt. Pleasant.</p> + +<p>The site of the destroyed house was ever after known as Burnt House +Field. It was used as a family burying ground.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_124" id="page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_91" id="SECTION_91"></a><i>STRATFORD HALL</i></h3> + +<p>Long before Matholic burned Thomas Lee had started building his own +home.</p> + +<p>As a land agent for the Northern Neck proprietary he was well acquainted +with its desirable lands, but the portion which he selected for his own +belonged to the Pope family, and had been patented by Colonel Nathaniel +Pope about 1650, before the proprietary came into being.</p> + +<p>"I want to buy the Clifts," said Thomas Lee. This land was situated in +Westmoreland County and bordered on the Potomac. Here the banks rose +sharply above the River. We can imagine Thomas Lee standing at the edge +of those bold cliffs, looking across the River while he dreamed of the +manor house which he would some day build.</p> + +<p>One day in 1716 a representative of the Pope family closed the deal by +ceremoniously presenting Thomas Lee with a handful of earth and a +twig—an ancient symbolic confirmation of the transference of the 1,450 +acres of land called "the Clifts Plantation."</p> + +<p>Thomas Lee built his home nearly a mile inland from the "clifts," where +it would not be so open to an enemy attack from the River. Pirates were +still roving the surrounding waters.</p> + +<p>It took a long time to build the kind of house that Thomas Lee had in +mind—a house with walls of brick two feet thick, that would stand for +centuries. The thousands of bricks required for this undertaking had to +be made there on the place.</p> + +<p>Thomas Lee made a trip to England at the beginning of his project, some +traditions say, and while he was there he doubtless visited the estate +at Strat-by-the-Ford, once owned by his grandfather, Richard Lee, the +immigrant. There could scarcely be any other reason why he would name +his own home, Stratford.</p> + +<p>Thomas Lee planned his house, it is said, after viewing the manor houses +of England, and the result was that Stratford turned out to be a sort of +medieval fortress. It was shaped like the letter H with pointed roofs. +The crossbar of the H was the Great Hall, about thirty feet square.</p> + +<p>On the roof of each wing arose a cluster of four great chimneys, which +were joined together by arches of masonry. These clustered chimneys gave +the appearance of two belfries, or towers. The space inside each group +of chimneys was made into a summer-house. A member of the Lee family +later described them thus:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_125" id="page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Eight chimneys formed the summer-house pillars, From which were seen +Potomac's sea-like billows...."</p> + +<p>In medieval times the use of the summer-house was functional, and so +were these at Stratford—the activities of the plantation and on the +Potomac could be seen from them.</p> + +<p>At first glance Stratford appeared to be a one-story building, but its +main floor was raised to the level of a second story. Thomas Lee had an +idea of his own about architecture which was remarkably modern, that was +to bring the beauty of nature inside. He did this by having long flights +of steps leading directly from the lawn to the front and rear entrances +of the Great Hall. Doorways and windows framed the fields, forest and +lawn.</p> + +<p>The manor occupied the center of a large square marked at the corners by +four dependencies. A ha-ha wall ran across the front of the square, the +purpose of which was to keep the cattle away from the house without +obscuring the view.</p> + +<p>Stratford Hall was built between 1725-30.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_92" id="SECTION_92"></a><i>GEORGE WASHINGTON</i></h3> + +<p>It was about ten o'clock of a February morning in the year 1732,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> when +a baby's cry was heard in the dwelling at Popes Creek. A son had just +been born to Augustine and Mary Washington.</p> + +<p>The baby was named George. It is believed that Mary's first born child +was thus named in honor of her former guardian, Colonel George Eskridge.</p> + +<p>Neighbors, godparents and the minister assembled, probably at Popes +Creek, for the christening. A notation in Mary's Bible recorded the +event: "... and was Baptised the 5th of April following." George's +godmother was his aunt, Mrs. Mildred Washington Gregory.</p> + +<p>George's first memories must have been happy ones—of woods, fields and +water, and of animals, fowl and birds. His family loved him, and the +dark faces were kindly.</p> + +<p>George soon had a sister, Betty, to play with, and then Samuel. The +first three and one-half years of George's life were spent at the Popes +Creek plantation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_126" id="page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus7" id="illus7"></a> +<img src="images/illus7.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>The infant, George Washington at Wakefield, his +birthplace.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_127" id="page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_93" id="SECTION_93"></a><i>EPSEWASSON</i></h3> + +<p>In 1735, Augustine decided to move his family from Popes Creek to his +farm about fifty miles up the Potomac.</p> + +<p>This farm was part of the land acquired years before by John Washington, +the immigrant, and Nicholas Spencer, husband of Frances Mottrom. +Augustine had bought twenty-five hundred acres of it in 1726.</p> + +<p>This property was located on Little Hunting Creek, which flowed into the +Potomac. It was still called by the Indian name, Epsewasson.</p> + +<p>Tradition says that the Washington family moved in March, as soon as +"the ice cleared in the river." It was a new adventure for the children, +but one of them was missing. Little thirteen-year-old Jane had passed +away in January.</p> + +<p>Epsewasson was still quite primitive; some of the land had never been +under the plow. The Indians lived no longer in the forest, but the wild +animals were still there.</p> + +<p>At Epsewasson there was probably already a small dwelling, and Augustine +had cabins built for the slaves and servants. And there had to be a +mill—Augustine had one on Popes Creek and he built one here on Doeg +Run.</p> + +<p>Mary probably found life much harder at Epsewasson. The location was +isolated, but she was never lonely for the children kept her company, +and a fourth baby, John Augustine soon came to join his brothers and +sister.</p> + +<p>Thirty miles from Epsewasson was a place called Accokeek, where +Augustine had interest in an iron-works. He seems to have been the only +American actively interested in the iron enterprise, Principio Iron +Furnaces. The rest of the company was owned by Englishmen.</p> + +<p>Between Epsewasson and Accokeek there were several streams and marshes +and Gus found that it was just as hard to get to as it had been from +Popes Creek.</p> + +<p>Little George may have gone to Accokeek with his father sometimes and +watched the pig iron from the furnace being carried by cart to a landing +six miles away on the Potomac. Augustine had men and oxen there for that +purpose—"three hundred weight being a load for a cart drawn by 8 +oxen."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_128" id="page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus8" id="illus8"></a> +<img src="images/illus8.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>Young Washington helping in the handling of "seine" on +the Potomac.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_129" id="page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>1738 was an eventful year for the Washingtons. First, another baby, +Charles, was born, and then, Lawrence returned from his school in +England. He was a grown man now, with grace and polish. He immediately +became George's hero, and remained so forever.</p> + +<p>Augustine now made a decision—they must move out of the wilderness so +that the children could have schooling and so that he could be closer to +the iron works.</p> + +<p>A place near Fredericksburg seemed to fill these qualifications. It was +within easy riding distance of the iron-works, it was near a school, and +it was situated between the land bequeathed Mary by her father and the +land left her by her half-brother, John Johnson.</p> + +<p>Augustine bought the property, which was known as the "Strothers +estate," in 1738. They left Epsewasson, on Little Hunting Creek, which +was later to become well-known as Mount Vernon.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note</span>: Epsewasson was sometimes spelled Eppsewasson, Ipsewason, +etc.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_94" id="SECTION_94"></a><i>FERRY FARM</i></h3> + +<p>The Washington family moved to their new home in December, 1738. The +"Strothers estate," or Ferry Farm as it was called then or at some later +date, was located in what was then King George County but later became +Stafford County.</p> + +<p>The house was of moderate size, with the necessary farm outbuildings +nearby. There were open fields and some woodland. The property was on +the Rappahannock and at this part of the River it had dwindled to a +small stream. It was not much of a river here when compared with the +Potomac which the Washingtons had just left. The ferry which was +operated not very far from the house must have been of especial interest +to the children.</p> + +<p>Ferry Farm was by no means luxurious, but it was adequate for the needs +of the Washingtons. Here they lived a simple farm life.</p> + +<p>The meals were probably served in the hall, as the custom had been in +the seventeenth century. The china and linen were ample but in keeping +with farm-living. There were twenty-six silver spoons but no silver +plate.</p> + +<p>The family doubtless arose early, maybe at dawn. After grace was said a +simple breakfast was served. The main meal was served in the middle of +the day and it was called dinner. Game, fowl, fish or hot meat and +greens, vegetables and hot breads were included in this meal. The hominy +may have been made in the Indian fashion<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_130" id="page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> with a pestle and a +hollowed-out tree stump. Supper was a light meal.</p> + +<p>The objects which were probably of the most interest to George were his +father's surveying instruments, rifle and axe.</p> + +<p>Mary's chamber, it was said, was directly in the rear of the hall +downstairs. There were two beds in it, the trunk, a chest of drawers, +four rush-bottomed chairs, and a tea table before the fireplace. The two +windows had hangings. It was probably in this room that another baby +girl was born in June, 1739. She was the last child born to Mary and +Augustine.</p> + +<p>October, 1740, was a sad month for the Washingtons. The baby died that +month, and Lawrence sailed from the Chesapeake to a far-off war in +Cartagena.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_95" id="SECTION_95"></a><i>FREDERICKSBURG</i></h3> + +<p>The town of Fredericksburg was just across the Rappahannock from Ferry +Farm. To the Washington children, straight from the wilderness, it must +have been a source of delight.</p> + +<p>Sloops lay at the wharf there, close to the public warehouses which were +built in the shape of a cross. Near the wharf there was a quarry of +white stone, and there were several other quarries in the river bank. +There was one building in the town that was built of the stone, and that +was the prison. Most of the buildings were of wood with wooden chimneys. +In a few years the wooden chimneys were to be outlawed by the Burgesses.</p> + +<p>Fredericksburg was a new town, and it was "by far the most flourishing +town in that part of Virginia." It was "pleasantly situated on the South +Shore of Rappahannock River, about a Mile below the Falls." It had been +established in 1727 on a fifty-acre tract of land known as the +Lease-Land.</p> + +<p>The preamble of the act which established the town stated its purpose: +"... good houses are needed and greatly wanted upon some navigable part +of said river, near the falls, for the reception and safe keeping of +such commodities as are brought thither from remote places with +carriages drawn by horses or oxen."</p> + +<p>When Colonel William Byrd of Westover visited Fredericksburg in 1732, he +stayed at the home of its "top man," Colonel Henry Willis, whose wife +was George Washington's aunt, Mildred.</p> + +<p>Colonel Byrd relates that after a breakfast of beefsteak, his host<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_131" id="page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +walked him about "his Town." He saw the stone prison, the shops of the +tailor, the merchant, the smith, and an ordinary. There was also Mrs. +Levistone—"Who acts here in the double capacity of a doctress and +coffee woman. And were this a populous city, she is qualified to +exercise two other callings."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Levistone," or Susanna Livingston, was for some years the only +physician in Fredericksburg. The vestry of St. George's Church paid her +for attending the poor who were sick in the parish: "To Mrs. Livingston, +for salivating a poor woman, promising to cure her again if she should +be sick again in twelve month, 1,000 pounds of tobacco." It was not +unusual then for a woman to be a "doctress."</p> + +<p>Probably the most interesting place in Fredericksburg to the Washington +children was the shop of William Lynn who sold, along with other things, +brown and white sugar candy.</p> + +<p>The same year that the Washingtons came to live at Ferry Farm, a law was +passed that "fairs should be held in Fredericksburg twice a year, for +the sale of cattle, provisions, goods, wares, and all kinds of +merchandise whatsoever," and "that all persons attending the Fair at +Fredericksburg were immune from arrest and execution during the fairs +and for two days before and after them."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_96" id="SECTION_96"></a><i>SCHOOL DAYS</i></h3> + +<p>It was Easter, 1743. George Washington was visiting his relatives at +Chotank, in King George County. His vacation was interrupted by a +messenger from Ferry Farm who told him that he was to return home at +once as his father was ill.</p> + +<p>Augustine Washington died on April 12, 1743. He was buried in the old +family burial ground, near the banks of Bridges Creek, not far from his +old home on Popes Creek.</p> + +<p>Both of George's older half-brothers were now home; Lawrence was back +from Cartagena, and "Austin" had returned from his school in England in +June, 1742.</p> + +<p>Augustine left Lawrence, his eldest son, the largest part of his estate, +including all the property on Little Hunting Creek. "Austin" inherited +the Popes Creek Farm. George was left the Ferry Farm and three lots in +Fredericksburg. He was to receive his inheritance when he was +twenty-one.</p> + +<p>There is no definite proof as to where George lived after his father's +death, but it seems that he lived at various times, at Ferry<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_132" id="page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> Farm with +his mother, at Popes Creek with "Austin," and on Little Hunting Creek +with Lawrence.</p> + +<p>Tradition says that George had a convict-teacher named Hobby who taught +him to read, write and "cipher," that he attended a school in +Fredericksburg run by Reverend James Marye, and that while he was at +Popes Creek with his brother Augustine, he attended Henry Williams's +school near Oak Grove. These traditions have not been as yet verified.</p> + +<p>It is known that "ciphering" was George's "absorbing interest." +Tradition says that when he was attending school in Fredericksburg he +usually worked at his figures while the other boys were playing bandy +during recess, but one day he was "romping with one of the largest +girls; this was so unusual that it excited no little comment among the +other lads."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_97" id="SECTION_97"></a><i>THE INDIANS</i></h3> + +<p>At the time of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 Powhatan had more than +thirty Indian tribes under his rule. Eight of these tribes lived in the +land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers:</p> + +<p>Moraughtacund, on the bank of the Rappahannock River in the territory +that was later Richmond and Lancaster Counties. Their main village was +at the junction of the Rappahannock and the Morattico Rivers. Population +about 300.</p> + +<p>Onawmanient (Nominies), in the section later known as Westmoreland +County, near Nominy Bay. Population about 375.</p> + +<p>Pissaseck, on the bank of the Rappahannock River in the area that was +later King George, Westmoreland and Richmond Counties. Its chief village +or "Kings howse" was located just above the present Leedstown. A large +number of surface artifacts found in late years indicate that it was a +large village.</p> + +<p>Patawomeke (Potomac), the principal village site, was in latter-day +Stafford County at the mouth of Potomac Creek. (It was here that +Pocahontas was kidnapped by Captain Argall in 1613.) Population about +750.</p> + +<p>Rappahannock (Toppahanock), on the bank of the Rappahannock River, in +Richmond County, from a short distance below Totuskey Creek to a point +some distance above Rappahannock Creek (later<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_133" id="page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> known as Cat Point +Creek). This was an important tribe with a rather large village at the +mouth of Little Carter Creek. Population about 380.</p> + +<p>Secacawoni (Cekacawon), in Northumberland County, along the Coan River +near its entrance into the Potomac River. Population about 110.</p> + +<p>Wicocomoco (Wighcocomoco), in Northumberland County on the Potomac +River, near its entrance into the Chesapeake Bay. Their principal +village was on Wicocomico River. Population about 490.</p> + +<p>Cuttatawomen, one town by this name was located at the junction of the +Corotoman and the Rappahannock Rivers, in what was later known as +Lancaster County. Population about 115. The other town was on the +Rappahannock at the mouth of Lamb Creek, in what was later King George +County. Population about 75.</p> + +<p>It is believed that the Yeocomico Indians moved to what is now +Westmoreland County in 1634, after they sold their lands in Maryland to +Calvert.</p> + +<p>At the time of the settlement of the New World it is evident that there +were more than two thousand Indians living in the land between the +Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. A century later the Indians were +extinct along the Rappahannock. And in Northumberland in 1700, according +to Beverley: "Wicomico has but few men living which yet keep up their +kingdom and retain their fashion; yet live by themselves, separate from +all Indians, and from the English."</p> + +<p>By 1700, wars, white men's diseases, liquor and a general moral +breakdown had caused the disappearance of most of the Indians east of +the Blue Ridge. Some had moved westward or southwestward.</p> + +<p>There was little left in the Northern Neck to mark the passing of the +Indians except their ossuaries, an occasional tomahawk or arrowhead and +the musical names of the waters.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_98" id="SECTION_98"></a><i>THE POW-WOW</i></h3> + +<p>Friends and relatives had gathered at the Stratford Hall landing to +watch the sloop <i>Margaret</i> start on a trip down the Potomac. It was a +May morning, in 1744. The forest was "a-bloom" with dogwood and redbud +and the "pyne" was sending its fragrance<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_134" id="page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> across the water, just as it +had when Captain John Smith traveled this way so many years before.</p> + +<p>On board the <i>Margaret</i>, "seven flaming fine gentlemen," headed by +Thomas Lee, were about to take off on the first lap of a history-making +mission. Indian war drums were sounding. Thomas Lee and William Beverley +had been appointed commissioners from Virginia to meet the chiefs of the +Six Nations of the Iroquois at Lancaster, Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>Amid shouts and laughter and the booming of cannon the sloop headed down +the Potomac, in the direction of the Chesapeake.</p> + +<p>The <i>Margaret</i> sailed up the Bay toward Maryland and before noon the +next day Annapolis had been reached. Here for five days and nights, the +party was wined and dined. Philip Ludwell Lee, eighteen-year-old son of +Thomas, danced until one in the morning with the pretty girls of +Annapolis.</p> + +<p>The remainder of the journey was by land. After four more days of travel +the party was refreshed near Chester by a big bowl of lemon punch. In +Philadelphia they were highly entertained for three weeks. While in that +city Lee and Beverley marched in a procession to the market place to +hear an official proclamation of a war between England and France. They +were solemn now, for their mission was more important than ever. The +colonists needed the Indians on their side.</p> + +<p>This excursion was turning out to be an important diplomatic mission for +the colony. It was to be Britain's first serious answer to French +encroachments.</p> + +<p>It was late in June when Lee's party finally reached Lancaster, a new +and still raw town. The conference convened in the court-house, with +Governor George Thomas, of Pennsylvania, presiding. On his right sat Lee +and Beverley and on his left were the two commissioners from Maryland. +The Indians occupied the space usually allotted to the audience, but the +powerful chiefs, like Jonnhaty, Canasatego and Tocanuntie, met the white +men as equals. A Pennsylvania Dutchman named Conrad Weiser, acted as +interpreter. He was trusted by both sides.</p> + +<p>The meeting was opened by the commissioners from Maryland, since they +had issued the invitation to the meeting. This was in accordance with a +rigid Iroquois custom.</p> + +<p>The complaint of the Six Nations was that the white settlers were coming +over the "Great Mountains" and moving into the Valley and trespassing on +their ancestral lands. "You English have come settling on our lands like +a flock of birds," said Canasatego.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_135" id="page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<p>The white men explained that when they entered the country west of the +Blue Ridge it "was altogether deserted and free for any people to enter +upon." To which the Indians replied: "We have the right of conquest, a +right too dearly purchased and which cost us too much blood to give up +without any reason, at all.... All the world knows we conquered the +several nations living on Susquehanna, Cohongaranta and at the back of +the Great Mountains."</p> + +<p>Thomas Lee, when his turn came to speak, answered this charge by saying +that the King of England held Virginia by right of conquest and that the +bounds of the conquered land extended west as far as the Great Sea. +However, he continued, the "Great King" was willing to pay them for +certain lands. He was speaking, he told the Indians, for Assarogoa, +Virginia's governor. Coming to the point, Thomas Lee laid down the +customary string of wampum and said:</p> + +<p>"We have a chest of new goods and the key is in our pockets. You are our +brethren; the Great King is our common father, and we will live with you +as children ought to do in peace and love. We will brighten the chain +and strengthen the Union between us, so that we shall never be divided +but remain friends and brethren as long as the sun gives us light."</p> + +<p>The Indian spokesman replied: "We are glad to hear that you have brought +with you a big chest of new goods, and that you have the key in your +pockets. We do not doubt that we shall have a good understanding on all +points and come to an agreement with you."</p> + +<p>Each oration was ended with belts of wampum and "Jo-hahs." The great +Iroquois chieftains no doubt understood what was happening, but the +wampum and rum, the gifts of camlet coats and gold-braided hats, the +festivities and ceremonial dances which accompanied the conference, must +have caused them to shut their eyes to the truth. Or maybe they already +saw the handwriting on the wall.</p> + +<p>We can visualize the scene—the handsome and elegant Thomas Lee, in his +crimson suit and flowing white wig, and the grave and eloquent Indian +spokesman, in his equally gorgeous regalia. And the silent Indians, +listening and smoking their pipes.</p> + +<p>For 200 pounds in cash, and 200 pounds in knives, hatchets, kettles, +jew's harps, and other "trucke," the Six Nations, said to have been the +fiercest and most courageous of all the Indian tribes, finally put their +marks on a piece of parchment which said that the white men could have +all the country of their ancestors west of the "Great Mountains"—all +the land between the Blue Ridge and the Ohio.</p> + +<p>Thus it was that the red men surrendered their heritage to the white men +in the town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1744.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_136" id="page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus9" id="illus9"></a> +<img src="images/illus9.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>Young George Washington becomes a friend of Lord +Fairfax, Proprietor of Northern Neck.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_137" id="page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_99" id="SECTION_99"></a><i>MOUNT VERNON</i></h3> + +<p>George Washington probably liked visiting his brother Austin at Popes +Creek, for there he was close to the Potomac where he could sail and +fish and go ducking, as wild fowl were plentiful there. He no doubt rode +and hunted and enjoyed the countryside just like any other Northern Neck +boy.</p> + +<p>Popes Creek was more luxurious than Ferry Farm. Austin kept a racing +stud that he probably raced at the Fredericksburg fairs. His wife owned +enough millinery and kid gloves to have been a "rather dashing figure at +the races." She had been Anne Aylett, of Westmoreland, a young woman of +birth and station.</p> + +<p>Although George was not destined to receive an English education, as his +father and brothers had, he learned, when he visited his brother +Lawrence at Hunting Creek, to move in the society of polished gentlemen.</p> + +<p>The old house at Epsewasson, where George had lived as a child, had +either burned or Lawrence had torn it down. Lawrence had built a new +home and he called it Mount Vernon, in honor of Admiral Vernon, under +whom he had served as captain of marines at Cartagena.</p> + +<p>Lawrence had married Anne Fairfax, daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, +who was a cousin and agent of Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the +Northern Neck. Belvoir, not far from Mount Vernon, was the home of the +Fairfax family.</p> + +<p>While he was at Mount Vernon, George visited Belvoir and became friends +with William Fairfax, the son of the house, who was seven years his +senior. At Belvoir, in 1748, he also met Lord Fairfax. They became +friends and hunting companions. Lord Fairfax remained at Belvoir, +amusing himself with reading, fishing and fox-hunting, until he moved to +his own home, Greenway Court, in 1751.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1748 a party of gentlemen were about to start for the +South Branch of the Potomac for the purpose of surveying lands for Lord +Fairfax. George Washington, then sixteen, and a big lad for his age, was +invited to accompany this party.</p> + +<p>George was glad of this opportunity for the training it would afford +him, and because he enjoyed being in the company of polished gentlemen. +He did not go on this expedition as one of the surveyors.</p> + +<p>George Washington was not a rich boy but he was accustomed to nice +things. When he and his friend, "Mr. Fairfax" (George<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_138" id="page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> William) set out +upon this new adventure into the wilderness, he was dressed not as a +frontiersman but in "some of the clothes of fashion," and he carried a +watch.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_100" id="SECTION_100"></a><i>WASHINGTON WASHED HERE</i></h3> + +<p>When George Washington came back from his trip with the surveying party, +in June, 1748, he went down into the Northern Neck and visited his +cousins at Chotank. He probably visited all of the neighbors near there +and told them of his experiences in the wilderness—of the Indians and +the frontier families. He probably stayed in the Neck for awhile.</p> + +<p>About this time, while he was at Ferry Farm, he decided one day to +"wash" in the Rappahannock. At that time in the Neck, and for many years +after, to "wash" meant to bathe.</p> + +<p>George undressed on the Fredericksburg side of the River. He probably +picked a secluded spot and believed that he was alone, for he undressed +and went in the water to "wash."</p> + +<p>When George came out of the water and started to dress he found that his +clothes had been robbed!</p> + +<p>George reported the theft to the Sheriff, or Constable. As a result two +women servants of Fredericksburg were arrested and locked in jail—</p> + +<p>"Ann Carroll and Mary McDaniel, of Friedericksburg, being committed to +the gaol of this county by William Hunter, Gent, on suspicion of felony +and charged with robbing the cloaths of Mr. George Washington when he +was washing in the river some time last summer, the court having heard +several evidences are of the opinion that the said Ann Carroll be +discharged, and admitted on evidence for Lord the King against the said +Mary McDaniel, and upon considering the whole evidence and the prisoners +defense, the court are of the opinion that the said Mary Mc Daniel is +guilty of petty larcency, whereupon the said Mary desired immediate +punishment for the said crime and relied on the mercy of the court, +therefore it is ordered that the sheriff carry her to the whipping post +and inflict fifteen lashes on her bare back, and then she be +discharged."</p> + +<p>The case was heard, December 3, 1751, and Ann had turned King's witness +and testified against Mary. George was ignorant of the outcome of the +trial for he was far away at the time. He had sailed in September to the +Barbadoes with his brother Lawrence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_139" id="page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> who had not been well since his +return from the war at Cartagena.</p> + +<p>Whether George ever recovered his stolen money or valuables is not +known.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_101" id="SECTION_101"></a><i>THE ORDINARY</i></h3> + +<p>At some time between 1750-55 George Fisher of London crossed the +Northern Neck on his way from Williamsburg to Philadelphia by horseback. +When he returned to England he wrote an account of his trip to America. +The following excerpt from his narrative tells of the night he spent at +Leedstown, Westmoreland County, a thriving tobacco port of the +Rappahannock River. George Fisher writes as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"So taking a feed of Corn with me into the Boat, which my Horse +eat in his passage, I crossed the River Rappahannock. In going +over the River about Two miles wide, I could see Leids Town on +the other side, two or Three miles up the River, the Place I +now intended to rest this night in.... I did not arrive till +Seven o'clock.... I put up at one Mr. T——ts, esteemed the +best Ordinary in Town, and indeed the House and Furniture has +as elegant an appearance as any I have seen in the country, Mr. +Finnays or Wetherburnes in Williamsburg not excepted. The +chairs, Tables, &c. of the Room I was conducted into, was all of +Mahogany, & so stuft with fine large glaized copper Plate +Prints; That I almost fancied myself in Jeffriess' or some +other elegant Print Shops. I had the happiness, at my first +Coming in of my Landlord's Company, who understanding I came +from the Metroplis (and the Assembly now sitting) gaped after +news; he was troubled with gout, for he came limping in upon a +stick; When I had answered all his interrogatories, and he had +picked what intelligence of me he was able, and I calling at +First for a half Pint of wine only, he vanished and I could see +him no more; tho' I sent twice (at supper and afterwards) to +request the favor of his Company, in hopes of receiving in my +turn some useful directions, in the ensuing Day's Journey. His +excuse was, first, indisposition, and afterwards he was gone to +Bed; tho' the Boy who lighted me to mine assured me he was +sitting with his House-keeper, and that not one Person had been +in the House since my arrival. By what I could hear and +preceive myself this Landlord who bears the name honest Mr. +T——, like most of his Trade, proportions his regard to their +extravagance, in which respect I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_140" id="page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> doubtless too +contemptible for his notice. The Host—he could tell me nothing +of the Rout I was to take, so that I was now quite destitute of +intelligence.</p> + +<p>"This House stands pleasantly upon the North side of the River, +and a tolerable garden seemed to be in as decent order as most +I have seen in America. The method of Single men having +House-keepers is esteemed here very reputable and genteel. In +the morning while my Breakfast and Horse was getting ready, I +sought after some instruction for my journey, and as it +happened, I found a Person up that kepped a store, who gave me +a draught of the road to Hoes Ferry on Potomac River. I have +since been informed of my true Route was from Southern on this +Rappahannocke River to Lovels Ferry on Potomac River, it being +not only a better Road, but I should have saved at least Ten or +Twelve miles in the Riding of Thirty, the only objection being +that at the Hoes the River is not more than five miles wide; +but at Lovels to Cedar Point (in Md.) it is eight or ten, +consequently in windy weather the passage is more difficult and +unsafe; but at this time of the year no great danger was to be +apprehended. The Gentleman's name who delineated the Road for +me to Hoes Ferry is Thompson."</p></blockquote> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_102" id="SECTION_102"></a><i>NELLY</i></h3> + +<p>It was for a special reason that Nelly wanted to go back home. It was +not that she was unhappy in her new home for it was beautiful there at +the head of the deeply wooded valley with the Blue Ridge towering in the +distance. The frame house, which had been built by her husband's father, +was modest but comfortable, and there were slaves to do the heavy work. +Still, she wanted to go home and her husband humoured his +nineteen-year-old wife, and prepared for the journey.</p> + +<p>To Nelly home was the low country—the flat lands where the air was damp +and the fogs rolled in from the River.</p> + +<p>Nelly probably traveled home in a carriage of some sort for the trail +led through the virgin forest. The nights were doubtless spent at +farmhouses along the way. As they neared Fredericksburg they probably +met up with other travelers on horseback, and teamsters with wagons +loaded with wheat and tobacco for export.</p> + +<p>Fredericksburg was all "a-bustle" at that time with foreign ships lying +at the wharves and wagons rumbling along the streets. What<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_141" id="page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> a welcome +sight the Rappahannock must have been to Nelly! And there was the ferry +which would carry her across to her homeland! It was a rope-hauled +ferry, pulled back and forth across the River by the ferryman.</p> + +<p>Once the River was crossed it was only a ten or twelve mile ride down +through King George County to her childhood home on the banks of the +Rappahannock. This was the plantation of Nelly's stepfather, John Moore. +She had known him as a father as long as she could remember, for her own +father, Francis Conway, had died when she was only a year old. Her +mother, Rebecca Catlett Conway, had soon married John Moore. Many of +Nelly's relatives lived in this region of the Northern Neck. What a +happy home-coming it must have been for Nelly.</p> + +<p>The chill winds of winter were still blowing across the Rappahannock, +but the crocuses were in bloom, when Nelly's baby arrived, on March 16, +1751.</p> + +<p>The Northern Neck relatives assembled for the christening. Nelly's +cousins, Judith and Elizabeth Catlett, acted as godmothers, and Mary +Catlett's husband, Jonathan Gibson, was godfather. The infant was named +for his father, James Madison.</p> + +<p>The Catletts and Conways and Madisons must have rejoiced at the birth of +Nelly's first baby, but they had no reason to think that the birth of +little "Jemmy" Madison would some day be a matter of national +importance. And little did Nelly dream when she made the long journey +home that by so doing the Northern Neck would fall heir to another +famous son.</p> + +<p>"Little Jemmy" grew up to be one of the foremost figures in the creation +of the American nation. He became the fourth President of the United +States, and he is remembered as "the Father of the Constitution."</p> + +<p>James Madison's birthsite in King George County later became known as +Port Conway.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_103" id="SECTION_103"></a><i>MISS BETSY</i></h3> + +<p>In the spring of 1752 George Washington was riding down to Naylor's +Hole, in Richmond County. He had his mind set on a certain young lady +who lived there, but up to this time she had been uncooperative. George +had written to her father, Colonel William Fauntleroy:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_142" id="page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I purpose ... to wait on Miss Betsy, in hopes of a revocation of the +former cruel sentence and see if I can meet with any alteration in my +favor."</p> + +<p>Betsy was just sixteen and she was probably having a good time at her +home on the Rappahannock. It was lively there on the River, for the +Rappahannock was the main highway for the tobacco trade and her father +was interested in ships and trade, and he operated a ferry. When she +tired of the River she could always go visiting in her father's imported +riding chair, drawn by "two horses abreast." It was a smart "turn-out"; +even the whip had her father's name on it.</p> + +<p>As George rode through the blossoming forest, which Betsy's ancestor had +bought from the Indians a century before, he must have had mingled +emotions. There was the pleasure of the expectation of seeing Betsy +again, mixed with the uncertainty of the outcome of his suit. Then too, +he must have wondered if she would notice the scars on his face. While +he had been in the Barbadoes, where he had accompanied his brother +Lawrence in his fruitless search for health, George had contracted the +smallpox which had left permanent scars on his face.</p> + +<p>Tradition says that Betsy did notice the scars. Whatever the reason may +have been—George's mission was unsuccessful.</p> + +<p>For years historians have tried without success to settle the +question—was Betsy Fauntleroy the "Lowland Beauty" to whom Washington +made references in his correspondence, or did he have in mind another +Northern Neck beauty named Lucy Grymes?</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_104" id="SECTION_104"></a><i>THE PROPRIETOR OF THE NORTHERN NECK</i></h3> + +<p>It was an autumn day in the year 1753. A group of men lounged in the +sunshine before a rudely constructed log tavern in a Virginia wilderness +clearing. Their rough attire of buckskin and homespun and their knives +and rifles proclaimed them to be hunters, trappers and settlers.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they were aroused by a noise in the forest. The drooping tree +boughs came to life and the tall grasses were pushed aside as an amazing +spectacle for this frontier setting emerged. With a great rattling of +wheels, creaking of leather and clumping of hooves, four shiny horses +came forth drawing behind them an English chariot that would very well +have graced the streets of London.</p> + +<p>The liveried driver drew up before the hitching rack and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_143" id="page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> footmen +descended from behind and opened the door of the chariot. Out stepped a +middle-aged man, so tall and so gigantic in frame, that he had +difficulty in getting through the opening. He was richly clad in a coat +of brown cloth decorated with embroidery and a waistcoat of yellow silk, +ornamented with silver thread and flowers. His peruke was carefully +powdered and his shirt ruffles were snow-white.</p> + +<p>As he issued from the chariot he drew about him the folds of a red +velvet cloak, and then bowing his head slightly to the admiring crowd, +he entered the tavern.</p> + +<p>This man was no stranger to these frontiersmen. Most of them had hunted +with him, or eaten at his "broad board," or transacted business with him +in his little stone office. But it was rarely that they saw him thus, in +the trappings of an English gentleman. They had seen him stab his +hunting-knife into a deer's throat, and hold up the brush of a fox at +the end of the chase, but then his garments had been weather-beaten and +on his head he had worn an otter-skin cap with a buck's tail stuck in +it.</p> + +<p>But this strange gentleman had no hunting trip in mind to-day. He soon +came out of the tavern and the chariot was rumbling away down the forest +road, for he was due to preside over a session of the justices' court at +the frontier town of Winchester. And although the Shawnee Indians were +still not too far distant, this gentleman evidently believed in carrying +into the wilds of the New World something of the English idea of the +propriety of full dress on occasions of ceremony.</p> + +<p>And who was this man who could change so easily from back-woodsman to +gentleman? None other than Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and +sole proprietor of that vast tract of land known as the Northern Neck. +This, his inheritance, embraced all lands lying between the headwaters +of the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers to the Chesapeake Bay, comprising +more than five million acres.</p> + +<p>Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax had inherited, in 1719, the Northern Neck of +Virginia, through his mother, Catherine, daughter of Thomas, Lord +Culpeper, and wife of Lord Fairfax. It was through this marriage that +the grant became known as the Fairfax Proprietary.</p> + +<p>In 1673, Thomas, Lord Culpeper had bought out the other grantees and had +become the sole proprietor of the original grant. He had cunningly had +the terms of the patent changed to the "first heads of springs" of the +two rivers, instead of "within the heads" of the two rivers, as +originally stated in 1649. The change in these few words changed the +size of the tract from one million to more than five million acres. This +change in description apparently was not noticed in the colony at the +time.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_144" id="page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was in this way that Culpeper's grandson, Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, +through inheritance became sole proprietor of the Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>Lord Fairfax was born in Leeds Castle, England, in 1693. He was educated +at Oxford University and developed such a fondness for literature that +he wrote a number of papers for the <i>Spectator</i>. But he was unlucky in +affairs of the heart—he was jilted at the altar.</p> + +<p>After a time the embittered Fairfax decided to take a voyage to Virginia +to examine his inheritance. So well pleased was he with his domain that +he decided to make it his home. Perhaps the free way of life and new +hunting grounds appealed to him. He returned to England, arranged his +affairs and voyaged back to his wild new home, in 1748.</p> + +<p>Fairfax built a home in the Shenandoah Valley, called Greenway Court, +and went there to live in 1751. Tradition says that he planted a white +post—one mile distant—as a guide to his dwelling, and thus the town of +White Post was later so named.</p> + +<p>Lord Fairfax cultivated a large farm at Greenway Court. He had probably +one hundred and fifty negro slaves, who lived in huts scattered about in +the woods. There was very little cultivated ground around his house +because he preferred to leave the land as a natural park. The grounds +were encircled by a rude fence, which served also as a hitching rack.</p> + +<p>Locust trees shaded the mansion. It was a long stone building with a +slender chimney on each end and two belfries between on top of the roof. +These bells were probably used to call the servants or as an alarm when +Indians were near. There were four dormer-windows and a portico across +the front. This building was used by the steward, it was said, while +Fairfax lived and died in a single clapboard story-and-a-half house.</p> + +<p>Nearby the main house stood a small limestone structure, where +quit-rents were given and titles drawn of his lordship's domains. He +lived almost wholly from his rents. We can imagine him there, with a +court of deer-hounds at his feet. On the table lies a rudely drawn map +of the frontier, some folded letters, an inkstand and an eagle's quill +pen. Here he delivered the title deeds of nearly all of that portion of +Virginia over which he had dominion.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, too, it was here that he conversed with his young friend, +George Washington, who surveyed part of the immense tract among the +valleys of the Alleghany mountains for him. These were divided into lots +to enable Fairfax to claim quit-rents and give titles.</p> + +<p>In spite of the difference in their ages, Fairfax and Washington<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_145" id="page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> had +another interest in common—they were both passionately fond of hunting. +Tradition says that sometimes they passed weeks together in the +pleasures of the chase.</p> + +<p>When fox-hunting Lord Fairfax made it a rule that "he who got the fox, +cut off his tail, and held it up, should share in the jollification +which was to follow, free of expense." An early historian says that "as +soon as a fox was started, the young men of the company usually dashed +after him with great impetuosity, while Fairfax leisurely waited behind +with a favorite servant who was familiar with the water-courses, and of +a quick ear, to discover the course of the fox. Following his +directions, his lordship would start after the game, and, in most +instances, secure the prize, and stick the tail of the fox in his hat in +triumph."</p> + +<p>It is probable that some of these "jollifications" that followed the +hunt were held in a tavern in Winchester, for tradition says that he +occasionally held "levees" there. (This building was later used as a +stable.)</p> + +<p>Sometimes Fairfax entertained in the great room at Greenway Court. This +room, according to tradition, was a combination of crudity and +refinement. Rough oak furniture, carven mahogany, silver plate, cheap +crockery, leather-bound books, fishing nets, portraits, antlers and +blunderbuses, all intermingled. But Fairfax was a generous host and the +board groaned with ham, beef, fowl, game as well as mellow Jamaica rum. +But Fairfax did not drink, and women were never invited to his parties.</p> + +<p>When in the humor Fairfax sometimes gave away whole farms to his +tenants, simply demanding for rent some trifle like a turkey for his +Christmas dinner.</p> + +<p>Fairfax lived the life of a bachelor and adopted the rough customs of +his new land, but his life was not altogether happy in the New World. +Quit-rents were not willingly paid and he was constantly occupied with +lawsuits over boundaries. The Indian hostilities retarded the settlement +of his domain and therefore lessened his revenue. He was considered +eccentric and "a hoarder up of English gold."</p> + +<p>In spite of his friendship with George Washington, Fairfax was a Tory to +the end. When he heard that Cornwallis had surrendered he told his body +servant, "Take me to bed, John, it is time for me to die." He died +shortly after, on December 9, 1781.</p> + +<p>He was buried at Winchester, under the old Episcopal church, which was +on the public square. When this structure was later taken down the bones +of Fairfax were removed to a tomb in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_146" id="page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> crypt of Christ Church in +Winchester. At the time of his disinterment, it is said that a large +mass of silver was found, which was the mounting of his coffin.</p> + +<p>Around 1840 some excavating was done about the grounds at Greenway Court +and a large quantity of joes and half-joes were found. These were what +was termed cob-coin, of a square form, and dated about 1730. They were +supposed to have been secreted there by Lord Fairfax.</p> + +<p>Fairfax never married, therefore he left no child to inherit his vast +estate. He devised a large portion of his property to a nephew in +England. Later the estate passed through several hands and was finally +sold.</p> + +<p>A few years after the war of the Revolution an attempt was made by the +colonists to confiscate the estate. At last a compromise took place +between those who had bought it and the Virginia state government.</p> + +<p>During and after the Revolution no quit-rents were paid, and in 1785 an +act was passed by the Virginia Legislature which abolished the +proprietary system in the Northern Neck. The people there were finally +free of landlords, after one hundred and twenty-five years.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_105" id="SECTION_105"></a><i>THE MARSHALLS</i></h3> + +<p>John Marshall "of the forest" owned two hundred acres of land in +Westmoreland County. "Of the forest" was a term used in the Northern +Neck in referring to those whose homes were some distance from the +water.</p> + +<p>John "of the forest" acquired this land by deed, for five shillings, +from William Marshall of King and Queen County. It is probable that this +William was the elder brother of John "of the forest" and that they were +both sons of Thomas "the carpenter," of Westmoreland. The latter's will +was probated in the same county in 1704. (In this will there was +mentioned "a heifer ... called White-Belly.")</p> + +<p>This land of John "of the forest" was located on Appomattox Creek. It +was low marshy land of such inferior quality that the former owners had +not bothered with it. Originally it had been a part of twelve hundred +acres which had been granted to "Jno. Washington & Thos. Pope, gents.—& +by them lost for want of seating."</p> + +<p>John "of the forest" married Elizabeth Markham, daughter of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_147" id="page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> the Sheriff +of Westmoreland County. To John and Elizabeth were born ten children. +They lived simply on their farm until John died in 1752.</p> + +<p>Among the items left to Elizabeth by John was "one Gray mair named +beauty and side saddle." He also left her the use of his land "during +her widowhood and afterwards to fall to my son Thomas Marshall and his +heirs forever."</p> + +<p>Thomas was twenty-two years old at the time of his father's death. One +year later his mother deeded half of the two hundred acres to him.</p> + +<p>Thomas Marshall was fortunate in that he was powerful of stature and +intelligent. He was of a serious but adventurous nature. He and his +neighbor, George Washington, seem to have been friends from boyhood. For +about three years Thomas had been Washington's companion when he helped +him to survey the western part of the Fairfax domain.</p> + +<p>Thomas Marshall left Westmoreland County not long after his father's +death to seek his fortune in the frontier country toward the Blue Ridge.</p> + +<p>In 1754 Thomas married a well born and well educated girl named Mary +Randolph Keith. To this union were born fifteen children, the best known +being John, who became the fourth Chief Justice of the United States +Supreme Court.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_106" id="SECTION_106"></a><i>THE LEEDSTOWN RESOLUTIONS</i></h3> + +<p>The town of Leeds on the banks of the Rappahannock River was a thriving +center of trade and shipping in colonial days. Here the big ships lay at +anchor while their holds were filled with tobacco for the London market. +Here the returning ships unloaded the English luxuries that were so dear +to the hearts of the Northern Neck planter-families.</p> + +<p>Leeds had been incorporated in 1742. When ten or twelve years later the +English visitor, George Fisher, spent a night at "Leids Town" he was +well pleased with the fine furnishings he found in the ordinary. There +were other ordinaries in the village, comfortable homes with gardens and +Leeds Church.</p> + +<p>George Washington often visited Leedstown. With his wife he dined there +in 1759. He spent the night there in 1763. Many times<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_148" id="page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> he crossed the +nearby ferry as he traveled between Mount Vernon and Williamsburg.</p> + +<p>On a winter's day in 1766 there was unusual activity at Leeds. The +excitement came about because Thomas Ludwell Lee had written to his +brother Richard Henry Lee as follows: "We propose to be in Leedstown in +the afternoon of the 27th inst., Feb. 1766, where we expect to meet +those who will come from your way. This would be a fine opportunity to +effect the scheme of an association, and I should be glad if you would +think of a plan."</p> + +<p>It is easy to visualize the arrival of the planters in their coaches and +on horseback—to hear the rattle of wheels, the thud of hoofs, the +creaking of saddle-leather and the excited voices speaking with a London +accent.</p> + +<p>The "plan" that Richard Henry Lee had thought of and prepared in +manuscript form and had brought to Leedstown that day could probably +have hanged him, and the one hundred and fourteen others who signed it, +if it had fallen into the wrong hands. But the Northern Neck was a +remote fortress and its inhabitants were bold when their freedom was +threatened.</p> + +<p>Among those who signed Lee's document were six Lees, five Washingtons, +and Spence Monroe, father of President James Monroe. The text of The +Leedstown Resolutions follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Rouzed by Danger and alarmed at Attempts foreign & domestic to +reduce the People of this Country to a State of abject and +detestable slavery by destroying that free and happy +constitution of Government under which they have hitherto +lived,—We who subscribe this Paper, have Associated, & do bind +ourselves to each other, to God, and to our Country, by the +Firmest Tyes that Religion & Virtue can frame, most sacredly +and punctually to stand by, and with our Lives & Fortunes to +support, maintain and defend each other, in the Observation and +Execution of these following Articles.</p> + +<p>"First, we declare all due Allegiance and Obedience to our +lawful Sovereign George the Third King of Great Britain. And we +determine to the utmost of our Power to preserve the Laws, the +Peace and good Order of this Colony as far as is consistent +with the Preservation of our Constitutional Rights and Liberty.</p> + +<p>"2.dly As we know it to be the Birthright Privilege of every +British Subject (and of the People of Virginia as being such) +founded on Reason, Law and Compact, That he cannot be legally +tryed but by his Peers, and that he cannot be taxed but by +Consent of a Parliament in which he is represented by Persons +chosen by the People and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_149" id="page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> who themselves pay a part of the Tax +they impose on others—If therefore any Person or Persons shall +attempt by any Action or Proceeding to deprive this Colony of +those fundamental Rights we will immediately regard him or them +as the most dangerous Enemy of the Community and we will go to +any Extremity not only to prevent the Success of such Attempts +but to Stigmatize and punish the Offender.</p> + +<p>"3.dly As the Stamp Act does absolutely direct the Property of +the People to be taken from them without their Consent +express'd by their Representatives, and as in many cases it +deprives the British American Subject of his Right to Trial by +Jury; we do determine at every hazard and paying no Regard to +Danger or to Death; we will exert every Faculty to prevent the +Execution of the said Stamp Act in any instance whatsoever +within this Colony—And every abandoned Wretch who shall be so +lost to Virtue and publick Good, as wickedly to contribute to +the introduction or fixture of the Stamp Act in this Colony, by +using Stampt Paper, or by any other Means; we will with the +utmost Expedition convince all such Profligates, that immediate +danger and disgrace shall attend their prostitute Purpose.</p> + +<p>"4.thly That the last Article may most surely and effectually +be execut'd, we engage to each other, that whenever it shall be +known to any of this Association that any Person is so +conducting himself as to favor the Introduction of the Stamp +Act, that immediate Notice shall be given to as many of the +Association as possible, and that every Individual so inform'd +shall with expedition repair to a place of meeting to be +appointed as near the Scene of Action as may be.</p> + +<p>"5.thly Each Associator shall do his true endeavor to obtain as +many Signers to this Association as he possibly can.</p> + +<p>"6.thly If any attempt shall be made upon the Liberty or +Property of any Associator for any Action or Thing to be done +in Consequence of this Agreement, we do most solemnly bind +ourselves by the sacred Engagements above enter'd into, at the +utmost risk of our Lives and Fortunes to restore such Associate +to his Liberty, and to protect him in the enjoyment of his +Property.</p> + +<p>"In Testimony of the good Faith with which we resolve to +execute this Association, we have this 27 day of February 1766 +in Virginia put our hands & Seals hereto</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_150" id="page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + + <p>Richard Henry Lee + Will Robinson + Lewis Willis + Thomas Lud. Lee + Samuel Washington + Charles Washington + Moore Fauntleroy + Francis Lightfoot Lee + Thomas Jones + Rodham Kenner + Spencer Mottsom Ball + Richard Mitchell + Joseph Murdock + Rich'd Parker + Spence Monroe + John Watts + Robert Lovell + John Blagge + Charles Weeks + William Booth + Geo: Tuberville + Alvin Moxley + Wm. Flood + John Ballantine Jun. + William Lee + Thomas Chilton + Richard Buckner + Will Chilton + Joseph Peirce + John Williams + Jn. Blackwell + Winder S. Kenner + Wm. Bronaugh + Will Peirce + John Berryman + Jn. Dickson + John Browne + Edward Sanford + Charles Chilton + Lau. Washington + W. Roane Jr. + William Sydnor + John Monroe + William Cocke + William Grayson + Wm. Brockenbrough + Sam Selden + Daniel McCarty + Jer Rush + Edwd. Ransdell + Townshend Dade + Laur. Washington + John Ashton + W. Brent + Francis Foushee + John Smith Jr. + Will Balle + Thomas Barnes + Jos. Blackwell + Reuben Meriwether + Edw. Mountjoy + Thomas Mountjoy + William Mountjoy + John Mountjoy + Gilbt. Campbell + Jos. Lane + Richard Lee + Daniel Tebbs + Fran. Thornton Jun. + Peter Rust Jun. + John Lee Jun. + Fran Waring + John Upshaw + Merriwether Smith + Thomas Roane + James Edmondson + James Webb + John Edmondson + James Banks + Smith Young + Thomas Logan + Jo. Milliken + Rich Hodges + James Upshaw + James Booker + A. Montague + Richard Jeffries + John Suggett + Jn. L. Woodcock + Robert Wormeley Carter + John Beale Jun. + John Newton + Will B--le Jun. + Chs. Mortimer + John Edmondson + Charles Beale + Peter Grant + Thomson Mason + Jon. Beckwith + James Samford + John Belfield + W. Smith + John Aug. Washington + Thomas Belfield + Edgecomb Suggett + Henry Francks + John Bland Jun. + Jas. Emerson + John Richards + Thos. Jett + Thomas Douglas + Max. Robinson + John Orr + Ebenezer Fisher + Hancock Eustace."</p> + +<p>Text and names have been copied from a photostatic copy of the +original manuscript by Florienette Matter Knight, Organizing +Regent, Leedstown Resolutions Chapter, N.S.D.A.R. The original +manuscript, handwritten by Richard Henry Lee, is in the +archives of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_107" id="SECTION_107"></a><i>FITHIAN</i></h3> + +<p>On an October day in the year 1773 a man on horseback rode down through +Westmoreland County until he came to the entrance of a plantation known +as Nomini Hall. The avenue leading to the great house was bordered with +poplar trees, through which the white stuccoed house appeared "romantic" +and "truly elegant."</p> + +<p>Philip Vickers Fithian, lately graduated from Princeton, had been seven +days on the road since he had left New Jersey. He had<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_151" id="page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> ridden two +hundred and sixty miles and crossed a number of ferries.</p> + +<p>Fithian was not sure that he was doing the right thing in coming to +Virginia. His friends had tried to persuade him not to go to that +"wicked colony" where he would be sure to fall in with evil companions +and become a drunkard or a gambler. If his parents had lived Fithian +would probably have stayed in the North, but they had recently passed +away, and the salary as a plantation tutor was good. With a last prayer +to the Lord that he would be strong enough to stick to his upright way +of life, Fithian set off on his journey to the Northern Neck of +Virginia.</p> + +<p>Nomini Hall was the seat of one of King Carter's grandsons, Robert +Carter, III. His holdings, amounting to seventy thousand acres, were +scattered over a number of counties. He owned more than five hundred +slaves and employed numerous white overseers, clerks, stewards, +craftsmen and artisans. Tobacco was still the main crop of the +plantation, but its profits were now waning and Councillor Carter sought +other money crops to supplement this chief product. Carter also +manufactured supplies for the use of his plantations and for his +neighbors' needs. He operated grain mills, textile factories, salt works +and bakeries.</p> + +<p>Nomini Hall was laid off in the usual formal English style, with four +dependencies—one equally distant from each corner of the manor. These +were the large dependencies—there were many others, probably as many as +thirty. In the square thus formed by the four buildings there was a +bowling green, and gardens interspersed with oyster-shell walks.</p> + +<p>In one of the large dependencies, Fithian was established. Here he and +the Carter boys slept upstairs over the schoolroom. The five Carter +girls who were to be his pupils—"all dressed in white"—slept in the +great house. Fithian liked his room in the schoolhouse—"a neat chamber, +a large Fire, Books, & Candle & my Liberty to stay in this room or to +sit at the great house." In the household he held a delicate +position—equi-distant between the master and his eldest son.</p> + +<p>There was never a dull moment at Nomini Hall. There was the music +teacher—and the traveling dancing teacher who followed a plan of +rotation between the plantations. He spent about a week at each place, +which ended with a small informal dance. The big balls were splendid +affairs, lasting for days and nights. There was a continual procession +of chariots, drawn by four or six horses, with coachman, and +postillions, and attended by horseback riders, moving back and forth +between Nomini Hall and its neighboring plantations. The Carters often +dined and danced with the Lees at<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_152" id="page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> Stratford and Chantilly, the +Washingtons at Bushfield, the Tubervilles at Hickory Hill, and with the +Tayloes at Mount Airy, about twelve miles distant. Christenings, +birthdays, house-warmings—anything served as an excuse for a +celebration among these Northern Neckers! In no part of Virginia were +there more great planters than in the Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>Fithian observed everything and wrote it all down in his Journal. One of +the first things that he noticed were the ladies with the white +handkerchiefs: "Almost every Lady wears a red Cloak; and when they ride +out they tye a white handkerchief over their Head and face, so that when +I first came into Virginia, I was distress'd whenever I saw a Lady, for +I thought she had the Tooth-Ache!"</p> + +<p>Fithian walked often in the evenings in the garden with Mrs. Carter when +she was giving a last look at the poultry or the growing things. He had +a great admiration for the beauty and elegance of Mrs. Carter. With +Councillor Carter he attended the county courts and the horse-races in +Richmond County. Around the stables he watched the cock-fights. There +was skating on the "Mill-pond," and when warm weather came, the +"fish-feasts" and barbecues. The latter, he wrote, were just like the +"fish-feasts" except that they had roast pig instead of fish.</p> + +<p>Fithian did not approve of Sunday in Virginia—"A Sunday in Virginia +don't seem to wear the same Dress as our Sundays to the Northward. By +five o'clock on Saturday every face looks festive and cheerful.... It is +a general custom on Sundays here, with Gentlemen to invite one another +home to dine, after Church; and to consult about, determine their common +business, either before or after Service.... It is not the custom for +Gentlemen to go into Church til Service is beginning, when they enter in +a Body, in the same manner as they came out; I have known the Clerk to +come out and call them into prayers.... They stay also after the Service +is over, usually as long, or longer, than the Parson, was preaching."</p> + +<p>Nomini Church stood on the banks of the River Nomini about six miles +from the manor. The Carter family attended this church, traveling by +both land and water. Councillor Carter had a boat built for the purpose +"of carrying the young Ladies and others of the Family to Nominy Church. +It is a light neat Battoe elegantly painted & is rowed with four Oars." +On the way to church by boat, Fithian saw the river alive with people, +in boats and canoes, fishing.</p> + +<p>Whenever it was possible Fithian excused himself from the social +gatherings and stayed in his room, writing in his Journal and working on +his sermons, for he was to become a Presbyterian minister.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_153" id="page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> He was +happiest there alone because he could not fit in with these strange +Northern Neckers. He felt a little sorry for himself because he was a +somber "meagre" figure in his dark clothes among these gay people. His +greatest handicap was that he had never learned to dance and—"blow +high, blow low, Virginians will dance or die!" He wrote to a friend in +the North: "Here we either strain on Horseback, from home to Church, or +from house to house if we go out at all—or we walk alone into a dark +meadow, or tall wood. But I love solitude, and these lonely recesses +suit exactly the feeling of my mind."</p> + +<p>In spite of his disapproval Fithian grew fond of the Northern Neck and +its people. When he returned from a visit home he wrote: "I am much more +pleased with the Face of the Country since my return than I have ever +been before—It is indeed delightsome! How natural, how agreeable, how +majestic the place seems! Supp'd on Crabs & an elegant dish of +Strawberries & Cream!"</p> + +<p>On Christmas morning Fithian was awakened by the guns being fired around +the house. Then the boy who made the fire came in with a "Christmas +Box," for a tip, and the other servants followed with their "Boxes." +Mrs. Carter sent him over some spermaceti candles—"large clear & very +elegant." The holidays were a round of balls and parties, which Fithian +excused himself from as much as possible. He was glad when they were +over—"We had a large Pye cut to-day to signify the conclusion of the +Holidays."</p> + +<p>It was so cold in January that "a cart and three pair of oxen which +every day bring in four loads of wood, Sundays excepted." In the manor +and other houses there were twenty-eight "steady fires & most of them +are very large." It grew so cold that the cart went for wood on Sunday +also.</p> + +<p>Mail was gotten infrequently from the post-office at Hobb's Hole, which +was the name of present-day Tappahannock. Newspapers from the North and +<i>The Virginia Gazette</i> brought accounts of the Tea Party in Boston, and +other rumblings in the colonies. These "Golden Days" in Virginia were +not to last much longer—war was in the making.</p> + +<p>Fithian left Nomini Hall late in 1774. He could no longer stay away from +his Northern "dream-girl," the "fair Laura" of his Journal. He was +married to her in October, 1775. He enlisted in the Revolutionary forces +in 1776 as a chaplain, but his "meagre" body could not stand the life of +the army. He died shortly after the battle of White Plains.</p> + +<p>But Fithian had not lived in vain—his Journal was a legacy to +posterity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_154" id="page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_108" id="SECTION_108"></a><i>THE SCHOOL IN THE WILDWOOD</i></h3> + +<p>In colonial days a small school was conducted in the forest of +Westmoreland County by a Scotch minister. His own sons were his pupils, +and a few children who lived close enough to walk to school through the +woodland lane which was cut for several straight miles through the woods +and was known as the Parson's Road.</p> + +<p>In 1755 the "Parson" had petitioned the Court of Westmoreland County to +have a road from the "new Glebe opened to Round Hill Church." The +petition was granted, for the Reverend Archibald Campbell was an +influential man in the region.</p> + +<p>Mr. Campbell came to Virginia from Scotland in October, 1741. The "new +Glebe" was purchased, tradition says, from Thomas Marshall, "the +surveyor," about 1753. The "Parson" moved to the "new Glebe" and lived +there until his death in 1775. It was there that he conducted his +school.</p> + +<p>The "new Glebe" was situated on Mattox Creek, originally called +Appamatox Creek after the Indians who had once lived there. This Glebe +was located not far from the present village of Oak Grove.</p> + +<p>The Reverend Archibald Campbell came from a distinguished and learned +Scottish family—his nephew, Thomas Campbell, became one of Britain's +greatest poets. The "Parson" himself was well equipped with "all the +learning which the Scottish universities could give."</p> + +<p>At the school in the forest it was all work and little play, for the +"Parson" was a hard taskmaster. His pupils were said to have been +"especially well grounded in mathematics and Latin ... and in their +various subsequent careers they were noted for solidity of character." +At least two of his pupils became historic figures.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_109" id="SECTION_109"></a><i>JAMES AND JOHN</i></h3> + +<p>On winter mornings it was still dark when the Monroe family breakfasted, +but the "large living room" was cozy with its glowing hearth where pots +and kettles bubbled and steamed on their cranes and trivets.</p> + +<p>Around the breakfast table were seated Spence and Elizabeth<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_155" id="page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> Monroe and +their children who, according to age, were—Elizabeth, James, Spence, +Andrew and Joseph Jones.</p> + +<p>Breakfast at the Monroe home was not as formal as breakfast at the homes +of their neighbors at Stratford and Nomini Hall. Spence Monroe was not a +wealthy planter, although he was a gentleman and a small landowner. His +home in Westmoreland County was situated between Monroe Bay and Mattox +Creek, not far from present-day Colonial Beach. The Monroes had been +living in the Northern Neck since about 1650.</p> + +<p>The Monroes lived in a plain frame two-storied house "within a stone's +throw of ... a virgin forest." The Potomac flowed not far away.</p> + +<p>After breakfast James would start for school with his books under one +arm and his gun slung over his shoulder. The Monroe table never lacked +for game while James was around.</p> + +<p>James was tall for his fifteen years, and built like an athlete. He well +knew the forest and river.</p> + +<p>Somewhere along the woodland road James was joined by another tall +well-built youth, who was dressed in a pale-blue hunting-shirt and +trousers, fringed with white, and a black hat decorated with a buck's +tail. He also had a gun and books. There was the look of the mountains +about this lad. John Marshall's home was in Fauquier County and he was +only visiting in the Northern Neck. He had learned his classics from his +father in their frontier cabin, but now Thomas Marshall had sent his son +back to his people in Westmoreland for more schooling.</p> + +<p>John was three years older than James. He was dark—skin, eyes and +hair—with rosy cheeks and a round face. His eyes twinkled, for he was +as merry and fun-loving as James was solemn and serious. The two tall +boys must have made a fine-looking pair as they walked down the Parson's +Road, with gun and books, on a bright winter's morning in the year 1773. +As they come within sight of the Glebe we will leave them—in the firm +hands of the Reverend Archibald Campbell.</p> + +<p>Little did these boys dream of the adventures that lay ahead for them. +For these two backwoods boys were destined to become makers of history: +John Marshall, the great Chief Justice, who "found a Constitution on +paper and made it power"; and James Monroe who became the fifth +President of the United States and who formulated and declared the +Monroe Doctrine.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_156" id="page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_110" id="SECTION_110"></a><i>CAPTAIN DOBBY</i></h3> + +<p>Captains of the ships constantly lying at anchor in the rivers were +often guests at Nomini Hall and the other Northern Neck plantations. +Captain Dobby was a general favorite. Fithian described him in his +Journal as "a Man of much Spirit and Humour: A great Mimick."</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1774 Captain Dobby invited the Carters of Nomini and +Fithian, the tutor, "on Board his Ship next Tuesday to Dine with him & +wish them a pleasant Passage as the Ship is to Sail the day following." +Fithian must have especially liked the Captain for he commented in his +Journal: "If the Weather is not too burning hot I shall go, provided the +Others go likewise."</p> + +<p>On the appointed day, in August, Fithian and Ben Carter set out for the +River. They had intended to breakfast at Colonel Tayloe's, twelve miles +distant, "but the Servant who went with us was so slow in preparing that +we breakfasted before we set out. We arrived at Colonel Tayloe's however +half after nine."</p> + +<p>Colonel John Tayloe was one of the wealthiest men in the Northern Neck. +His manor house, Mount Airy, in Richmond County, was situated on an +elevation, and overlooked the Rappahannock River, several miles distant. +An interesting feature of the plantation was the deer park, located in a +grove of oaks and cedars.</p> + +<p>Fithian described Mount Airy as "an elegant Seat!—The House is about +the Size of Mr. Carter's, built with stone, & finished curiously, & +ornamented with various paintings, & rich Pictures. This Gentleman owns +Yorick, who won the prize of 500 pounds last November, from Dr. Flood's +Horse, Gift—In the Dining-Room, besides many other fine Pieces, are +twenty four of the most celebrated among the English Race-Horses, Drawn +masterly, & set in elegant gilt Frames. He has near the great House, two +fine two Story stone Houses, the one is used as a Kitchen, & the other, +for a nursery, & Lodging Rooms—He has also a large well-formed, +beautiful Garden, as fine in every Respect as any I have seen in +Virginia. In it stand four large beautiful Marble Statues."</p> + +<p>Mount Airy was built after the style of an Italian villa. The main +entrance was guarded by bronze dogs.</p> + +<p>When Fithian and Ben arrived at Mount Airy they found "the young Ladies +in the Hall playing the Harpsichord."</p> + +<p>Joined by the Tayloes the party set out for the River. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_157" id="page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> "Colonel and +his Lady" and daughters traveled in "their Great Coach," while Fithian +and Ben and the servants were on horseback.</p> + +<p>The land from Mount Airy to the ferry, opposite Hobb's Hole +(Tappahannock), was level and the road lay between fields of corn and +flax. As they neared the River the fields changed to marshes "covered +with thick high Reed."</p> + +<p>The Rappahannock River was about two miles wide here and they could see +ships lying at anchor on the other side near the town. They counted six +ships "riding in the Harbour, and a number of Schooners & smaller +Vessels."</p> + +<p>The party waited for half an hour in the burning sun. At last they saw +the long-boat coming, covered with an awning and rowed by four oarsmen. +It was past noon when they reached the ship, where they were warmly +welcomed by Captain Dobby.</p> + +<p>The <i>Beaufort</i> was a "Stately Ship." For the comfort of his guests the +Captain had arranged an awning from the "Stern ... to the Mizen-Mast," +which kept off the sun but was open on the sides.</p> + +<p>By three o'clock the guests had arrived, forty-five ladies and sixty +gentlemen, and besides them the ship's crew, waiters and servants. +Dinner was served and "we were not throng'd at all, & dined all at +twice."</p> + +<p>The guests were then entertained by a boat race—"A Boat was anchored +down the River at a Mile Distance—Captain Dobby and Captain Benson +steer'd the Boats in the Race—Captain Benson had 5 Oarsmen; Captain +Dobby had 6—It was Ebb-Tide—The Betts were small—& chiefly given to +the Negroes who rowed—Captain Benson won the first Race—Captain +Purchace offered to bett ten Dollars that with the same Boat & same +Hands, only having Liberty to put a small Weight in the Stern, he would +beat Captain Benson—He was taken, & came out best only half the Boat's +Length—About Sunset we left the Ship, & went all to Hobb's Hole, where +a Ball was agreed on."</p> + +<p>After the ball was over the guests spent the remainder of the night at +Hobb's Hole. At half-past eight the next morning they were called to +breakfast—"we all look'd dull, pale & haggard!"</p> + +<p>After breakfast the party was entertained by the young ladies on the +harpsichord. At eleven o'clock they all went down to the River, where +the long-boat was waiting to take them back home to the Northern Neck.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_158" id="page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_111" id="SECTION_111"></a><i>PEDLARS</i></h3> + +<p>Probably the first pedlars in the Northern Neck were the Indians of +Cascarawaske, a merchant tribe that manufactured their products and sold +them up and down the Potomac—Patowmeke—meaning "traveling traders," or +pedlars.</p> + +<p>During colonial days the itinerant pedlar traveled from plantation to +plantation. He was welcome everywhere because he brought news and gossip +as well as merchandise. Children were always watching out for the pedlar +at certain seasons when he usually arrived.</p> + +<p>He was not hard to identify for he bore on his back, by means of a +harness of strong hempen webbing, two oblong trunks of thin metal, +probably tin. He carried a stout staff to help him to walk with his +burden and also for a weapon to ward off dogs and wild animals. He was +usually called the "trunk pedlar."</p> + +<p>His pack contained everything from dress materials and jewelry to +"plumpers." The latter were thin, round, light balls used to put in the +mouth and fill up hollow cheeks!</p> + +<p>The "indigo-pedlars" had a specialized trade. Blue, in all shades, was +the favorite color in colonial days, and indigo was used to dye this +color. It was especially in demand for dyeing wool. Pedlars traveled all +over the country selling indigo.</p> + +<p>Pedlars continued to travel through the Northern Neck until the early +part of the twentieth century.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_112" id="SECTION_112"></a><i>SEVEN SATIN PETTICOATS</i></h3> + +<p>Settlers in the Northern Neck sometimes received boxes containing +luxuries from relatives in England. These boxes were received even until +a late date.</p> + +<p>In one family there were seven sisters. In probably the last box they +received from "home," as England was called for many years, there were +seven satin petticoats, some pink and some blue. They were made of heavy +satin and trimmed with lace.</p> + +<p>Needless to say, these petticoats were treasured and passed on for +several generations. When nothing was left of them except faded shreds, +the tradition of the "seven satin petticoats" was then handed down from +mother to daughter.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_159" id="page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_113" id="SECTION_113"></a><i>PHI BETA KAPPA</i></h3> + +<p>In Williamsburg, Virginia, on December 5, 1776, was founded the first +scholastic Greek letter fraternity—Phi Beta Kappa. That a native of the +Northern Neck had a part in this is shown by the minutes of that first +meeting:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On Thursday, the 5th of December in the year of our Lord God +one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six and the first of the +Commonwealth, a happy spirit and resolution of attaining the +important ends of Society entering the minds of John Heath, +Thomas Smith, Richard Booker, Armistead Smith, and John Jones, +and afterwards seconded by others, prevailed, and was +accordingly ratified."</p> + +<p>".... Officers were elected—John Heath as President, Richard +Booker as Treasurer, and Thomas Smith as Clerk, the society +esteeming them as necessary persons for the functions of their +several duties accordingly selected them."</p></blockquote> + +<p>These young gentlemen were students of William and Mary College. The +Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern is believed to be the birthplace of +the distinguished Phi Beta Kappa Society.</p> + +<p>John Heath was a native of Northumberland County. Heathsville, the +county seat, was named for his family.</p> + +<p>John Heath owned an estate called Black Point, on the outskirts of +Heathsville. Black Point was later known as Springfield.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_114" id="SECTION_114"></a><i>LIGHT-HORSE HARRY</i></h3> + +<p>He rode into battle fast—with his sabre drawn and his three hundred +screaming troopers following close behind. Under him was his own horse +which he had ridden north from Virginia, one of those "fleet steeds" for +which his home country was noted. From his tall leather helmet the +horse-hair plumes streamed out behind and his jacket was a blur of +green.</p> + +<p>His white lambskin breeches and knee-high boots were perfection. His +troopers were brilliant and shining—that was because Henry Lee would +have his Virginians no other way. His detachment of cavalry stood out +like a torch amid the ragged forces of Washington's army.</p> + +<p>Henry Lee, lately graduated from Princeton, had been nominated by +Patrick Henry in 1776, to command a cavalry company raised in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_160" id="page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> Virginia +for service in the Continental Army, under the command of Colonel Bland. +In 1777, Lee's Corps was placed under Washington's immediate control. It +was the "flower of Washington's troop."</p> + +<p>In Harry Lee's "flying detachment" there was one who was a neighbor of +his back in Northern Virginia, John Marshall.</p> + +<p>Light-Horse Harry Lee received his nickname because his outfit traveled +light. He never had more than three hundred men and they were as lightly +equipped as possible. Speed was necessary if they were to survive, for +to them fell the hard and dangerous assignments.</p> + +<p>It fell to them to spy on the enemy's movements, to harass them, to +destroy them and capture their supplies. They hunted for food for +Washington's hungry army. Their jobs were the lonesome ones, carried out +in the still of the night, while Death stalked them—waiting for them to +make just one sound, one slip, one mistake. But Light-Horse Harry and +his men were like foxes, and Luck traveled with them.</p> + +<p>General Washington was fond of Harry; he remembered him as a blond child +who had come with his father and mother on neighborly visits to Mt. +Vernon. He invited Harry to become one of his aides.</p> + +<p>It was a tempting offer. Washington had been Harry's hero since +childhood days and this was an opportunity to be near him. After a +struggle with this great temptation, Harry won and sent his answer to +General Washington: "I am wedded to my sword."</p> + +<p>In 1779, Light-Horse Harry decided to do the impossible. He and his men +would capture Paulus (Powles) Hook, a fort occupied by the British on a +point of land on the west side of the Hudson, opposite the town of New +York. The enemy had made the Hook an island by digging a deep ditch +through which the river flowed. It was strongly guarded on all sides by +British ships, troops or natural defenses.</p> + +<p>For three weeks Harry's scouting expedition had been watching the enemy, +moving among the ravines, hills and marshes, always in close touch with +the British. In this detachment of Lee's was Captain John Marshall.</p> + +<p>Lee laid his plans before General Washington, who approved, and made +sure that there were lines of retreat.</p> + +<p>On a hot day in August Light-Horse Harry and his men started on the +adventure. It was rough going—a long march through marsh land that was +doubtless swarming with mosquitoes. They had to make bridges in some +places and at other places they waded or swam. They sank deep into the +marshes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_161" id="page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the night of August the eighteenth they crept among the hills and +passed the main body of the British army, who were sleeping. At three +o'clock in the morning they crossed the ditch. From then on it was a +fast movement resulting in the capture of one hundred and fifty-nine +prisoners, which was all except a few men in the blockhouse.</p> + +<p>After the enemy's stores and supplies had been destroyed Light-Horse +Harry and his men returned to Headquarters with their captives.</p> + +<p>For this daring feat Lee received compliments from both Washington and +Lafayette. But his glory was not to last long. Some of the older +officers preferred charges against him for his conduct of the campaign. +He was court-martialed, but exonerated from the charges, and Congress +soon gave him a gold medal.</p> + +<p>But the happiness of it all had fled from the heart of Henry Lee. He had +fought four years with Washington in the North. Now he went South and +joined General Greene for the remainder of the war. His fame continued +to increase. Tradition says that he planned the final strategy at +Yorktown.</p> + +<p>At the surrender Light-Horse Harry stood in the line of officers as the +British army marched out and Cornwallis surrendered his sword to General +Washington. Lee was dressed in his usual brilliant perfection with his +hair powdered and queued in the back, but in his heart he felt old and +sad. At twenty-six he felt so old that he wanted to withdraw from the +world and sink into obscurity.</p> + +<p>After the war was over Light-Horse Harry turned his horse toward home. +That was where he wanted to go—home to Leesylvania on the Potomac.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_115" id="SECTION_115"></a><i>A BAND OF BROTHERS</i></h3> + +<p>King Carter once wrote: "Pray God send in the next generation ... a set +of better-polished patriots."</p> + +<p>An example of the kind of "polished patriots" that King Carter probably +had in mind were the Lee brothers of Stratford: Thomas Ludwell, Richard +Henry, Francis Lightfoot, William and Arthur. They were the sons of +Thomas and Hannah Lee, and they were all born in the same southeast +bedroom at Stratford.</p> + +<p>Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot were signers of the Declaration of +Independence. All five brothers worked in various ways to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_162" id="page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> win freedom +from Great Britain for the colonies in America and to shape a government +that would stand.</p> + +<p>President John Adams described the Lee sons of Stratford as "that band +of brothers, intrepid and unchangeable, who, like the Greeks at +Thermopylae, stood in the gap, in defense of their country, from the +first glimmering of the Revolution in the horizon, through all its +rising light, to its perfect day."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_116" id="SECTION_116"></a><i>THE DIVINE MATILDA</i></h3> + +<p>Light-horse Harry Lee soon tired of his isolation and decided one day to +ride down to Stratford and call on the family of his cousin. It was a +long ride, but Virginians of that day thought nothing of traveling long +distances on horseback.</p> + +<p>Thomas Lee had left Stratford to his oldest son, Philip Ludwell, who had +lived there in great style. In his stables were a score or more of +blooded horses, including the imported stallion Dotterel, which was said +to be the "swiftest horse in all England (Eclipse excepted)." His +imported coaches were the finest that could be had.</p> + +<p>Philip had kept an open house, as Harry Lee well remembered, and he had +entertained on a lavish scale. A whole ox could be roasted for guests in +the kitchen fireplace. He had kept a band of musicians to whose airs his +daughters, Matilda and Flora, with their companions danced in the Great +Hall. But Philip Ludwell was now dead, Harry had heard, and Stratford +had passed on to his oldest child, Matilda.</p> + +<p>As Harry came up the oak and poplar lined road to Stratford, Matilda and +Flora recognized him "as he rode past the grove of maples" and they +"welcomed him with joy."</p> + +<p>Flora was described by a contemporary as being haughty in manner, "very +genteel and wears monstrous bustles." In describing Matilda the only +word used by her contemporaries was "divine."</p> + +<p>Harry was not prepared for this new Matilda. When he had last seen her +she was at the awkward age of thirteen. Now she was nineteen and his +first sight of her took his breath away.</p> + +<p>There was tea-drinking in the garden with laughter and talk of the good +old times before the war. Perhaps Matilda and Harry walked in the garden +and "sat under a butiful shade tree" or climbed to one of the +summer-houses on the roof from which they could see "Potomac's sea-like +billows."<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_163" id="page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>In less than a month Matilda was married to her cousin, Light-Horse +Harry Lee. And what was Matilda like? There are no portraits or +miniatures to tell us how she looked, no letters to unlock her +personality. Only the word "divine" bequeathed by her contempories.</p> + +<p>Matilda was expensive. Inventories tell us that her side-saddle cost +1,200 pounds of tobacco, and music lessons on the harpsichord cost 3,043 +pounds of tobacco. "1 pc. fine Chintz in Pocket Money for Mis Matilda," +whatever that meant, was 1,500 pounds, and another ninety pounds of +tobacco went for dental care. Listed among her belongings were a cap, a +pair of silk shoes and stays for her slender waist.</p> + +<p>Matilda could afford to have expensive tastes. She had inherited +Stratford and its six thousand acres of rich tobacco soil, with enough +slaves to tend it, and other lands scattered all over northern Virginia.</p> + +<p>Harry took Matilda to New York where for three years he represented +Virginia in Congress. They were gay and happy years, but it was over all +too soon.</p> + +<p>When Matilda died, Harry wrote: "Something always happens to mar my +happiness."</p> + +<p>At the foot of the garden at Stratford, Harry built a vault for Thomas +Lee's granddaughter, Matilda, who was called "divine."</p> + +<p>Matilda was twenty-six years old when she died. She left three children, +Philip Ludwell, Lucy Grymes and Henry.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_117" id="SECTION_117"></a><i>MADAM WASHINGTON</i></h3> + +<p>Augustine Washington had left his wife, Mary: "the current crops on +three plantations and the right of working Bridges Creek Quarter for +five years, during which time she could establish a quarter on Deep +Run."</p> + +<p>Mary stayed on at Ferry Farm for twenty-nine years after her husband's +death. It is possible that she spent part of this time on some of her +adjoining property. Meanwhile her children had married—Betty Washington +Lewis was living in Fredericksburg, and George was established at Mount +Vernon, which he had inherited after Lawrence's death.</p> + +<p>By 1772 George had persuaded his mother to move to a house which he +owned in Fredericksburg where she would be close to Betty, at Kenmore.</p> + +<p>When Mary Ball Washington moved to Fredericksburg, her property<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_164" id="page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> in the +Northern Neck included: "43 Hoggs, Shoats and Pigs, 16 sheep, 24 head of +cattle, 2 horses; and at the Quarters (her dower land of 400 acres, some +miles down the river), 4 horses, 6 oxen, 8 cows and calves, 39 hogs." On +the two farms there were ten slaves. The "Quarters" was bringing her an +income of 30 pounds per year.</p> + +<p>After Mary was installed in Fredericksburg, she had her coachman, +Stephen, drive her almost every day to Ferry Farm. Mary's favorite +carriage in her old age was a light open phaeton. She was respectfully +greeted by everyone she passed on the streets of Fredericksburg.</p> + +<p>In her later years Mary is said to have worn a mobcap and kerchief. A +mobcap was a frilly white cap introduced from France. In summer she +probably waved a fan made from the bronze feathers of wild turkeys.</p> + +<p>During these years George Washington frequently visited his mother, and +other relatives in the Northern Neck. In August, 1768, he "hauled the +Sein for sheepsheads" off Hollis Marsh in Westmoreland County. In 1771, +he dined at the Glebe in Cople Parish, and "returned to my brother's in +the evening." George enjoyed the social life in Fredericksburg. He liked +to play cards, and he liked to dance—the minuet and cotillions and +country-dances. It was said that he liked beautiful women, punch, horses +and hunting, and that he could be gay or dignified, whenever the +occasion demanded. During Revolutionary days Washington and the Northern +Neck patriots often gathered at the Rising Sun Tavern in Fredericksburg.</p> + +<p>In 1784, while visiting Mount Vernon, Marquis de Lafayette rode to +Fredericksburg to pay a visit to Madam Washington before he returned to +France. When he returned to Mount Vernon after calling upon Mary Ball +Washington he made this comment about her: "I have seen the only Roman +Matron living at this day."</p> + +<p>George Washington traveled to Fredericksburg in March, 1789, to tell his +mother good-bye before leaving Mount Vernon to go to New York for his +first inauguration. She did not live to see him again.</p> + +<p>Mary Washington was buried in Fredericksburg, near Meditation Rock, a +spot near her home where she often went to read her Bible, pray and +meditate. It was her request that she be buried there. Many years later +a monument to her was erected there.</p> + +<p>The modest house where she spent her last years became a national shrine +in 1890. A college in Fredericksburg was later named for Mary +Washington.</p> + +<p>"All that I am I owe to my honored Mother," is the tribute that the +great George Washington paid to Mary Ball Washington.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_165" id="page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_118" id="SECTION_118"></a><i>AFTER THE REVOLUTION</i></h3> + +<p>The Northern Neck, like the rest of Tidewater Virginia, changed after +the Revolution. War had taken its toll of manpower and money.</p> + +<p>The tobacco lands had become exhausted, therefore the culture of tobacco +had been almost abandoned. Wheat and corn were now the main crops.</p> + +<p>The once thriving tobacco river ports fell into decay. Foreign ships no +longer tied up at the plantation landings. The tobacco rolling-roads +were no longer needed for their original use.</p> + +<p>After the war the English clergy was withdrawn and the churches were +unused and deserted for years. Some fell into ruins or were used for +other purposes. The glebes became "bones of contention" between the +Episcopal Church and the "people." In 1802 the General Assembly passed +an act by which the glebes were sold for the benefit of the public.</p> + +<p>After the Revolution other religious denominations gained a foothold in +the Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>People now turned away from anything British, even in architecture and +dress. Before the Revolution boys and girls dressed precisely like their +parents in miniature. After the war they wore a special dress of their +own.</p> + +<p>In 1789, there were still few conveniences of life in the Neck, or +elsewhere in the country. All cloth was woven by hand. Most of the farm +implements were made of wood. Wheat was cut with a scythe, raked with a +wooden rake and beaten out with sticks or "trodden out" by oxen.</p> + +<p>There were as yet no matches with which to make a fire. Flint and tinder +box were used instead and live coals were kept as a basis for the next +day's fire. Wood was the chief fuel and candles were used for light.</p> + +<p>Bananas and oranges were rarely seen in the Northern Neck then, for +sailboats were too slow to bring these fruits any distance in good +condition. Communication was slow. By 1790 there were fifteen +post-offices in Virginia. The postal service was crude. Mails were +carried by post-riders and stages.</p> + +<p>People of the Northern Neck lived comfortably but the great prosperity +was gone, and although eventually it was recovered in part, the pattern +of living was never on such a grand scale again as<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_166" id="page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> it was before the +Revolution. The large estates were broken up by division or sale. New +families took the places of the old. Many of the old names passed into +oblivion. The old order of social aristocracy declined, but the people +still clung to their old customs, traditions and family life.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_119" id="SECTION_119"></a><i>MANTUA</i></h3> + +<p>"Chicacony" was selected as a townsite by the Burgesses some time after +John Mottrom and his friends had settled there. Mottrom had built a +wharf and a warehouse at Coan and he had plans for a "Brew-House." If he +had lived, the town might have matured. But Colonel Mottrom died and the +plans for a town seem to have been abandoned. Plantation life did not +encourage the growth of towns.</p> + +<p>The Coan Hall property passed on to the descendants of John Mottrom. +Coan Hall and the other early homes in the vicinity either burned or +fell into ruins. Toward the close of the eighteenth century, when the +Coan Hall property went out of the Mottrom family, there appears to have +been few traces left of the once thriving settlement at Coan.</p> + +<p>James Smith, a wealthy Baltimore merchant and shipowner, purchased a +portion of the Coan Hall estate from a Mottrom heir and erected a brick +mansion on a slope there, about 1785. He called his new home Mantua.</p> + +<p>Mantua was built along the traditional lines of a Virginia house—a +central hall, two rooms on each side and large end chimneys. From the +outside it appeared to have three stories but there were really six +floor levels. Later, identical wings were added on each side by Smith's +sons. Still later, Smith's grandson added an imposing front portico. +Before this addition coaches were driven, tradition says, right up to +the front steps and ladies could step from coach to marble steps without +soiling their dainty slippers. The conveyance could then continue around +to the stables on the west side, or follow the driveway on to Coan Stage +Road, which ran back of the plantation.</p> + +<p>The marble steps, marble window-sills and paneled inside blinds were +handsome details of Mantua which may have been the outcome of Smith's +residence in Baltimore. Originally he was a native of County Derry, +Ireland.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_167" id="page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the rear of the house there were five terraces, planted with flowers +and, perhaps, vegetables and herbs. Brick slave quarters were ranged in +a semi-circle beyond the terraces.</p> + +<p>The second story front windows of Mantua overlooked both the Coan and +the Potomac. Before government lighthouses and buoys marked the +waterman's course in this section, he had only the stars, landmarks and +a lighted window here and there to guide him. Mantua was a help to the +watermen for they could always be sure of a lighted window there, a lamp +purposely placed by members of the Smith family, and by day the towering +poplar trees were familiar landmarks.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PART_III" id="PART_III"></a>PART III</h2> + +<h3>Nineteenth Century</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_171" id="page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="SECTION_120" id="SECTION_120"></a><i>ROBERT E. LEE</i></h3> + +<p>In 1791, Light-Horse Harry Lee became Governor of Virginia. While he was +in Richmond he had the opportunity to visit the plantations along the +James River.</p> + +<p>When Harry rolled up before Shirley in all the trappings of a Virginia +governor, it is not surprising that the young daughter of the house saw +in him her "heart's desire."</p> + +<p>But Charles Carter did not see Harry through his daughter's rosy vision. +He saw him as a widower who was seventeen years older than Ann, and as a +soldier who had been disillusioned by war and had not adjusted to peace.</p> + +<p>However, Harry won his suit and carried the happy Ann back with him to +Stratford. Ann was a brunette of medium height and twenty years old. +Little else is known about her except that she was good.</p> + +<p>Ann's first impression of the Lee mansion must have been a gloomy one. +Gayety had left Stratford with Matilda. The musicians had long since +been gone, and the blooded horses. The windows once so brightly lighted +were dark, and with no voices and laughter to fill the house, one could +hear the wolves howling at night in the forest. This remote fortress in +the fastness of the Northern Neck was different from anything that this +great-granddaughter of King Carter had ever known. Shirley had been warm +and happy.</p> + +<p>Harry had no taste or ability as a farmer, and even if he had, +Westmoreland County was now losing ground as a tobacco country. At first +Ann may have traveled to Richmond with her husband and visited Shirley, +for Harry was thrice elected to the governorship of Virginia. But as the +years went by, Ann and her small children were more and more alone at +Stratford. As his political career waned, Harry stayed away from home +more and more, chasing various "will o' the wisps" which he believed +would recoup his fortune.</p> + +<p>Sometimes Ann stayed at Stratford as long as six months at a time +without going anywhere to visit, or without seeing her social equals. +Still, Ann wrote a friend that she was too busy to be bored. We can +imagine her moving about the house, sometimes carrying a charcoal +brazier with her into the living room, to warm her frail body or to give +the illusion of warmth.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_172" id="page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus10" id="illus10"></a> +<img src="images/illus10.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>Young Robert E. Lee learning to ride.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_173" id="page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<p>Into this sombre setting was born, on January 19, 1807, a new baby. He +was christened: Robert Edward Lee. He was born in the southeast bedroom +of Stratford, the same room in which the other great Lee men had been +born.</p> + +<p>The nursery was probably the coziest room at Stratford in those days. +Ann's one known accomplishment was singing, so we can picture her there +as she sang to the new baby while she rocked him in his wooden cradle, +and watched the flames in the fireplace as they illuminated the guardian +cherubs on the iron fireback. Perhaps those days with her children were +not unhappy. She taught her boys to be "honorable and correct" and to +"practice the most inflexible virtue."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Harry's last wild speculations had ended in his complete +financial ruin. Ann and the children were now living on a trust fund +left to them by her father, Charles Carter, when he died in 1806.</p> + +<p>One day, when Robert was not yet four years old, a carriage stood in +front of Stratford, waiting to take the family for their last ride down +the driveway. Stratford had been left to Matilda's son, Henry, and he +had now come of age and was ready to take over the estate. Harry and his +family traveled to Alexandria where they moved into a smaller house.</p> + +<p>A legend says that when everything was ready for departure little Robert +could not be found. He was finally discovered in the nursery saying +good-bye to the two cherubs on the fireback.</p> + +<p>After this Harry had still greater misfortunes. His body was broken and +maimed for life. In 1813, when Robert was six years old, his father left +Virginia, bound for the British West Indies, seeking health and a new +grip on life. He spent the next five years wandering about among the +islands. In 1818, he sailed for home but became so ill that he was put +off at one of the islands. There he found the family of his old friend, +General Greene. He was tenderly cared for by them during his final +illness. He died there and was buried in their family burying ground on +Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note:</span> In 1913 the body of General Henry (Light-Horse Harry) Lee +was brought from Cumberland Island and placed in the Chapel at +Lexington, Virginia, beside that of his famous son, Robert E. +Lee.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_174" id="page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_121" id="SECTION_121"></a><i>SMITH POINT LIGHT</i></h3> + +<p>For many years the watermen of the Chesapeake "steered by the stars," by +trees, and by a lighted window here and there.</p> + +<p>One of the earlier government lighthouses on Chesapeake Bay was the +Smith Point Light located at the mouth of the Potomac on Smith Point, +Northumberland County.</p> + +<p>There seem to be no available records concerning the erection of this +lighthouse. In an 1804 issue of <i>Blunt's American Coast Pilot</i> reference +is made to a lighthouse having been "erected lately on Smith Point." +This establishes the date of its erection as prior to 1804.</p> + +<p>In the 1833 issue of the same book there is a small drawing of the +lighthouse at Smith Point which shows a tower with a house close by. +These structures appeared to be situated on the tip end of a point with +a gently sloping hill, or bank, in the rear. The picture shows a +lighthouse with the same general appearance as the first government +lighthouse at Cape Henry at the entrance to the Chesapeake, built in +1791. The Smith Point tower, however, was round instead of octagonal.</p> + +<p>According to older natives of the region who remembered the original +lighthouse at Smith Point, it was a round tower built of sandstone +blocks, approximately sixty or seventy feet high. A spiral inside +stairway with stone steps led up to the lantern at the top.</p> + +<p>The sandstone blocks for the tower at Cape Henry had been brought from +abroad as ballast in ships. The same thing may have been true of the +sandstone blocks of which Smith Point lighthouse was built.</p> + +<p>The light at Cape Henry first consisted of oil lamps burning, in turn, +whale oil, colza (cabbage) oil, lard oil, and finally kerosene after the +discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania in 1859. The same type of lamps +and fuel were doubtless used at Smith Point.</p> + +<p>The keeper's house at Smith Point, according to tradition, was located +thirty or forty yards back of the tower. It was a brick story-and-a-half +house with outside chimneys on each end and an ell in the back. There +were fireplaces in every room and a dark underground room which was +referred to in later years as the "dungeon."</p> + +<p>When this early lighthouse was built there were still a few pirates +lurking about the Bay.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_175" id="page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_122" id="SECTION_122"></a><i>THE RAIDERS</i></h3> + +<p>Frightening rumours must have flown up and down the Northern Neck in the +early part of the year of 1813.</p> + +<p>In June, 1812, Congress had declared war against Great Britain. The +Virginia militia had been called out to drill, and to prepare to defend +Washington if necessary. The sound of drum and fife was heard once more +in the countryside. Brass buttons were polished and firelocks were put +in good shooting condition.</p> + +<p>Now, in February of 1813, Admiral George Cockburn of the British Navy +had entered the Chesapeake with a flotilla of two brigs, several tenders +and a force of land troops.</p> + +<p>Along the grapevine ran the news that Admiral Cockburn was directing his +efforts principally against the citizens. The farmhouses and plantations +along the waterfront were being plundered and burned and the cattle were +being driven away or slaughtered. While the planters were away with the +militia some of their families had taken refuge with their tenants who +lived in the forest.</p> + +<p>Naval battles were taking place in the rivers. In April, the U. S. S. +<i>Dolphin</i> was captured in the Rappahannock by the British ship <i>St. +Domingo</i>. In July a battle was fought in the Yeocomico, a tributary of +the Potomac. The U. S. S. <i>Asp</i>, a three-gun sloop, was at that time +overpowered by five British barges.</p> + +<p>Troops were stationed at Windmill Point, at the mouth of the +Rappahannock, in November, 1813. Here, April 23, 1814, the British made +a landing and pillaged a vessel. They were driven off by militia +stationed across the creek. It was perhaps on this same trip that the +raiders visited Corotoman.</p> + +<p>The crew went ashore and made themselves at home in the old house built +by John Carter, while the officers took over the home built later by his +son, King Carter. The well-stocked wine cellar and an abundance of fine +Rappahannock oysters furnished the ingredients, tradition says, for an +all-night party.</p> + +<p>In August, 1814, reinforcements consisting of many vessels of war and a +large number of troops arrived in the Chesapeake from Europe. Of this +force several frigates and bomb vessels were ordered to ascend the +Potomac.</p> + +<p>At this time the shores of the Potomac were ravaged and a number of fine +and ancient homes were burned. Washington city was captured and burned, +and President Madison and his wife Dolly were forced to seek refuge in +Virginia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_176" id="page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus11" id="illus11"></a> +<img src="images/illus11.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>Skirmish between the Virginia Militia and the British +during the War of 1812 at Farnham Church.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_177" id="page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + +<p>In October, 1814, a force of British troops came up the Coan River and +marched to Heathsville. This force with some mounted troops continued +their march up through the Neck, pillaging, burning and destroying as +they went. At North Farnham Church, in Richmond County, a skirmish was +fought between the raiders and the Virginia militia, leaving bullet +holes in the walls of the church to mark the battle.</p> + +<p>In September, 1814, the British were on their way to bombard the city of +Baltimore. The Sunday before at their camp on Tangier Island, in the +Chesapeake Bay, they had been warned of their coming defeat by Joshua +Thomas, the Methodist "Parson of the Islands."</p> + +<p>At Fort McHenry the "Parson's" prophecy came true, and at the same time +an immortal song was born—"The Star-Spangled Banner."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_123" id="SECTION_123"></a><i>STEAMBOATS</i></h3> + +<p>The <i>Chesapeake</i> was the first steamboat on Chesapeake Bay. She made her +first run in 1813. The next steamer to make her debut was the +<i>Washington</i>, on the Potomac, in 1815. The next year the <i>Virginia</i> +started running from Norfolk to Richmond.</p> + +<p>From then on until the Civil War the steamboat business expanded. All +the bay and river boats had both freight and passenger services to +Baltimore, Washington or Norfolk. These services were interrupted by the +war.</p> + +<p>During the Civil War, according to several unpublished letters of that +period, the steamboats <i>George C. Peabody</i> and <i>North Point</i> collided in +the Potomac on the night of August 13, 1862. Of the three or four +hundred persons on board the two boats only one hundred were saved.</p> + +<p>After the Civil War the steamboat services were restored.</p> + +<p>When the first steamboat ran up the Rappahannock, Bewdley was used as a +landing place. This Lancaster County home belonged to the Ball family, +relatives of George Washington's mother. When passengers awaited the +arrival of the boat at Bewdley, a white flag was raised as a signal by +day, and at night a light was placed in one of the many dormer-windows.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_178" id="page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_124" id="SECTION_124"></a><i>HANNAH AND THE FALLING STARS</i></h3> + +<p>It was Hannah's custom to get up before daybreak. She was a +sixteen-year-old Negro girl of Northumberland County. On this particular +morning she was to get the scare of her life. She started to go to the +well for a bucket of fresh water but when she stepped outside she +dropped her bucket and ran to her mistress screaming: "The stars are all +falling down!" Needless to say the whole plantation was aroused to watch +the strangest phenomenon they had ever beheld.</p> + +<p>Hannah was not the only person who was scared or bewildered that +morning. Throughout the eastern part of North America people were +exclaiming: "it is snowing fire," "the end of the world has come," "the +sky is on fire," "the Judgment Day is here!"</p> + +<p>What Hannah and the others had witnessed was the Leonid shower of +November 12-13, 1833, which lasted from midnight until day. People of +that time were generally uninformed about meteoric showers. It was a +topic of comment and speculation for many generations.</p> + +<p>Hannah lived many years to tell of the time when she saw "the stars +fall." She outlived most of her children and those who were living at +the time of her death were too feeble to attend her funeral. She was +buried in a quiet spot among the pines on the banks of the Great +Wicomico River. Her tombstone bears this inscription: "Hannah Crocket, +1817-1933, Age 116 yrs."</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_125" id="SECTION_125"></a><i>DEAR TO HIS HEART ...</i></h3> + +<p>Near the beginning of the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee's daughter +visited Stratford. The great manor no longer belonged to the Lee family. +She wrote to her father who was in the South at that time, and described +her visit to his childhood home. He answered her as follows:</p> + +<p>"I am much pleased at your description of Stratford and your visit. It +is endeared to me by many recollections and it has always been a great +desire of my life to be able to purchase it. Now that we have no other +home, and the one we so loved (Arlington) has been so foully polluted, +the desire is stronger with me than ever. The horse-chestnut you mention +in the garden was planted by my<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_179" id="page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> mother. I am sorry the vault is so +dilapidated. You did not mention the spring, one of the objects of my +earliest recollections."</p> + +<p>On Christmas Day, 1861, General Lee wrote his wife: "In the absence of a +home I wish I could purchase Stratford. That is the only other place +that I could go to, now accessible, that would inspire me with feelings +of pleasure and local love. You and the girls could remain there in +quiet. It is a poor place, but we could make enough bread and bacon for +our support and the girls could weave us clothes."</p> + +<p>General Robert E. Lee's desire was never fulfilled.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_126" id="SECTION_126"></a><i>THE BLOCKADE</i></h3> + +<p>From time to time various writers have stated that the isolated Northern +Neck of Virginia was "out of bounds" or "bypassed" in the Civil War. +Despite these statements, which so lightly dismiss the Neck during the +war years, natives of that region, did not spend that time in the +carefree, unmolested state thus implied.</p> + +<p>All able-bodied men of the Neck were away on the battlefields. Anxiety +for them, and for the South, hung like a pall over the remaining +population. More tangible worries beset them also.</p> + +<p>Although the bordering waters of the Potomac, Rappahannock and +Chesapeake were rich with food, when the Virginians tried to take the +oysters, crabs and fish, a tug from the Federal flotilla which patrolled +these waters would come "steaming out to hasten them home, with +sometimes a six-pound shot sent after them for emphasis."</p> + +<p>The women, girls, old men and boys raised what they could, but many +fields, once lush with corn, tobacco, sugar cane and other crops, now +lay barren save for sedge and pine seedling. Many of the men had ridden +away to war on the horses. The people at home gave as much as they could +of what they could raise to the men at the front.</p> + +<p>The Federal gunboats shelled homes and landed soldiers who carried off +everything they could find. Many are the tales that lingered on in the +Neck about the geese that were struck down by swords, the bowls of milk +that were lifted to mouths and gulped down, the firkins of butter that +were carried away by soldiers who thrust their arms elbow deep in the +butter and carried it off that way, the cattle that were slaughtered +before the hungry eyes of the natives, the churches that were +profaned—the list could go on and on. And<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_180" id="page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> there were some instances +when the invaders were kind, or fair.</p> + +<p>The resourceful women of the Neck invented substitutes for lost +luxuries. Tea was brewed from sassafras, wheat, sage or mullein; coffee +was concocted from sweet potatoes and other things. Sorghum and honey +served for sugar. They got out the discarded spinning-wheels and looms +and revived those skills. They carded, spun and wove the wool from their +sheep. Polk berries and walnut hulls were used as dyes, and a special +mixture of plants produced a shade that would pass as Confederate gray. +The latter was used to dye garments made of the homespun so that there +was always a new suit ready for the soldier when he came home on +furlough. Thorns were used for pins, and seeds such as persimmon had +holes bored in them and were used for buttons.</p> + +<p>In spite of these and other ingenious substitutes the supplies of food +and clothing had been very nearly exhausted by 1862. Thus, the natives +of the Northern Neck were driven to running the blockade.</p> + +<p>At that time Hampton Roads was blockaded by Union naval forces, and the +rivers were patrolled by them. Maryland, just across the Potomac from +the Neck, was divided territory. Leonardtown, in southern Maryland, was +a trading center for the blockade runners from the Neck.</p> + +<p>On the Virginia side of the Potomac, Kinsale in Westmoreland County, +situated on an estuary called Yeocomico River, was one point of +departure and arrival. This village had become quite cosmopolitan, for +the country people were not the only ones who ran the blockade. +Strangers from the North and South—merchants, speculators, adventurers, +Northern draft dodgers, Southern sympathizers from the North, +pro-Unionists trying to reach the North, even ladies, usually married +women traveling with their husbands—all rubbed elbows in Kinsale. And +there was at least one blockade-runner among them who dodged the tugs on +the Potomac and blistered his hands on the muffled oars for no more +serious reason than romance.</p> + +<p>A steady stream of canoes from Maryland sneaked through to the Neck +bringing quinine and other drugs, food, and Southern sympathizers. They +landed anywhere in the Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>The rivers were probably dark, for by the latter part of April, 1861, +practically all lights in the lighthouses and lightships had been +extinguished, removed or destroyed, from the Chesapeake to the Rio +Grande by the Southerners.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_181" id="page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_127" id="SECTION_127"></a><i>THE HOME GUARD</i></h3> + +<p>Though no major battles were fought in Northumberland County during the +Civil War, it was the scene of a number of skirmishes which were never +recorded in history.</p> + +<p>The geographical position of this county in the tip end of the Neck and +surrounded on three sides by water isolated it from the main stream of +the war, but made it vulnerable to enemy naval raiders. Also, small +groups of Union cavalry rode through the Neck from time to time looking +for deserters from their own army and for Confederate soldiers who might +be at home on furlough. Homes were looted.</p> + +<p>A Federal flotilla was stationed across the Potomac at Piney Point, +Maryland, and although this river was not formally blockaded during the +war, it was patrolled, and the smaller rivers were patrolled from time +to time. Many of the homes adjacent to the shoreline were shelled by +these boats. The crew often landed and raided farms and houses.</p> + +<p>For the purpose of keeping these raiders away and defending the women +and children, a home guard was organized. (They were probably organized +in all the counties of the Neck.) Since the able-bodied men of +Northumberland were away on the battlefields, this group was composed of +teen-aged boys and old men.</p> + +<p>Except traditionally, very little has been known about this +organization. A notarized statement written by a former member of the +Northumberland Home Guard, sheds some light on their activities. It is +as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I'm going to try and write something in regard to the Home +Guard to which I belonged but hardly know what to write. I was +only a boy then, and as to giving dates, I couldn't tell you +what month or even the year we organized but we didn't organize +untill those Yankee raids began to take place. The Gun Boats +would come in the rivers and land soldiers, go to the farm +Houses and carry off anything they wanted, so we organized to +try and keep off those raids and defend the Women and children +while the men-folks were in the War. Our Company, I suppose was +what you might call an independent company, don't think the +Confederate Government ever furnished us with anything except +Guns and ammunition. I think they permitted us to organize.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_182" id="page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illus12" id="illus12"></a> +<img src="images/illus12.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3><i>"Yankee" foragers during the Civil War.</i></h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_183" id="page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote><p>"We had several skirmishes with the raiders, one in the +vicinity of Lotsburg where we captured a Horse and perhaps +killed the rider. His fellow soldiers got Him away but we got +the Horse. After getting their wounded or dead comrad aboard +ship they left. On another occasion at Glebe Point on the Great +Wicomico River, we opened fire on a Gun Boat that was going up +the river. She stoped immediately and turned around and went on +down the River. We kept up our fire untill she was out of +Gunshot. They gave us a severe shelling of shrapnell but shot +too high, didn't kill anyone. I heard one Horse was killed. And +at another time on Raisons Creek we captured a little Picket +Boat No. 2. She carried one brass cannon and a crew of seven +men. One man was shot in the leg. The Captain of the Boat gave +up His Sword and revolver to our Captain. We sent the Prisoners +to Richmond and Burned the Boat."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">(Signed) Bertrand B. Haynie<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Apr 7—1927<br /></span> +</div></div></blockquote> + +<p>Further data are added concerning this organization by Rev. C. T. +Thrift, who spent his boyhood at Wicomico Church, Northumberland County. +He writes:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Many Yankee gunboats came in the Great Wicomico River from +time to time. Marauding parties landed and did much pillaging. +Poultry and pigs and other things were taken. The women and +children were frightened not a little.</p> + +<p>"One such boat came in and anchored on the Wicomico side +between Rowe's landing and Blackwell's Wharf. A band of +pillagers landed and took what they wanted and then returned to +their boat. Young ... had hidden himself while the band was at +the home where he lived. He waited until they had left the +shore. Then he took an old rifle and crept down to the water's +edge, hiding in the bushes. The captain greeted his marauders +upon their return and stood leaning against the deckhouse +sunning himself.</p> + +<p>"Young ... raised his rifle aimed carefully and fired. The +bullet struck the captain in the forehead, killing him +instantly. Panic ensued on board, for they had no idea where +the shot came from nor did they have any idea how large a force +might be attacking. There was no time to be lost for they +needed to go and they could not stand on the order of their +going.</p> + +<p>"So they unfastened the end of the anchor chain at the capstan +and fled, leaving the chain and the anchor in the mud of the +river bottom. He said (many years later) that he supposed this +was still<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_184" id="page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> where it was left. He had thought of going there to +search for it but he had never done so."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Young ..., tradition says, was a member of the Northumberland Home +Guard.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_128" id="SECTION_128"></a><i>THE MYSTERY OF HORSE POND</i></h3> + +<p>When the Yankee gunboats patrolled the waters surrounding the Northern +Neck during the Civil War they found the entrance to Little Wicomico +River—where the Potomac and Chesapeake meet. They entered through its +natural channel which was open then and quite deep.</p> + +<p>Men went ashore to hunt for provisions—vegetables from the gardens, +eggs, milk and freshly made butter. Even preserves and jellies from the +shelves of the good housewives of Little Wicomico. They searched for men +who might be at home, too.</p> + +<p>One day near the beginning of the war, a small sailing vessel, probably +twenty-two feet in length, and with several persons on board, came into +Little Wicomico. She sailed in through the channel with the stone tower +lighthouse on Smith Point to her right and Tranquility Farm to her left. +She passed through Rock Hole, by tiny Bamboozle Island and around +Gough's Point. It was straight sailing then with Ellyson Creek to the +right and Sharps Creek to the left.</p> + +<p>When the boat passed the tract of land between Sharps Creek and Horse +Pond those on board were too far away to note the face of a woman +pressed to a window pane of the house on the left bank of the River.</p> + +<p>The woman, Sardelia, watched the boat with interest for it was a strange +boat, and no doubt with a little uneasiness since those were dark times. +Any unfamiliar boat was cause for alarm.</p> + +<p>To Sardelia's surprise the boat dropped anchor just beyond her house and +abreast of a strip of woodland near the pond where the horses drank. She +saw the persons on board go ashore and enter the woods. After a short +while they came out, boarded their boat, headed out of the River and +sailed out of sight.</p> + +<p>Sardelia called her little girl, Florence, and together they hurried +through their barn-yard and into the woods. They found the place where +the men had come ashore, their footprints on the sand, broken<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_185" id="page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> bushes +and bruised foliage in the woods, but they could find no clue to the +mysterious mission. Sardelia finally gave up her search and sat down +under the big water oak tree there in the woods to ponder what she had +seen.</p> + +<p>Nearly four years later, after the close of the war, Sardelia again saw +almost an exact re-enactment of the same scene she had witnessed before. +The same boat came into the River, stopped at the same place and the +persons on board went ashore and disappeared into the woods. After a +short while they boarded their boat and sailed away—for the last time, +so far as Sardelia ever knew.</p> + +<p>Sardelia again hastened to the woods. This time her search was not in +vain. About forty feet back from the shore amidst the trees she found a +newly dug hole. It had been hastily and loosely refilled with earth.</p> + +<p>This called for more than one period of meditation under the water oak +tree. Who were they? Why did they select this particular spot to bury +whatever they had buried? (The island at the mouth of the River would +have been a perfect setting for buried treasure.) Why did they come into +an inhabited area—almost in the barn-yard? Were they evading Federal +gunboats? Or, perhaps they were from the North themselves. Did they come +from one of the islands in the Chesapeake? And what did they bury?</p> + +<p>Tales of buried treasure circulated around Little Wicomico for a long +time, although many who lived close by never knew how it all started. +The woods became haunted, too, especially the big water oak. But the +haunts must not have been too bad because Uncle Zeke, a respected +colored man, lived peacefully for many years in his little house in the +woods by Horse Pond.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_129" id="SECTION_129"></a><i>SCHOONER IN A MILL-POND</i></h3> + +<p>On November 18, 1863, Abraham Lincoln passed through Baltimore on his +way to dedicate a battlefield cemetery at Gettysburg.</p> + +<p>At least one Virginian, happened to be in the city on that same day +also. Captain Jehu, who hailed from the lower Northern Neck, was in +Baltimore on business. His schooner, <i>Pioneer</i>, lay at a city dock, +unloaded of her cargo of wood and ready for the return trip home, but +the Captain was having difficulty in getting his money for the wood.</p> + +<p>Nerves were tense in Baltimore on that day. Maryland was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_186" id="page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> officially a +neutral state but her loyalties were divided. Matters were very bad with +the Confederate army near the end of 1863, and Captain Jehu was a +Virginian. He finally settled for part of a load of lime in payment for +the wood and sailed back down the Chesapeake as fast as the wind would +carry him.</p> + +<p>When he arrived home he found that matters were even worse there. Word +had spread that the Yankees were burning boats. Watermen were carrying +their boats to the heads of the rivers in a desperate attempt to save +them—perhaps they would be overlooked there, or the waters would be too +shallow for gunboats.</p> + +<p>Captain Jehu unloaded the lime and sailed the <i>Pioneer</i>, in company with +a number of other boats, far up the Great Wicomico River to a place +called Betts' Landing. The other boats were left by their owners to take +their chances there on the mud flats where the water was only two or +three feet deep, but Captain Jehu was not satisfied. He loved the +<i>Pioneer</i>; she was like a part of him, and besides that, if the war ever +got over, he had to make a living for his wife and children. In +desperation he thought of an idea that he might have laughed at in +ordinary times.</p> + +<p>Captain Jehu sailed the <i>Pioneer</i> on to Public Landing at the very head +of the River. He waited there until the tide was at its full height, +then cautiously he floated the seventy-five-foot schooner through the +almost hidden entrance to a mill-pond.</p> + +<p>Once the schooner was well inside the pond Captain Jehu took down the +sails and bundled them up and carried them ashore and hid them in a +nearby barn.</p> + +<p>He then did something that any waterman would hate to do—he bored a +hole in the bottom of his boat.</p> + +<p>Captain Jehu went ashore again and started walking toward Burgess Store, +which was quite a distance. He had heard that men were being recruited +there for the Confederate army. He was in his late thirties and he had a +wife and several small children depending on him, but men were +desperately needed to fight and the time had come when he was needed +even more on the battlefield than at home. He joined the army that day.</p> + +<p>While in the Confederate army, Captain Jehu was taken prisoner by the +enemy and carried to Point Lookout, Maryland. There in a log pen he had +plenty of time to look up at the stars by which he had steered so many +times and to wonder what it was all about anyhow. He had not heard from +his family for so long—he didn't even know if they were still living. +His thoughts probably wandered to his early life.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_187" id="page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>He had been cast out of his home by a cruel stepmother when he was +twelve years old, and had found refuge on a schooner that freighted +lumber from the river heads of the Northern Neck to Baltimore and +Philadelphia. He was too young to do much but he had helped with the +cooking. This was done in a fireplace which was in the cabin and was the +only source of heat on the "wood lugger." The fireplace was made of +brick and the chimney protruded through the top of the cabin.</p> + +<p>Those were hard days too. No doubt he thought of the proud day when he +finally owned his own schooner, the <i>Pioneer</i>. And how was she faring +now? Was she still sinking into the mire of the mill-pond or was she +just another charred skeleton?</p> + +<p>At last an eternity at Point Lookout came to an end. The prisoners were +herded on board an old tub of a steamer and carried to Richmond where +they were to be exchanged for Federal prisoners in Libby Prison.</p> + +<p>When Captain Jehu arrived at Libby Prison he was too weak to get in line +for mess. A big Irishman took pity on him, covered him with a blanket +where he lay on the floor and brought him his own rations. The food +tasted good after the maggoty fat back he had been living on at Point +Lookout, but the steaming coffee was the thing that revived him.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, back in the Northern Neck, Captain Jehu's family was having a +hard time. His wife, who "never weighed more than a hundred pounds in +her life," raised what she could to feed her children. She grew cotton +and spun and wove it and made clothes for them. In the winter, and +winters were very cold in the Neck then, she went into the woods and cut +enough cordwood to keep them warm. In the words of one of her sons, "She +got along any way she could."</p> + +<p>One day, some time after the close of the war, Captain Jehu arrived +home, having walked all the way from Newport News. His wife didn't +recognize him and one of his small sons ran away and hid in the woods +all day thinking that he was a Yankee. He wore Yankee breeches and +jacket with nothing underneath. Years later one of Captain Jehu's sons +described the return of his soldier-father: "An awful-looking object +came walking home. He was hairy as a monkey, lousy, barefoot, and had +lost interest in everything."</p> + +<p>The happiness of being at home again and the necessity of making a +living must have aroused Captain Jehu's interest before very long. The +first thing he did was to go up the Great Wicomico River to look for his +boat. When he reached Betts' Landing he found a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_188" id="page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> graveyard of blackened +ribs sticking out of the water. The Yankees had done a thorough job +there.</p> + +<p>It must have been with great trepidation that he once more entered the +mill-pond. But there—hidden among the cattails and deep in the mud—lay +the <i>Pioneer</i>.</p> + +<p>At low tide he shoveled the mud out of his boat, plugged up the hole and +bailed her out. He then floated her out of the pond on high tide and +carried her down the River to a place called Deep Landing, where he +cleaned her up and got ready for the sea once more. (He found the sails +safe in the barn, where muskrats had nested in the folds.)</p> + +<p>After the <i>Pioneer</i> was put in shape again Captain Jehu freighted lumber +in her for twenty years.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_130" id="SECTION_130"></a><i>WAR BONNETS</i></h3> + +<p>Shopping trips to Baltimore were curtailed by the Civil War. Even if it +had been possible to slip through the Federal patrol, Confederate money +was of little value.</p> + +<p>Women who still wanted bonnets for themselves and for their daughters +were forced to be resourceful. The most practical substitute they could +find for straw was the corn-shuck. They picked the shucks in the early +fall while they were still green and put them aside to work on during +the lonely winter evenings beside the fireplace.</p> + +<p>By that time the shucks were dry and stiff but the women soaked them in +water until they were pliable. Long strips were plaited and sewed around +and around together to form crown and brim. The finished product was +trimmed with a feather plucked from the barn-yard rooster, or with some +natural material, such as dried grasses, gum balls, sea shells or small +pine cones.</p> + +<p>One corn-shuck hat, made for a "Confederate bride" of the Neck, was +trimmed with flowers made of small white feathers. Each flower was +centered with a bit of gold from a raveled Confederate epaulette.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_131" id="SECTION_131"></a><i>AMANDA AND THE YANKEES</i></h3> + +<p>On an April day in 1864 a young couple on horseback traveled down a +muddy Northern Neck road. Once they paused by the wayside to drink from +a spring that bubbled conveniently near,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_189" id="page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> and toward evening they drew +rein under a giant mulberry tree at the head of a lane where gateposts +with acorn finials marked the entrance. From this vantage spot a cabin +roof showed here and there at the edge of the woods, and open fields +enclosed by zig-zag chestnut rail fences could be pointed out and called +by name—Upper Field, Lower Field, Middle Field, Back Field and Shelly +Bank.</p> + +<p>The house at the end of the lane could be glimpsed through its grove of +locusts, paper mulberry and towering ailanthus. It was a typical early +Tidewater Virginia house—story-and-a-half, without dormers. Three or +four brick outside chimneys and a small entrance porch were the +outstanding features. It was flanked on the right by a barn, cornhouse +and tobacco house, and on the left by a smokehouse, off kitchen, laundry +house and small sheds.</p> + +<p>In the background water gleamed where Cockerell's Creek meandered into +one of its many coves, and finally trickled up on either side to form +marshes, lush with wild flags and the foliage of wild lilies and +mallows.</p> + +<p>The couple were bride and groom and this was the bride's first view of +her future home, Pleasant Grove. The groom had little time to +familiarize his new wife with his ancestral acres as he was a +Confederate soldier and the honeymoon must end when his furlough ended, +which was soon.</p> + +<p>When the bridegroom went back to join Lee's dwindling forces, the bride +took up her new duties as mistress of Pleasant Grove. She was alone +except for the servants. How many stayed on after the war started, +tradition does not say. Amanda was well versed in the art of +housekeeping, thanks to the rigid early training of her mother. There +was plenty to do. The groom was an orphan and an only child and he had +been living in solitary freedom for some time before the war. She was +too busy at first to be lonely.</p> + +<p>The central passage, paneled to chair rail height and plastered above, +was as dark as night when all the doors were closed. If she opened the +heavy front door she could look out and see the little porch with its +built-in benches on each side that looked something like short church +pews. The yard was enclosed with a horizontal plank fence and the +gateposts had small acorns to match the larger ones on the Outer Gate. +They were always called the Outer and Inner Gates.</p> + +<p>The rooms of the house, like the fields, were named. Besides the doors +to the parlor and dining-room which opened from the passage, there was a +small door which opened to reveal a narrow twisted stairway which led up +to the Big Room and the Little Room.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_190" id="page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>The shed addition on the rear was two steps lower than the main house. +There Amanda found the Chamber Room, the Middle Room and the Back Room. +All walls were of white-washed plaster and the floors and woodwork were +of heart pine. (The house was built of heart pine and put together with +hand-made nails. The cornhouse was fastened together with wooden pegs.)</p> + +<p>Amanda had fun exploring the old house and bringing it back to life once +more. One day she was dusting the clock on the dining-room mantel when +she discovered that it hid the opening to a secret metal box built in +the chimney. A hiding place for valuables! A lot of good that did her. +Confederate notes were of little value and the tobacco which she used in +place of money couldn't be hidden there.</p> + +<p>Amanda finally chose the Chamber Room as her bedroom, because it was +usually full of sunlight, had a cozy fireplace and a view of the creek +and garden. At the back of the house there was a combination garden of +flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruit trees, laid out in the English +manner. A walk down the center led to the Creek. Trees grew on both +sides of the Creek and Amanda's view ended where the Creek disappeared +around a point. She wondered what was on the other side and if the water +was deep enough for a Yankee gunboat.</p> + +<p>One afternoon Amanda was taking a nap in the Back Room when she was +suddenly and violently awakened by a great noise. The whole house seemed +to be shaking. Her eardrums felt like they would burst. After the noise +had subsided and the house became still and she had gotten her wits +together again she ventured outside. The frightened negroes pointed to a +jagged hole in the underpinning under the Back Room and a fragment of +cannon ball lying nearby.</p> + +<p>After the gunboat's rude salutation, Amanda was not surprised when one +day she looked up the lane and saw a number of Federal soldiers on +horseback turning in at the Outer Gate. She went out on the porch and +waited for them.</p> + +<p>Many years later Hannah, one of the servants, described the incident. +Through the cracks in the cornhouse where she was hiding Hannah saw the +soldiers dismount. Two of them went to the porch where "Missus" was +waiting. They talked some, then "Missus" went in the house and the men +who had talked with her sat down on the porch. The other soldiers +sprawled on the grass under the trees. Pretty soon she heard "Missus" +call so she "snuck" out of the cornhouse.</p> + +<p>"Hannah," said "Missus," "they are going to stay to dinner so<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_191" id="page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> we must +hurry and cook a good meal. Kill some chickens, put those ducks that are +already dressed in the oven and get a ham out of the meat house."</p> + +<p>Hannah remonstrated. "Stay to dinner, all dem men and dem wearing blue +coats, too!" But "Missus" was determined. "They are hungry, Hannah, and +I invited them. Besides, if they get a good dinner maybe they'll go away +and not burn the house or take the tobacco."</p> + +<p>Such a dinner! Baked duck, chicken, fried ham, batter bread and hot +biscuits—more things than Hannah could remember—and little glasses of +wine to "top off wid." After dinner the soldiers went out in the yard +again. A fat old goose came wandering around and one of the men took out +his sword and was about to cut off its head, but "de boss" who had +talked most with "missus" told him to put up his sword.</p> + +<p>The officer no doubt felt mellow and relaxed after the good meal. After +resting awhile they all rode away in high good humour, waving warm +good-byes.</p> + +<p>Thus the goose was saved. When a tired Confederate soldier came walking +home from Appomattox after the war had ended he found everything intact +as he had left it.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_132" id="SECTION_132"></a><i>THE HORSEHAIR RING</i></h3> + +<p>When in the beginning of May, 1864, General Lee permitted General Grant +to cross the Rapidan without molestation in order to lure him into the +Wilderness, where it would be impossible for the Federals to use their +artillery, he intended to destroy the Federal Army in the depths of that +"bewildering thicket" by a surprise attack where Grant would be forced +to fight at a great disadvantage.</p> + +<p>The woods were very thick—so dense that a regimental commander could +not see the whole of his line at the same time, and in many instances +the only guides were the points of the compass.</p> + +<p>The battle was raging on May 6. In a bulletin sent to the Secretary of +War at the close of that day, General Lee stated: "Our loss in killed is +not large, but we have many wounded, most of them slightly, artillery +being little used on either side."</p> + +<p>General Grant's army had suffered severely, and he had become convinced +that it was useless to try to drive Lee from his position.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_192" id="page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> He decided +to move his army southward to Spotsylvania Court House and get between +Lee and Richmond.</p> + +<p>During the afternoon of May 7, Grant sent his trains off in the +direction of Spotsylvania Court House, which was only fifteen miles +distant, and ordered the army to prepare to follow at nightfall.</p> + +<p>Among Grant's wounded men there was by some mistake a wounded +Confederate soldier. Perhaps the color of his home-made uniform, dyed +with a brew of herbs and vegetables concocted by his wife was not too +accurate a shade of Confederate gray, especially when obscured by the +blood and filth of the long battle. Whatever the reason may have been, +he was carried along by the enemy with their own wounded men.</p> + +<p>Near Spotsylvania Court House a home was commandeered by the Federals +for their wounded, but when the Confederate's uniform was recognized, he +was left lying in the yard.</p> + +<p>The lady of the house saw him there. She dared not take him inside, but +she made a pallet on the ground for him, and stayed by him, and +comforted him as best she could.</p> + +<p>The soldier was still conscious. He told her of his wife, her name and +where she lived, of his children, and of a ring in his pocket. He told +her that when he was holding the horses one day while a battle was in +progress, he had plucked some hairs from the mane of a horse and +fashioned a ring as a gift for his wife. It was a crude thing, he said, +entirely lacking in beauty, but he had woven his love into it. He hoped +that in some way it could be conveyed to her.</p> + +<p>The woman promised the dying man that his wish would be carried out, +having faith that in some way she could fulfill her promise.</p> + +<p>Satisfied by her promise, the soldier died quietly there on the pallet, +toward evening of May 7, 1864.</p> + +<p>The woman covered his body and left him there until nightfall. Under +cover of darkness she returned with a woman servant, and together they +laboriously dug a grave for him there in her yard. Before laying him to +rest she searched his pockets and found the ring and two Confederate +notes for fifty cents each, both issued April 6, 1863. Two Confederate +notes and a ring made of horse-hair—the total possessions on his +person.</p> + +<p>The ring, as the soldier had said, was lacking in beauty, but it was +skillfully made. He had fastened together a circle of horse-hair about +the size of a slender woman's finger, then he had covered it by<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_193" id="page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> weaving +a few strands of the hair around it, making a sort of button-hole stitch +on both edges.</p> + +<p>After the war had ended the woman managed in some way to fulfill her +promise. She wrote the soldier's widow a letter telling her the details +of her husband's death and enclosed the contents of his pockets. Whether +the postal system had been restored in the region where the letter +traveled, or whether it was conveyed by hand, is not known, but it did +finally reach its destination.</p> + +<p>As soon as it was possible, relatives of the bereaved family, an old man +and a small boy, made a long, weary and sad journey by ox-cart from +their home in the lower Northern Neck, through Fredericksburg to +Spotsylvania Court House, a distance of more than a hundred miles, for +the purpose of transporting the remains of their kinsman back to his +homeland. When this mission was accomplished, the remains of the young +Confederate sergeant were laid to rest in the family burial ground, near +Burgess Store, in Northumberland County.</p> + +<p>For many years the soldier's widow and the loyal Southern lady +corresponded. Although they never did meet, their spirits were bound +together by that common denominator—war.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_133" id="SECTION_133"></a><i>MIRACLE AT KETCHUM'S CAMP</i></h3> + +<p>Toward the close of the Civil War the fortunes of the lower Northern +Neck like those of the entire South were low. This section was then so +isolated that news from the battlefields was long in coming, and usually +bad when it did arrive. Food was meager and monotonous and, despite the +ingenious efforts of the women, could only be stretched so far.</p> + +<p>As another war Christmas approached there was little heart to make +merry, but for the sake of the children the older people felt that an +appearance of festivity was necessary. A fowl of some sort was killed +and dressed and hung in the cold smokehouse in readiness for its last +minute stuffing. The tree had been selected but would not be cut until +late Christmas Eve. Some chose a holly, because it needed less trimming +and the berries held up for quite a while in the poorly heated rooms, +but cedar was still the favorite. The little ones were stringing long +garlands of holly berries and popcorn and making ornaments from whatever +they could find.</p> + +<p>On the night of December the twenty-third, the small spark of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_194" id="page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> Christmas +spirit that had been kindled was dampened by a terrific storm that raged +over the Chesapeake, dashing huge breakers against the beach and shaking +and rattling the houses along its shoreline, like some monster bent on +destruction. By morning the wind and waves had subsided leaving a chill +gray atmosphere that warned of a snow-storm in the making.</p> + +<p>It is the natural thing for people who live close to the water to scan +the horizon the last thing before retiring and the first thing upon +arising, so on this bleak Christmas Eve it was not long after dawn when +residents along that section of the Bay between Smith Point and +Taskmakers Creek had observed two dark objects drifting toward shore +near a spot later known as Ketchum's Camp. In those uncertain days +anything unusual was viewed with great alarm. Not long before this, one +of the houses along this same stretch of beach had been fired upon by an +enemy gunboat and saved only because two daughters of the house had +waved a sheet on a pole and implored the officers who came ashore to +cease firing.</p> + +<p>Now, as the alarm went out members of the Home Guard swiftly assembled +with their miscellaneous firearms ready for action. These fiery lads +were sometimes overzealous in their defense tactics so on this day they +were restrained by their elders until the objects drifted in so close +that all could see that they were nothing but clumsy unmanned boats of +the scow type.</p> + +<p>The boys and a few very old men who were there hastened out in small +boats to the stranded vessels. As they pulled back the tarpaulin +coverings they could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw that both +boats were loaded with provisions. After much discussion, they concluded +that these must be Federal supply boats which had broken loose during +the storm while being towed up the Bay. Of course, the idea that they +were putting one over on the Yankees appealed to the Home Guard even +more than the food. They hastily and joyfully began the task of +transporting the windfall to shore. By midafternoon the beach was lined +with people who had learned the good news through the grapevine.</p> + +<p>A nondescript crowd they were, but representative of the countryside at +that time. Very old men, children and boys were there but the majority +were women of all ages. The clothes of every one were knitted and +homespun, their main virtue being warmth. They had come on foot, on +horseback, in carriages and wagons. Their faces were alight with the +thought of real coffee and tea on Christmas morning after months of +nauseous brews made from sweet potatoes, wheat or sage, sweetened with +sorghum. Real white loaf sugar!<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_195" id="page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> Their eyes glistened with delight—or +maybe, tears. Bacon, too, and flour and molasses! Plenty for all. They +did not doubt that this was a miracle.</p> + +<p>The children jumped and screamed in ecstatic anticipation of the +wonderful Christmas to come. Snow began to fall but now it was not the +dreaded stuff that makes the woes of the poor greater, but, instead, it +was the beautiful, dream-making substance that belongs to Christmas. It +fell softly on the loaded vehicles and on the heads of those who knelt +with one accord on the lonely sand beach and gave thanks to God.</p> + +<blockquote><p><i>Note</i>: This spot which was called Ketchum's Camp soon after +the Civil War, because a sawmill camp was located there, has in +recent years been known as Chesapeake Estates, a summer cottage +area.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_134" id="SECTION_134"></a><i>DESPERATE PASSAGE</i></h3> + +<p>It was April of the year 1865, and Lee had already surrendered his army +at Appomattox.</p> + +<p>On the night of April 22nd a row-boat moved cautiously across the +Potomac in the direction of the Virginia shore. This was the second +time, it is believed, that the two men in the boat had tried to make the +river crossing from Maryland to Virginia. The night before they had +failed because it had been too dark and the tide had been too strong. +The past eight days had doubtless seemed like an eternity to them.</p> + +<p>Now they could see the Virginia shore and the dim outline of a landing +but the thin youth at the oars did not head for the public wharf. He +rowed on until he came to a smaller landing which belonged to a private +home. They landed there, at Upper Machodoc Creek near what later became +Dahlgren, in King George County.</p> + +<p>The younger man helped his passenger out of the boat and together they +approached the house on the bank of the creek, knocked on the door and +asked for lodging for the night. The mistress of the house could +doubtless see that the dark handsome man in the muddy Confederate +uniform was badly in need of rest. Tradition says that she took them in +for the night.</p> + +<p>The next morning the two men left the Quesenberry home. The older man +was limping badly and seemed to be in much pain. That day they traveled +slowly on foot over back roads.</p> + +<p>Toward dusk they came to a home set in a grove of beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_196" id="page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> trees. It +was Cleydael, the residence of Doctor R. H. Stuart. Tradition says that +the men knocked on the back door and asked for food and aid.</p> + +<p>Whether Doctor Stuart rendered surgical aid to the man in the tattered +uniform is still a controversial subject in that region. They did +receive food and were waited on by Junius and Patsy Dixon, servants at +Cleydael. Tradition says that the older man left a note to Doctor Stuart +in which he enclosed a five-dollar bill and grudgingly thanked him for +"what we did get."</p> + +<p>Stories vary as to where the two men spent the night of April 23rd.</p> + +<p>At some time or other they rested in the yard of St. Paul's Church, it +is said. One account says that they spent the night at the house of a +man named Rollins near Office Hall. Another story says that they found +shelter for the night in the cabin of William Lucas, a Negro, and that +the next day the man who was burning with fever, ordered Lucas's son to +take him and his companion to the Rappahannock ferry at Port Conway.</p> + +<p>All accounts seem to agree that the men came to the Rappahannock in +daylight on April 24th, and that they were in a spring wagon driven by a +Negro man.</p> + +<p>It seems that the ferryman was fishing and wouldn't come ashore for only +two fares. At this point three Confederate soldiers who, it has been +said, were veterans of Mosby's Raiders and were on their way home, rode +up on horseback.</p> + +<p>The haggard man got out of the wagon and limped over to the soldiers, +the story goes, and told them who he was and asked them to help him. +Tradition says that the young veterans moved off and held a conference +together and when they had reached a decision they told him that they +were not in sympathy with what he had done, but since he had thrown +himself on their mercy they would help him.</p> + +<p>One story says that the Confederate veterans then leveled their rifles +at the ferryman and ordered him to come ashore at once and get them or +he would have his head blown off. The ferryman came ashore and the two +men and at least one of the veterans got on the ferry.</p> + +<p>It was in this way that John Wilkes Booth, who had shot and killed +Abraham Lincoln in Washington on the night of April 14th, and his +faithful companion, Herold, finally completed their journey across the +Northern Neck, from the Potomac to the Rappahannock.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_197" id="page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> In their devious +flight across the Neck they had traveled perhaps twenty miles.</p> + +<p>The painful journey was in vain, however, for it was only a matter of +hours before Federal soldiers would track down the assassin and his +companion and find them in a barn on Garrett's farm.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_135" id="SECTION_135"></a><i>AFTER THE WAR</i></h3> + +<p>The old order of things finally died in the Northern Neck with the +surrender of 1865. But, though the splendor was gone, the people +continued to cling to the old ways—the traditions, customs, family life +and ties of kinship.</p> + +<p>With the younger generation—the war children—there began a new type of +manhood. Knowing nothing except privations, they grew up with hard +bodies and practical minds, and though thrust into manhood while they +were still adolescent, they shouldered their responsibilities.</p> + +<p>Those who lived near the water turned to it because it was now more +fruitful than the land. Its harvests could be reaped more quickly, and +they could be reaped by one man working alone, or by several men working +together.</p> + +<p>Bundled up in home-made garments and warmed by caps, mufflers, socks and +mittens knitted by their mothers and grandmothers, these boys sallied +forth at dawn in the bitterest weather to tong oysters. Winters were +much colder then. They worked until nightfall, often in open boats, +stopping only long enough to refresh themselves with a hearty lunch, +which was usually packed in a tin bucket, and usually included pork, +biscuits and sorghum molasses. This was washed down with cold coffee +drunk from a stone jug.</p> + +<p>The girls too had changed and they now belonged to this new regime. +During the winter evenings they helped the older women to knit fish +nets. They used home-made wooden needles for this, and sometimes they +fastened one end of the net to wooden pegs driven in the wall. (Years +later people were to wonder why those pegs were found in some homes of +the lower Neck.) The women helped the men to fashion sails for their +boats by sewing together pieces of canvas.</p> + +<p>With the nets and small sailing vessels the men caught fish in what were +known as pound nets. These were staked out on weir poles.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_198" id="page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>The seafood and whatever other marketable farm produce they could +assemble was conveyed up the Bay to the nearest and best cash market, +which was Baltimore, one hundred miles from the end of the Neck. They +brought back from this city clothing, sugar, molasses, kerosene and +hardware, among other things. This contact with a large cosmopolitan +city greatly influenced the lives and natures of the natives of the +Northern Neck. Those who could manage it sent their children there to be +educated. Other children were educated by older relatives, or by anyone +who would teach them. Some received very little education during this +period.</p> + +<p>Children had few toys and those they had were almost as crude as those +of the pioneer children—toys made of corn-cobs and pieces of wood. +Children were glad to have an old coffee pot to pull on a string. There +was no money for toys.</p> + +<p>Farther inland men turned to the forests where they cut cordwood and +railroad ties. These were carried to the heads of the rivers and loaded +on vessels bound for Baltimore, Philadelphia or Norfolk.</p> + +<p>Men then did any sort of work where they could make an honest dollar and +still stay in the Northern Neck. It was rugged but they managed to +survive.</p> + +<p>As things began to ease up, they picked up some of the old sports +again—horse-racing, fox-hunting and jousting. The men were intensely +interested in politics.</p> + +<p>Court Day was one of the biggest events for the men in those days. These +were colorful occasions, with the hundreds of people gathered together, +horses tied to the rails and ox-carts, stallions and hucksters all +milling about the green. This was an opportunity for making a little +cash. There was a man at Heathsville, at one time, who made a specialty +of "cent cakes" on Court Days. These were of especial interest to little +boys who came with their fathers. The cakes were big round and flat and +had one raisin in the center of each. Negro women cooked oyster stews in +the open and served them on tables improvised from dry-goods boxes and +covered with clean sheets. Bars were in full swing, brass knucks, +pistols and knives glinted here and there. There were many fights, or +tests of prowess. It was often late at night when the revelers, or +perhaps their horses, found the way home over rough country roads.</p> + +<p>The women had less exciting pleasures, such as quilting parties, +"spending the day" with a neighbor, and church socials.</p> + +<p>The colonial pattern of living and way of speech lingered on until the +beginning of the twentieth century. Tradition tells of a wedding feast +as late as 1872 where roast suckling pig with an<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_199" id="page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> apple in its mouth, +conical sugar loaves and butter sculptured in the form of Solomon's +Temple were featured. The flavor of seventeenth century England still +lingered in the Northern Neck at that time.</p> + +<p>The marriages between the families of the Neck were endless and thus the +Anglo-Saxon strain remained pure in the region.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_136" id="SECTION_136"></a><i>SPEECH</i></h3> + +<p>The early population in the Northern Neck were mostly from London and +the surrounding counties where the classic English language of +Shakespeare was spoken.</p> + +<p>There is evidence that the speech of the people of the Northern Neck had +from early days little of the provincial or dialectal about it.</p> + +<p>Until the early part of the twentieth century such Shakespearean +expressions as, "wrack upon ruin" and "all mommicked up," were commonly +used in the Neck. The now archaic word mommick meant to mutilate. The +play of the double noun was also frequently heard until a late +date—men-folks, women-folks, baby-child, man-child, boy-man, and so on.</p> + +<p>Many of the indentured servants came to the Northern Neck from +Warwickshire and their manner of speech was added to the region, for +instance: off sporting, or frolicking, meant, having a good time; +traipsing about, meant, off walking about; make the fire, meant, kindle +the fire, and peart, meant, lively.</p> + +<p>The constant reading of the Bible also helped to keep the speech pure +and simple.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_137" id="SECTION_137"></a><i>SHOPPING TRIPS</i></h3> + +<p>After the war the shopping trips to Baltimore were resumed, but with a +difference. There were few men in the Neck now and the women had +changed. Hardened by sorrow and privations they were now able to face +realities. There were many widows.</p> + +<p>They gathered their children together, and all the produce they could +assemble, and traveled to town on the sailing vessel of some older +relative or neighbor who might be taking a cargo of oysters or cordwood +to market.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_200" id="page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> + +<p>When they arrived in Baltimore, usually in the very early morning, the +sleepy children must be aroused and dressed. Pantalettes,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> so +painstakingly laundered before leaving home, were now dirty and +wrinkled. With the bedraggled children, coops of quacking ducks and +hissing geese, crates of eggs and firkins of lard and butter, the brave +women finally landed on the dock and made their way up Light Street to +the commission merchants, who would buy their produce. After disposing +of their business they went to the stores to shop for necessities to +carry home to the Northern Neck.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_138" id="SECTION_138"></a><i>MENHADEN</i></h3> + +<p>In their voyage of discovery in the Chesapeake Captain John Smith and +his companions found schools of fish agitating the surface of the water. +The written accounts of these men state that the fish were so thick that +they attempted to dip them up in a frying-pan but it proved to be "not a +good instrument to catch fish with."</p> + +<p>These fish are believed to have been menhaden, known to naturalists as +brevoortia. This ordinary looking fish was destined to change the course +of history in the lower Northern Neck.</p> + +<p>The Indian names for this species, munnawhatteaug (corrupted to +menhaden), and pauhagen (pogy), literally means fertilizer—"fish that +enriches the earth." The Indians were accustomed to employ this species, +with others of the herring tribe, in enriching their cornfields. They +showed the white men how to make their corn grow by putting two dead +fish in each hill of corn.</p> + +<p>The following passage written by Thomas Morton in 1632 shows the use of +fish as fertilizer in Virginia at that time: "There is a fish at the +spring of the yeare that passe up the rivers to spawn in the ponds, & +are taken in such multitudes that the inhabitants fertilize their +grounds with them."</p> + +<p>The menhaden was called alewife by the Virginia colonists because of its +resemblance to the allied species known by that name in England. Alewife +was corrupted to old-wife and ell-wife. It has been said that the +half-grown menhaden were called bug-fish by Virginia negroes in early +days because they believed them to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_201" id="page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> been produced from insects. +This superstition probably arose from the fact that a parasitic +crustacean, known to watermen as "a fish louse," was often found +clinging to the roof of the menhaden's mouth.</p> + +<p>The menhaden had many other popular names, among them: porgie, +bony-fish, poggie, mossbunker, greentail, bunker, yellowtail, +white-fish, fat back, and another Indian name, chebog. "Mossbunker" is a +relic of the Dutch Colony at New Amsterdam. It was in use there as early +as 1661, probably a corruption of their Dutch word, <i>marsbancker</i>.</p> + +<p>It is said that the Indians did not like to eat menhaden because of +their oily content. Many years later it was learned that this fish was +also rich in minerals. Early settlers ate them, salted them for winter +use, and fed them to the stock.</p> + +<p>Catesby wrote, 1731-1742, concerning a fish called a "Fatback: It is an +excellent Sweet Fish, and so excessive fat that Butter is never used in +frying. At certain Seasons and Places there are infinite Numbers of +these Fish caught, and are much esteemed by the Inhabitants for their +Delicacy."</p> + +<p>Menhaden were used to some extent as a food by watermen for many years +but it does not appear probable that they were ever extensively used for +food except in seasons of scarcity. They were used for many years to +feed stock.</p> + +<p>Menhaden were used at an early date as a fertilizer all along the +Atlantic coast. In 1792 a paper published in New York gave directions +concerning the use of fish as a fertilizer: "Experiments made by using +the fish called menhaden or mossbankers as a manure have succeeded +beyond all expectation. In dunging corn in the holes, put two in a hill +on any kind of soil where corn will grow, and you will have a good crop. +Put them on a piece of poor loamy land and by their putrefaction they so +enrich the land that you may mow about two tons per acre." About eight +or ten thousand fish to the acre was considered about the right amount.</p> + +<p>Farmers also spread the fish "head to tail" in a plowed furrow and +covered them with earth. They also mixed the fish with earth in a +compost.</p> + +<p>It seems that the possibilities of making use of the fish oil were not +considered at this time. Whale oil was still being used. It was not +until about 1850 that the value of menhaden oil was recognized.</p> + +<p>The following statement of Eben B. Phillips, a Boston oil merchant, +dated 1874, throws some light on the beginning of the use of menhaden +oil: "In about 1850 I was in the oil business in Boston. An elderly lady +by the name of Bartlett, from Bluehill, Maine, came<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_202" id="page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> to my store with a +sample of oil which she had skimmed from a kettle in boiling menhaden +for her hens. She told me the fish were abundant all summer near the +shore. I told her I would give her $11 per barrel for all she would +produce. Her husband and sons made 13 barrels the first year. The fish +then were caught in gill-nets. The following year they made 100 barrels. +From that time and from that circumstance has grown a business as +extensive as I have represented."</p> + +<p>Mr. Phillips then furnished nets, and large kettles, which they set up +out-of-doors in brick frames, for drying out the fish. It was thought +that much oil was thrown away with the refuse fish or scrap, and the +idea of pressing this scrap was suggested. At first this was +accomplished by pressing it in a common iron kettle with a heavy cover +and a long beam for a lever. Later it was weighted down by heavy rocks, +in barrels and tubs perforated with auger holes. Mr. Phillips then +fitted out some fifty parties on the coast of Maine with presses of the +model known as the screw and lever press.</p> + +<p>Others claim to have manufactured menhaden oil at about the same time. +"At that time," according to another statement from Rhode Island, "there +were some few whalemen's try-pots used by other parties in boiling the +fish in water and making a very imperfect oil and scrap."</p> + +<p>Tradition says that at first some of the oil merchants mixed the +menhaden oil with whale oil, or sold it outright as whale oil. It was +used for tanning hides, currying, in paint, in soap, for "smearing +sheep" and for other things.</p> + +<p>After the value of menhaden oil was recognized many makeshift menhaden +fish factories were established along the coast of Maine and elsewhere +on the northern coast. It was much easier for the whaling men to go +offshore a few miles, return with a boat-load of fish and spend the +night at home.</p> + +<p>By the end of the Civil War the menhaden catch along the coast of Maine +was beginning to drop off.</p> + +<p>In 1866 a party of New Englanders visiting the Chesapeake found menhaden +in almost incredible quantities—"they were so thick that for 25 miles +along the shore there was a solid flip-flap of the northward swimming +fish." One member of the party is said to have jumped into the water and +with a dip-net thrown bushels of fish upon the beach.</p> + +<p>In December, 1866, the floating fish-factory, <i>Ranger</i> of 1,500 tons, +hailing from Greenport, N. Y., came to Virginia. She was equipped to +cook fish and extract oil on board. Tradition says that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_203" id="page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> on these first +floating factories the scrap was thrown overboard. The <i>Ranger</i> remained +in Virginia only about eleven days during that year but returned each of +the two succeeding years.</p> + +<p>In the late summer of 1867, Elijah W. Reed, of Sedgwick, Maine, loaded +his kettles and presses on two small sailing vessels, the <i>Two Brothers</i> +and the <i>A. F. Powers</i>, and sailed for Virginia. He landed first at Back +River, then moved up the Chesapeake and operated his kettles and presses +on the Bay shore between the Little Wicomico and the Great Wicomico +Rivers. The spot was in Northumberland County and was later known as +Ketchum's Camp.</p> + +<p>That winter the New Englander moved into Cockrell's Creek, in the same +county. It was a sheltered harbor near the mouth of the Bay with deep +water running close to the shore. He built there, at Point Pleasant, the +first menhaden plant on the Chesapeake Bay.</p> + +<p>From 1868 factories were built from time to time by local people, and +others, on points in Cockrell's Creek, and at other points on various +inlets of the Chesapeake, and on Tangier Island.</p> + +<p>These early factories were known as "kettle-factories." The kettles were +brought down the Bay from Baltimore. The menhaden products, oil and +green scrap in bulk, were carried back to the same city by sailing +vessels. The scrap, or guano, was sold both in the city market and +locally for fertilizer.</p> + +<p>These first Virginia fish factories were crude affairs consisting of +five or six iron kettles, each with a capacity of one hundred or more +gallons. They were established on a brick firebox with a chimney in the +center of the unit and openings at both ends for firing. This was +protected by a rough frame shelter with a slab-pine roof. This was a +typical factory, though the number of kettles varied.</p> + +<p>Cordwood was used for fuel. Scows with sails were sent to the heads of +the rivers where wood was brought down from "the forest" and loaded on +them.</p> + +<p>At the temporary Ketchum's Camp factory the fish were pulled up on the +shore in haul seines. After that they were caught in purse seines +operated from sailing vessels.</p> + +<p>It had been found, as previously explained, that by cooking the fish +much more oil could be extracted. The fish were boiled and then dipped +out with dip-nets and put in what was called a press. Burlap was then +placed over the mass of fish, and then boards on top of that. The boards +were then pulled down tight with a screw-jack.</p> + +<p>After the oil and water had been pressed out, the residue of fish<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_204" id="page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> was +spread out on the wharf in the sun to dry. To hasten this process the +mass was turned over and over by men with pitchforks. Acid was sprayed +on the "green scrap" to kill the maggots. It usually took about a week +to change the menhaden from the raw state into oil and guano.</p> + +<p>The following government report is probably the first of the menhaden +industry of the Chesapeake and its tributaries. It is dated 1869.</p> + +<table width="50%"> +<tr><td>Men employed on vessels fishing</td><td align="right">12</td></tr> +<tr><td>Vessels employed</td><td align="right">4</td></tr> +<tr><td>Men employed making guano</td><td align="right">9</td></tr> +<tr><td>Fish taken </td><td align="right"> 3,000,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Oil made </td><td align="right"> 200 bbls.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Guano made </td><td align="right"> 300 tons</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>In 1873 Reed's factory on Point Pleasant burned. The next year he built +another factory on another point on Cockrell's Creek on a spot where a +windmill for grinding corn had been previously located. This location +was known as Windmill Point. Later the village of Reedville grew up on +this small peninsula.</p> + +<p>By 1874 the manufacture of menhaden oil and guano had become identified +as one of the important industries of this country. The annual yield of +the menhaden oil now exceeded the whale oil (from American fisheries) by +about 200,000 gallons.</p> + +<p>By 1878 the menhaden industry of the Chesapeake area had grown +considerably according to the government report of that year:</p> + +<table width="50%"> +<tr><td>Men employed on vessels fishing</td><td align="right">286</td></tr> +<tr><td>Vessels employed fishing</td><td align="right">78</td></tr> +<tr><td>Men employed on shore</td><td align="right">201</td></tr> +<tr><td>Fish taken </td><td align="right"> 118,309,200</td></tr> +<tr><td>Gallons of oil made </td><td align="right"> 234,168</td></tr> +<tr><td>Tons of guano </td><td align="right"> 10,832</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The next advancement in the industry came when steam cooking superseded +the use of the kettles. The first steam factory in Virginia was built by +Elijah Reed in 1879. The first fishing steamer used in the business in +the Chesapeake, <i>Starry Banner</i>, was purchased by him in Rhode Island. +This steamer's capacity was one hundred and fifty thousand fish.</p> + +<p>The menhaden fishing industry continued to grow and to advance with the +times. It brought prosperity to the lower Northern Neck. Reedville +became an important menhaden fishing center and fishing port.</p> + +<p>Eventually menhaden became the biggest fishery in America.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_205" id="page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_139" id="SECTION_139"></a><i>THE OLD STONE PILE</i></h3> + +<p>About 1868 the tower lighthouse on Smith Point was condemned by the +government as unfit for use. At that time a new lighthouse of the screw +pile type was built two and one-half miles offshore from Smith Point.</p> + +<p>After the tower was condemned the keeper's house on the government +reservation was rented to various tenants. In summer the Point became a +social center for the neighborhood. Carriages, road-carts, and perhaps +even ox-carts tied up at Tranquility, the nearest farmhouse, on a Sunday +afternoon, and their occupants strolled up the beach with their picnic +baskets.</p> + +<p>The breakwater some distance out in the water from Smith Point was a +favorite fishing spot, but the high point of any trip there in those +days was a climb to the top of the condemned tower. The long, full +skirts of the ladies of that era were hard to maneuver up the narrow +spiral stairway.</p> + +<p>The tower finally became too dangerous to enter. During an easterly +storm in the spring of 1889 it crumbled in the night, so gently that the +people living in the keeper's house didn't hear it fall.</p> + +<p>The sandstone blocks lay there for many years and later generations knew +them as "the old stone pile." Each year the sea took its toll of the +Point until the land between the tower and the water, where "ten rows of +corn" had once grown, finally disappeared completely. And then "the old +stone pile" was swallowed by the persistent sea.</p> + +<p>The keeper's house gradually deteriorated and then it too was claimed by +the sea. For many years after, people of the region came at low tide and +loaded their ox-carts and wagons with the stones and bricks. The stones +were used for foundations of buildings and the bricks were used to line +wells. Only the burial ground was left at Smith Point. There on the +bank, "under the wide and starry sky," rest some of the early keepers of +the light.</p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_140" id="SECTION_140"></a><i>KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT</i></h3> + +<p>When the new lighthouse was built two-and-one-half miles offshore from +Smith Point in 1868, it was manned by only two men. Shore leave or need +for provisions meant a trip for one man<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_206" id="page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> in a small open sail boat, +weather permitting, and a lonely watch for the man left behind.</p> + +<p>If a keeper became ill he had to make out as best he could with a chest +of medicine and a doctor's book. He had to be his own cook and +housekeeper. Due to lack of refrigeration the lighthouse diet became +monotonous, although seafood was a help. Kerosene for the lamps and +firewood was brought by a lighthouse tender. The lonely keepers of the +light often kept pets. Canaries and parrots made good companions, but +dogs sickened and died.</p> + +<p>The lighthouse keeper had to be a machinist, carpenter and painter, in +order to keep the lighthouse in working order. Stamina was perhaps the +quality most needed in a keeper of those days. The bell had to be wound +up like a clock every half hour and kept ringing during storm and fog. +There were instances when the keeper sometimes stayed awake for eight +days and eight nights. But he kept the bell ringing, and without the aid +of alcoholic drink.</p> + +<p>A lighthouse keeper had to be a waterman, and that meant a man who had +been born and bred in the region. Many lives were saved by these early +lighthouse keepers. Winters were colder then. In those days the Bay +often froze over like a mill-pond.</p> + +<p>The winter of 1895 was a cold winter. The Bay was frozen, and, to make +matters worse, in February there was a blizzard that went howling +through the region of Smith Point. Both keepers were on duty that night +when part of the ice started moving. They felt it hit the lighthouse and +they loaded whatever they could find on a boat and somehow they got out +alive. Before they started away the lighthouse had gone to pieces. They +took turns pushing the boat over the ice toward land. That was a long +two-and-a-half miles, but they made it.</p> + +<p>They were welcomed by people on shore who waited, with lanterns, to +serve them hot coffee and food. They had seen the light go out and had +been anxiously waiting, as there was nothing that they could do to help. +The lighthouse keepers were taken into warm homes that night. Later they +found that the ice had carried the remains of the lighthouse six miles +away from its foundation.</p> + +<p>Years later one of the keepers who had been on Smith Point lighthouse +that night said: "Things like that happened all the time then."</p> + +<p>A light-ship was stationed at Smith Point until another lighthouse could +be built. The new lighthouse was built on a cylindrical pier of metal. +The tower was square and made of brick, with an octagonal dwelling. It +was completed in 1897.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_207" id="page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><a name="SECTION_141" id="SECTION_141"></a><i>THE HEADLESS DOG</i></h3> + +<p>In those days between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the +century, life in the Northern Neck still followed the old Southern +pattern, but in a diminished way. War had destroyed all glamour and +pared the design down to its skeleton. The planter had become a farmer, +the mistress of the plantation a farmer's wife. An independent way of +life remained, however. Each farm was a self-sustaining unit, though +besides the occasional day hands there were usually only a colored girl +who helped with the housework, laundry and dairy and a colored boy who +tended the stock, did the chores and worked in the fields. The Boy and +Girl, as they were always called, were regarded with affection, +especially by the children.</p> + +<p>"Evening-time," when work was over for the day, was something to be +looked forward to by the children. They gobbled their suppers with a +listening ear toward the soft murmur of voices in the kitchen, for they +were anxious to hear the latest news about the Headless Dog, who prowled +the by-roads, bottoms and graveyards of the Neck after dark.</p> + +<p>As soon as permission was granted the youngsters to leave the supper +table they would make a dash for the kitchen where the Boy and Girl sat +at the big pine table lingering over their dessert. When pressed for the +latest news of the Headless Dog they pretended an indifference and +ignorance that was maddening. The children then began a breaking down +process, made up of threats and cajolery, which they had cunningly +developed from experience over a period of time.</p> + +<p>Finally, the Boy would remember that he did "just catch a glimpse" of +the Dog the night before when returning from the store. As he reached +the bottom it seemed that the Dog appeared for an instant and faded +before his eyes.</p> + +<p>Bottoms, which were low places where creeks or ponds "made up" near the +roads, seemed to be favorite haunts of the Headless Dog. This was +possibly due to the mists which arose from the marshy places and made +his appearances and disappearances quite easy, as well as dramatic.</p> + +<p>Sometimes, when the Boy borrowed the horse and road-cart for a Sunday's +visit to his people "up in the forest," he encountered the Dog near a +graveyard. The sudden halt of the horse and the pointing<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_208" id="page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> of his ears +were signals of the Dog's proximity. If you wished to see him, the +certain way was to look at the space between the horse's ears, like +sighting through a camera. You could always find him in that spot—"a +great big dog with no haid a-tall." Further details as to the Dog's +appearance were left to the imagination. When the horse lowered his ears +and began to move cautiously forward, you knew that the Dog was +continuing his journey to some other graveyard or bottom and it was safe +to proceed.</p> + +<p>The Boy's meetings with the Dog were much more exciting than the Girl's, +maybe because she did not travel very much at night. Sometimes she would +see him at the "edge of dark," usually just before or shortly after the +death of some local person. Her stories were always gruesomely connected +with death.</p> + +<p>While these tales were spinning out in the kitchen where the fire burned +low in the iron range, the children, who had heard them a hundred times +before, huddled closer and closer together. Their eyes shone round and +bright, and, if the flame of the lamp flickered, they jumped and drew +away from dark corners. When the Girl had washed and dried the last dish +and set the morning rolls to rise behind the stove, the Boy took his hat +from its peg and prepared to depart for his nightly visit to the store.</p> + +<p>Hours later the children, snug in their beds, were aroused by music. In +that delicious stage between sleep and waking they lay half-dreaming and +unaware that they were listening to some unwritten bars of a blues +melody that were being created and lost to posterity on the still night +air. They only knew that the perfect notes were being produced by the +Boy on his jew's-harp and accompanied by the yeast powder bottles, mouth +organs and guitars of his companions, the Nehemiahs, Daniels and +Zechariahs of the neighboring farms. (Bible names were popular then.)</p> + +<p>The children knew, too, that their friends were wending their leisurely +way home from the store where the nightly session was over. Their +interest was not in music, but in the hope that the Boy had met with +adventure in that marshy, ferny and woodsy-smelling place known as the +bottom.</p> + +<p>The lower section of the Neck was evidently a favored land at that time. +Besides being a hideout for the Headless Dog, a white mule and a +Headless Man, it also furnished a routine route for another interesting +Dog. This Dog had a head. Furthermore, the head was punctuated by +glaring red eyes. According to good authority, he was as big as a calf, +brown in color except about the mouth which was patched with gray. His +neck was encircled with<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_209" id="page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> a chain which dragged on the ground and rattled +as he moved. He was a methodical animal and traveled always at night, +and only between Cockrell's Neck and Heathsville, and only before or +after the death of some local person. Instead of appearing suddenly and +fading out like the Headless Dog, he had a disconcerting habit of +trailing moving vehicles.</p> + +<p>After motor vehicles became numerous the Headless Dog was seen no more, +but the Cockrell's Neck Dog was still seen occasionally for some time +after that. His systematic ways probably kept him going longer. Some +said that he was not brown but black, and if you struck at him with a +whip it went clear through him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PART_IV" id="PART_IV"></a>PART IV</h2> + +<h3>Conclusion</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_213" id="page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="THE_ANCIENT_MANSION_SEATS" id="THE_ANCIENT_MANSION_SEATS"></a><i>THE ANCIENT MANSION SEATS</i></h3> + +<p>Visitors to the Northern Neck often ask the question: "Where are the old +houses?"</p> + +<p>Most of the remaining ancient seats are off the beaten path due to the +fact that when they were built the rivers, creeks and bays were the +highways.</p> + +<p>Many of the old houses burned, either accidentally or during the wars. +Others fell into decay during the years of depression following the +Civil War, and after traffic by boat was discontinued.</p> + +<p>Some of the early homes were remodeled beyond recognition, or torn down +to give way for new buildings. Some were bought by persons of wealth and +faithfully restored by them. A few of the old seats are still owned and +lived in by descendants of the original planters who built them.</p> + +<p>Portions of some of the old mansions of the Northern Neck found their +way into museums. An instance of this is a room from Marmion, a Fitzhugh +home of King George County. The Marmion Room in the American Wing of the +Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, is described in the museum +literature as follows: "Of all the rooms we have gathered together, +possibly the most extraordinary and impressive is the one from Marmion."</p> + +<p>Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County had been lost to the Lee family in +1820. Many years later, in 1929, the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, +Incorporated, was organized to acquire, restore, furnish and preserve +the Stratford plantation. After a great deal of dedicated effort by a +great many people this goal was finally achieved. Under the painstaking +guidance of the ladies of the Foundation Thomas Lee's mansion was +restored to its original splendor. The garden was restored by the Garden +Club of Virginia.</p> + +<p>Stratford Hall and plantation is now a restored working colonial +plantation open to the public. The restored mill grinds meal. Virginia +cured hams hang in the smokehouse, and jellies and preserves are made by +old recipes.</p> + +<p>Thoroughbreds stand again in the stables. The fields are worked by +modern machinery, but the 1,164-acre estate is run as nearly as possible +as it was in the days of Thomas Lee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_214" id="page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>Stratford Hall is pronounced "of prime architectural importance" by the +American Institute of Architects.</p> + +<p>George Washington referred to his birthplace as "the Popes Creek home" +or the "ancient mansion seat in Westmoreland County."</p> + +<p>The name Wakefield seems to have been given the plantation about 1773 by +the Washington heir who lived there at that time. The name is said to +have been suggested by Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield."</p> + +<p>The original house at Popes Creek was destroyed by fire. It is believed +to have burned on Christmas Day, 1779.</p> + +<p>Thirty-six years passed before the birthsite of George Washington was +marked and then it was only by a simple stone which bore an inscription.</p> + +<p>In 1881 Congress authorized the construction of a monument to mark the +birthsite, but fifteen years passed before the granite shaft was +erected.</p> + +<p>A group of patriotic women were not satisfied. They dreamed of the +plantation as it was when George Washington was born, and they planned +to bring it alive again. In 1923, under the leadership of Mrs. Josephine +Wheelright Rust, they organized the Wakefield National Memorial +Association. Their goal was to restore the Wakefield plantation and make +it a shrine for all people.</p> + +<p>The Association acquired land which adjoined Government property, and +Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., purchased additional acreage of the old +Wakefield plantation and transferred it to the Federal Government.</p> + +<p>An act of Congress granted the Association authority to erect a building +on the birthsite "as nearly as may be practicable, of the house in which +George Washington was born."</p> + +<p>By act of Congress, January 23, 1930, the 394.47 acres owned by the +Federal Government was designated as George Washington Birthplace +National Monument to be administered by the National Park Service of the +United States Department of the Interior.</p> + +<p>The dream of the patriotic women came true when the new Memorial Mansion +was erected in 1930-31. It was immediately opened to the public.</p> + +<p>Reliable information concerning the appearance of the original house +could not be found, therefore the house that was erected represents a +typical Virginia plantation house of the eighteenth century.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_215" id="page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the old-fashioned garden established near the Memorial Mansion there +is a sundial bearing this inscription:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"A place of rose and thyme and scented earth—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A place the world forgot,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But here a matchless flower came to birth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Time paused and blessed the spot."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Wakefield plantation is a memorial to the many people who had a part in +saving it and bringing it to life again, as well as a monument to George +Washington.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_217" id="page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX</h2> + + +<h3>NORTHERN NECK BURGESSES (<span class="smcap">Jamestown Assemblies</span>)</h3> +<p class="center"><i>Assembly of October, 1644</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">Capt. Fr. Poythers, Jo. Trussell</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Burgesses of the Assembly, convened November 20, 1645</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">John Matrum</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Assembly of 1651</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">Richard Lee</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Members of Assembly, convened April 26, 1652</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">John Mottram, George Fletcher</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Lancaster County </td><td align="right">Francis Willis</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Members of Assembly, November, 1652</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Lancaster County </td><td align="right">Capt. H'y Fleet, Wm. Underwood</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Assembly convened July 5, 1653</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Lancaster County </td><td align="right">Capt. M. Fantleroy, William Hackett</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">Lt. Col. Fletcher, Walter Broadhurst</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Assembly convened November 20, 1654</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Lancaster County </td><td align="right">John Carter, James Bagnall</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">John Trussell</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Westmoreland County </td><td align="right">John Holland, Alex. Baynham</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Burgesses, March 13, 1657-8</i></p> + + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Lancaster County </td><td align="right"> Col. John Carter (a member of the Council)</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">Peter Montague, John Hanie, Peter Knight</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Burgesses, March, 1658-9</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Lancaster County </td><td align="right">Col. John Carter, Henry Corbin</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">Geo. Coleclough</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Assembly of March, 1659-60</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Lancaster County </td><td align="right">Col. John Carter, John Curtis, Henry Corbin</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">Capt. Peter Ashton</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Westmoreland County </td><td align="right">Capt. Tho's Foulke</td></tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_218" id="page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center"><i>Burgesses in Assembly, September, 1663</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">Wm. Presley</td></tr> +<tr><td>Westmoreland County </td><td align="right">Col. Gerard Fowke</td></tr> +<tr><td>Lancaster County </td><td align="right">Raleigh Frances</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Assembly convened October, 1666</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Lancaster County </td><td align="right">Raleigh Traverse</td></tr> +<tr><td>Westmoreland County </td><td align="right">Col. Nich. Spencer, Col. John Washington</td></tr> +<tr><td>Northumberland County </td><td align="right">Mr. William Presley</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>May 4,1683</i></p> + +<table width="75%"> +<tr><td>Nich. Spencer and Jos. Bridger were Councillors at this time.</td><td align="right"></td></tr> +</table> + +<p>(<i>Compiled from old manuscripts and documents. This list is +probably incomplete.</i>)</p> + + + +<h3>COUNTIES</h3> + +<p>The formation of the counties of the Northern Neck took place as +follows:</p> + +<p>Northumberland, 1648; Lancaster, 1651; Westmoreland, 1653; Stafford, +1664; Richmond, 1692; King George, 1721.</p> + +<p>The names of these counties reflect the English origin of the first +white settlers.</p> + + +<h3>NATIVE SONS (<span class="smcap">Northern Neck of Virginia</span>)</h3> + +<p>George Washington, First President of the United States; "First in war, +first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." These +famous words were written by General Henry (Light-Horse Harry) Lee.</p> + +<p>James Madison, Fourth President of the United States, and Father of the +Constitution.</p> + +<p>James Monroe, Fifth President of the United States, and author of the +Monroe Doctrine.</p> + +<p>Signers of the Declaration of Independence: Richard Henry Lee, and +Francis Lightfoot Lee.</p> + +<p>General Robert Edward Lee: Leader of the Confederate forces in the Civil +War.</p> + +<p>Hall of Fame for Great Americans: George Washington, James Madison, +James Monroe, Robert Edward Lee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_219" id="page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="SOURCES" id="SOURCES"></a>SOURCES</h2> + + +<h3>PART I—<i>SEVENTEENTH CENTURY</i></h3> + + +<p class="center">INDIANS AND EARLY EXPLORERS</p> + +<p><i>Virginia, Its History and Antiquities</i>, published about 1840.</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846.</p> + +<p><i>History of Virginia</i>, by Mary Tucker Magill, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>History of Virginia</i>, by R. B. Smithey, 1898.</p> + +<p><i>A History of the United States</i>, by Franklin L. Riley, 1910.</p> + + +<p class="center">CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846.</p> + +<p><i>Arrival of the First Permanent English Settlers Jamestown</i>, by G. B. +Coale, 1950.</p> + + +<p class="center">POWHATAN'S EMPIRE</p> + +<p>Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia, Its History and Antiquities</i>, 1840.</p> + +<p>Beverley's <i>History of Virginia</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, Virginia Writer's Project, 1940.</p> + + +<p class="center">CAPTAIN SMITH VISITS THE NECK</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia, Its History and Antiquities</i>, published about 1840.</p> + + +<p class="center">"A PLAINE WILDERNES"</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia, Its History and Antiquities</i>, published about 1840.</p> + + +<p class="center">"WILD BEASTES"</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p>Clayton's <i>Virginia</i>, p. 37, Force's <i>Historical Tracts</i>, Vol. III.</p> + +<p>Writings of Ralph Hamor, William Strachey and other early writers.</p> + + +<p class="center">"BIRDS TO VS UNKNOWNE"</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>The Cradle of the Republic</i>, by Lyon G. Tyler.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce, Vol. +I.</p> + +<p>Writings of: William Strachey, Thomas Hariot, Ralph Hamor, Robert +Beverley, and other early writers.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE NOMINIES</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, Virginia Writers' Project, 1940.</p> + +<p>Bureau of American Enthnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington.</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce, Vol. +I.</p> + +<p><i>Our Republic</i>, Riley, Chandler, Hamilton, 1910.</p> + +<p><i>History of Virginia</i>, Magill, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846.</p> + +<p><i>Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia</i>, by Ben C. McCary, 1957.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_220" id="page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">THE DISCOVERERS</p> + +<p><i>Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846.</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia, Its History and Antiquities</i>, published about 1840.</p> + +<p><i>History of Virginia</i>, by R. B. Smithey, published 1898.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE RIVER OF SWANS</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p>Writings of Dr. Walter Russell and Anas Todkill.</p> + +<p><i>Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846.</p> + +<p><i>Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Paul Wilstach, published 1929.</p> + + +<p class="center">MOTHER OF WATERS</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p>Writings of Dr. Walter Russell and Anas Todkill.</p> + +<p><i>Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by Bruce, Vol. I.</p> + +<p><i>Tobacco Coast</i>, by A. P. Middleton, Ph. D.</p> + +<p><i>Chesapeake Bay</i>, by M. V. Brewington.</p> + +<p>"The Chesapeake's Million Years," by Harold A. Williams, in <i>Baltimore +Sunday Magazine</i>, October 18, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Paul Wilstach.</p> + +<p><i>The Bay</i>, by Gilbert Klingel.</p> + + +<p class="center">QUICK-RISING-WATER</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, Virginia Writers' Project, published 1940.</p> + +<p><i>Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Paul Wilstach.</p> + + +<p class="center">HENRY AND POCAHONTAS<br /> +HENRY AND KING PATOWMEKE<br /> +HENRY'S RELATION<br /> +BETRAYED</p> + +<p>Henry Spelman's <i>Relation of Virginia</i>, a manuscript first published in +London, in 1872.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill, pp. 52-53.</p> + +<p><i>Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846.</p> + +<p><i>History of Virginia</i>, by Mary Tucker Magill, published 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Paul Wilstach, published 1929.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia, Its History and Antiquities</i>, published about 1840.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, Virginia Writers' Project, published 1940.</p> + +<p>"The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673," by A. J. Morrison. <i>William & Mary +College Quarterly</i>, 2nd Series, vi.</p> + +<p><i>The Genesis of the United States</i>, by Alexander Brown, Vol. 2, pp. +1020-1021.</p> + +<p><i>Howes' Abridgment.</i></p> + +<p><i>Observations of William Simmons</i>, Doctor of Divinity, 1609.</p> + +<p><i>Writings of William Box</i>, 1610.</p> + +<p><i>Narratives of Early Virginia</i>, by Lyon G. Tyler.</p> + +<p><i>Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia</i>, by Ben C. McCary, 1957.</p> + + +<p class="center">KIDNAPPED</p> + +<p><i>Smith's Generall Historie</i>, Book IV.</p> + +<p><i>State Historical Markers of Virginia</i>, Sixth Edition, 1948, p. 16.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_221" id="page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846.</p> + +<p><i>History of Virginia</i>, by Mary Tucker Magill, published 1888.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE INDIAN TRADER (<i>also</i> FLEET'S POINT)</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill, p. 238.</p> + +<p><i>Cavaliers and Pioneers</i>, by Nell M. Nugent.</p> + +<p>"The Money of Colonial Virginia." <i>Virginia Magazine of History and +Biography</i>, Vol. 51, pp. 36-54, January, 1943, by Mrs. Philip W. Hiden.</p> + +<p><i>The Story of Virginia's First Century</i>, by Mary Newton Stanard.</p> + +<p><i>Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Paul Wilstach.</p> + +<p><i>Chesapeake Bay</i>, by M. V. Brewington.</p> + +<p><i>Smith's Generall Historie</i>, Book IV.</p> + +<p>Henry Fleet's <i>Relation</i>.</p> + +<p>"The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673," by A. J. Morrison. <i>William & Mary +College Quarterly</i>, 2nd Series, vi.</p> + + +<p class="center">A PETITION</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill, p. 289.</p> + + +<p class="center">FROM NORTH OF THE POTOMAC</p> + +<p><i>Jamestown and St. Mary's, Buried Cities of Romance</i>, by H. C. Forman, +1938.</p> + +<p>"The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673," by A. J. Morrison. <i>William & Mary +College Quarterly</i>, 2nd Series, vi.</p> + +<p><i>Narratives of Early Virginia</i>, by Lyon G. Tyler.</p> + +<p><i>History of Virginia</i>, by R. B. Smithey, 1898.</p> + +<p><i>Our Republic</i>, by Riley, Chandler & Hamilton, 1910.</p> + +<p>"Roving Maryland's Cavalier Country," by William A. Kinney. <i>The +National Geographic Magazine</i>, April, 1954.</p> + +<p>"History of Northumberland County," by Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe. +<i>Northern Neck Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1951.</p> + +<p>"Maryland Influence in the Northern Neck," by Henry Wright Newman. +<i>Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1954.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE FIRST SETTLER</p> + +<p>"Mottrom," <i>William and Mary Quarterly</i>, Vol. 17, p. 53. Archives of +Maryland, Vol. IV, p. 269.</p> + +<p>York County Records (Shallop).</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, Vol. I, by P. A. +Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + +<p><i>Tobacco Coast</i>, by Arthur Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., published 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Chesapeake Bay</i>, by M. V. Brewington, published 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, published +1934.</p> + +<p><i>State Historical Markers of Virginia</i>, Sixth Edition, 1948, p. 180.</p> + +<p>"A Little Tour of Northumberland County," by Thomas Lomax Hunter, +(published in the <i>Richmond Times-Dispatch</i>, date unknown).</p> + +<p>"Northumberland, Mother County," by Thomas Lomax Hunter, (published in +the <i>Richmond Times-Dispatch</i>, date unknown).</p> + +<p>"History of Northumberland County," (From 1648 to War of Revolution), by +Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe. <i>Northern Neck Historical Magazine</i>, +Vol. I, December, 1951.</p> + +<p><i>History of Northumberland County</i>, by Miss Lucy Brown Beale. (pageant)</p> + +<p>"Old Northumberland," by Elwood Street. (An article in the <i>Richmond +Times-Dispatch</i>, April 19, 1942.)</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Magazine</i>, X, (402).</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records.</p> + +<p><i>Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Paul Wilstach, published 1929.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_222" id="page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">COAN HALL</p> + +<p><i>Jamestown and St. Mary's, Buried Cities of Romance</i>, Henry C. Forman, +p. 33, 1938.</p> + +<p>The Holy Bible, Genesis 2: 8-10, 19.</p> + +<p>"Log Cabin or Frame," by Janet Foster Newton. <i>Antiques Magazine</i>, Nov. +1944.</p> + +<p>1953, Williamsburg Antiques Forum, Theme: "European Influence on +American Craftsmanship"; "Architecture Up to the Time of the +Revolution." Speaker, Dr. Richard H. Howland, Chairman of the Art +Department of Johns Hopkins University.</p> + +<p><i>The Log Cabin Myth</i>, by Harold R. Shurtleff.</p> + +<p><i>The Homes of Our Ancestors</i>, by R. T. H. Halsey and Elizabeth Tower, +1937.</p> + +<p><i>A Treasury of Early American Homes</i>, by Richard Pratt, published 1946.</p> + +<p>"Notes on Imported Brick," by Charles E. Peterson. <i>Antiques Mag.</i>, +July, 1952.</p> + +<p><i>Glassmaking at Jamestown</i>, by J. C. Harrington, published 1952.</p> + +<p>"Roving Maryland's Cavalier Country," by William A. Kinney. <i>The +National Geographic Magazine</i>, April, 1954.</p> + +<p><i>Cradle of the Republic</i>, by Lyon G. Tyler.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by Philip A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by Philip A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>Home Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + +<p>"The Buttolph-Williams House," (In Wethersfield, Connecticut) by +Frederic Palmer. <i>Antiques Magazine</i>, September, 1951.</p> + +<p>"Hurstville," by Jennie Harding Cornelius, in <i>Northumberland Echo</i>, +Heathsville, Va.</p> + +<p>"Green Spring," by Leonora A. Wood, in <i>Richmond Times-Dispatch</i>, March +27, 1955.</p> + +<p>Westmoreland County Records, 1661-1662.</p> + +<p>"A Visit to Historic Old Marmion," by Joseph A. Billingsley, Jr., in +<i>Richmond Times-Dispatch</i>, August 6, 1939.</p> + + +<p class="center">NEIGHBORS</p> + +<p>Maryland Archives (Vol. V: 204).</p> + +<p><i>The Homes of Our Ancestors</i>, by R. T. H. Halsey and Elizabeth Tower, +1937.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934.</p> + +<p><i>Home Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by Philip A. Bruce.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE "KIDS"</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Diary of John Harrower</i>, (A journal by an indentured servant-teacher.)</p> + +<p>"<i>Spirits</i>," from a treatise published in 1657, by Lionel Gatford, B. +D., p. 278.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by Philip A. Bruce.</p> + + +<p class="center">INDIAN SERVANTS</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by Philip A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>William Presley</i>, by Miss Lucy Brown Beale.</p> + + +<p class="center">MONEY</p> + +<p>"The Money of Colonial Virginia," by Mrs. Philip W. Hiden. <i>Virginia +Magazine of History and Biography.</i></p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records.</p> + +<p><i>Old Virginia and Her Neighbors</i>, by John Fiske, Vol. I.</p> + +<p><i>Tobacco Coast</i>, by A. P. Middleton, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>James Madison</i>, by Brant, p. 413.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_223" id="page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">A PARADISE DISCOVERED</p> + +<p><i>Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia</i>, +edited by William Waller Hening. Richmond, 1809. 1619-60.</p> + +<p><i>Jamestown and St. Mary's: Buried Cities of Romance</i>, by Henry Chandlee +Forman, Baltimore, 1938. (The Johns Hopkins Press.)</p> + + +<p class="center">A VISIT TO JAMESTOWN</p> + +<p><i>Jamestown and St. Mary's: Buried Cities of Romance</i>, by Henry Chandlee +Forman, Baltimore, 1938. (The Johns Hopkins Press.)</p> + +<p><i>The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and Its First Statehouse</i>, +by Charles E. Hatch, Jr. Washington: 1943.</p> + +<p><i>The Cradle of the Republic, Jamestown and James River</i>, by Lyon G. +Tyler, Richmond, Va., 1906. The Hermitage Press, Inc.</p> + +<p><i>Minutes of the Council and General Court of Virginia, 1622-1632, +1670-1676</i>, edited by H. R. McIlwaine, Richmond, 1924, pp. 497-498.</p> + +<p><i>Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1619-1658-59</i>, edited +by H. R. McIlwaine, Richmond, 1915, p. 36.</p> + +<p><i>Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by Philip A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + + +<p class="center">FRANCES</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934.</p> + +<p>"Old Northumberland," by Elwood Street. (An article in the <i>Richmond +Times-Dispatch</i>, April 19, 1942.)</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Record Book, 1652-1665, p. 47. ("cow calfe")</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by Philip A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by Philip A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>Home Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + +<p><i>Child Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + +<p><i>The Homes of Our Ancestors</i>, by R. T. H. Halsey and Elizabeth Tower, +1937.</p> + + +<p class="center">FOREVER LOST</p> + +<p>Hening's <i>Statutes at Large</i>, 1619-60.</p> + +<p><i>Northern Neck Historical Magazine</i>, December 1951, p. 6.</p> + + +<p class="center">URSULA</p> + +<p><i>William and Mary Quarterly</i>, Vol. 17, p. 53. (Archives of Md., Vol. IV, +p. 269.)</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>Home Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records, 1655-56, 1657-58.</p> + +<p>Maryland Archives, Vol. V: 204.</p> + +<p><i>Homes of Our Ancestors</i>, by Halsey and Tower, 1937.</p> + +<p>Records of Lancaster Co., Orig. Vol., 1690-1709, p. 21. (Ref. to leather +coverlet.)</p> + +<p>Records of Lancaster Co., Orig. Vol., 1674-1687, p. 77. (Wardrobe of F. +Pritchard.)</p> + + +<p class="center">THE YARD</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Patrician and Plebeian in Virginia</i>, by T. J. Wertenbaker.</p> + +<p><i>Home Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + +<p>Beverley's <i>History of the Present State of Virginia</i>.</p> + + +<p class="center">KITTAMAQUND</p> + +<p><i>Genealogy of the Brent Family</i>, compiled by W. B. Chilton, Washington, +D. C.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_224" id="page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Virginia Magazine of History & Biography</i>, V. 12, July, 1904-April, +1905.</p> + +<p>(Relatio Itineris, <i>Father Andrew White, S. J.</i>, pp. 74, 76 & 82.)</p> + +<p><i>Maryland Historical Magazine</i>, Vol. III, p. 30.</p> + +<p><i>Landmarks of Old Prince William</i>, p. 43.</p> + +<p><i>Maryland Council Proceedings</i>, Vol. 3, p. 403.</p> + +<p>"Maryland Influence in the Northern Neck," by Harry Wright Newman, in +<i>Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, 1954.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE GIFT</p> + +<p><i>The First Patent of the Proprietary.</i></p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, V. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>A History of the Valley of Virginia</i>, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + +<p><i>History of England</i>, by Charlotte M. Yonge, 1879.</p> + +<p><i>Our Republic</i>, by Riley, Chandler & Hamilton, 1910.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE CAVALIERS</p> + +<p>Smithey's <i>History of Virginia</i>, 1915.</p> + +<p><i>Tobacco Coast</i>, by A. P. Middleton, 1953; pp. 8, 15, 16.</p> + +<p><i>Cavaliers and Pioneers</i>, V. I, by N. M. Nugent, published 1934.</p> + +<p><i>The Story of Virginia's First Century</i>, by Mary N. Stanard, 1928.</p> + +<p><i>Old Virginia and Her Neighbours</i>, by John Fiske, 1897, V. I. & V. II.</p> + +<p><i>Patrician and Plebeian in Virginia</i>, by Thos. J. Wertenbaker, 1910.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce, 1927.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia, Its History and Antiquities</i>, published about 1840.</p> + +<p><i>A History of the Valley of Virginia</i>, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833.</p> + +<p>"Cavaliers of the Northern Neck in the 17th Century," by Dr. J. E. +Monohan, in <i>Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia, A History of the People</i>, by John Esten Cooke, 1883, p. 227.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, V. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>William and Mary Quarterly</i>, V. 17, p. 196.</p> + +<p>"Perfect Description of Virginia," Force's <i>Tracts</i> II, No. viii.</p> + +<p>Hammond's, <i>Leah and Rachel</i>.</p> + + +<p class="center">"CHARLIE-OVER-THE-WATER"</p> + +<p><i>Life of General R. E. Lee</i>, by J. D. McCabe, Jr., 1866.</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by Burton J. Hendrick, 1935. ("Introductio ad +Latinam Blasoniam," by John Gibbon, 1629-1718. Lee's trip to Brussels.)</p> + +<p><i>Stratford Hall and the Lees</i>, by F. W. Alexander, 1912.</p> + +<p><i>Old Virginia and Her Neighbours</i>, John Fiske, 1897.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by E. D. Neill, 1886.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, V. I, by D. S. Freeman, pp. 452-453.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE LEGACY</p> + +<p><i>Old Virginia and Her Neighbours</i>, V. II, p. 19, by John Fiske, 1897.</p> + +<p><i>Stratford Hall and the Lees</i>, by F. W. Alexander, 1912.</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by Hendrick (B. J.).</p> + +<p><i>Life of General R. E. Lee</i>, by J. D. McCabe, Jr., 1866.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE INDIAN DEED</p> + +<p><i>Barons of the Potomack and the Rappahannock</i>, by M. D. Conway.</p> + +<p><i>Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Paul Wilstach, p. 247.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, # 148.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_225" id="page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">A SUMMONS TO JAMESTOWN</p> + +<p>Archives of Maryland, V. IV, 269.</p> + +<p><i>The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and Its First Statehouse</i>, +by Charles E. Hatch, Jr., Washington: 1943.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934. +(Northumberland County, Record Book, 1652-1665.)</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by E. D. Neill, 1886.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia and Its Antiquities</i>, about 1840.</p> + +<p>Magill's <i>History of Virginia</i>, 1888, p. 80.</p> + +<p>"The Treaty of Jamestown, 1652," by W. H. Gaines, Jr., in <i>Virginia +Cavalcade</i>, Spring, 1952.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE OATH</p> + +<p>"The Treaty of Jamestown, 1652," by W. H. Gaines, Jr., in <i>Virginia +Cavalcade</i>, Spring, 1952.</p> + +<p>"History of Northumberland County," by Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe, +<i>Northern Neck Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1951. (Northumberland +Order Book, 1650-53.)</p> + +<p><i>Virginia's First Century</i>, by M. N. Stanard.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE CHALLENGE</p> + +<p>"Courthouses of Lancaster County, 1656-1950," Abstracted and Compiled +from County Court Records by Elizabeth Combs Peirce, in <i>Northern Neck +Historical Society Magazine</i>, December, 1951.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce, pp. +250-252.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Magazine of History and Biography</i>, V. II, p. 96.</p> + +<p><i>Patrician and Plebeian</i>, by T. J. Wertenbaker.</p> + +<p>Lancaster County Records, V, 1652-56, p. 64.</p> + + +<p class="center">TRADE</p> + +<p><i>Cradle of the Republic</i>, by Lyon G. Tyler.</p> + +<p><i>Old Virginia and Her Neighbours</i>, by John Fiske.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + +<p>Lancaster County Records, Original volume, 1654-1702.</p> + +<p>Lancaster County Records, 1652-57.</p> + +<p><i>Orders of Wm. Fitzhugh.</i></p> + +<p>Records of Lancaster County, Original volume, 1682-1687.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by E. D. Neill, 1886.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia and Its Antiquities</i>, p. 67.</p> + + +<p class="center">JOHN CARTER</p> + +<p><i>Virginia's First Century</i>, by M. N. Stanard.</p> + +<p><i>The Chesapeake Bay Country</i>, by Sampson Earle.</p> + +<p><i>Robert Carter of Nomini Hall</i>, by Louis Morton, 1945.</p> + +<p><i>Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia</i>, edited by H. R. +McIlwaine (1619-1658/59, p. 94).</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia</i>, by P. A. Bruce, V. II, p. 124.</p> + +<p>"Old Virginia Bottles," by Walter J. Sparks, in <i>Richmond Times-Dispatch +Sunday Magazine</i>, 1938.</p> + + +<p class="center">FLEET'S POINT (<i>see</i> chapter, The Indian Trader)</p> + + +<p class="center">GEORGE MASON</p> + +<p><i>The Life of George Mason</i>, by Kate M. Rowland (1725-1792).</p> + +<p>Westmoreland Court House Records, 1664.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by E. D. Neill, 1886, p, 344. From a MS. owned by +the Virginia Historical Society.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_226" id="page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hening's <i>Statutes</i>, Vol. II (storehouse).</p> + +<p>Hening's <i>Statutes</i>, Vol. III (boats).</p> + +<p>Copy of an old paper of 1793, by Geo. Mason, of Lexington.</p> + +<p>Westmoreland Court House and Virginia Land Registry Office (patent).</p> + +<p>Hening's <i>Statutes</i>, Vol. II, 1661-2 (Indian trouble).</p> + + +<p class="center">MARY CALVERT</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records, 1655.</p> + +<p>"History of Northumberland County," by Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe, +in <i>Northern Neck Historical Magazine</i>, December 1951.</p> + +<p><i>The Story of Virginia's First Century</i>, by Mary Newton Stanard.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce, 1927.</p> + + +<p class="center">HE LIVED BRAVELY</p> + +<p><i>William and Mary Quarterly</i>, vol. 17, p. 53.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + +<p>Surry County Records, vol. 1645-72, p. 246.</p> + +<p>Lower Norfolk County Records, vol. 1686-95, f. p. 171.</p> + +<p>York County Records, vol. 1675-84, p. 87.</p> + +<p>Westmoreland County Records, vol. 1655-77, p. 186.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Historical and Genealogical Magazine</i>, vol. X, p. 402.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934.</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records, 1655-56.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, by D. S. Freeman (V. I, p. 4).</p> + + +<p class="center">WITCHCRAFT</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records, 1656.</p> + +<p><i>A History of the Valley of Virginia</i>, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833, pp. +280-283.</p> + +<p><i>William and Mary College Quarterly</i>, vol. I, p. 127.</p> + + +<p class="center">SEAHORSE OF LONDON</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i> (1625-85), by E. D. Neill, 1886.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p>1 Westmoreland Deeds and Wills, 88.</p> + +<p>Westmoreland County Records.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + + +<p class="center">"TENN MULBERRY TREES"</p> + +<p><i>The Story of Virginia's First Century</i>, by Mary Newton Stanard.</p> + +<p><i>The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and Its First Statehouse</i>, +by Charles E. Hatch, Jr., Washington: 1943.</p> + +<p><i>Plants of Colonial Days</i>, by Raymond L. Taylor, pub. 1952, +Williamsburg, Va.</p> + +<p><i>Child Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + + +<p class="center">ROADS</p> + +<p><i>Old Virginia and Her Neighbours</i>, Vol. II, by John Fiske.</p> + +<p><i>The Mother of Washington and Her Times</i>, by Sara Pryor.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Roads and Vehicles</i>, <i>William and Mary Quarterly</i>, vol. III, pp. 37-43.</p> + +<p><i>The Journal of Philip Vickers Fithian.</i></p> + +<p><i>Cavaliers and Pioneers</i>, by Nell M. Nugent, 1934.</p> + + +<p class="center">MARKETS</p> + +<p>Records, original volume 1652-1657, p. 214.</p> + +<p><i>Cradle of the Republic</i>, by Lyon G. Tyler.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill, 1886.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_227" id="page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">THE OLD DOMINION</p> + +<p>Smithey's <i>History of Virginia</i>, published 1898.</p> + +<p><i>Young Folks History of England</i>, by Charlotte M. Yonge, published 1879.</p> + +<p><i>The Story of Virginia's First Century</i>, by Mary Newton Stanard.</p> + +<p>Magill's <i>History of Virginia</i>, published 1888.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE PROPRIETARY</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, V. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>A History of the Valley of Virginia</i>, by Samuel Kercheval, published +1833.</p> + + +<p class="center">A FIRST LADY OF JAMESTOWN</p> + +<p><i>The Story of Virginia's First Century</i>, by Mary Newton Stanard, p. 252.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Magazine</i>, V. II, p. 33.</p> + +<p><i>New England Hist. and Gen. Reg.</i>, Vol. XLV, p. 67.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Magazine</i>, Vol. V, p. 257 (Anne Mottrom).</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p>A collection of magazine and newspaper articles on early wedding +customs.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + +<p>"Cavaliers of the Northern Neck in the 17th Century," by Dr. John E. +Monohan, in <i>Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, December, +1953.</p> + +<p><i>Home Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + +<p>Westmoreland County Records, Vol. 1665-77, folio p. 79 (Madam Spencer).</p> + +<p>"Old Northumberland," by Elwood Street, in the <i>Richmond +Times-Dispatch</i>, April 19, 1942.</p> + + +<p class="center">PROCESSIONING</p> + +<p><i>Home Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, V. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock</i>, by M. D. Conway.</p> + +<p><i>James Madison</i>, V. I, by Irving Brant, p. 44.</p> + + +<p class="center">"THE BANQUETTING HOUSE"</p> + +<p>9 Westmoreland Deeds and Wills, 344-45, March 30, 1670.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 103, +106, 110, 112.</p> + +<p>"The First Country Club in America," by Arnold Jones, in <i>Richmond +Times-Dispatch</i>, 1953.</p> + +<p>"A Mayflower Relic in Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, <i>Virginia +Cavalcade</i>, Autumn, 1952.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill.</p> + +<p>Maryland Archives, IV, 109, March 21, 1639.</p> + +<p><i>Buried Cities, Jamestown and St. Mary's</i>, by Henry Chandlee Forman.</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by B. J. Hendrick.</p> + +<p>"Revolutionary Suffragists," by Elizabeth Dabney Coleman, in <i>Virginia +Cavalcade</i>, Autumn, 1953.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE LAND AGENT</p> + +<p>Westmoreland Orders, 1676-89, p. 529.</p> + +<p>"Land Agents in Virginia," by G. H. S. King, in <i>Northern Neck of +Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1954.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, D. S. Freeman, p. 458.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + + +<p class="center">HANNA AND THE HORSESHOE</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records, 1671.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_228" id="page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>William and Mary College Quarterly</i>, Vol. 17, pp. 247-48.</p> + +<p><i>A History of the Valley of Virginia</i>, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833, pp. +280-83.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + + +<p class="center">MUSTER</p> + +<p>Virginia County Records, 1689.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, 1904-06, p. 191.</p> + +<p>Minutes of the House of Burgesses, Sept. 30, 1696, B. T. Va., L 11.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast</i>, by E. R. Snow.</p> + +<p><i>Pirates of Colonial Virginia</i>, by Lloyd H. Williams.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE STORE</p> + +<p><i>Virginia and Her Neighbours</i>, Vol. II, p. 213, by John Fiske.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill, 1886.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE WOLF-DRIVE</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records, Orders, September 16, 1691.</p> + +<p>Clayton's <i>Virginia</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + +<p>Force's <i>Historical Tracts</i>, Vol. III.</p> + +<p><i>Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber, p. 60.</p> + +<p>Beverley's <i>History of Virginia</i>.</p> + +<p>Lancaster Court Records: 1677.</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Record Book, 1666-78, p. 107.</p> + +<p><i>The Chesapeake Bay Country</i>, by Sampson Earle (McDonald Lee).</p> + + +<p class="center">THE INDIANS AND ROBERT HEN</p> + +<p><i>A History of the Valley of Virginia</i>, by Samuel Kercheval, pp. 18-34.</p> + +<p><i>The Story of Virginia's First Century</i>, by Mary N. Stanard.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill, pp. 347-49.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia and Her Neighbours</i>, Vol. II, by John Fiske.</p> + +<p>Spencer ii, 61, 80, 89, 111.</p> + +<p><i>Descendants of Coll: Giles Brent</i>, by Chester Horton Brent, 1946.</p> + +<p>Force's <i>Tracts</i>, Vol. I, tract viii.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of George Mason</i>, by Kate M. Rowland.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE ROYAL CAVALCADE and THE KING OF THE NORTHERN NECK</p> + +<p><i>Robert Carter of Nomini Hall</i>, by Louis Morton, Williamsburg, 1945.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p><i>The Chesapeake Bay Country</i>, by Sampson Earle.</p> + +<p>"Colonel Robert (King) Carter," by Samuel Bemiss, in <i>Northern Neck of +Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, 1953.</p> + +<p>"The Fruits of His Labor," by Samuel Bemiss, in <i>Virginia Cavalcade</i>, +1953.</p> + +<p><i>Old Churches and Families of Virginia</i>, by Meade, V. II, p. 116.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, V. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>King Carter, the Man</i>, by James Wharton.</p> + + +<p class="center">KITH AND KIN</p> + +<p><i>Robert Carter of Nomini Hall</i>, by Louis Morton.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p><i>King Carter, the Man</i>, by James Wharton.</p> + +<p><i>Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Paul Wilstach.</p> + +<p><i>Baron of the Potomac and the Rappahannock</i>, by M. D. Conway.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_229" id="page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">THE FIELDINGS</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, V. 12, pp. 98, 101, 215.</p> + +<p><i>Robert Carter of Nomini Hall</i>, by Louis Morton, p. 64.</p> + + +<p class="center">PIRATES</p> + +<p>"Pursuits of a Pirate," by Wm. H. Gaines, Jr., <i>Virginia Cavalcade</i>, +Autumn, 1952.</p> + +<p>"Treasure Trove," in <i>News from Home</i>, Autumn, 1955.</p> + +<p><i>Pirates of Colonial Virginia</i>, by Lloyd Haynes Williams, published +1937.</p> + +<p><i>Tobacco Coast</i>, by Arthur Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Chesapeake Bay</i>, by M. V. Brewington, 1953, p. 198.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill.</p> + +<p><i>The Mother of Washington and Her Times</i>, by Sara Pryor.</p> + +<p><i>Old Virginia and Her Neighbours</i>, V. II, by John Fiske, p. 338.</p> + +<p><i>Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast</i>, by Edward Rowe Snow.</p> + +<p>Records of Middlesex County, original volume, 1679-1694, p. 472.</p> + + +<p class="center">CHRISTMAS AT COLONEL FITZHUGH'S</p> + +<p><i>Description de la Virginie & Marilan dans L'Amérique</i>, by Durand Du +Dauphine.</p> + + +<p class="center">INDIAN VISITORS</p> + +<p><i>Description de la Virginie & Marilan dans L'Amérique</i>, by Durand Du +Dauphine.</p> + + +<p class="center">HORSE RACING</p> + +<p><i>The Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + +<p>Minutes of House of Burgesses, Sept. 30, 1696. B. T., Va., Vol. LII.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Magazine of History and Biography</i>, Vol. VIII, p. 130.</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records, Orders, January 17, 1693-4.</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Records, Orders, August 22, 1695.</p> + +<p>Westmoreland County Records, Vol. 1665-77, folio p. 211.</p> + +<p>Westmoreland County Orders, January 11, 1687-8.</p> + +<p>Westmoreland County Records, Orders, April 7, 1693.</p> + +<p>Northumberland Orders of August 22, 1695.</p> + + +<p class="center">MANUFACTURE</p> + +<p><i>Home Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + +<p>Lancaster County Records, 1654-1702; 1674-78; 1690-1709.</p> + +<p>Letters of Wm. Fitzhugh.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill.</p> + +<p>Hening's <i>Statutes</i>, 1, 336, 337.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE POTOMAC RANGERS</p> + +<p>Hening's <i>Statutes</i>, Vol. II.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of George Mason</i>, Vol. I, by K. M. Rowland.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Calendar Papers</i>, Vol. I, pp. 44, 60.</p> + +<p><i>Ibid.</i>, p. xlvi.</p> + +<p><i>James Madison</i>, Vol. I, by Irving Brant, pp. 408-09.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>PART II—<i>EIGHTEENTH CENTURY</i></h3> + + +<p class="center">MURDERS IN STAFFORD</p> + +<p><i>The Life of George Mason</i>, by Kate M. Rowland.</p> + +<p><i>Ibid.</i>, p. 69.</p> + +<p><i>Letters of Col. George Mason</i>, II.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_230" id="page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">FREE SCHOOLS</p> + +<p><i>Cradle of the Republic</i>, by Lyon G. Tyler.</p> + +<p><i>History of Virginia</i>, by Robert Beverley, 1703.</p> + +<p><i>William and Mary College Quarterly</i>, Vol. 17, pp. 244-247.</p> + +<p><i>William and Mary College Quarterly</i>, Vol. xvii, p. 188.</p> + +<p><i>Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>A History of Education in Virginia</i>, by C. J. Heatwole.</p> + +<p><i>William and Mary College Quarterly</i>, Vol. XIII, Series I, p. 158. +(Landon Carter)</p> + + +<p class="center">THE HOME IN THE FOREST</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, V. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p>10 R. Lancaster Wills and Inventories, 88.</p> + +<p>"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +<i>Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 159, 161, 162.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Carolorum</i>, by Edward D. Neill.</p> + + +<p class="center">CHERRY POINT</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p>"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +<i>Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>The Mother of Washington and Her Times</i>, by Sara Pryor.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p>"Will of Mary Hewes," found in Archives of Northumberland County, by +Rev. G. W. Beale, published in <i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>.</p> + +<p>19 Northumberland Orders, 42.</p> + +<p>Northumberland County Order Book, No. 6, p. 17.</p> + + +<p class="center">SANDY POINT</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p>"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +<i>Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 115, 117, 121.</p> + +<p>Will of Mary Hewes, (19 Northumberland Orders, 42).</p> + +<p><i>Yeocomico Church, Virginia</i>, W. P. A., 1946.</p> + +<p><i>The Mother of Washington and Her Times</i>, by Mrs. Roger A. Pryor, 1903.</p> + +<p><i>Virginians at Home</i>, by Edmund S. Morgan, 1952.</p> + +<p>Westmoreland Deeds and Wills, 72. (Will of Samuel Bonum.)</p> + + +<p class="center">AUGUSTINE</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p>Hening's <i>Statutes</i>, Vol. I, p. 160. (Fees)</p> + +<p>"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +<i>Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Wakefield, The Birthplace of Washington</i>, by Paul Hudson, Museum +Specialist National Park Service.</p> + +<p>"Colonel George Eskridge," by Lucy Brown Beale, in <i>Northern Neck of +Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1953.</p> + + +<p class="center">POPES CREEK</p> + +<p>19 Northumberland Orders, 42. (The will of Mary Hewes.)</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Wakefield, The Birthplace of Washington</i>, by Paul Hudson, Museum +Specialist National Park Service.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_231" id="page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">THE WAR PATH</p> + +<p><i>James Madison</i>, Vol. I, by Irving Brant.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of George Mason</i> (1725-1792), by Kate M. Rowland.</p> + +<p><i>Colonial History of New York</i>, Vol. V, pp. 655-677.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, 1904-06.</p> + +<p><i>James Mooney, The Siouan Tribes of the East</i>, Smithsonian Institution: +1894.</p> + +<p><i>Archeologic Investigation in James and Potomac Valleys</i>, by Gerad +Fowke, Smithsonian Institution: 1894.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p>Byrd Manuscripts, Vol. II, p, 262.</p> + + +<p class="center">FALMOUTH</p> + +<p><i>The Life of George Mason</i> (1725-1792), by Kate M. Rowland.</p> + +<p>Address of Rev. Phillip Slaughter before Virginia Historical Society, +1850.</p> + +<p><i>In Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Dora Chinn Jett, 1924.</p> + +<p>A letter written by a Scotch girl while on a visit to Falmouth, +published in <i>The Herald</i>, Fredericksburg, June 3, 1854.</p> + + +<p class="center">BURNT HOUSE FIELD</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by B. J. Hendrick.</p> + +<p>"President Thomas Lee of Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, in <i>Virginia +Cavalcade</i>, Summer, 1953.</p> + +<p>"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, <i>Holiday Magazine</i>, +January, 1953.</p> + +<p>"Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," Department of Conservation and +Development of Virginia.</p> + + +<p class="center">STRATFORD HALL</p> + +<p>Stratford Hall and the Lees, by F. W. Alexander.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p>"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, <i>Holiday Magazine</i>, +January, 1953.</p> + +<p>"President Thomas Lee of Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, in <i>Virginia +Cavalcade</i>, Summer, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by Burton J. Hendrick.</p> + +<p>A poem which described the early Stratford, by Carter Lee, brother of +General R. E. Lee.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, W. P. A., 1946.</p> + +<p>"The Summerhouse," a talk by Marcus Whiffen, Williamsburg Antiques +Forum, February, 1956.</p> + + +<p class="center">GEORGE WASHINGTON</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman.</p> + +<p>"Wakefield, The Birthplace of Washington," by Paul Hudson, published in +<i>The Commonwealth</i>, February, 1954.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + + +<p class="center">EPSEWASSON</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock</i>, by M. D. Conway.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + + +<p class="center">FERRY FARM</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_232" id="page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock</i>, by M. D. Conway.</p> + +<p><i>King George Inventories</i>, 1721-44, pp. 285-91.</p> + + +<p class="center">FREDERICKSBURG</p> + +<p>Act of establishing town of Fredericksburg.</p> + +<p><i>Diary of Col. Wm. Byrd of Westover, 1732.</i></p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock</i>, by M. M. Conway.</p> + +<p><i>Tidewater Virginia</i>, by Paul Wilstach.</p> + + +<p class="center">SCHOOL DAYS</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>The Private Life of George Washington</i>, by F. R. Bellamy.</p> + +<p><i>Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock</i>, by M. D. Conway.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p><i>Wakefield</i>, by Paul Hudson.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE INDIANS</p> + +<p><i>Old Virginia and Her Neighbours</i>, Vol. II, by John Fiske.</p> + +<p><i>Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia</i>, by Ben C. McCary, 1957.</p> + +<p><i>The Chesapeake Bay Country</i>, by Sampson Earle.</p> + +<p>Beverley's <i>History of Virginia.</i></p> + + +<p class="center">THE POW-WOW</p> + +<p>"President Thomas Lee of Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, <i>Virginia +Cavalcade</i>, Summer, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by Burton J. Hendrick.</p> + +<p>A pamphlet: "A Treaty held at the town of Lancaster, Penn., with the +Indians of the Six Nations, in June, 1744, Philadelphia; printed and +sold by Benjamin Franklin at the New Printing Office near the Market, +1744."</p> + +<p>A pamphlet describing the conference at Lancaster, published by William +Parks, in Williamsburg, Va.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Magazine of History</i>, XIII, 5.</p> + +<p><i>James Madison</i>, Vol. I, by Irving Brant, p. 46.</p> + + +<p class="center">MOUNT VERNON</p> + +<p>"To the Walls of Cartagena," by Wm. H. Gaines, Jr., <i>Virginia +Cavalcade</i>, Winter, 1955.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock</i>, by M. D. Conway.</p> + +<p><i>The Private Life of George Washington</i>, by F. R. Bellamy.</p> + + +<p class="center">WASHINGTON WASHED HERE—</p> + +<p>Spotsylvania Orders, 1749-55, p. 141.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE ORDINARY</p> + +<p>"Narrative of George Fisher (1750-55), His Voyage from London to +Virginia," <i>William and Mary Quarterly.</i></p> + + +<p class="center">NELLY</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p><i>James Madison</i>, by Irving Brant, 1941.</p> + +<p>"James Madison, Father of the Constitution," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, +<i>Virginia Cavalcade</i>, Winter, 1951.</p> + +<p>"The Evening of Their Glory," by Wm. H. Gaines, Jr., <i>Virginia +Cavalcade</i>, Summer, 1953.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_233" id="page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">MISS BETSY</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, W. P. A., 1946.</p> + +<p><i>Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock</i>, by M. D. Conway.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE PROPRIETOR OF THE NORTHERN NECK</p> + +<p><i>Virginia, Its History and Antiquities</i>, circa 1840; pp. 235-36, 275.</p> + +<p><i>A History of the Valley of Virginia</i>, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833.</p> + +<p>Smithey's <i>History of Virginia</i>, 1915; pp. 72-79.</p> + +<p>Magill's <i>History of Virginia</i>, 1888.</p> + +<p><i>Fairfax</i>, by J. Esten Cooke, 1868.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, W. P. A., 1946.</p> + +<p><i>State Historical Markers of Virginia</i>, 1948.</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE MARSHALLS</p> + +<p><i>The Life of John Marshall</i>, by A. J. Beveridge.</p> + +<p>Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, viii, 1, 276.</p> + +<p>Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, xi, 419.</p> + +<p>Will of John "of the forest," made April 1, 1752, probated May 26, 1752, +and recorded June 22, 1752; Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and +Wills, xi, 419.</p> + +<p><i>Autobiography, John Marshall.</i></p> + +<p><i>Binney, in Dillon</i>, iii, 287-88. (Description of J. Marshall.)</p> + +<p>Will of Thomas Marshall, "carpenter," probated May 31, 1704; Records of +Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, iii, 232, <i>et seq.</i></p> + + +<p class="center">THE LEEDSTOWN RESOLUTIONS</p> + +<p>Fithian's <i>Journal</i>, pp. 84, 248, 258.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck of Virginia</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, No. 75.</p> + + +<p class="center">FITHIAN</p> + +<p><i>The Journal of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1773-74</i>, edited by Hunter +Dickinson Farish, Williamsburg, Va., 1945.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE SCHOOL IN THE WILDWOOD</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 31, 59.</p> + +<p><i>Historical Atlas of Westmoreland County, Virginia</i>, by David W. Eaton, +p. 44.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of John Marshall</i>, by A. J. Beveridge.</p> + +<p><i>Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia</i>, by Bishop Meade, +Vol. II, pp. 159-161.</p> + +<p><i>James Monroe</i>, by W. P. Cresson.</p> + +<p>Manuscript by Rose Gouveneur Hoes, in James Monroe Law Office, +Fredericksburg, Virginia.</p> + + +<p class="center">JAMES AND JOHN</p> + +<p><i>James Monroe's Childhood and Youth</i>, by Rose Gouveneur Hoes.</p> + +<p><i>James Monroe</i>, by W. P. Cresson, 1946, Chapel Hill.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of John Marshall</i>, by Albert J. Beveridge.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 31, 58, 63.</p> + +<p><i>Meade's Old Churches, etc.</i>, V. 2, pp. 159-161.</p> + +<p><i>Historical Atlas of Westmoreland County, Virginia</i>, by D. W. Eaton, p. +44.</p> + +<p><i>Binney, in Dillon</i>, iii, pp. 287-288.</p> + + +<p class="center">CAPTAIN DOBBY</p> + +<p>Fithian's <i>Journal</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_234" id="page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + + +<p class="center">PEDLARS</p> + +<p><i>Life of Capt. John Smith</i>, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + +<p><i>Home Life in Colonial Days</i>, by Alice M. Earle.</p> + + +<p class="center">SEVEN SATIN PETTICOATS</p> + +<p><i>Olivia Frances Jett Williams</i> (1874-1940).</p> + + +<p class="center">PHI BETA KAPPA</p> + +<p><i>Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography</i>, under the editorial supervision of +Lyon Gardiner Tyler, LL.D., Vol. II, 1915.</p> + +<p><i>The History of Phi Beta Kappa</i>, by Oscar M. Voorhees, D.D., LL.D., +1945. (The Founding of the Society, 1776.)</p> + +<p>"Records of Phi Beta Kappa Society of William and Mary College," printed +in <i>William and Mary College Quarterly</i>, IV, 236.</p> + + +<p class="center">LIGHT-HORSE HARRY</p> + +<p>"Speech Delivered at Spring Celebration at Stratford," by Blake Tyler +Newton, May 6, 1951. <i>Northern Neck Historical Magazine</i>, December, +1952.</p> + +<p><i>The Life and Campaigns of General Robert E. Lee</i>, by James D. McCabe, +Jr., published 1866.</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by Burton J. Hendrick.</p> + +<p><i>John Marshall</i>, by Albert J. Beveridge, p. 138.</p> + + +<p class="center">A BAND OF BROTHERS</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by Burton J. Hendrick.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p>"The Six Brothers of Stratford Hall," by Rev. Edmund J. Lee, D.D., in +<i>Northern Neck Historical Magazine</i>, December, 1952.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE DIVINE MATILDA</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, W. P. A., 1946.</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by Burton J. Hendrick.</p> + +<p><i>Stratford Hall and the Lees Connected With Its History</i>, by F. W. +Alexander.</p> + +<p>"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, <i>Holiday</i>, January, +1953.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p>Fithian's <i>Journal</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Journal of a Young Lady of Virginia</i>, 1782, published in Baltimore, +1788, by Lucinda Lee (daughter of Thomas Ludwell Lee).</p> + + +<p class="center">MADAM WASHINGTON</p> + +<p><i>George Washington</i>, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p><i>The Mother of Washington and Her Times</i>, by Sara Pryor.</p> + +<p>"Betty Lewis," by Elizabeth Dabney Coleman, <i>Virginia Cavalcade</i>, +Winter, 1952.</p> + + +<p class="center">AFTER THE REVOLUTION</p> + +<p>"After the Revolution," by Arthur H. Jennings, <i>Richmond +Times-Dispatch</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Virginians at Home</i>, by Edmund S. Morgan, 1952, p. 3.</p> + +<p><i>Tobacco Coast</i>, by Arthur Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., 1953, p. 42.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Dress in America</i>, by Elizabeth McClellan.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Methodism</i>, by W. W. Sweet.</p> + +<p>"The Colonial Glebes," by Emily Blayton Major, in <i>Richmond +Times-Dispatch</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Our Republic</i>, by Riley Chandler Hamilton, 1910.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_235" id="page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center">MANTUA</p> + +<p>"Old 'Mantua'," by Lucy Brown Beale, from notes of Dr. George William +Beale, published in the <i>Northern Neck Historical Magazine</i>, 1951.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Chatfield-Taylor, Mantua, Northumberland County, +Virginia, 1952.</p> + +<p>The late Miss Sallie H. Barron, Warsaw, Virginia, 1952.</p> + + +<h3>PART III—<i>NINETEENTH CENTURY</i></h3> + + +<p class="center">ROBERT E. LEE</p> + +<p><i>The Lees of Virginia</i>, by Burton J. Hendrick.</p> + +<p><i>The Life of General Robert E. Lee</i>, by James D. McCabe, Jr., published +1866.</p> + +<p>"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, <i>Holiday Magazine</i>, +January, 1953.</p> + +<p>"W & L's 'Maybe Portrait'," by Sally Leverty, <i>Richmond Times-Dispatch</i>, +Sunday Features, June 7, 1953.</p> + + +<p class="center">SMITH POINT LIGHT</p> + +<p>Blunt's <i>American Coast Pilot</i>, 1804 and 1833 issues, (courtesy of +Robert H. Burgess, The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va.).</p> + +<p>U. S. Coast Guard, Public Information Division, Washington, D. C. +(Historically Famous Lighthouses.)</p> + +<p>Capt. Clem F. Haynie, Reedville, Va.</p> + +<p>Capt. Henry Haynie, Reedville, Va.</p> + +<p>Miss Maggie Gough, Sunny Bank, Va.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE RAIDERS</p> + +<p>"Memoirs of Judge Samuel Downing," published in <i>Northern Neck +Historical Magazine</i>, 1951.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p>"Old Virginia Bottles," by Walter J. Sparks, published in <i>Richmond +Times-Dispatch Sunday Magazine</i>, 1938.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Methodism</i>, by W. W. Sweet.</p> + +<p><i>Chesapeake Bay</i>, by M. V. Brewington, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, W. P. A., 1946.</p> + +<p>Hale's <i>United States</i>, 1844.</p> + +<p>"The Chesapeake's Million Years," by Harold A. Williams, published in +<i>The Baltimore Sun</i>, October 18, 1953.</p> + + +<p class="center">STEAMBOATS</p> + +<p>Civil War letters (unpublished).</p> + +<p><i>The Chesapeake Bay Country</i>, by Sampson Earle.</p> + +<p><i>Chesapeake Bay</i>, by M. V. Brewington, 1953.</p> + + +<p class="center">HANNAH AND THE FALLING STARS</p> + +<p>As told to the writer in 1932, by: Hannah Crockett (1817-1933). A native +of Northumberland County, Virginia.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia Cavalcade</i>, Winter, 1955.</p> + +<p>The Diary of Governor John Floyd, of Virginia, 1833. (Virginia State +Library.)</p> + +<p><i>Northern Neck News</i>, Warsaw, Va., February, 1931.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE BLOCKADE</p> + +<p>Unpublished Civil War letters (private collection).</p> + +<p>"Annals of the War," by Col. Joseph Mayo, Hague, Va., published in +<i>Philadelphia Public Ledger</i>, 1880.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_236" id="page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>Dr. Douglas S. Freeman, (correspondence).</p> + +<p>S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926).</p> + +<p><i>Historically Famous Lighthouses</i>, published by U. S. Coast Guard.</p> + +<p><i>Chesapeake Bay</i>, by M. V. Brewington, 1953.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE HOME GUARD</p> + +<p>A notarized statement written in 1927 by a former member of the +Northumberland Home Guard, Bertrand B. Haynie, Reedville, Va., addressed +to the Virginia Pension Office in Richmond, and later transferred to the +Archives of the Virginia State Library, Richmond. (This document was +brought to the attention of the writer by Miss Eva Jett, Reedville, Va.)</p> + +<p>"Rev. C. T. Thrift," Durham, N. C., in the Voice of the People, +<i>Richmond Times-Dispatch</i>, April 5, 1952.</p> + +<p>Incidents related to the writer by Hon. Theodore Augustus Jett +(1850-1920), a member of the Northumberland Home Guard.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE MYSTERY OF HORSE POND</p> + +<p>As related to the writer by Hon. C. O. Hammack, Sunny Bank, Va., a +grandson of Sardelia Evans.</p> + + +<p class="center">SCHOONER IN A MILL-POND</p> + +<p>As told to the writer in 1953 by two of Capt. Jehu's sons: Capt. Henry +Haynie and Capt. Clem F. Haynie, both of Reedville, Va.</p> + + +<p class="center">WAR BONNETS</p> + +<p>S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926), a native of Northumberland +County.</p> + +<p>Estelle Betts Haynie, Reedville, Va., 1955, a native of Northumberland +County.</p> + + +<p class="center">AMANDA AND THE YANKEES</p> + +<p>Olivia Frances Jett Williams (1874-1940).</p> + +<p>Hannah Crocket (1817-1933). Interviewed by writer in 1932.</p> + +<p>Bible records, letters, documents, etc.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE HORSEHAIR RING</p> + +<p>Olivia Frances Jett Williams (1874-1940).</p> + +<p>Confederate Army records, Bible records, letters, obituaries, etc.</p> + +<p>Tangible Proof: the Horsehair Ring and Confederate Note.</p> + + +<p class="center">MIRACLE AT KETCHUM'S CAMP</p> + +<p>S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926).</p> + +<p>Hon. Theodore Augustus Jett (1850-1920), a member of the Northumberland +Home Guard.</p> + + +<p class="center">DESPERATE PASSAGE</p> + +<p>"Rappahannock Ferry," by Turner Rose, published in <i>Washington Post</i>, +March 13, 1938.</p> + +<p><i>Historic Northern Neck</i>, by H. Ragland Eubank.</p> + +<p>"On the Trail of an Assassin," by Benjamin Herman, published in +<i>Baltimore Sun Sunday Magazine</i>, 1954.</p> + +<p>"America's Greatest Unsolved Murder," by Joseph Millard, published in +<i>True Magazine</i>, February, 1953.</p> + +<p><i>Virginia</i>, W. P. A., 1946.</p> + +<p><i>The Chesapeake Bay Country</i>, by Sampson Earle, pp. 96-97.</p> + + +<p class="center">AFTER THE WAR</p> + +<p>Hon. J. J. McDonald, in <i>Northumberland Echo</i>, 1923.</p> + +<p>S. Roland Hall, in <i>Northumberland Echo</i>, September 28, 1934.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_237" id="page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hon. Theodore Augustus Jett (1850-1920).</p> + +<p>S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926).</p> + + +<p class="center">SPEECH</p> + +<p><i>Warwickshire Dialect</i>, by Appleton Morgan.</p> + +<p><i>The Cradle of the Republic</i>, by Lyon G. Tyler.</p> + +<p>Writings of Rev. Hugh Jones, A. M., 1722.</p> + + +<p class="center">SHOPPING TRIPS</p> + +<p>S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926), a native of Northumberland +County, Va.</p> + + +<p class="center">MENHADEN</p> + +<p><i>Works of Capt. John Smith</i>, edited by Arber.</p> + +<p><i>Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century</i>, by P. A. Bruce.</p> + +<p><i>The Menhaden Industry of the Atlantic Coast</i>, by Rob Leon Greer, Bureau +of Fisheries Document No. 811, Washington Government Printing Office, +1917.</p> + +<p><i>An Account of the Reed Family</i>, written by the late George N. Reed, +Reedville, Virginia.</p> + +<p><i>American Fisheries: A History of The Menhaden</i>, by G. Brown Goode and +W. O. Atwater. New York, Orange Judd Company, 245 Broadway. Pub. 1880. +(The fifth annual report of the Commissioner of Fisheries.)</p> + +<p>Capt. Henry Haynie, Reedville, Va.</p> + +<p>W. Harold Haynie, Reedville, Va.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE OLD STONE PILE</p> + +<p>Miss Maggie Gough, Mrs. Ruth Dodson, Capt. Clem Haynie and Capt. Henry +Haynie, all natives of Northumberland County, Va.</p> + +<p>1939 issue of the <i>Light List of the South Atlantic Coast</i>, (courtesy of +Robert Burgess, Mariners' Museum).</p> + + +<p class="center">KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT</p> + +<p><i>Light List of the South Atlantic Coast</i>, 1939 issue.</p> + +<p>Capt. J. R. Moore of the Wicomico River Light, 1952.</p> + +<p>Miss Maggie Gough, Sunny Bank, Va., and Mrs. Ruth Dodson, Edwardsville, +Va.</p> + + +<p class="center">THE HEADLESS DOG</p> + +<p>From many traditional accounts.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Note</span>: Variously spelled—Onawmanient, Onawma, etc.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Smith's Point is also called Smith Point.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The exact place of burial seems to be a controversial +subject.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The name "Moraughtacund" was corrupted to the present +"Morattico."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Indian words had various spellings. Chicacoan, for example, +was spelled Chickawane, Chickcoun, Chuckahann, Chickhan, Chiccoun, +Accoan, Sekacawane, Secone, Chickoun, Chickacoon, Sekacawone, +Chickacoan, Chicokolne, Chicokolue, Chicacoun, etc.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> This was the second Giles Brent, who was half-Indian.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Suggar Land was named for the sugar maple trees that at +that time grew in the region of what was later Fairfax and Loudoun +counties.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Note</span>: This church is said to have been located near the +present village of Lottsburg.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> George Washington was born "11th Day of February 1732, Old +Style," or February 22, 1732, "New Style." The latter is the now +accepted date.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Pantalettes were generally worn about 1830-50. The fact +that they were still being worn by children of the Northern Neck is +probably due to the isolated location of this peninsula.</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Transcriber's Notes:</p> + +<p>This is a rule 6 clearance. Extensive research indicates the copyright +on this book was not renewed.</p> + +<p>Spelling variations have been left as printed.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stronghold, by Miriam Haynie + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRONGHOLD *** + +***** This file should be named 36749-h.htm or 36749-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/4/36749/ + +Produced by Mark C. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Stronghold + A Story of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia and Its People + +Author: Miriam Haynie + +Release Date: July 16, 2011 [EBook #36749] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRONGHOLD *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _The Stronghold_ + + +A Story of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia and Its People + + + _By_ MIRIAM HAYNIE + + + _The Dietz Press, Incorporated_ + _Richmond, Virginia_ + _1959_ + + Copyright by + MIRIAM HAYNIE + 1959 + + Second Printing July, 1960 + Third Printing September, 1964 + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY + THE DIETZ PRESS, INCORPORATED + + + TO MY HUSBAND + WILLIAM HAROLD HAYNIE + AND + TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER AND FATHER: + OLIVIA FRANCES JETT WILLIAMS, AND + THOMAS JACKSON WILLIAMS, OF + "PLEASANT GROVE" + NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, + VIRGINIA + + + + +Acknowledgements + + +References have been given for each chapter so that in this way the +persons who so kindly gave personal interviews could be recognized +specifically. + +I wish to express my appreciation to the personnel of the Reference and +Circulation Section, General Library Division, of the Virginia State +Library, for their splendid service. Without the books from the Library +it would have been impossible for me to have accumulated the material +for this book. + +I wish to thank the _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, the _Fredericksburg Free +Lance-Star_ and _Virginia_ and _The Virginia County Magazine_, for their +kind permission to use any material which might be needed from articles +written by myself and previously published in those publications. + + M. H. + + _Reedville, Virginia, + June, 1959._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PART I--SEVENTEENTH CENTURY + +_Tidewater_ + +"_Ye Northerne Neck_" + +_The People_ + +_Indians and Early Explorers_ + +_Captain John Smith_ + +_Powhatan's Empire_ + +_Captain Smith Visits the Neck_ + +"_A Plaine Wildernes_" + +"_Wild Beastes_" + +"_Birds to Vs Unknowne_" + +_The Nominies_ + +_The Discoverers_ + +_The River of Swans_ + +_Mother of Waters_ + +_Quick-Rising-Water_ + +_Henry and Pocahontas_ + +_Henry and King Patowmeke_ + +_Henry's Relation_ + +_Betrayed_ + +_Kidnapped_ + +_The Indian Trader_ + +_A Petition_ + +_From North of the Potomac_ + +_The First Settler_ + +_Coan Hall_ + +_Neighbors_ + +_The "Kids"_ + +_Indian Servants_ + +_Money_ + +_A Paradise Discovered_ + +_A Visit to Jamestown_ + +_Frances_ + +_Forever Lost_ + +_Ursula_ + +_The Yard_ + +_Kittamaqund_ + +_The Gift_ + +_The Cavaliers_ + +"_Charlie-Over-The-Water_" + +_The Legacy_ + +_The Indian Deed_ + +_A Summons to Jamestown_ + +_The Oath_ + +_County Officers_ + +_Epraphrodibus's Will_ + +_The Challenge_ + +_Trade_ + +_The Colonial Sailor_ + +_John Carter_ + +_Fleet's Point_ + +_George Mason_ + +_Mary Calvert_ + +_He Lived Bravely_ + +_Witchcraft_ + +_Seahorse of London_ + +"_Tenn Mulberry Trees_" + +_Roads_ + +_Markets_ + +_The Old Dominion_ + +_The Proprietary_ + +_A First Lady of Jamestown_ + +_Land_ + +_Processioning_ + +"_The Banquetting House_" + +_The Land Agent_ + +_Hanna and the Horseshoe_ + +_Muster_ + +_The Store_ + +_The Wolf-Drive_ + +_The Indians and Robert Hen_ + +_The Royal Cavalcade_ + +_The King of the Northern Neck_ + +_Kith and Kin_ + +_The Fieldings_ + +_Pirates_ + +_Christmas at Colonel Fitzhugh's_ + +_Indian Visitors_ + +_Horse Racing_ + +_Manufacture_ + +_The Potomac Rangers_ + + +PART II--EIGHTEENTH CENTURY + +_Murders in Stafford_ + +_Free Schools_ + +_The Home in the Forest_ + +_Cherry Point_ + +_Sandy Point_ + +_Augustine_ + +_Popes Creek_ + +_The War Path_ + +_Falmouth_ + +_Burnt House Field_ + +_Stratford Hall_ + +_George Washington_ + +_Epsewasson_ + +_Ferry Farm_ + +_Fredericksburg_ + +_School Days_ + +_The Indians_ + +_The Pow-Wow_ + +_Mount Vernon_ + +_Washington Washed Here--_ + +_The Ordinary_ + +_Nelly_ + +_Miss Betsy_ + +_The Proprietor of the Northern Neck_ + +_The Marshalls_ + +_The Leedstown Resolutions_ + +_Fithian_ + +_The School in the Wildwood_ + +_James and John_ + +_Captain Dobby_ + +_Pedlars_ + +_Seven Satin Petticoats_ + +_Phi Beta Kappa_ + +_Light-Horse Harry_ + +_A Band of Brothers_ + +_The Divine Matilda_ + +_Madam Washington_ + +_After the Revolution_ + +_Mantua_ + + +PART III--NINETEENTH CENTURY + +_Robert E. Lee_ + +_Smith Point Light_ + +_The Raiders_ + +_Steamboats_ + +_Hannah and the Falling Stars_ + +_Dear to His Heart_ + +_The Blockade_ + +_The Home Guard_ + +_The Mystery of Horse Pond_ + +_Schooner in a Mill-pond_ + +_War Bonnets_ + +_Amanda and the Yankees_ + +_The Horsehair Ring_ + +_Miracle at Ketchum's Camp_ + +_Desperate Passage_ + +_After the War_ + +_Speech_ + +_Shopping Trips_ + +_Menhaden_ + +_The Old Stone Pile_ + +_Keepers of the Light_ + +_The Headless Dog_ + + +PART IV--CONCLUSION + +_The Ancient Mansion Seats_ + +_Appendix_ + +_Sources_ + + + + +List of Illustrations + + +John Smith in the shallop exploring the waters of Northern Neck, +Virginia + +Henry Spelman living amongst the Indians + +Pocahontas is traded for a copper kettle and becomes an hostage to +Captain Argall + +First settlers at Coan + +"King" Carter attends Christ Church + +Mary Ball at Yeocomico Church + +The infant, George Washington at Wakefield, his birthplace + +Young Washington helping in the handling of "seine" on the Potomac + +Young George Washington becomes a friend of Lord Fairfax, Proprietor of +Northern Neck + +Young Robert E. Lee learning to ride + +Skirmish between the Virginia Militia and the British during the War of +1812 at Farnham Church + +"Yankee" foragers during the Civil War + + + + +_Introduction_ + + +I have read with a great deal of pleasure the book called _The +Stronghold_, which relates the history of the Northern Neck of Virginia +in story form and was written by my good friend, Miriam Haynie of +Reedville, Virginia. Mrs. Haynie is a native of the Northern Neck of +Virginia, her family on both sides having settled there in the +seventeenth century, and her direct ancestors having remained there +until this day. She is the author of a number of articles dealing with +the history and traditions and customs of the peninsula between the +Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers that have appeared in the _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, the Washington papers and national publications. She is +devoted to this section of Virginia and has spent a large part of her +life in accumulating an enormous fund of historical data of the region. + +_The Stronghold_ is a most interesting book, especially to Virginians +and to natives and descendants of natives of the Northern Neck of +Virginia. It is divided into three sections, the seventeenth century, +the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century. It tells a great deal +about the early history of the Colony and more especially of that +portion of the Colony of Virginia, of which she is a native, from the +days when the white man first came to the Potomac and Rappahannock +Rivers down to the beginning of the twentieth century. She relates in a +most pleasing language the first visits of Captain John Smith to the +waters surrounding the Northern Neck, also the capture of Princess +Pocahontas by the colonists, which occurred on the Potomac River or on +one of its tributaries, and many other events connected with our early +history that we are prone to overlook in the rush and whirl of these +modern days. Her book will be particularly interesting to children as it +is written in simple language and in story form so that a child in the +fifth grade may read and understand it. It is a most entertaining and +interesting work and will impress upon children the early history of our +part of the Colony of Virginia and the hardships endured by our +ancestors who came here to settle in the wilderness. In saying that it +will be particularly interesting to children I do not mean to restrict +interest in the book entirely to children for it will be both +interesting and educational to all lovers of history regardless of age. + +As is true in all works of this kind some of the historical statements +she has made will be open to contention but in the main it is a true +and correct history of the Northernmost Peninsula of the Old Dominion +and pays proper attention to the distinguished men and women who first +saw the light of day within its confines. It will be excellent parallel +reading to be engaged in by every student of history in the high schools +of the State. It is also interesting in that it discusses and makes a +record of many traditions and customs peculiar to the region. It will be +both interesting and valuable as a reference book for future historians +of Virginia and will afford great pleasure to all of us who love to read +about the history of our State. + +Prior to the coming of good roads to Virginia and the building of the +bridges across the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers what is known as the +Northern Neck, although actually a peninsula, was to those living in the +eastern portion almost an island and it was but natural that marked +peculiarities of the people of this section distinguished them not only +from those who lived in other sections of the country but to a less +extent from those living in other parts of Virginia. These distinct +peculiarities appeared in pronunciation, in folk-lore and traditions. +With the exception of the colored people at least ninety-five per cent +of the ancestors of the present population of this section came from +Great Britain and preserved with little change the speech, the culture +and the habits of the British people and it is these things that +distinguished them to some extent from people living in other parts of +the country. In Colonial days a very high state of culture was in +existence among the great plantations of the Northern Neck and their +contributions to the development of this country have included several +of the great heroes of the nation. To a considerable extent all these +attributes have been handed down from generation to generation and every +one in the Northern Neck well knows and is proud of the fact that George +Washington and Robert E. Lee were natives of the section. + +All these things are emphasized by Miriam Haynie in her most excellent +and readable book, which will be a real contribution to the history of +Virginia. + + ROBERT O. NORRIS, JR. + + _Lively, Virginia, + May 16, 1959._ + + + + +PART I + +Seventeenth Century + + + + +THE STRONGHOLD + + +_TIDEWATER_ + +The country surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, which is known as the +Tidewater, has been compared to the Bible Lands, the Netherlands and +Venice. + +Captain John Smith, military leader of the expedition to Virginia in +1607, who explored and mapped the Chesapeake Bay and the Bay Country, +described it thus: + +"There is but one entrance by sea into this country, and that is at the +mouth of a very goodly Bay, the widenesse whereof is 18 or 20 miles. + +"Within is a country ... heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a +place for man's habitation.... Here are ... hils, plaines, valleys, +rivers and brookes all running most pleasantly into a faire Bay +compassed but for the mouth with fruitfull and delightsome land...." + + +"_YE NORTHERNE NECK_" + +On the western shore of the Bay there are three peninsulas, or necks, +carved out of Virginia's shoreline by the tidal rivers. + +The third, and northernmost, of these peninsulas lies between the +Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers. It was probably referred to orally +by the first white men who settled at Jamestown as "the northern neck." +The name appeared in print certainly as early as 1677, when in an +official document it was mentioned as "ye Northerne Neck." + +This third peninsula north lies aloof, and long, between its broad +rivers, as they flow into the Chesapeake Bay on the east. + +From the Bay the narrow strip of land, only fifteen or twenty miles +wide, runs inland between the rivers for almost a hundred miles, until +it narrows near Fredericksburg so that the rivers almost join--not quite +an island but more cut-off than the usual peninsula. In the old days +when there were almost no roads, and no bridges, the Neck was to those +living in the eastern portion more like an island than a peninsula. Only +from the west could one travel in or out by land and that exit was +rarely used. + +Its geographical position made the Northern Neck for many years almost +as inaccessible as an ancient stronghold surrounded by a moat. + + +_THE PEOPLE_ + +The Northern Neck could be compared with ancient Mesopotamia--a land +between two rivers where a new civilization started. + +The early settlers came to the wilderness in satins and velvets, they +surrounded themselves with the niceties of living, as near like those +they had left in England as was possible. They shopped in London as they +had before and traded with the world directly from their own +habitations. + +But the conditions of their new wilderness home changed and moulded them +and made them into something different--a new breed of men. + +By the time unusual men were needed to shape an unusual type of +government, descendants from this stock were ready for the undertaking. + +In the Northern Neck there are still so many reminders of these +remarkable people that it is not hard to imagine them as they might have +been in their habitat several centuries ago--John Mottrom sailing into +the Coan in his brightly-colored shallop; the Mottrom children playing +their medieval games in the shadow of the primeval woods; Ursula +twirling the venison roast on its hempen string before the fire; Hanna +Neale passing the witchcraft test; young Jack Lee dashing down the +forest aisles on his spirited mount; George Mason pulling the arrows +from the "poor people"; Moore Fauntleroy measuring off his thirty arm's +lengths of rhoanoke for the waiting Accopatough; King Carter rumbling +down his avenue in his coach and six; Mary Ball on her dapple gray; +James Monroe and John Marshall walking down the Parson's Lane with +school books and muskets; Nelly Madison singing to her new baby; young +George Washington riding down to see "Miss Betsy" on a fruitless +mission, and little Robert E. Lee saying good-bye to the cherubs in the +nursery fireplace.... + + +_INDIANS AND EARLY EXPLORERS_ + +What men first knew this land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac +Rivers? + +It is believed that Indians lived along the shores of the Chesapeake +Bay's tributaries three thousand years ago. + +The Vikings may have entered the Bay and explored the nearby streams and +lands in the eleventh century. + +Cabot, an Italian seaman under commission from King Henry VII of +England, may have entered the Chesapeake at the end of the fifteenth +century. + +Spaniards sailed into the Bay and explored some of the region in the +sixteenth century. + +European traditions tell of adventurers of other nations who may have +visited this region. + +Late in the year 1607, Captain John Smith traveled from Jamestown as far +north as the Potomac when, as a captive of Opechancanough, he was +paraded before the Indian tribes of the Tidewater region. He may have +been the first white man to make a comprehensive tour of the Northern +Neck of Virginia. + + +_CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH_ + +When John Smith heard about the New World across the seas it sounded +good to him--it was the sort of adventure that he had been waiting for +all of his life. + +He had been born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1579. Even as a small lad +John Smith had been "set upon brave adventures." Tradition says that he +sold his books and satchel and was preparing to run away to sea when he +was stopped by the death of his father. + +He was soon apprenticed to a merchant but he hated the counting-house. +He longed to be free and go to sea. When he was about fifteen he could +no longer stand being caged so he ran away. After a number of adventures +he became a soldier in the Netherlands. + +Some time later he went home on a visit to Lincolnshire, where he "lived +a great deal in society." He soon tired of this way of life and retired +to a wooded pasture where he built himself a shelter of boughs and +became a hermit. + +In the peace and solitude of the pasture he studied Machiavelli's _Arte +of Warre_ and the writings of Marcus Aurelius. He exercised with a good +horse, a lance and a ring, and lived mostly on venison, which he took +without worrying too much over the game laws. His other wants were +supplied by a servant, his only contact with the world. + +Because of his unusual mode of life news of John Smith traveled around +the countryside but it did not worry him because "he provoked the wonder +of the peasantry." + +At length an Italian gentleman, who had become interested in what he had +heard of John Smith, penetrated his forest hideout and persuaded him to +come into society once more. After many more adventures and hairbreadth +escapes in foreign lands he returned to England in 1604, in time for +another adventure. He was still a young man, about twenty-five, but he +was matured and hardened far beyond his years. + +When the little band of colonists set sail for America from Blackwall, +England in December 1606, John Smith was with them. + +The voyage was a stormy one in more ways than one. By the time the +little "sea-wagons" arrived in the West Indies Smith, who had been put +in irons, came very near being hanged, according to tradition. + +It was April when the ships with their bedraggled passengers entered the +Chesapeake Bay. The fragrance of "pyne" reached them from the virgin +forest that covered the face of the land. It was a New World in every +sense of the meaning--new, fresh, untouched. + +When the sealed orders of the King were opened it was found that John +Smith had been named a member of the Council. He demanded trial for the +charges preferred against him: "that he plotted on arrival in Virginia +to murder the Council and make himself the king there." He was tried and +acquitted by the first jury to serve in America. Smith was released but +was not yet admitted to the Council. + +As it turned out John Smith was the only man among them who was prepared +to build a new country. In the beginning he warned the colonists that +"no man is entitled to a place in America, he must make his own." + + +_POWHATAN'S EMPIRE_ + +When John Smith started exploring the region around the Chesapeake he +found that it was inhabited by a number of small Indian tribes. These +Indians were known as the Algonquians. + +These tribes made up a confederation under the iron rule of a powerful +"king" called Powhatan. At his command there were about twenty-five +hundred warriors. + +Smith made a map which shows a total of one hundred and sixty-one +villages within Powhatan's "32 Kingdomes." + +Indian villages were owned in common. The hunting grounds, and pieces of +cleared land used for the cultivation of corn, tobacco and vegetables +belonged to the tribe. A warrior owned nothing except his garments, +tomahawks, bows and arrows. + +The Algonquians had no written laws. Their customs were handed down +through the old men around the campfires from generation to generation. +These unwritten laws were well-defined and worked in a positive and +forceful way. + +The tribes between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers belonged to +the Powhatan confederacy. Their language was a variety of the Delaware +Indian language. + + +_CAPTAIN SMITH VISITS THE NECK_ + +It was bitterly cold, "with frost and snow," when Captain John Smith +first saw the land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers. + +Captain Smith's first visit to the Neck was not one of pleasure or +exploration. He came as a captive of the Indian chief, Opechacanough. + +It was in the winter of 1607-08. During that year Smith made "3. or 4. +journies and discovered the people of Chickahamania." It was on the last +of these "journies" that he was taken prisoner, and led about in triumph +and exhibited to the tribes of the Tidewater region, from the James to +the Potomac. + +Smith was carried to Tophanocke, "a kingdome upon a River northward." +This river was the Rappahannock. Here they stopped at the village of the +Nantaughtacunds. + +Smith and his captors may have sped swiftly and silently through the +forest but when they approached a village a triumphal procession was +formed which was marked by "a barbarous sort of pomp." + +Captain Smith was guarded on either side by a savage who kept fast hold +upon his wrist. Opechacanough moved in the middle of the column and the +swords, guns and pistols which had been taken from Smith and his +companions were borne before the Indian chief. + +Their approach was heralded by the songs and shrieks and dances of the +warriors. Their yells of death and victory brought out the women and +children to behold their triumph over this strange-looking creature from +another world, after which there was great feasting. + +Smith was feasted, too. He was fed so well "with bread and venison that +would have served 20 men" that he believed that he was being fattened to +be eaten later on. + +From the Rappahannock the procession pushed on across the Neck until it +reached the village of the Nominies,[1] near the Potomac. Here the same +procedure was again repeated. + +[Footnote 1: NOTE: Variously spelled--Onawmanient, Onawma, etc.] + +After their stay near the Potomac the parade turned back from whence it +had come. The destination, now, was Powhatan's favorite spot on the York +River, where that great chief was waiting to settle the fate of Captain +John Smith. + +When at length Smith was brought before Powhatan, he was received with +all the formal pomp and state known to the savage court. A long +consultation was held by the council there assembled. + +Captain Smith knew what the decision was when two large stones were +brought in by the warriors. His end was not yet, however, for Powhatan's +daughter, Pocahontas, according to Smith, saved the day by thrusting +herself between him and the up-raised club. + +By the time Captain Smith reached Jamestown again nearly seven weeks had +elapsed since his capture. Though his tour of the Tidewater country had +been under humiliating conditions he had gathered by observation and +from the Indians a large amount of useful knowledge. + + +"_A PLAINE WILDERNES_" + +How did the Northern Neck look to Captain John Smith on his first visit +there? + +Just like the rest of the Chesapeake Bay country--"all over-growne with +trees and ... being a plaine wildernes as God first made it." + +The size of the trees impressed him most, and the lack of undergrowth +beneath them. + +"So lofty and erect," he wrote, "were many of these trees and so great +their diameter that their trunks afforded plank twenty yards in length +and two and a half feet square." + +Freedom from undergrowth he found was due to the annual burnings of the +Indians in their efforts to capture whole herds of deer by surrounding +them with a belt of fire. These firings made no impressions upon the +giant trees. + +The trees were so far apart, Smith says, "... that a man may gallop a +horse amongst these woods any waie, but where the creeks or Rivers shall +hinder." (Other early writers say that a coach could have been driven +through the trees, and a person could be seen in the forest at a mile +and a half.) + +It was winter when Captain Smith first saw the Neck therefore he had a +view unobstructed by foliage of the great tree trunks and spacious +forest aisles, "bespred" with brown pine needles and ornamented with +green vines and scarlet turkey berries. + +Since it is impossible to travel far in the Neck without coming upon +some stream of water, many of John Smith's forest vistas must have ended +with a glimpse of a river or frozen pond. He wrote of the many "sweete +and christall springs" that flowed through the woods on their way to the +sea. + +Many of the forest trees were white oaks, and some may have been a +thousand or more years old. These groves were revered by the Indians. +Indians were fond of the mulberry tree. Smith notes: "By the dwelling of +the savages are some great Mulberry trees; and in some parts of the +country, they are found growing naturally in prettie groves." + +Besides pine, oak and mulberry, there were, Smith writes, "... goodliest +Woods as Beech, Cedar, Cypresse, Walnuts, Sassfras, and other trees +unknowne." Chinquapin was one of the "trees unknowne." + +Locust and tulip poplar were plentiful. Sweet gum, live oak, holly and +cedar flourished in low grounds. Bayberry grew in the swamps and near +the edge of the water. + +When Captain Smith first saw the Neck it was bitterly cold, with "frost +and snow," so he may not have seen the pine needles and scarlet turkey +berries. The forest aisles may have been deeply covered with snow. + + +"_WILD BEASTES_" + +If the forest floor was covered with snow when Captain John Smith was +led a captive across the Northern Neck in the winter of 1607, it is +probable that he saw snowshoe rabbits scampering about between the big +trees. Porcupines lived there too, and wild-cats, pole-cats and a marten +known as "black fox." The little animal he saw with the spotted coat, +like the skin of a fawn, was a ground squirrel. + +John Smith saw the flying squirrel and the opossum for he describes +them: "A small beast they haue ... we call them flying squirrels, +because spreading their legs, and so stretching the largeness of their +skins, that they have bin seene to fly 30 or 40 yards. An opassom hath +an head like a Swine, and a taile like a Rat, and is the bigness of a +Cat." + +Ordinary squirrels, rabbits, foxes and "Rackoones" were abundant. +Captain John Smith no doubt saw beaver at work when they crossed the +many streams. "The Beaver," he wrote, "is as bigge as an ordinary water +dogge ... His taile somewhat like ... a Racket, bare without haire." + +The procession of Indians and the lone white man may have come upon a +herd of heavy, slow-moving "Kine." (These were buffalo but are believed +to have lacked the hump.) They were not as wild as the other animals of +the wilderness. Perhaps Smith caught glimpses of the elk that roamed the +forest. + +At night John Smith heard the sounds of many wild beasts. The wolves +were small but numerous and ravenous. In the evening they hunted like a +pack of beagle hounds. + +If the procession happened to be encamped near the head of a river he +probably heard before morning the scream of a panther as he stalked his +prey. + +But of all the animals in the Tidewater region at that time, Smith says +"Of beastes the chiefe are Deare." + +The Northern Neck had been hunted less by the Indians than the lower +peninsulas, and it was teeming with wildlife. The primeval forest +furnished home and food for the "wild beastes." + + +"_BIRDS TO VS UNKNOWNE_" + +When John Smith traveled across the Northern Neck, from the Rappahannock +to the Potomac, in the winter of 1607, he probably saw many birds, for +this was their season. + +"In winter," he wrote, "there are great plenty of Swans, Craynes gray +and white with blacke wings, Herons, Geese, Brants, Ducke, Wigeon, +Dotterell, Oxeies, Parrots, and Pigeons. Of all those sorts great +abundance, and some other strange kinds, to vs unknowne by name. But in +sommer not any, or a very few to be seene." + +For ages wildfowl had been multiplying with little to hinder them. The +Indians killed only what they needed and their weapons were too +primitive to make an impression on the great flocks of waterfowl that +came to the rivers and marshes to feed on the heavy growth of wild +celery, oats and other aquatic plants. + +In early winter when these fowl gathered in their annual migration from +the North the sky, it was said, was darkened with them as they arose and +descended from their feeding grounds in the marshes lying along shore. + +John Smith probably heard the trumpet notes of the swans and saw the +pattern of flight of the wild geese many times while on his "journie." + +He may have at some time seen one of the flightless Great Auks, swimming +along down the Bay on its way South for the winter. Or he may have +espied a heath hen on the shores of the Chesapeake. + +It is doubtful if he saw very many of the "Parrots" he mentioned. They +were nocturnal creatures--small, swift, bright and beautiful. The +passenger pigeons came in such flocks that their "weights brake down the +limbs of large trees thereon they rested at night." + +There were many red birds to brighten the somber forest aisles. A little +bird with white breast and black wings and back was called "snow-bird" +by the English because it arrived at the first fall of snow. Captain +Smith probably saw these in the vicinity of the Indian villages as they +stayed near habitations. + +Turkeys were common in the reedy marshes. Flocks of four and five +hundred were not unusual. These wild turkeys, early writers say, +averaged forty pounds in weight. + +Quail and other common varieties of birds were abundant. + + +_THE NOMINIES_ + +The Indians reckoned their years by winters, or cohonks, as they called +them, "which was a name taken from the note of the wild geese, +intimating so many times of the wild geese coming to them, which was +every winter." + +There is no way of knowing whether it was the first or second moon of +cohonks when John Smith and his captors arrived at the village of the +Nominies, near the Potomac. It was so cold that Smith marveled at how +some of the scantily clad warriors could endure it. He felt thankful +that his own "gowne," which he had lost when he was captured, had been +returned to him. + +The village must have appeared bleak and primitive, with its fifteen or +twenty arbor-like dwellings scattered among the sparse trees, its barren +garden plots, its cornfields, marked by last season's dead stalks and +some burned-out tree stumps. + +As the procession approached there is little doubt that the scene came +to life. The dogs were probably the first to join their howls with the +death and victory yells of the warriors. These Indian dogs resembled a +cross between a male wolf and an ordinary female dog. There were no +other domestic animals, no beasts of burden, and no way to travel except +by foot or canoe. + +The women and children who emerged from the mat-covered doors of their +houses were dressed in garments made of the skins of wild beasts with +the hair left on for winter. Some wore long cloaks, made of skins +embroidered with beads, others wore beautiful mantles of turkey +feathers. Some wore feathered headgear, and jewelry fashioned of shells, +beads and copper. + +Smith wrote that the Indians gazed upon him "as he had beene a monster." + +He was probably deposited in one of the houses, with a guard of six or +eight warriors. These houses were built of flexible boughs, set in two +parallel rows with floor space between, and lashed together at the top +to form an arch-shaped roof. The entire framework was covered with bark +or woven grass mats. "He who knoweth one such house," wrote Smith, +"knoweth them all." + +Inside the houses were "drie, warme, smokie." There was no chimney to +conduct the smoke from the fire on the dirt floor to the vent in or near +the roof. If the fire ever went out it was hard to start a new +one--"their fire they kindle by chafing a dry pointed stike in a hole +of a little peece of wood, that firing itselfe will so fire mosse, +leaves, or anie such like drie thing that will quickly burne." + +John Smith was no doubt glad to have a "warme," "drie" place to rest, +even though "smokie." He could stretch out on one of the platforms +running down each side of the building. There were no partitions in +these houses. The platforms, about a foot high, served as beds, and were +spread with "fyne white mattes" and skins. Whole families, from six to +twenty persons, slept in these one-room dwellings, some on the +platforms, some on the ground. + +Captain Smith could probably hear the celebration going on outside. The +Indians had a large plot which they used for feasts and a place where +they made merry when the feasts were over. + +With the abundance of wildfowl and game and the harvest of corn stored +away, this was an ideal time for feasting. Oysters from the Potomac were +probably included in the menu for the Indians were fond of roasted +oysters. + +Smith was not forgotten. He noted that they "fedde" him "bountifully," +but would not eat with him. We can imagine him there at his solitary +meal, supping on corn pone, "fish, fowle, and wild beastes, exceeding +fat," by the light of "candells of the fattest splinters of the pine." + + +_THE DISCOVERERS_ + +When Captain John Smith was in the Northern Neck he saw the Potomac and +heard tales from the "Salvages" of a place where there was a mine of +"glistering mettal." He made up his mind that if he got out of this +predicament he would explore the river "Patowmeke," find the gold mine, +and perhaps a passage "strait through to the South Sea." + +When he finally did get back to Jamestown the colony was in a bad way. +During the extreme cold of the winter of 1607-8, the heavy fires +necessary for warmth had caused the thatch-roofed town to burn. This +included the granary with all their provisions, and the "palisadoes." + +By the time the town had been rebuilt, and other difficulties adjusted, +it was summer. John Smith was impatient to begin his next adventure but +he waited until the corn crop had been "laid by." + +[Illustration: _John Smith in the shallop exploring the waters of +Northern Neck, Virginia._] + +He left the fort on the second of June, 1608, in an open barge of "less +than three tons burthen." His only instrument was a compass. His +companions were--a physician, six gentlemen and seven soldiers. + +They crossed the Chesapeake Bay to the eastern shore, proceeding along +the coast, "searching every inlet and bay fit for harbours and +habitations." The Bay was easy to navigate, the greatest menace were the +sudden thunder squalls. + +Smith soon became disgusted with his crew. He wrote that they had not "a +marriner or any that had skill to trim their sayles, use their oares, or +any business belonging to the Barge, but 2 or 3, the rest being +Gentlemen, or as ignorant in such toyle and labour." + +For provisions they had "nothing but a little meale or oatmeale and +water to feed them; and scarse halfe sufficient of that for halfe that +time, but by the Savages and by the plentie of fish they found in all +places, they made themselves provision as opportunitie served." + +A thunder-storm took mast and sails and they were so "over-racked" by +such "mightie waves," that it was with great difficulty that they kept +the barge from sinking. They repaired the sails with their shirts. The +crew begged to turn back to Jamestown but Captain Smith spoke to them in +this manner: + +"Gentlemen-- + +"You cannot say but I have shared with you of the worst that is past; +and for what is to come, of lodging, diet, or whatsoever, I am contented +you allot the worst part to my selfe. As for your feares, that I will +lose my selfe in these unknowne large waters, or be swallowed up in some +stormie gust: abandon those childish fears, for worse then is past +cannot happen, and there is as much danger to returne, as to proceed +forward. Regaine therefore your old spirits: for returne I will not (if +God assist me) til I have--found Patawomeck, or the head of this great +water you conceit to be endlesse." + +It was now the thirteenth of June. + + +_THE RIVER OF SWANS_ + +Captain John Smith headed the barge toward the western shore of the Bay. +On the sixteenth of June "we fel with the river Patawomeck." + +When John Smith had last seen this River of Swans, as the Indians had +named it, water and sky were darkened by hordes of wildfowl. There had +been the sound of the whirring of many wings and great clamour. Now all +was quiet. There was nothing to remind him of that amazing congregation +of fowl that he had seen during "cohonks" except the marshes, lying here +and there along shore. + +"Feare being gone and our men recovered, wee were all contented" as the +barge sailed into the mouth "of this 9 myle broad river." On the south +lay the Northern Neck, indented by numerous inlets that promised +harbours, its eastern end extending into Chesapeake Bay. Its virgin +forest was now decked out with leaf and flower which sent fragrance to +the sea-weary voyagers. + +For thirty miles they sailed without adventure. Then two +Indians appeared and conducted them up a little creek towards +Onawmanient--"where all the woods were laid with Ambuscadoes to the +number of 3 or 400 Salvages; but so strangely painted, grimed, and +disguised, shouting, yelling, and crying, as we rather supposed them so +many divels." + +Captain Smith thought it best to scare them a little, so he trained his +guns so that the bullets would graze the water. This and the "eccho of +the woods so amazed them, that down went their bowes and arrowes." Peace +was made, hostages were exchanged and James Watkins, one of the company, +was sent with them "6 myles up the woods to their king's habitation. Wee +were kindly used by these Salvages: of whom we understand they were +commanded to betray us by Powhatan." + +Powhatan had his forces well organized. As they progressed up the river +they found the Indians ready for them: "The like incounters were found +at Patawomeck, Cecocawone, (Coan) and divers other places." + +The only tribes that received them with friendliness were the Moyaones, +Nacotchtants and Toags. There seems to be no further record of these +tribes. + +They went as far up the river as they could go in the barge, "140 +myles"; this was above the site of the present city of Washington, and +about ten miles above Georgetown. Captain Smith was stopped here by +impassable falls. His disappointment must have been great that his +search here did not yield an outlet to the "South Sea." + +On the return trip they had the good fortune to meet a number of Indians +in canoes loaded with slaughtered game--bears, deer and other "beasts." +Smith and his party were given liberal portions of the fresh meat, which +must have cheered them some. + +In this part of the river there were great rocks on the shores towering +above the trees, and the high banks gleamed in places like "a tinctured +spangled skurfe, that made many places seeme as guilded." Dreams of gold +were always in the minds of men at that time. Perhaps here was to be +found the "glistering mettal" that John Smith had heard about from the +Indians the winter before. + +Most of the company clambered up the banks and burrowed in the earth +among the cliffs. The ground was so sprinkled with gleaming spangles as +to seem "halfe pin dust." Smith refrained from this made scramble and +proceeded in a more organized way. + +With Japazaws, King of Patowmeke, as guide, he ascended one of the +tributaries of the river, called Quiyough, as far as the depth of water +would allow. Here Captain Smith left the barge, taking with him six men. +He was surrounded by Indians. Some of these he decorated with chains and +told them that if they conducted him safely to the mine they could keep +the ornaments. + +When they arrived at the place of the treasure, nine or ten miles +inland, the Englishmen saw that the Indians had been digging there with +their shells and hatchets for a long time. + +To their great disappointment the mine was not gold but antimony. The +Indians, who had been in the habit of digging there, washed the element +of its dross "in a fayre brooke of christel-like water" which "runneth +hard by it" and put it in little bags and sold it all over the country. +It was used to paint their idols and themselves. Smith noted that it +made them look like "blackmoores dusted over with silver." + +No minerals were discovered in this search either. They were rewarded in +a slight degree by some furs of mink, beaver, otter, bear and marten, +which they obtained mostly from the Indians of Cascarawaoke. This was a +merchant tribe that did much of the manufacturing and trading of this +country. The Potomac must have been used as a highway for trade as the +word Patowmeke is said to mean "to bring again," or, in a freer +rendering, "traveling traders, or pedlars." + +Smith's party found "plentie" of fish, "lying so thicke, with their +heads above the water, as for want of nets (our barge driving amongst +them) we attempted to catch them with a frying pan; but we found it a +bad instrument to catch fish with." + +Smith now continued toward the mouth of the Potomac and the Chesapeake. +He had little of tangible value to show for the trip up the river but he +had added greatly to his store of knowledge and could now add the +Potomac to his map of the Chesapeake and surrounding country. + +He notes that the Potomac was "inhabited on both sides. First on the +South side at the very entrance is Wighcocomoco (Little Wicomico) and +hath some 130 men, beyond them Sekacawone (Coan) with 30. The +Onawmanient with 100. And the Patawomekes more than 200." + +A point of land at the mouth of the Potomac, on the south side, he named +for himself, Smith's Point.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Smith's Point is also called Smith Point.] + + +_MOTHER OF WATERS_ + +When Captain John Smith and his bargeload of adventurers left the +Potomac they passed the tip of Smith's Point and headed south. They were +now on the Chesapeake Bay. + +Indians had long used this great inland sea as their waterway. Their +word, Chesapeake, has been translated in a number of ways, among +them--country on a great river and great salt bay. + +The Spaniards, who visited the Bay in the sixteenth century, had +documented it as Bahia de Santa Maria (St. Mary's Bay). Later, they +called it Bahia del Xacan (Axacan Bay), and a very old Spanish map calls +it, Madre de Aguas, meaning Mother of Waters. + +Captain Smith describes it simply as "a goodly bay." He wrote: "This Bay +lyeth North and South, in which the water floweth neare 200-myles, and +hath a channell for 140 myles, of depth betwixt 6 and 15 fadome, holding +in breadth for the most part 10 or 14 myles." + +Two of Smith's company recorded the fact that "Neither better fish, more +plenty or variety, had any of us seene in any place, swimming in the +water, then in the bay of Chesapeake." + +The Indians well knew the riches of their great Bay. They caught the fat +fish in weirs, with nets and lines for their angles made by their women +from thread spun from "the barkes of trees, Deeres Sinews, or a Kind of +Grass." They ate the sea-crabs that were said to be so large that four +Englishmen could feast on one of them. They roasted the oysters reported +to have been thirteen inches long at the time of the coming of the white +man. The shells were not wasted by the Indians--they were used for +medicine, ornaments, and wampum was made from the purple edges of the +clams. Even the lowly periwinkle was eaten. + +As the first English ships entered Chesapeake Bay the crews were +startled to see whales and schools of tumbling porpoises. The early +colonists were soon to learn that there were so many porpoises in the +Bay that canoes were sometimes overturned by them. + +When the Jamestown colony was starving they lived on the bounties of the +Bay--they caught the sea-crabs and sturgeons and sheepshead; the latter +they likened to the broth of their English mutton. And these same +strangers "groped in the deep for oysters which lay in places thick as +stones," according to an early writer. + +There were many oddities in the Bay which intrigued the Europeans--a +small fish that resembled St. George's Dragon, with legs and wings +omitted, the stinging nettle, and "the Todefish which will swell till it +be like to brust, when it commeth into the aire." + +As Captain John Smith and his crew proceeded down the Bay in the barge +they passed the end of the Northern Neck and came to the mouth of the +Rappahannock River. It was the intention of Smith to explore this river +and visit the acquaintances he had made "upon the river of Toppahannock" +during his captivity the preceding winter. But they were stopped by the +ebb-tide. The following account of what happened at the mouth of the +Rappahannock was written by members of the company, Dr. Walter Russell +and Anas Todkill. + +"But our boate (by reason of the ebbe) chansing to ground upon many +shoules lying in the entrance, we spied many fishes lurking amongst the +weedes on the sands. Our captaine sporting himselfe to catch them by +nailing them to the ground with his sword, set us all a fishing in that +manner. By this devise, we tooke more in an houre then we all could eat. + +"But it chanced, the captaine taking a fish from his sword (not knowing +her condition) being much of the fashion of a Thornebacke with a long +taile whereon is a most poysoned sting of 2 or 3 inches long, which shee +strooke an inch and (a) halfe into the wrist of his arme. The which, in +4 houres, had so extremely swolne his hand, arme, shoulder and part of +his body, as we al with much sorrow concluded (anticipated) his +funerall, and prepared his grave in an Ile hard by (as himselfe +appointed); which then wee called Stingeray Ile, after the name of the +fish. Yet by the helpe of a precious oile, Doctor Russell applyed, ere +night his tormenting paine was so wel asswaged that he eate the fish to +his supper: which gave no lesse joy and content to us, then ease to +himselfe. + +"Having neither Surgeon nor surgerie but that preservative oile, we +presently set saile for James Towne." + + +_QUICK-RISING-WATER_ + +It was not until August of 1608 that Captain John Smith had the +opportunity to explore the Rappahannock River. With him in the barge +were twelve men--"nearly the same persons as before"--and an Indian +guide named Mosco, "a lusty Salvage of Wighcocomoco." + +Unlike the other Indians, Mosco had a fine black bushy beard, of which +he was proud. Because of this peculiarity he ranked himself with the +Englishmen. Smith believed him to have been the son of a Frenchman. + +It was probably due to Mosco's influence that Smith's party was kindly +received and entertained by the Moraughtacunds. Mosco hurried about, +bringing wood and water, and guiding them throughout the neighborhood. +When Smith decided that it was time to push on Mosco warned him not to +visit the Rappahannock Indians. He described them as hostile to the +Moraughtacunds, and would be to the English too, because of their +friendly visit. + +Captain Smith believed that Mosco was using this argument to keep all +their trade for his friends. He headed the barge across the river toward +the forbidden territory. + +All seemed well as they neared the shore. A dozen or more Indians were +on hand to direct them to a good landing in a creek, where three or four +canoes filled with corn and other commodities for barter, were already +lined up. + +When in doubt Smith's custom was to exchange hostages. He made this +known but the Indians were reluctant to comply. After consultation among +themselves four or five of them ran out in the creek bringing with them +their hostage. + +Still distrustful, Smith sent one of his men, Anas Todkill, ashore to +look around. Within a stone's throw of the landing Anas discovered two +or three hundred Indians in ambush among the trees. Todkill attempted to +return to the barge but was intercepted by the Rappahannocks. At the +same time the Indian hostage jumped from the barge but was instantly +killed in the water by the English. A volley of shot from the barge +scattered the Indians and Todkill managed to escape. Several Indians +were wounded and killed but the English were unharmed. + +In this short while many arrows were shot but the barge was protected by +Indian shields, or targets, woven so firmly of sticks and grass that no +arrow could penetrate them. These Smith had gotten from the Massawomeks. + +Captain Smith and his comrades carried the captured canoes and arrows +across the river as gifts to Mosco and his friends. The return of the +English "was hailed with a trumpet." + +When the barge started up the river the next day Mosco was one of the +company. As they passed through a narrow place in the river, arrows that +seemed to fly from unseen hands began to hit the shields around the +boat. At the first arrow Mosco fell flat, hiding his head against the +bottom of the barge, but he directed his friends where to look in the +marsh, at the little bushes growing amongst the grass. The guns were +trained accordingly and at the first volley the bushes fell down and the +ambush disappeared. After the barge had moved about half a mile away the +Englishmen looked back and saw the thirty or forty Rappahannocks of the +ambuscade "dancing and singing very merrily." + +As the barge progressed up the river the explorers were kindly treated +by the several tribes that they encountered. But the company was +saddened, and lessened, by the death of Richard Featherstone, whose body +had weakened under the excessive heat and humidity of this unaccustomed +climate. + +The body of the young Englishman was laid to rest on the shores of a +little bay. His comrades honored him as best they could by firing a +volley of shot, and naming the bay for him--Featherstone Bay. Smith +marked it on his map and it is believed by some to have been near the +site of the present city of Fredericksburg.[3] + +[Footnote 3: The exact place of burial seems to be a controversial +subject.] + +The next day they sailed as high up the river as the barge would float. +Smith went ashore and set up crosses of wood and brass and cut their +names upon trees to signify that possession had been taken of the +country by English authority. + +While Smith was thus occupied the sentinel was surprised by an arrow +that fell beside him. The white men found that they were surrounded by +Indians who were hiding behind trees. After a half-hour skirmish the +Indians disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. Mosco was the hero +of the battle--he emptied his quiver, ran to the barge for fresh +supplies and pursued the fugitives. Coming upon a wounded enemy Mosco +would have beaten his brains out except for the English. + +After the physician, Anthony Bagnalle, had dressed the prisoner's +wounds, he recovered enough to answer Smith's questions. He belonged, +he told them, to the nation of the Mannahocks and was the brother of a +chief. He had heard that the English were a people come from under the +world to take their world from them. When asked what was beyond the +mountains, he answered, "The sun." This Indian's name was Amoroleck. + +Mosco was not in sympathy with these proceedings. He told the English +that the Mannahocks were a "naughty" race, as bad as the Rappahannocks, +and that they had better be on their way. + +Smith did not take Mosco's advice. It was night when the party finally +embarked and started back down the river. Before long the arrows started +rattling against the shields and dropping into the barge. The stream was +narrow here, with high banks on one side. Amoroleck called to his +people, but in vain; he could not be heard above the shrieks of the +warriors. Every now and then Smith discharged a musket in the direction +of the most noise. The Indians were persistent and followed the barge +for about twelve miles. The darkness was probably all that saved the +Englishmen. + +At daybreak the barge emerged into a wide place, where the weary +adventurers dropped anchor out of arrow-shot, and ate breakfast. They +were so tired and hungry that they paid no attention to the four or five +hundred warriors crowded along the banks, until after breakfast. Then +they took down the shields and showed themselves, with Amoroleck in +plain view amongst them. After a consultation the Indians hung their +bows and arrows upon trees and two Indians, with bows and quivers on +their heads, swam out to the barge and presented these in token of +friendship. + +Captain Smith now went ashore and told the Indians to send for their +kings. Four kings, or chiefs, soon appeared. Smith gave them back +Amoroleck. The Indians were happy over this and gave the English bows, +arrows, pipes and pouches, but in return they asked for the pistols +which the English carried. Smith satisfied them with less dangerous +trinkets, and left them dancing and singing and making merry. + +The barge continued its journey downstream until the neighborhood of the +Moraughtacunds was reached. They stopped here to tell these friends of +Mosco of their victory over the Mannahocks. The Moraughtacunds were a +feeble race, and small in stature. They begged Smith to subdue the +Rappahannocks also. + +Smith decided to help this weak tribe, as he would be at the same time +helping the English. He summoned the kings of the Rappahannocks to a +conference. When they had assembled Captain Smith threatened to burn +their villages, destroy their canoes and corn and prove himself a bad +enemy. Among the things that Smith demanded was the son of a "king," +named Rappahannock, as a hostage. The chief objected to this--he had +only one son and he could not live without him--but he would give up +certain of his women who had been stolen by the Moraughtacunds. Smith +found that this was the cause of the recent wars. + +Captain Smith returned to the Moraughtacunds[4] and had the three women +brought before him. He had a chain of beads put around the neck of each. +He then sent for the King Rappahannock to come, and bade him choose the +one he most desired. The second choice was given to the "king" of the +Moraughtacunds. Then Smith generously presented Mosco with the third +woman. All parties seemed to be satisfied with this distribution. + +[Footnote 4: The name "Moraughtacund" was corrupted to the present +"Morattico."] + +The next day six or seven hundred Indians of both tribes assembled to +celebrate the peace that had been thus established. No weapons were to +be seen, friendship was pledged with the English, and the Indians +volunteered to plant corn for them. In return John Smith promised +hatchets, beads and copper. + +Mosco was so pleased that at the height of the celebration he renounced +his name in favor of one meaning "stranger" and voluntarily became a +subject of the English King, James the First. + +After the celebration Captain Smith sailed again into the Chesapeake, +leaving behind this river that the Indians called Quick-Rising-Water. + + +_HENRY AND POCAHONTAS_ + +In 1609 an English boy landed at Jamestown. He was probably about +fourteen years old at that time since records show that he had been +baptized in England in 1595. + +In a short while Henry Spelman was to find himself in a virgin forest +among painted savages and wild beasts. What a change for this young son +of a British nobleman! + +Harry had no doubt been accustomed to a quiet and bookish atmosphere at +his home at Congham, Norfolk. His father, Sir Henry, was interested in +history and antiques, and in fact was noted for his studies along those +lines. + +[Illustration: _Henry Spelman living amongst the Indians._] + +And why did Sir Henry permit a boy so young to set out upon such a +dangerous expedition? Was it because Harry was a third son and could +therefore expect little in the way of lands and riches? Since Sir Henry +was one of the Council for New England, and treasurer of the Guiana +Company, he may have had his eyes on broader horizons. + +It was August when Henry arrived in Virginia. It was the hot, muggy +season when mosquitoes were plentiful. Shortly after his arrival Captain +John Smith took him on a little journey to visit Powhatan. How excited +Henry must have been at the prospect of seeing the great chieftain! How +little did he suspect what Captain Smith had planned to do with him. +Henry later wrote the following account: + +"I was carried by Capt. Smith, our President, to ye litell Powhatan +where unknowne to me he sould (sold) me to him for a towne called +Powhatan (site of present Richmond city) and leavinge me with him, he +made knowne to Capt. Weste, (Francis, brother of Lord Delaware) how he +had bought a towne for them to dwell in...." + +Soon after Captain Smith left Henry with the Indians a massacre ensued +in the Indian village. According to early writers of Jamestown, Henry's +life was saved by Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas. + +At this time the King of Patowmeke was visiting his emperor, probably to +pay his tribute, and to save the white boy from the "furie of Powhatan" +he took him home with him when he returned to the land between the +Rappahannock and the Potomac. + +This arrangement was probably made by Pocahontas. Before very long she +too would be hiding out in the Northern Neck as a guest of the King and +Queen of Patowmeke. It is believed by some that Pocahontas and Henry +fled with the King of Patowmeke to his village on the Potomac at the +same time. + + +_HENRY AND KING PATOWMEKE_ + +Henry probably adjusted himself quickly to the way of life in the +village of the Potomac Indian tribe. He was probably soon wearing a skin +belt and a cord as a breechclout like the Indian boys of his age. + +Henry doubtless played a game with them that was like football for he +later described this game and indicated that it was played by both boys +and women but with different rules: "They use football play which wemen +and young boyes doe much play at. The men never. They make their gooles +as ours only they never fight nor pull one another doune. + +"The men play with a litel balle lettinge it fall out of ther hand and +striketh it with the tope of his foot, and he that can strike the ball +furthest winns that they play for." + +We can visualize Henry learning to shoot the bow and arrow, and learning +to follow a trail through the forest. The Indian boys probably taught +him to snare beaver, otter and other small animals, and to fish with +hooks of bone or stone, and to catch crabs with dip-nets made of silk +grass. + +We know that Henry watched the women gather corn in hand baskets and +dump it into larger baskets for he later recorded these facts. He no +doubt learned quickly to like the Indian food--the corn pones that came +brown-crusted and smoking from the ashes, the fish and meat broiled on +hurdles over the fire or turned on a spit. He doubtless tasted the broth +and bread made from chestnuts and chinquapins and reserved for the chief +men at the greatest feasts, and opossum and beaver, stews of fish and +vegetables, and doves and partridges baked in wet clay, and dined on +venison, turkey and oysters. + +Henry had chores to do too. He wrote that one of his duties was +"stilling the king's young child, for none could quiet him so well as +myselfe." This undoubtedly makes Henry Spelman the Neck's first white +baby-sitter. + +He perhaps had his turn with the Indian boys to sit in a little hut on a +platform in the field and scare crows away from the newly planted corn. + +We can be certain that Henry avoided the hideous priests and their +temples and the houses where the bodies of the dead kings and statues of +their god Okee were kept. These places were considered too holy for +ordinary people to enter. Indians passed these houses quickly, and even +when going up or down the river they would throw "some peece of copper, +white beads or pocones into the river for feare their Okee should be +offended and revenged of them." + +Henry attended funerals of the common people where he saw the body +wrapped in mats and placed on a scaffold ten or twelve feet high. The +relatives mourned greatly and threw beads among the poor. After the +funeral the relatives entertained with feasting, music and dancing. + +The corpse stayed on the scaffold until the flesh had disappeared and +then it was wrapped in a new mat and later buried. + +In the Potomac country punishment for crime was swift and often final. +Henry was an eye-witness to such punishment: "Then cam the officer to +thos that should dye, and with a shell cutt off ther long locke, which +they weare on the left side of ther heade, and hangeth that on a bowe +before the kings house. Then thos for murther weare beaten with staves +till ther bonns weare broken and beinge alive weare flounge into the +fier, the other for robbinge was knockt on the heade and beinge deade +his bodye was burnt." + +The white boy saw many moons come and go there in the wilderness--the +moon of stags, the corn moon, the first and second moon of cohonks. He +was there at the budding of the spring, the earing of the corn, the +highest sun, the fall of the leaf, and then again--cohonks. + +He witnessed the solemn celebrations of the plentiful coming of the wild +fowl to the river, the return of the hunting season and the ripening of +certain fruits. He saw the greatest annual festival at the time of the +corn gathering with its war dances, heroic songs, the music rattles and +drums, and then the feasting. + +One day news came to the village of a boat with sails that was moving up +the river and stopping at the Indian settlements in quest of corn. The +white men sent from Jamestown by Lord De la Ware were ready to barter +copper, beads and other "trucke" for corn. While Henry had been dining +so well with the Indians his own people at Jamestown were starving. + +As the boat neared the village of the Potomac Indians a messenger came +to the chief with word from the captain. Captain Samuel Argall had heard +that in the village there was an "English boy named Harry" and he +desired to "hear further of him." + +King Patowmeke sent the boy to the ship where he conversed with Captain +Argall and then returned to the village with an invitation to the chief +to visit the ship. The chief accompanied the boy back to the ship. + +The visit was pleasant and a deal was made between the chief and the +captain--the vessel was "fraughted with corne" and Henry was exchanged +for some copper. + +Henry had lived with the Indians for "a year and more." Captain Argall +found him healthy and apparently contented. He returned to Jamestown and +stayed there until the following spring at which time he sailed for +England in company with Lord De la Ware. + +How different Henry must have seemed to his family! And he was different +for he had become almost more like an Indian than a white boy. + + +_HENRY'S RELATION_ + +While on his return visit to England Henry Spelman wrote a manuscript, +entitled "Relation of Virginia," in which he described the country +between the Rappahannock and the Potomac. It is probably the first +recorded specific description of the Northern Neck: + +"The cuntry is full of wood in sum partes, and water they have +plentifull, they have marish (marsh) ground and smale fields, for corn, +and other grounds wher on their Deare, goates, and stages feadeth, ther +be in this cuntry Lions, Beares, Wolves, foxes, muske catts, Hares, a +fleinge squirel, and other squirls beinge all graye like conyes, a great +store of foule, only Peacockes and common hens wanting: fish in +aboundance wher on they (Indians) live most part of the Summer time. +They have a kind of wheat cald locataunce and Pease and Beanes, Great +store of walnuts growing in every place. They have no orchard frutes, +only tow kind of plumbes, the one a sweet and lussius plumbe, long and +thicke in forme and liknes of A Nutt Palme, the other resemblinge a +medler." (Persimmon) + + +_BETRAYED_ + +IN 1616 Henry Spelman returned to Virginia and was employed as +interpreter to the colony. In 1618 he was again in England but returned +to Virginia on board the _Treasurer_ in that same year. By now he "knew +most of the kings of Virginia and spake their languages very +understandingly." + +In August, 1619, Spelman was tried by the House of Burgesses for +speaking disparagingly of Governor Yeardley to Opechancanough. These +charges were preferred by Robert Poole, interpreter. Poole said that he +had been present at the court of Opechancanough when Spelman had talked +"unreverently and maliciously" against the colony government. + +Spelman denied most of the charges but admitted that he "hade informed +Opechancanough that within a yeare there would come a governor greater +then this that nowe is in place." + +For this misdemeanor Spelman lost his title of Captain and was sentenced +to serve the colony seven years in the nature of interpreter to the +Governor. Many thought that he had been "badly rewarded for much good +service" that he had done. + +When the sentence was read to Spelman it was reported that he showed no +signs of remorse for his offenses and muttered to himself and acted more +like a "Savage than a Christian." + +It was not long before Henry was again in good standing in the colony. +He was put in command of a small bark called _Elizabeth_, and was +trading with the Indians along the Potomac at the time of the massacre +in March, 1622. At Chicacoan (Coan) an Indian stole aboard his boat and +told of the massacre and that Opechancanough had "plotted with his King +and countrey to betray them also, which they refused; but them of +Wighcocomoco (Little Wicomico) at the mouth of the river, had undertaken +it." When Spelman heard this he went to Wicomico but the Indians seeing +his men were so well armed appeared friendly and loaded his boat with +corn. + +In March, 1623, an expedition of twenty-six men, in the _Tiger_ under +the command of Captain Spelman, went to trade for beaver and corn with +the Anacostan and other Indian tribes between Potomac Creek and the +falls of the Potomac (probably near the present site of Washington, D. +C.). + +Captain Spelman, Henry Fleet and twenty of their companions went ashore, +believing the Indians to be their friends. Spelman was "a warie man, +well acquainted with the savage nature" but evidently he was not aware +how bitterly these Indians had been antagonized a short time before by a +party under the command of Captain Isaac Matthews. + +While Spelman and his men were ashore the pinnace with only five men +left on board was surrounded by Indians in canoes, some of whom climbed +up on the deck. The sailors were thus surprised and one of them fired a +cannon at random. The savages were so frightened that they jumped +overboard and swam ashore leaving their canoes drifting. + +The sailors then heard an uproar on shore. It sounded as if a fight was +in progress. Suddenly they saw a man's head thrown down the bank. They +recognized it as the head of Henry Spelman. + +The Anacostan Indians had proved themselves to be too "subtile" for +Henry Spelman. But "how he was surprised or slaine is uncertaine." The +sailors hastily weighed anchor and set sail for Jamestown. + +This ends the true story of the "English boy named Harry" who was +betrayed twice in the wilds of Virginia--first by his own people and +then by his adopted people. + +[Illustration: _Pocahontas is traded for a copper kettle and becomes an +hostage to Captain Argall._] + +Henry Spelman was about twenty-eight years old when he was killed. He +had contributed in many ways to the building of a new country. He left +to posterity his valuable recorded observations so that others could +profit by his courage and industry. + + +_KIDNAPPED_ + +In the autumn of 1609, Captain John Smith was disabled when his +powder-bag was accidentally fired. He sailed for England and never +returned to Virginia. + +After Captain Smith left, Pocahontas came no more to Jamestown. But she +did visit elsewhere. In the spring of 1613 she was visiting in the +Northern Neck with her relatives and friends along the Potomac. + +The sympathy which Pocahontas had shown for the colonists had caused an +estrangement between her and her father, Powhatan. She lived with him no +longer and was staying in some secrecy with her relations, the King and +Queen of Patowmeke. + +For the trip Pocahontas probably wore her robe of deer skins, which was +lined with pigeons' down, and her royal jewels of shell, and the white +feather in her hair which signified that she was a princess. Though +slight of stature, she was doubtless impressive when dressed in her +regalia. + +In April, Captain Samuel Argall was sent to the Potomac to trade for +corn. There, he became acquainted with Chief Japazaws, an old friend of +Captain Smith, and learned from him that Pocahontas was his guest. + +This knowledge gave Captain Argall an idea. Since Captain Smith had left +the colony at Jamestown the Indians had again become troublesome. If, +thought Captain Argall, Powhatan's favorite daughter could be captured +and held as a hostage peace might be made. The idea grew, and he plotted +to steal the little Indian princess. + +Captain Argall bargained with Japazaws--a copper kettle in exchange for +his guest. The chief agreed, but how could he get Pocahontas aboard the +English ship? + +Japazaws turned the details of the plot over to his wife. It was up to +her to lure the princess into the hands of Captain Argall. + +The chief's wife told Pocahontas that she had a great desire to see an +English ship and that her husband had promised to take her aboard if +the princess would go with her. Although she had no idea that her +identity was known to Captain Argall, Pocahontas refused to go. She had +seen "great canoes" before and did not care to see this one. + +Japazaws threatened to beat his wife unless she could persuade +Pocahontas to go aboard the ship. In tears the chief's wife again begged +Pocahontas to go with her. The kind-hearted girl finally consented. + +Captain Argall welcomed his three guests and ushered them into the +ship's cabin where a feast had been spread for them. While the banquet +was in progress, Japazaws stepped often on the Captain's foot, under the +table, to remind him that his part had been done. + +At an opportune time the Captain persuaded Pocahontas to go into the +gun-room, pretending to have something to talk over in private with +Japazaws. Presently, he sent for her and told her, before her friends, +that she must go with him and "compound peace betwixt her countrie" and +the English before she should ever see her father again. + +Pocahontas began to weep and Japazaws and his wife joined in, howling +and crying louder than the girl they had betrayed. Soon the chief and +his wife, with the copper kettle, went "merrily on shore." + +A messenger was sent to Powhatan by Captain Argall, to tell him that he +must ransom his beloved daughter with the "men, swords, peeces, tools, +&c. hee trecherously had stolne." + +Powhatan did not respond to these demands as Captain Argall had planned. +His stand against the invaders was more important to him than his own +daughter. + +In the meantime, fate took a hand--at Jamestown, Pocahontas and "Master +John Rolfe, an honest gentleman," fell in love and were married. In this +way peace was established, for a time, between the Indians and the +colonists. + +As "Lady Rebecca," wife of John Rolfe, Pocahontas traveled to England +and had other adventures, but her last happy days as a free Indian +maiden were spent in the land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac, +later known as the Northern Neck. An Indian village called "Petomek," +near the mouth of Potomac Creek, was the scene of her kidnapping. + +Potomac Creek is located in Stafford County, three miles north of +Falmouth. Some believe that Captain Argall found Henry Spelman and +Pocahontas at the village of the Potomacs at the same time. + + +_THE INDIAN TRADER_ + +Henry Fleet was one of the expedition of twenty-six men aboard the +_Tiger_ who under Captain Spelman in March, 1623, went to trade for +beaver skins and corn with the Anacostan and other Indian tribes near +the head of the Potomac. + +Fleet was with Spelman when he went ashore. After Spelman was killed and +his head tossed over the river bank, Fleet was taken prisoner and +carried to the village of the Anacostans. This is believed to have been +located not far from the present monument of Washington, in Washington, +D. C. + +Fleet was about twenty-five years old and had but recently arrived in +Virginia. His father was William Fleet of the London Virginia Company, +which may have been the reason that Henry came to the New World. Henry +was adventurous, quick-witted and intelligent. He made good use of his +stay in the wilderness of the Northern Neck by studying his new +environment. Later he wrote down some of these observations: + +"It aboundeth in all manner of fish. The Indians in one night will +commonly catch thirty sturgeons in a place where the river is not above +three fathom broad. And as for deer, buffaloes, bears, turkeys, the +woods do swarm with them, and the soil is exceedingly fertile." He also +wrote that he had seen "plenty of black fox, which of all others is the +richest fur." This animal was a large marten, so fierce that it was the +match for any forest animal up to the size of a deer. + +Henry was kept in captivity for four years, when his friends managed to +ransom him. Small vessels were then trading with the Indians of the +Potomac and news of him was probably carried to Jamestown in this way. + +During the year 1627 the London Merchants were surprised by the arrival +of Henry Fleet from Virginia. Startling tales of his adventures spread +abroad. It was said that he had lived with the Indians so long that he +had forgotten his own language, that he had often seen the South Sea; +that he had seen Indians "besprinkle their paintings with powder of +gold." + +These stories impressed William Cloberry, a merchant adventurer, and +chief man in the Guinea trade. Cloberry believed that Fleet could be +useful to him as a trader among the Indians. + +On September 6, 1627, the ship _Paramour_ of London, one hundred tons +burden, was licensed to clear with Henry Fleet as master. William +Cloberry and Company were the owners. + +Captain Fleet was well suited by nature and experience to be +an Indian trader. For years he traded with the Indians along the +Potomac--bartering "beads, bells, hatchets, knives, coats, shirts, +Scottish stockings and broadcloth" and other "trucke," for beaver fur, +tobacco and corn. Some of the Indian tribes traveled "seven, 8 and 10 +days journey" to trade with him. He was the most regular and dependable +trader the Indians knew. + +By 1632 Captain Fleet was operating several boats in the Indian trade, +and in that year he built a shallop and a "Barque" of sixteen tons for +his own use. He also opened a trade between the Massachusetts settlement +and the Potomac River. Sometimes he carried as much as eight hundred +bushels of corn at one time from the Potomac to New England. + +One day, while trading for beaver with the Anacostans, Captain Fleet ran +into trouble. He met the pinnace of a rival trader, and on board was +John Utie of the Virginia Council. The latter arrested him by order of +the Council for trading with the Indians without license. Fleet had to +stop his activities and set sail for Jamestown, where he was tried, but +soon given his liberty. + +Captain Fleet became a powerful man in Indian affairs. After the +massacre of 1644 he was commissioned to negotiate a peace, at his own +expense should he fail. He was successful in arranging a treaty with +Necotowance, successor of Opechancanough, "in terms that showed a marked +advance of civilization; Necotowance must do homage for his land to the +King of England, in token whereof he was fined 20 beaver skins at the +going away of the Geese yearly." + +When bargaining with Necotowance Captain Fleet had been authorized to +build a fort on the Rappahannock, "an important station." + +Fleet remained in the region of the Potomac long enough to see the first +settlers come to the Northern Neck. He was their friend and interpreter +and helped them with their Indian troubles. + + +_A PETITION_ + +In July, 1639, owing to the increase of population in Bermuda, the +Proprietors of the Island, in London, petitioned for the region +"scituate betwixt the two Rivers of Rapahanock, and Patowmack wch by +good Informacon your petit'iors finde to be both healthful and +otherwise--not yet Inhabited." (Lefroy's _Bermudas_, Vol. I, p. 558.) + + +_FROM NORTH OF THE POTOMAC_ + +The first settlers did not come to the Northern Neck from the direction +of Jamestown, which would have been the natural direction. Nor did they +come for the natural reason--new lands. + +Instead, they came from north of the Potomac. In order to understand the +reason for the migration of these pioneers from the north side of the +Potomac to its south side, it is necessary to go back a few years and +study the situation in the upper Chesapeake Bay region. + +Before 1640 the activity of white men in the Chesapeake Bay centered +about a trading post at Kent Island, situated far up the Bay. The trade +there was with the Indian tribes in "fur, skins and Indian baskets." + +Captain Henry Fleet, William Claiborne, a Virginian, and Lord Baltimore +and his brother were chief among those who were making history in this +region at that time. + +Claiborne and a number of Virginians had established a colony on Kent +Island under a charter secured before Lord Baltimore had settled his +colony on the north side of the Potomac in a region that he called +Maryland. + +When Lord Baltimore was granted a charter to settle in this area, his +charter included Kent Island. The charter, however, had said that he +should have authority only over uninhabited lands. + +Claiborne considered that Kent Island was inhabited and was not, +therefore, a part of Maryland. + +In 1634, the second Lord Baltimore sent about one hundred settlers, +under the leadership of his brother, Leonard Calvert, to a point of land +across the Potomac from the Northern Neck, and a settlement was +established there, known as the "Citie of St. Mary's." + +A year after this colony had been planted the settlers were instructed +by their Governor, Leonard Calvert, to seize Kent Island. + +Claiborne appealed to the Crown but the decision was in favor of Lord +Baltimore's claim. + +[Illustration: _First settlers at Coan._] + +Claiborne did not give up so easily. With the help of Puritan rebels he +seized Kent Island, captured the "Citie of St. Mary's" and drove Calvert +from the colony. + +But Calvert was also tenacious. He returned a year later, regained +control of his Maryland possessions and forced Claiborne to give up Kent +Island. Later, the English government decided, once and for all, in +favor of Lord Baltimore's claim. + +At this time there was much religious dissension in England and in +Virginia. Lord Baltimore, a Catholic himself, had hoped to establish a +colony where religious freedom could be had by all. Many Puritans left +the lower Tidewater Virginia and joined the Maryland settlers. + +But Lord Baltimore's plan for a harmonious mingling of all religions did +not work out. The Puritans seized the reins of government and there +followed years of intolerance and persecution in the "Citie of St. +Mary's." + +Many Protestants and Royalists in the Maryland colony decided to look +for a new home where they could live as they pleased. + +Across the Potomac there was a long peninsula inhabited only by Indians. +What better place was there to find peace? + +It was in this way that the first settlers came to the Northern Neck +from north of the Potomac. + + +_THE FIRST SETTLER_ + +IT WAS probably about the year 1640 when the Indians of Chicacoan[5] saw +a white man's boat turning from the Potomac into their inlet, +Sekacawone. + +[Footnote 5: Indian words had various spellings. Chicacoan, for example, +was spelled Chickawane, Chickcoun, Chuckahann, Chickhan, Chiccoun, +Accoan, Sekacawane, Secone, Chickoun, Chickacoon, Sekacawone, +Chickacoan, Chicokolne, Chicokolue, Chicacoun, etc.] + +The boat was of the type called a shallop, built and used by Indian +traders. This one may have been of fifteen or twenty tons burden, with +two masts, and square sails that were higher than they were wide. The +wood may have been turpentined, or painted in a gay combination of +colors, such as red, blue, green or yellow. If oars were used as well as +sails they were probably painted red. + +The white men on board the shallop were doubtless dressed in the manner +of seamen of their day--loose breeches and jerkins of canvas, hose of +coarse wool and boots of leather. They may have worn woolen stocking +caps or felt hats, depending upon the season. + +The owner of the vessel was an Englishman, not over thirty years of age. +His clothes were probably of a finer weave and cut than those of his +men. Unless he was different from other men of his time and station, he +wore his natural hair long and flowing about his shoulders. He may have +worn a sword at his side. This young gentleman's name was John Mottrom, +formerly of Maryland, but more recently from the vicinity of the York +River. + +If the inhabitants of Chicacoan thought that the shallop held "trucke" +to barter for their corn, they were mistaken. Far better for them had +this been so. + +John Mottrom was not looking for trade but for a new home, and he liked +what he saw here--a wilderness peninsula, shut-away from the government +at Jamestown by miles of water and forest, protected from Maryland by +the Potomac, but close enough to keep in touch with his friends in the +"Citie of St. Mary's." + +He could see, too, that this wilderness held promises of future riches. +He had done well as a merchant, trading with Maryland, around the +Potomac and up the Bay at Kent Island, but now the fur trade was on the +wane and tobacco was taking the place of beaver skins as currency. + +Here, in this peninsula of northern Virginia, new lands could be had for +the taking--fields for tobacco. This inlet of the Potomac that the +Indians called Sekacawone was a sheltered harbor but deep enough for big +ships to come in and take the tobacco away to foreign markets. The +adjacent lands had been cleared by the natives; the forest would furnish +materials for homes and boats. + +There are no records to tell what kind of bargain Mottrom made with the +Chicacoans for their land, but apparently the relations between the +white men and the Indians were friendly. Marshvwap, King of the +Chicacoan and Wicocomoco Indians, became a friend of his new neighbor, +John Mottrom. + + +_COAN HALL_ + +When John Mottrom came to the Indian district of Chicacoan to live, it +must have been like the Garden of Eden. The river was there; the trees +that were pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the beast of the +field and the fowl of the air. Except for the Indian clearings along +the margin of the river it was new, untouched and as it was in the +beginning. + +Mottrom chose a site for his house on the east bank of the Coan, and +like all early Virginia settlers he knew how to select the spot. Springs +were numerous in this region so that it was not necessary to dig a well. + +And how did he go about building a house in this wilderness, so far from +any place where skilled labor, tools and bricks, glass and nails could +be obtained? No records to answer this question have been uncovered to +this date. Perhaps, he brought indentured servants and a few crude tools +with him in the shallop. + +What kind of a house did he build? It is fairly certain that he did not +build a log cabin, even for a temporary shelter. + +In the seventeenth century the English settlers in Virginia built log +forts, log prisons and log garrison houses but they were of "logs hewn +square," and they were built in the traditional Old World manner. + +These early settlers mentioned living in cottages, huts and frame cabins +but, so far as is known, they never said that they lived in log cabins. +The American-type log cabin is believed to have developed later and in +another part of the country. + +Mottrom and his men may have erected temporary shelters of saplings, +boughs and bark, similar to the Indian houses. + +If wood was cut from the forest for his permanent home, time was needed. +Locust for sills, oak for framing, heart pine and cedar were at hand, +but green lumber had to be seasoned. + +Mottrom may have made several trips to Jamestown or Maryland for +artisans and building supplies before his new home was completed. +Meanwhile, he may have brought his family to live in one of the +temporary shelters. + +There are no buildings surviving in Virginia that were known to have +been built before 1650, therefore, no true picture of the Mottrom home +can be presented. + +However, there are enough facts known of the period to enable one to +reconstruct a reasonably accurate picture of the first house on the +Coan. + +First of all--the house had to be strong, for life itself might depend +upon the house. Its style was, no doubt, patterned after the +architecture of England but modified by circumstances in the New World. + +A framed building, one storey and a half high, with brick underpinning, +and brick chimneys at either end, was the typical dwelling of Virginia +about the middle of the seventeenth century. Its size would have been +about forty by twenty feet, with downstairs ceilings about nine feet +high. + +We can visualize those workmen at Coan "riving" out the weather boards +for the first known house in the Northern Neck. One of the men would be +holding a rough-squared length of timber on a "frow" horse, while +another would be pounding, with a wooden mallet, a wedge-shaped knife +into the wood. Presently a board would fall off. With the same tools +shingles for the roof would be split from cedar. + +John Mottrom may have bought English bricks from some ship bound +homeward with a load of tobacco and eager to get rid of the ballast of +bricks at any price. It is more likely that his bricks were burned in a +kiln at Coan, made with clay dug from the riverbank. + +Nails were so hard to get that settlers when they were leaving to settle +elsewhere burned their homes in order to get the nails to start a new +house. Mottrom probably brought some nails from his former home and +supplemented them with wooden pegs. + +Rarely before 1720 were "windows sasht with crystal glass." Casements +were used. Glassmaking had ended at Jamestown in 1624. Mottrom's windows +may have been diamond-shaped panes of oiled paper with solid wooden +shutters, or merely sliding panels of wood. But it was possible to get +imported glass and he may have had some glass, drawn lead and solder +from England. The window openings were a structural part of the framing, +not just holes cut in the sheathing. Sometimes the windows did not open, +as they were mainly intended to let in light. In this case the leaded +glass was permanently set in the frames in diamond-shaped panes. + +Mottrom's front door may have had hinges made in the shapes of the +letters H and L, to stand for Holy Lord, for it was believed then that +such hinges would drive ghosts away from the door. The door may have had +panels in the form of a cross to keep out the witches. Or, the door may +have been made of oak battens, heavy enough to keep out wolves, Indians +and "hurry-canes." In either case, it was fastened with a latch and +string, with possibly an oaken bar inside for added strength. + +The chimneys of Virginia houses were much larger than those in England, +and the fireplaces were at least seven feet across, for the hearth was +the heart of the home. + +From these various facts of the time, we assume that the first house in +the Northern Neck which John Mottrom named Coan Hall was strong, simple, +functional, and its character was medieval. + + +_NEIGHBORS_ + +In spite of its isolation Coan Hall was probably not a lonely place. +Besides John Mottrom and his wife there were two children, and probably +several indentured servants. There were at least a few domestic animals. +The Indians were near, the forest was alive and rustling and "nimble" +with wild beasts, the sky was darkened and animated by the various birds +in their season. The shallop lay at anchor not far away and was a +reminder that it was possible to reach some civilization beyond the +woods and water. + +And Coan Hall was hardly established before guests began to arrive. They +came by boat, and perhaps after dark. These Protestant friends and +refugees were from Lord Baltimore's "Citie of St. Mary's." + +It was whispered in that unhappy "citie" north of the Potomac that +treason was being plotted at Coan Hall. + +John Mottrom's new home must have been filled to capacity in those days. +Although the rooms were few we can be sure that there was no lack of +beds or chairs. Rooms then, with the exception of the kitchen, had no +distinct character. Beds were in every room, even in the hall where +meals were taken. + +On a winter's night we can imagine John Mottrom dispensing hospitality +at Coan Hall--food, drink and roaring fires. Great plotting and planning +must have gone on before the hearths, while the passing tankards of +metheglin cheered and warmed the indignant gentlemen from Maryland. + +Perhaps John Mottrom's guests were charmed with his new home and decided +that it was easier just to settle at Chicacoan. At any rate we hear no +more of treason. Instead, settlers begin to arrive in the Northern Neck. + +William Presley and his English wife were among the first to arrive at +Chicacoan. They built at the head of a creek not far from Coan Hall. + +Richard Thompson and his family probably arrived early too. Richard was +a young man, about twenty-seven, when he came to live at Chicacoan. He +was a native of Norwich, Norfolk County, England. As a boy he had come +to Virginia as an indentured servant and had served William Claiborne on +Kent Island for three years. + +When at twenty-one Richard became a free man, he went into business for +himself, trading with the Indians for beaver. He must have been a good +trader for he acquired a considerable estate. He also worked as an agent +for William Claiborne, which in the end brought about his downfall. When +Claiborne was proclaimed an enemy by the Maryland Council, Thompson was +denounced also. He was in this way forced to flee to Chicacoan. + +Before long a settlement had sprung up along the Coan. John Mottrom +became the unofficial leader of this first white settlement in the +Northern Neck. Although he did not know it, there was one among them who +was to play an important part in his life--her name was Ursula, wife of +Richard Thompson. + + +_THE "KIDS"_ + +As soon as their homes were built the settlers at Chicacoan began to +remove the forest and clear the ground for tobacco fields. + +The sound of axes was no doubt heard from sunrise until sunset. Then the +stumps had to be dug up, and the soil had to be broken up with hoes. +This hard labor was probably done by white indentured servants. + +These British servants were commercially known as "kids," probably +because most of them were young, their ages ranging from thirteen to +thirty as a rule. + +An early English writer described the manner in which these "kids" were +obtained to send to Virginia--"very many children ... were violently +taken away or cheatingly duckoyed without the consent or knowledge of +their Parents by ... persons ... called Spirits ... into private places +or ships, and there sold to be transported, and then resold there to be +servants to those that will give most for them." + +A letter written in England in 1610 says that--"there are many ships +going to Virginia with them 14 or 15 hundred children w'ch they have +gathered up in divers places." + +The shipmaster who brought the children over could sell the indentures +for whatever he could get for them. If he could not find a purchaser, he +could sell the children to persons known as "soul drivers" who would +"buy a parcel of servants" to fill his wagon and drive through the +country until he could sell them at a cash profit. + +Other indentured servants were brought over by planters as +"head-rights," which meant that the planter paid for their +transportation and received fifty acres of land as a reward for +transporting an immigrant to Virginia. + +The indenture was a simple bargain between master and servant with +protection by law for each. The treatment of the servant depended upon +the nature of his master. + +The boys who had long terms to serve became restless and often ran away +across the Potomac to Maryland or to an Indian village. They were +usually caught and punished and put back to work. In Virginia the +punishment was sometimes thirty lashes and the letter R branded on the +cheek, forehead or shoulder. The hair was sometimes cropped, and the leg +shackled with irons, even during working hours. There is no evidence +that the settlers of the Northern Neck did anything more severe than to +whip their "kids." + +Food, clothing and shelter was provided by the master. The shelter was +usually in "a house set apart for him." The list of clothing might +include a coat of frieze, a pair of leather breeches, a black hat, or +cap of fur, a pair of "wooden heel shoes," and underclothes of dowlas +and lockram. + +The indentured girl servants did not work in the fields unless they were +slattern and offensive. Their work was to bake and brew, clean, milk, +churn, wash and sew. + +Due to the scarcity of women in Virginia the girl servants usually +married within the first three months. If their reputation was good, +they often married into a higher station. + + +_INDIAN SERVANTS_ + +The settlers at Chicacoan may have had some Indian servants. Tradition +says that William Presley of Coan employed Indians to care for his +"roaming stock." + +It was customary in Virginia to take Indian children as apprentices to +learn a trade, and to learn to read and write. This was with the consent +of the parents that the child should be instructed in the Christian +religion. + +The children were usually taken at thirteen or fourteen years of age and +the apprenticeships lasted until they were twenty-one. + +The value of the Indian servant was about the same as that of the +English indentured servant. The relationship between the Indian boy and +his master was the same as that between the master and the English +servant. Food, clothing and shelter was furnished by the master. +Records of the clothing lists included leather breeches, cotton +waistcoats, shoes and stockings. + + +_MONEY_ + +The indian word wampum meant "shells." Wampum and copper were the +Indians' substitute for gold and silver. The early settlers also used +the Indian wampum as a medium of exchange. + +Wampum, in Virginia, was usually made from the oyster shell. The dark +wampum, which was made from the black or purple part of the shell, had +twice the value of the white. For instance, three of the dark beads or +six of the white beads equalled one English penny. + +The beads were cylindrical in shape about an eighth of an inch in +diameter and one-fourth of an inch long. They were rubbed against stones +until they were polished smooth. A hole was bored through the center of +each bead with a flint instrument so that it could be strung on thread. +Much of this wampum was made by tribes who manufactured and carried on +commerce. + +The most common wampum, made of white shell, was called rhoanoke. In old +records wampum was sometimes referred to as "a chain of pearl." In a +Northumberland County record there is listed among the items in the +estate of "James Claughton, dec'd: Mr. Richard Thompson per order 20 +arms length of Rhoanoke." Another early settler of the Northern Neck, +Moore Fauntleroy, paid the Indians for his land "ten fathoms of peake" +and "thirty arms length of Rhoanoke." + +The English went so far as to import imitation wampum of white porcelain +for sale to the Indians. + +The early settlers also used beaver skins as currency. Northern Neck +records about 1656 show that Colonel Nathaniel Pope offered to go +security for John Washington "in beaver skins." Even hens were used for +currency. + +Tobacco soon became the most important currency in the colony. The words +of the old song--"Where money grows on white oak trees," was almost true +in Virginia for there tobacco was money and tobacco grew everywhere. +Instead of gold and silver the colonial had his "tobacco note." The +chief reason that metallic coin was scarce throughout the whole +colonial period in Virginia was the fact that tobacco was currency. + +It seems that there was always a small stock of coin in the colony, but +it was either used in trade with other countries or it was hoarded by +the colonists. A Virginia county record of 1700 says that: "Spanish +money may not be exported out of this colony, but that it may pass +currently from man to man and that all pieces of eight pass for five +shillings specie." + +The most convenient metallic money in Virginia (1722-1835) was a +Portuguese gold coin called a johannes. A full johannes was called a +"half-joe," and a double johannes was called a "joe." + +As banking institutions were non-existent in the colony in the early +days, and as robbers sometimes lay in wait in the woods for a lone +horseman, travelers used to carry gold coins sewed under the lining of +their waistcoats or quilted into their coats. + + +_A PARADISE DISCOVERED_ + +For several years the settlers at Chicacoan lived in a dream-like +paradise--ungoverned and untaxed. + +But this state of freedom could not last. News of the thriving young +settlement in the Northern Neck was probably carried to Jamestown by the +stream of travellers who plied back and forth along the waterways +between that city and St. Mary's in Maryland. + +How great the consternation must have been at Chicacoan when one day a +boat arrived from Jamestown. There may have been soldiers on board or +other representatives of the government. They brought a startling +message. + +The message was in the form of an Act passed by the House of Burgesses +at an Assembly in 1644. It said: + +"Whereas, the inhabitants of Chicawane, alias Northumberland, being +members of this colony, have not hitherto contributed toward the charges +of the war (with the Indians) it is now thought fit that the said +inhabitants do make payment of the levy according to such rates as are +by this present Assembly assessed." + +The rates were "for every 100 acres of land, 15 pounds tobacco; for +every cow above 3 years old, 15 pounds tobacco." + +But the real shock came at the end of the message: "And in case the said +inhabitants shall refuse or deny payment of the said levy, as above +expressed, that upon report thereof to the next Assembly, speedy course +shall be adopted to call them off the said Plantation." + +The settlers were no doubt infuriated at this command. They ignored it, +and continued to live in their independent way. + +John Mottrom, however, must have thought it high time to look into the +situation. In the fall of 1645 he sailed for Jamestown. + + +_A VISIT TO JAMESTOWN_ + +Although a trip to Jamestown would have been an exciting change after +years of wilderness living, there is reason to believe that Mrs. Mottrom +did not accompany her husband to the capital city. She probably +supervised the preparation of food for the voyage, and packed his +clothes. + +John Mottrom's clothes were no doubt as fashionable as the English +tailors could furnish. Rich fabrics and bright colors were worn by +Virginia gentlemen of the seventeenth century, and they never seemed to +think that their "citified" garments looked out of place in the +primitive setting of the New World. + +Among the clothes that Mrs. Mottrom may have packed, there might have +been "a sea-green scarf edged with gold lace," a scarlet coat with +silver buttons, a camlet coat with sleeves ending in lace ruffles, a +pair of red slippers, a Turkey-worked waistcoat, a whole suit of +olive-color plush, silk stockings, a beaver hat, neckcloths of finest +holland and muslin, shoes with shining silver buckles, delicately +scented handkerchiefs of silk and lace, and a gold belt for her +husband's sword. + +The Mottrom household was probably on the bank of the Coan to wave +good-byes when the anchor was weighed and the sails of the shallop were +hoisted. + +Out of the Coan sailed the shallop, and into the Potomac. Out of the +Potomac into the Chesapeake. Then it was straight sailing down the Bay, +past the mouths of the Rappahannock and York, and finally, into the +James. It usually took four average sailing days to travel from the +Northern Neck to Jamestown. + +As the boat neared Jamestown Island John Mottrom could doubtless see the +orange-tiled roofs and tall red chimneys of the "citie," which had long +ago burst from its palisades and was now stretched for half a mile along +the river front, as well as backward into the swamps and meadows. + +He could no doubt see the tower of the new brick church, and east of it +the State House, which looked so "London-like" with its three steep +gable ends facing the river. + +Captain John Smith had written that the water here was deep "so neare +the shoare that they moored to the trees in six fathom water," but the +Mottrom boat may have tied up at Friggett Landing in the rear of the +Island. There were probably other vessels already tied up there, and +others still arriving for the Assembly. + +Mottrom may have seen a barge coming down from the upper James, loaded +with gaily dressed men and women--a Burgess or Councillor and his family +and retinue, perhaps. + +Once ashore John Mottrom probably took a walk to stretch his legs and +see what changes had taken place since he had last visited "James +Citie." He may have passed the new church, which was still unfinished, +and strolled along some of the narrow lanes. Outside the town there were +some "cart paths," and over some of the swamps there were bridges. Back +of the Island lay the forested Indian district of the "Passbyhaes." + +"New Towne" was the most thickly settled part of "James Citie." Most of +the houses were a story-and-a-half of "framed timber" with +steeply-pointed roofs of tile, and a few of slate. Each had its garden +and was enclosed with palings. The road along the river bank was edged +with mulberry trees. + +The State House, situated near the river and down stream from the +church, was probably the most imposing building in the town. It was +really three brick houses joined together in a row to form a block, like +the medieval gabled houses in London. Its windows were casements with +lattices of lead and diamond-shaped panes of greenish colored glass. The +place had a garden, fruit trees and vines, all enclosed by palings. + +This State House was the focal point of the government and the center of +social life at Jamestown. John Mottrom probably stayed there during his +visit for the governor, Sir William Berkeley, who lived in the building +on the western end, acted as host to all important visitors. + +The Assemblies, courts and councils were held in the "middlemost" of the +three houses. The Assembly would soon convene and the visitor from the +Northern Neck had come a long way to be present at that meeting of +November 20, 1645. + +We can imagine him there on that important day, sitting with that +dignified group of men, dressed in their rich bright garments, all with +their hats on in imitation of the House of Commons in far away England. + +Little is known of what took place in that meeting that concerned +Chicacoan except that John Mottrom was accepted and recognized in this +Assembly as a Burgess from the "Plantation of Northumberland." It seems +that an English name was preferred instead of the Indian name for that +land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac. + + +_FRANCES_ + +Mrs. Mottrom probably did not accompany her husband to Jamestown because +in that same year a baby was born at Coan Hall. + +What a time that must have been in the wilderness household--the little +indentured English maids scurrying about with wooden pails of steaming +water, perhaps, and the curtains all drawn about the great bed, and John +Mottrom pacing the floor no doubt like any modern father-to-be! + +Frances Mottrom, for thus she was christened, may have been the first +white baby to have been born in the Northern Neck. + +The neighbors doubtless came to Coan Hall for a christening for it is a +matter of record that Colonel William Presley's wife was named as the +child's godmother. There must have been great cheer at the manor on that +occasion, and many toasts drunk from the same tankard. Maybe a whole +horn of metheglin was passed around in true medieval fashion to "speed +the parting guests." + +Frances probably lay in a wooden cradle with high paneled sides to keep +out draughts. Its logical place was near the fireplace where she would +be warm. She was doubtless clothed in white linen exquisitely +embroidered and made. Perhaps her six-year-old sister Anne rocked the +cradle now and then as she played around the floor, and little John +Mottrom may have peered into its shadows to look at her face. + +Among the first sounds that Frances knew were no doubt the ringing of +the axes in the forest from sunrise until sunset in winter, and at night +the howling of the wolves in the forest. The first light that she +remembered was probably the firelight and the light from pine-knot or +candle, or daylight filtered through diamond-paned windows of greenish +glass or oiled paper. + +One of the first familiar faces may have been that of her father's +friend, Marshvwap, King of Chickacoan. + +Frances must have been a sturdy baby to have survived the cold, heat, +fevers, and all the other hazards to child-life in the seventeenth +century. + +When Frances was old enough to toddle about, Anne and John may have +played a game with her called "honey-pots," in which they carried her +about in a "chair" made by crossing hands, while they chanted: + + "Carry your honey-pot safe and sound + Or it will fall upon the ground." + +A little later they may have jumped a hop-scotch, but if so, they called +it "scotch-hoppers." They probably played tag, ball, prisoner's base, +asked riddles and blew soap-bubbles, as these simple amusements dated +from medieval days. + +Children of the seventeenth century played games but had few toys. There +may have been a top to spin, and John probably played Indian with bow +and arrow and club. Anne, who had been born in England, may have brought +with her to the New World a stiff little puppet-like doll with a wooden +face and painted hair. Frances may have had a doll made of corn-shucks, +rags, corn-cobs or nuts. Or she may have had a doll like those of the +Indian children, made of rawhide, feathers and wood. + +The Mottrom children may have had wild animals for pets--a deer, a +squirrel, or a raccoon, perhaps. The children could not venture far into +the forest to play because of the dangers that lurked in its depths, but +they could stand at its edge and look down the aisles between the trees, +some of them "twenty feet round and Ninety high." In spring and summer +the forest floor was "bespred with divers flowers" and wild +strawberries. In winter they might glimpse a snowshoe rabbit flying over +the snow, or a herd of deer. We can imagine them there--three little +figures dressed in long clothes, exactly like those of their parents, +looking into the forest and pondering upon its mysteries. + +When Frances was nine years old, Colonel William Presley presented her +with "one cow calfe ... she being my wife's God daughter." This was +great potential wealth for a little girl! A cow over three years old was +at that time worth exactly the same as one hundred acres of land. +Frances probably thought of the "cow calfe" only in terms of milk and +butter and future cakes that might be baked. She may have named the calf +Pansy, Daisy, Cinnamon or Nutmeg, as such names were then popular for +cows. + +As Frances grew older there was little time for play. The Mottrom +household was doubtless astir by daybreak. We can picture the sleepy +child pushing aside the heavy red or green curtains of linsey-woolsey +that surrounded her bed, or if it was summer, the hangings of "muskitoe" +net. + +Her toilet equipment was no doubt simple--a basin and ewer, and a "pot +de chambre," all of pewter. She may have owned a gilded hand +looking-glass and a comb of ivory or horn. She washed her face with +home-made soap which may have been soft or, more likely, a hard green +soap made from the berries of "sweet myrtle." + +Frances' clothes were probably kept in a "case of drawers." Her everyday +dress was perhaps of blue holland, but for special occasions she wore +silk or brocade. In either case the skirt was full and long. Over this +she wore a white linen apron with bib, and on her head a close-fitting +cap of white linen. The latter was always worn by little children at +that time, and sometimes the cap was beautifully embroidered. When +Frances went out-of-doors she probably wore a loose silken hood over the +cap. + +Her hair, if she was fashionable, was cut in bangs across her forehead +with long flowing locks in front dropping forward on her chest. Her back +hair was stuffed out of sight in the cap. + +After she had dressed Frances probably ate a simple breakfast of +porridge from a wooden bowl with a pewter spoon. Anne and John probably +ate their breakfasts from the same bowl with their pewter spoons. + +Lessons may have come next. Education was simple then, especially for +girls--"bookes to bee learned of children" were "abcies" and primers, +then the Psalms in metre, then the Testament. Frances' teacher may have +been her mother or an indentured servant. + +Little girls were taught to knit as soon as they could hold the needles. +Frances probably knitted stockings and mittens when she was four or five +years old. Children also made quilt-pieces. Girls did household chores +and learned early the duties of a housewife. + +Anne was old enough now to embroider the family coat-of-arms, or to +paint it on glass in rich colors. Young girls in the families of +seventeenth century gentlefolk spent much time in the study of heraldry. + +Frances may have been taught to play a musical instrument--the hand +lyre, hautboy or virginal. The latter was most commonly used by young +girls, from which its name was derived. It was a small rectangular +spinet without legs. + +John may have played the flute. We can imagine him earnestly playing for +guests at Coan Hall, dressed in his best, which probably would have +been a dark suit with a white square collar, the pants ending in +light-colored ruffles that fell over his boottops. From under his +wide-brimmed hat, which he would wear indoors on such occasions, his +hair probably fell to his shoulders, with bangs on his forehead. + +It is safe in assuming that the Mottrom children looked forward to +guests for they doubtless liked to listen to the talk around the +fireplace. Here the men discussed taxes, the colonial government, the +English King and his followers who were called Cavaliers. They talked of +witchcraft, ghosts, wolves, Indians and the Assembly at "James Citie." + +Did all this talk make little Frances long to visit Jamestown and see +the fine ladies who came from their plantations with their husbands at +the time of the Assemblies? If so, her dream was one day to come true. +She would not only visit Jamestown and see the ladies in their silks and +satins but she would be one of them. For Frances Mottrom was destined to +leave her wilderness home some day and become the first lady not only of +Jamestown, but of the whole Colony of Virginia. + + +_FOREVER LOST_ + +Although John Mottrom was recognized at Jamestown in the Assembly of +November 20, 1645 as a Burgess from the "Plantation of Northumberland," +Chicacoan was not established as a county and the order concerning taxes +was not changed. The settlers continued to ignore the order and went on +living as usual in their independent way. + +In 1647, the Assembly passed another act for the "reducing of the +inhabitants of Chicacoan and the other parts of the Neck of Land between +the Rappahannock and the Potomack River." + +This must have been an unhappy and unsettled time at Chicacoan, but in +some way a compromise was reached the following year. In 1648, the +Assembly repealed the act for "reducing the inhabitants of Chicacoan," +and enacted instead that "the said tract of land be hereafter called and +knowne by the name of the Countie of Northumberland and from henceforth +they have power of electing Burgesses for the said county." + +The settlers of the Northern Neck had now gained representation in the +colonial government but the price they were forced to pay for it was +dear--their tax-free paradise was forever lost. + + +_URSULA_ + +John Mottrom's wife may ever remain a mystery. There seems to be no clue +to her personality, no facts that would make her into a flesh and blood +woman. Even her name is unknown. She was John Mottrom's wife and the +mother of his three children, Anne, John and Frances. The records +disclose not even a crumb more. + +Between the years 1645 and 1655 Mrs. Mottrom passed away. She may have +died in childbirth when Frances was born, or shortly thereafter. It was +after her death that Ursula came into the life of John Mottrom. + +Ursula Bish Thompson had been among the refugees who fled to Coan from +the "Citie of St. Mary's." Her husband, Richard Thompson, was now dead. +A young widow's position in a frontier community was dangerous and +insecure and quick remarriages were a practical necessity. John Mottrom, +the widower, was in urgent need of someone to look after his children +and home. Ursula and John were married. + +Ursula probably brought the Thompson children with her to live at Coan +Hall. Colonial households more often than not included several groups of +children by former marriages. + +Ursula's name reveals the fact that she was British, named perhaps for +the martyred princess, St. Ursula. The facts of her later career assure +us that she was a healthy and attractive woman. + +As the wife of a prominent man of the colony it was Ursula's duty to +hold to the high standard of living that had been transferred from +England to this wilderness, and to maintain this standard it was +necessary for all to work from morning until night. + +Ursula doubtless loved the gay rich clothes that were so fashionable at +this period. Her wardrobe may have included a pair of scarlet sleeves, a +petticoat of flowered tabby and several pairs of green stockings. + +We can imagine Ursula hustling about at Coan Hall, her clothes a blur of +brightness, as she supervised the servants, disciplined the children, +twirled the roast of venison on the spit in passing, or lowered her +candle or betty-lamp into the cooking pot to see if the stew was ready. + +The rooms of Coan Hall were probably part "waynscot" and part "daubed +and whitelimed," the latter plaster being made from the plentiful +oyster shells. The woodwork may have been painted "deep blued olive +green" or "dragon's blood." + +The rooms of seventeenth century houses were usually identified by +names, such as "the outward," "the lodging," "the chamber," and so on. + +The kitchen and pantry were probably detached or in a wing. This was the +busiest and coziest spot in all early homes, and the hearth was its +glowing heart. There were the fire-dogs holding the big logs and the +little andirons used with them called "creepers." On pothooks and +trammels hung the brass and copper kettles, some with a fifteen gallon +capacity, and that most beloved pot of iron, which sometimes weighed as +much as forty pounds. In summer when a large part of the cooking was +done out-of-doors this iron kettle was the main utensil used. + +A boiler of copper and brass may have been imbedded in brick and mortar +and heated from beneath for the purpose of brewing the ale that was so +necessary to a transplanted Englishman. + +When the chimney was built there was usually a brick oven on one side. +This oven was as a rule heated once a week. Convenient to the oven was a +long-handled shovel called a peel, which was used for placing the dough +in the oven, or for tossing it on cabbage or oak leaves which were often +used instead of pans. + +The simplest way of roasting a fowl or joint of meat was to suspend it +in front of the fire by a hempen string. + +The laundry was allowed to accumulate into great monthly washings. This +seems to have been the custom for a hundred years after the colony was +first settled. Soft soap was made by the barrel from refuse grease and +wood ashes. This soap was used for the laundry but a toilet soap was +made from the bayberry, or "sweet myrtle," as it was called in Virginia. +Candles were also made from the myrtle berries, and from tallow. The +myrtle berry candles were prettier and more fragrant. + +The brick-floored milkhouse at these early plantations was a separate +building. Besides the milk pails, bowls, skimmers and churn, this house +was a storage place for pewter that needed repairing, powdering tubs for +salting meat, rum casks, spinning-wheels, chamber pots, fish kettles, +stillyards, hides, tanned leather and so on. + +Brooms were made at home, and turkey wings were saved for brushing the +hearth. + +Perhaps another duty of Ursula and her indentured maids was the picking +of the tame geese. Their feathers were more valuable to the colonists +than their meat. Goose feathers were prized for beds and pillows, which +were handed down as heirlooms. The feathers were stripped from the live +geese three or four times a year, but the quills, which were used for +pens, were never pulled but once. Ursula probably dreaded goose-picking +because it was a hard and cruel work. Feathers from wildfowl were also +carefully saved for beds and pillows. + +Probably the last chore on a winter's night was the warming of the beds. +The brass or copper warming pan with its long handle hung by the +fireplace where it reflected the firelight. At bedtime, which was early, +the pan was filled with hot coals and thrust within the beds and moved +rapidly back and forth so as to warm the bed but not burn the linen. +Sometimes a large chafing-dish was used in the bed-chambers for +"knocking the chill off" the ice-cold room. + +And so at last, after the last chore had been attended to, Ursula could +crawl between the warm sheets, pull up her quilt, or leather coverlet, +and fall into a well-earned sleep. + + +_THE YARD_ + +The surroundings of a seventeenth century planter's house, such as Coan +Hall, were simple, lacking in ornament of any kind. + +Near the back door was a garden in which vegetables and a few simple +flowers grew side by side. Real flower gardens were not developed until +the next century. + +Some flax and hemp were probably included in the garden at Coan. And +herbs, such as thyme, rosemary and marjoram were considered almost a +necessity at that time. + +There was usually an orchard, containing a few apple, pear, cherry and +peach trees. + +There may have been a dovecote at Coan Hall. There must certainly have +been a tall pole in the yard with a bee-martin's house on top, for these +birds notified the settler and his household of the approach of hawks +and other enemies of the poultry. They were the watch-dogs of the yard. +There may have been a few birdhouses made Indian fashion of gourds. + +The planter's dwelling, even though it was little and plain, sometimes +no larger than 24 x 24, was referred to as the "manor house," "great +house" or "mansion," in order to distinguish it from its dependencies, +the kitchen, milkhouse, smokehouse, henhouse, stable, barn and cabins +for servants. + +According to an early order by the Assembly, all dwelling houses +throughout the Colony of Virginia must be palisaded. This order was +still in effect when Coan Hall was built, but as the Indians were +friendly in this region and there was no one at Chicacoan to enforce the +law, the yard may have been surrounded by a stout fence of locust +instead, or by palings to keep out hogs and cattle which wandered +without restraint. + +Needless to say, a bubbling spring was somewhere close by the dwelling, +and perhaps a gourd dipper. + + +_KITTAMAQUND_ + +Pocahontas was not the only Indian girl of royal blood who once lived in +the Northern Neck. Kittamaqund, too, lived for awhile, died and, it is +believed, was buried in the land between the Rappahannock and the +Potomac. + +Kittamaqund was the only child of the Tayac, or Emperor, of the +Piscataway Indians. Their village was located on Piscataway Creek on the +Maryland side of the Potomac. At this point the Potomac, which separated +the Province of Maryland from the Colony of Virginia, was less than a +mile wide. + +In the winter of 1640 Father Andrew White, a Catholic missionary, came +to "Piscatoe" to baptize the Indians. Among those whom Father White +baptized were the Emperor and his wife. + +Shortly after the missionary's visit, the Emperor brought his +seven-year-old daughter, Kittamaqund, to St. Mary's "Citie," Maryland, +and put her in the care of Father White. He loved his daughter very +dearly and he wanted her to be educated and "when she shall well +understand the Christian mysteries, to be washed in the sacred font of +baptism." + +The "little Empress," as she was called by the settlers, was adopted by +Mistress Margaret Brent of St. Mary's. By 1642 Kittamaqund had become +"proficient in the English language" and she was baptized by Father +White at that time and given the Christian name Mary. + +Before long romance took a hand in the situation. Mistress Margaret had +a brother, Giles Brent, who had left England with her on the ship +_Elizabeth_ in 1638, and they had arrived together at St. Mary's. Giles +had been born in Gloucestershire, England, about 1600. + +Giles and the little Indian "Empress" were married when she was about +twelve years old. Giles had a home on Kent Island where they lived for +part of the year and the rest of the year they stayed with Margaret at +her home "in St. Maries, where he had certain goods &C"--"divers cattle +and other commodities ... linen, shoes, stockings, sugar ... and also a +little cabbonett containing Jewels &C." + +About 1646 Giles took his Indian bride and crossed the Potomac to the +Northern Neck of Virginia. He settled on the north shore of Aquia Creek +and there built a house which he called Peace. This name seems to +indicate that he may have had troubles, probably religious persecution, +in Maryland. He had also failed in his attempt to claim Kittamaqund's +royal domain, which was most of Maryland. + +The home of Giles and Kittamaqund in the Northern Neck was in the midst +of the wilderness. They were the northernmost English residents in +Virginia. When in 1651 settlers pushed northward to patent land above +the Brent home they all stopped at Peace for refreshments and +information. It was the point of departure into the unknown. + +Giles built another home in the same region which he called Retirement. +Their second son, Giles, was born there. + +Giles traded with the Indians and continued to keep open house for the +settlers from the southern region. He also patented thousands of acres +of land in Westmoreland and Northumberland. + +Kittamaqund, the little wilderness flower, wilted and died before she +scarcely had time to blossom. She left three children, Richard, Giles +and Mary. Before she died Kittamaqund made a deed of gift to her +daughter of her inheritance in Maryland, since she herself had no +brother or sister to inherit it. + +Giles again laid claim to most of Maryland in his daughter's name, but +the Indians opposed the claim as being contrary to their tribal customs. +They chose a king of their own instead. + +Thus Kittamaqund lost her royal heritage. According to traditions she +was buried somewhere in the upper Northern Neck. + +Giles Brent became a great landowner in his own right. He was largely +responsible for opening up the northern part of the "Chicakoun country" +to the white settlers. His homes at Peace and later at Retirement were +outposts of civilization. + + +_THE GIFT_ + +While the settlers of the Northern Neck of Virginia were hacking away at +the forest, planting crops in the land thus cleared and building houses +of the felled timber, events were taking place across the sea that would +eventually change the history and culture of the land between the +Rappahannock and the Potomac. + +For some time a civil war had been in progress in England and early in +the year of 1649 Charles I was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell's men. A new +government, known as the Commonwealth, was immediately established in +England, under the direction of Cromwell. + +The late king's oldest son, Charles, had escaped from England and was +now living in exile in France. His misfortune was shared there by some +of his father's supporters, who now had plenty of time to brood over +their lost estates back in England. These gentlemen with the flowing +hair had little left except the clothes on their backs, plumed hats and +buckled boots. Some of them were walking the streets of Paris in search +of cheap board and lodging, for which they would pay with their +jewels--pawned or sold. Some had already gotten into the clutches of +money-lenders. Their only hope was that Charles would be restored some +day to the throne of England. + +Charles wished that he could in some way repay these noblemen, soldiers, +diplomats and favorites of his parents who had proved their loyalty. But +what, he may have wondered, did he have to give? Apparently nothing +remained. Then he thought of land--other land to replace the estates his +followers had lost. This was not a new idea of his own for the English +government had at times awarded frontier lands to deserving soldiers. + +But where could lands-to-give-away be found? It was then that Charles +remembered the colony across the sea--Virginia. That was the answer--a +slice of the Virginia wilderness as a grant to his courtiers! + +Charles apparently knew little about Virginia, or about the size of the +slice which he selected as a gift to his friends--"all that entire +Tract, Territory, or porcon of Land situate, lying and beeing in +America, and bounded by and within the heads of the Rivers of +Rappahannock and Patawomecke," and "said Rivers." + +A patent was written, dated September 18, 1649, at St. Germaine-en-Laye, +France. It was written in close fine writing on both sides of a small +piece of parchment and bore "Our Great Seale of England." Charles +signed it simply in the upper left-hand corner of the front page +"Charles R." Thus the deed was done. + +True, the grant was worthless unless Charles was restored to the throne +of England, which event seemed improbable at the moment. However, he had +paid off his obligations as best he could. The courtiers may have +appreciated his gesture but some of them placed no value on their part +of the patent. + +Meanwhile, back in Virginia the colonists went on as usual for news was +slow in crossing the ocean. The pioneers of the Northern Neck had their +own problems--fevers and bloody flux, Indians, wolves, witches, and +taxes to be paid to the Colonial Government at Jamestown. It would be a +long time before they would know that their land had been given away +lock, stock and barrel, for Charles had given his followers not only the +land and the rivers, but all rights pertaining to them, even to the +"wild beasts and fowle," the fish and the "wrecks of the Sea." + +And should the grant ever become valid, future generations in the +Northern Neck would have landlords over them and pay rent for the land +that their forefathers had believed to be their own. + + +_THE CAVALIERS_ + +A man stood on the deck of the _Virginia Merchant_, a leaky English +vessel bound for Jamestown. He had once been a fine gentleman, clothed +in satin and velvet and gold lace. His beard had been trimmed to a peak, +with small upturned mustaches, and his shoulder length hair had been +curled and perfumed. "Love-locks" his curls were called. + +Now the velvet was stained and the lace tarnished and his silver buckles +looked more like pewter. The plumes on his hat dangled against his +salt-matted hair. The ship was loaded with men just like him. In England +they were called Cavaliers because they had been loyal followers of the +King. A writer of that time described these Cavaliers as "of the best +material in England"--the nobility, the clergy, the landed gentry and +officers in the King's army. + +Tradition says that there were three hundred and thirty Cavaliers on +board the _Virginia Merchant_. This number included the wives and +children, and probably the ship's company. + +The voyage had been a nightmare. Rats lived in the dark cabins with the +people, and when the cabin doors were opened a stench rushed out. Some +lay ill from the ship's diet of "pease-porridge" and salt beef. Worms +wriggled in the cheese and hard bread that was called ship's biscuits. +And there was not even enough of this food to last the trip. + +Desperation had driven these people to make this voyage, and they were +lucky to have the six pounds to pay their passage. Their England was no +longer good for them. It was a place to "fly from ... as from a place +infected with the plague." Some of their comrades were now rotting in +English prisons, their estates confiscated and sold to members of +Cromwell's party. + +Virginia seemed to be the only "city of refuge" left in his Majesty's +dominions. When the _Virginia Merchant_ at last arrived at Jamestown the +Cavaliers were received with open arms by the colonists, whose sympathy +was predominantly with the royalist cause. Still other Cavaliers reached +Virginia from time to time during Cromwell's reign in England. + +The _Virginia Merchant_ had sailed from the Old World about the middle +of September 1649. This was almost exactly the same time that the exile +in France was affixing his signature to a bit of parchment. Both +incidents were destined to change the pattern of life in the Northern +Neck of Virginia. + +A number of the Cavaliers settled in the Neck, bringing with them into +the wilderness the grace and manners of the English Court and the way of +life of the English country gentleman. + + +"_CHARLIE-OVER-THE-WATER_" + +In the spring of 1650 a small Dutch vessel, according to one tradition, +was bucking her way across the Atlantic. On board was a young man named +Richard Lee. Richard had arranged this trip and "freighted" the vessel +himself, it was said, and he was now on his way to visit England's royal +exile who was at this time living in Brussels. + +In Richard's pocket, the story goes, was Sir William "Barcklaie's" +commission for the government of Virginia, which hadn't been worth a +shilling since the execution of England's late King. But Sir William and +Richard, who was his Secretary of State, were determined to hold the +colony firm in its allegiance to "Charlie-Over-The-Water." + +Richard arrived safely in Breda and made himself known to Charles. +Thereafter, it is said, a little comedy ensued which we can imagine. + +The gentleman from Virginia, dressed in his finest trappings, kneels +before the exiled prince and surrenders the Governor's commission. He +then in flowery words extends a warm invitation to Charles to return +with him to the New World and become "King of Virginia." + +Charles is pleased, but he has other plans. Bigger plans. He thanks +Richard and graciously presents him with a new commission for Governor +Berkeley, which isn't worth the paper on which it is written. + +After this little farce was attended to, Richard Lee, tradition says, +returned to Jamestown to deliver the commission to Governor Berkeley. +Richard was probably disappointed with the unsatisfactory outcome of his +mission. + +How different the history of the New World would have been if Richard +Lee had brought Charles back with him to be crowned "King of Virginia!" + + +_THE LEGACY_ + +It was a place especially dear to the Indians. They were still in the +region when Richard Lee built his simple home in the wilderness. + +He chose for his home site a neck of land in the southeastern part of +Northumberland County. A creek flowed in here from the Chesapeake and +divided into two parts. The neck was between these two branches of the +creek. Richard called the estuary, Dividing Creek, and he named his +home, Cobbs Hall. + +It was wild and beautiful at Dividing Creek. The primeval forest with +its savages and "beastes" was so close, and out in front the Creek led +directly into the Bay--a highway to any place in the world. The Creek +was deep so that foreign ships could come right up to his wharf and take +away the loads of tobacco that this fertile soil would grow. + +Richard knew that in this New World land was wealth, so he began to +acquire land by purchase of head-rights. He acquired land along the +Potomac from its mouth to the site that later became Washington. He had +laid the foundation for the future Lees of Virginia. + +Richard Lee represented Northumberland in the House of Burgesses at +Jamestown in 1651, which establishes the fact that he was living in the +Northern Neck at that early date. He was also a justice, a member of the +King's Council and Secretary of the Colony. + +Richard had business interests abroad and he lived there part of the +time. He owned partnerships in several ships, he was a tobacco merchant +in London with his own warehouse and counting-house. He crossed and +re-crossed the Atlantic almost as often as a modern American tycoon. + +A London merchant at that time held a high social rating. In England he +owned a country estate three miles from London. Whether Richard had +inherited the estate or purchased it himself is not known. This was the +property that caused him to sign his will, "lately of Stratford-Langton +in the County of Essex, Esquire." The "Esquire" signified that he was +the proprietor of land with tenants of his own. + +Each morning Richard's coach appeared at his door and he emerged +"silver-buckled and knee-breeched" and rumbled away along the road +called "Strat-by-ford" toward London and his counting-house. And back +again each evening, just like a modern American business man shuttling +between his city office and his suburban home. But Richard finally sold +his home and furnishings in England and returned to his home at Dividing +Creek. + +Richard Lee was the largest landowner in Virginia at the time of his +death in 1664. He left his family firmly established with probably more +than thirteen thousand acres of virgin tobacco land. He left his son, +Hancock, land near Cobbs Hall. This son established his home there, +called Ditchley. + +Richard Lee stated in his will that he desired his family to live in +Virginia. Perhaps after all that was his greatest legacy to his family. +It turned out to be an important legacy not only to the Northern Neck, +but to the American nation. + + +_THE INDIAN DEED_ + +Perhaps one of the strangest deeds on record is the one signed by +Accopatough, King of the Rappahannock Indians. + +An Englishman named Moore Fauntleroy came to the Northern Neck about +1650, settling on the Rappahannock, rather far up from its mouth. He +must have been very exact in his business dealings, because when he +purchased a tract of land from the Indians it was conveyed to him by a +written deed, dated April 4, 1651, and signed by: + +"Accopatough, the true and right Born King of the Indians of Rappahannoc +Town and Towns." + +For the land, it is said, Fauntleroy paid the Indians "ten fathoms of +peake and thirty arms lengths of Rhoanoke." The tract is said to have +been a vast domain which extended from the Rappahannock to the Potomac +and some distance along both rivers. + +Later, after the Northern Neck became a proprietary, Moore Fauntleroy +had his Indian deed confirmed at Jamestown: + +"Act I, the grande assemblie at James Cittie, Va., the 23rd March, +1660-1; Sir William Berkeley, his Majesties Governor, 13th year of +Charles II." + +Fauntleroy's "ancient mansion seat" was located on the Rappahannock, +above Cat Point Creek, and it was known as Naylor's Hole. This section +of the Neck was established as Richmond County in 1692. + +Colonel Moore Fauntleroy was said to have been the great-great grandson +of Edward Lord Stourton. He came to the Northern Neck during the +Cavalier migration. + + +_A SUMMONS TO JAMESTOWN_ + +After the county of Northumberland was created from Chicacoan, John +Mottrom had many extra duties. As a justice he held court at Coan Hall. +A unit of militia had been formed and he had been named by Governor +Berkeley as its chief officer--it was _Colonel_ Mottrom, now! + +On the river just above Coan Hall Colonel Mottrom had started the +nucleus of what he hoped would be a future town. He had built there the +first wharf and the first warehouse in the Northern Neck. He had plans +for a "Brew-house" where "ye good ale of England" might be had. + +His activities were interrupted in the spring of 1652 by a summons from +the Governor to appear at a meeting of the House of Burgesses. + +The grapevine said that danger threatened the colony. It said that +Cromwell's government had sent "a powerful fleet" from England with "a +considerable body of land forces on board" and that the vessels had +already arrived and had cast anchor before Jamestown. It said that the +Governor himself was saying that the strangers were pirates and robbers +who had come to steal the lands of the colonists. + +Colonel Mottrom may have had two other burgesses to keep him company on +this trip--George Fletcher from Northumberland, and Francis Willis from +the newly organized county of Lancaster. + +When Colonel Mottrom arrived within sight of the Island, he could +probably see that the royal standard was still flying above the town, +even though the English warship _Guinea_ and her armed fleet of +merchantmen had weighed anchor and were moving in closer. + +All was astir at Jamestown, especially in the State House. The +"middlemost" of the "stack" of brick buildings was like a busy hive, +with burgesses pouring in and out, and conversing in agitated groups, +while they warmed themselves before the fireplaces in the two rooms. + +Governor Berkeley was very much disturbed. Ever loyal to the Crown, he +had boasted that Cromwell's forces would not risk an attack on the +colony. But to be on the safe side, Sir William had, during the fall and +winter, reinforced his defenses. The militia, which he had called up, +was strengthened by the veteran Cavaliers from the King's army who had +so recently come to the colony. He had the promise of help from five +hundred Indian braves, and several armed Dutch ships which were lying in +the river were pressed into service. + +In spite of these plans for defensive measures the House of Burgesses +showed no enthusiasm for going into active warfare. They reasoned that +the loyalty of the Indian allies might be uncertain, and the presence of +the enemy fleet in the James was but a reminder of England's sea power. +The Governor was finally persuaded to disband his small army. + +An agreement was signed on March 12, 1652, between the commissioners +from the Commonwealth of England and the "Governor and counsel for a +cessation of Arms." + +This was probably the most stirring event ever associated with the first +State House at Jamestown. + +The agreement was favorable to Virginia, even though the colony was +subdued. Most of the essential liberties of the colonials were retained. +One of Cromwell's commissioners, Richard Bennett, was chosen as Governor +by the Assembly. + +Sir William had refused to serve under the Commonwealth. He retired to +his estate, Green Spring, near Jamestown, where he could entertain +Cavalier guests and drink toasts to King Charles as much as he pleased. + + +_THE OATH_ + +When Colonel Mottrom and the other burgesses from the Northern Neck +returned home from Jamestown after the treaty with Cromwell's +commissioners had been made, they brought news that every "white male" +in the colony would be required to take an oath of loyalty to this new +government in England. If any should refuse to do so they would have to +move away within a year. + +As the news traveled into the creeks and coves to the homes of the +planters on the fringes of the wilderness, we can visualize the +reluctant men of Northumberland straggling along to "Cone"--in shallops, +sloops, barges, canoes, and perhaps a few on horseback. A disgruntled +lot no doubt. + +But "within the year" of 1652, one hundred "white males" had signed a +statement at Coan which said that they would be "true and faithful to +the Commonwealth of England as it is established without King or House +of Lords." + +Under the treaty the people might toast the late King in private as much +as they liked, but no public stand against the Commonwealth would be +tolerated. + + +_COUNTY OFFICERS_ + +The highest office in the county was that of county lieutenant. In early +records he was called "Commander of Plantations." In England this office +was usually held by a knight, and in Virginia it was always conferred on +the class of "gentlemen," and they were chosen usually from the large +landholders. He was appointed directly by the governor. + +The county lieutenant commanded the militia, with the rank of colonel, +and was entitled to a seat in the Council, and as such was a judge of +the General Court. His powers were great in the civil and military +control of the county. He presided over the county courts at the head of +the justices. + +The executive officer of the county court was the sheriff. The judges in +this court were called justices of the peace. They were important men +and had almost entire control of the affairs of the county. They were +chosen from the gentlemen class of the community and received their +commissions from the governor with the advice of the Council. They +received no compensation for their services, the office being considered +one of honor, not of profit. In this way a high standard of men were +obtained for this important office. + + +_EPRAPHRODIBUS'S WILL_ + +In 1640 a patent was granted to Epraphrodibus Lawson, in Tarrascoe Neck +Chuckeytuck Parish, Nansemond County. Lawson must have migrated to the +Northern Neck. His will was recorded there, in Lancaster County, in +1652. It is believed to be the oldest recorded will in the United +States. The will follows: + +"In the name of God, Amen, I Epraphrodibus Lawson, of Rappahannock, +being sick of body, but of perfect memory, Glory be to God, do make this +my last will and testament. I make and ordain, ye child of my wife ... +my heir ... my wife ... third ... March 31st, 1652. + + "Epraphrodibus Lawson. + + "Witness: + "Elos Lors, + "Joan Lee, + "Wm. Harper, + "Recorded June, 1652. + "G. John Phillips." + + +_THE CHALLENGE_ + +Young Richard Denham almost broke up the Lancaster County court when he +burst into the room bearing a message that challenged Mr. Daniel Fox to +a duel. + +The court was being held in the home of one of the justices as no +court-house had yet been built for the new county. Lancaster had been +formed from Northumberland in 1651. The date of the present court was +about 1653. + +Richard bore the challenge from his father-in-law, Captain Thomas +Hackett. It ran as follows: + +"Mr. Fox, I wonder ye should so much degenerate from a gentleman as to +cast such an aspersion on me in open Court, making nothinge appear but I +knowe it to be out of malice and an evil disposition which remains in +your hearte, therefore, I desire ye if ye have anything of a gentleman +or of manhood in ye to meet me on Tuesday morninge at ye marked tree in +ye valey which partes yr lande and mine, about eight of ye clocke, where +I shall expect ye comeinge to give me satisfaction. My weapon is rapier, +ye length I send ye by bearer; not yours present, but yours at ye time +appointed. THOMAS HACKETT. Ye seconde bringe along with ye if ye please. +I shall finde me of ye like." + +This message could not have been delivered at a worse time or place, for +Mr. Fox, a justice, was at the time sitting on the bench with his fellow +justices. That dignified group, dressed in their velvets and gold lace, +were shocked by the lad's audacity. + +One of the justices, John Carter, sharply scolded Richard--"saying that +he knew not how his father would acquit himself on an action of that +nature which he said he would not be ye owner of for a world." + +Richard answered in a slighting way "that his father would answer it +well enough!" + +When sternly questioned by the court, Richard admitted that he knew that +the message he bore was a challenge. He then boldly demanded of Fox what +answer he proposed to send back to Captain Hackett. + +The court then made a quick and emphatic decision that Richard was "a +partye with his father-in-law in ye crime," and that for bringing the +challenge, whose character he well knew, and for delivering it while the +justices were sitting, as well as for his contemptuous manner and bold +words he was "adjudged"--"to receive six stripes on his bare shoulders +with a whip," at the hands of the sheriff. + +The sheriff was then directed to arrest Captain Hackett and have him +"detained in safe custody without baile" until he should "answer for his +crimes" at the next session of the General Court at Jamestown. + +Thus a duel was averted, and Mr. Fox did not meet Captain Hackett "in ye +valey." The valley was probably chosen by Captain Hackett so that the +duel could take place without observation or interruption, and it was +the dividing line between their estates. + +Hackett was scrupulous to inform Fox of the length of the rapier he +intended to use, but had he followed regulations exactly, he would have +left the selection of the weapon to his opponent. + + +_TRADE_ + +In the early days the Northern Neck carried on trade with various places +besides England. Lancaster County seems to have been especially active +in this trade. From the following record it appears that tobacco and +grain were not the only articles used in trading with the Barbadoes: "In +1686 the sloop Happy transported from Lancaster County to that island, 2 +firkins of butter, 2 barrels of pork, and 22 sides of tanned leather, in +addition to 144 bushels of Indian corn." Trade to the West Indies was +conducted in small Virginia-built sloops. + +The Dutch brought to the Neck to exchange for tobacco such things as +linen, coarse cloth, beer, brandy and "other distilled spirits." In 1653 +Henry Mountford of Rotterdam appointed an agent in Lancaster. About the +same time, Jacobis Vis had "important transactions in exchange of +merchandise for tobacco in the counties of the Northern Neck." It was +said by the Dutch that Virginians could beat them in a deal. + +A letter from Captain James Barton of New England to a citizen of +Lancaster indicates that there was commerce between these places. Barton +stated in the letter that he wished to secure a cargo of tobacco, hides +and pork for market in the Barbadoes. His ketch, with a cargo of rum, +salt, sugar, cloth and salted cod and mackerel, would sail from Salem +and exchange cargoes in Virginia and then continue to the West Indies. +Boats from the West Indies sailed to Virginia and then on to New +England. + + +_THE COLONIAL SAILOR_ + +A sailor was always a source of interest to the public in colonial days, +whether he wore his tarry working clothes or his shore outfit. There was +the aura of foreign lands about him--he brought stories of far places to +the news-hungry colonists of the New World. + +On shore the sailor was a glamorous figure in his flapping trousers, +scarlet sash and cutlasses, or dressed "in a strange habitt with a +four-cornered Capp instead of a hatt and his Breeches hung with Ribbons +from Wast downward a great depth, one over the other like Shingles of a +house." He wore his pigtail shoved into an eelskin, which was supposed +to make his hair grow longer. + + +_JOHN CARTER_ + +One day in the year 1654 the frontier home of Thomas Meade on the +Rappahannock, in Lancaster County, was the focal point toward which the +men of the Northern Neck were converging. Some came galloping on +horseback between the big forest trees and others probably came by +sloop. + +The Assembly at Jamestown had recently ordered that an armed force be +raised in the Northern Neck: "100 men from Lancaster, 40 from +Northumberland and 30 from Westmoreland." After meeting at Meade's house +the force under John Carter was to proceed to the Rappahannock Indian +town and demand satisfaction for injuries done the white settlers in +that region, but they were to commit no acts of hostility unless +attacked. + +Swords and firearms were glinting that day, and no doubt the flagon was +passed many times. Among the men assembled, there was Captain Henry +Fleet, the old Indian trader. He and David Wheatliff were to act as +interpreters. + +There seems to be no record of the outcome of this expedition. With the +assistance of Captain Fleet, who was well known as "a powerful man in +Indian affairs," it probably turned out well. + +After this affair John Carter was known as "Colonel Carter of Lancaster +County." + +Colonel Carter had but recently settled in the Northern Neck. He had +sailed one day from the Chesapeake into the Rappahannock and there +before him lay virgin territory--tobacco soil and a ready-made highway +where ships could sail to his dooryard and carry his tobacco straight to +foreign markets. + +He patented land and built his home on a neck cut out from the land by a +creek and a river. He gave his home the Indian name of the river, +Corotoman. The creek was called Carter's. + +John Carter left England in 1649 when Cromwell seized the government. +Little is known of his family in England. When he came to Virginia he +settled first in Upper Norfolk and lived there five years. He probably +came to Lancaster County because he saw more opportunity there. + +John Carter prospered in the wilderness of the Northern Neck. He +acquired many acres, considerable wealth and all the offices and honors +that went with his position as a substantial landowner. He was even +appointed to his Majesty's Council in Jamestown, which was a high honor. + +His dwelling at Corotoman was no doubt a good house for that time. +Inventories show that it had glass windows, and the basement was floored +with paving stones which he had imported from England. The floors of the +dependencies were probably of the same. + +He wanted his children to have religious training. He built a church on +his property so that his family could have a place to worship God. + +Although women were scarce in this frontier country, Colonel Carter +managed to find five wives within twenty years. + +In 1669, Colonel Carter died at Corotoman and was laid to rest in the +yard of his church. + +Colonel John Carter of Lancaster County was the founder of the Carter +family in Virginia. His son, Robert, was left to carry on the family +traditions. He did so in a spectacular way. + + +_FLEET'S POINT_ + +When a sailing vessel left the Potomac and headed south toward Jamestown +it traveled about six miles down the Chesapeake and then it came to the +entrance of the Great Wicomico River. + +On the north side of the mouth of the Great Wicomico there was a point. +This point was called Fleet's Point because the plantation of Captain +Henry Fleet, the Indian trader, was located there. + +Between the year 1650 and 1655 Captain Fleet had patented large tracts +of land in Northumberland and Lancaster. He apparently lived in +Lancaster for awhile because he was a burgess from that county in 1652. + +But Captain Fleet finally settled in Northumberland at Fleet's Point. In +that region there had been an Indian village named Cinquack. It was thus +marked on an early map. By the time Captain Fleet settled on the point +the Indians may have moved inland, or to an island in the Chesapeake. Or +Fleet may have bought the land from the Indians. + +Weary voyagers on the Chesapeake, if evening was near, must have looked +for the lights of Captain Fleet's dwelling on the point. Probably +because of its location Fleet's Point became a stopping place for +"persons passing from Maryland to Virginia." + +Captain Fleet no doubt welcomed these guests, but he would stand for no +misconduct at Fleet's Point, as is shown by a deposition that has been +preserved: + +"One Henry Carline, of Kent County, Maryland, in 1655, stopped at his +house with a woman, and that he provided lodgings also for another +woman, and a man. Fleet becoming indignant at Carline's loose behavior, +turned him, and the woman who came with him, out of his house, and had +them arraigned before the Rappahannock Court. Carline was fined for +keeping the servant woman from her employer, and disowning his wife, and +the woman was ordered to receive 30 lashes." + +All records concerning Captain Fleet seem to end here. Did he ever +return to England? Or was he killed by the Indians? + +Perhaps he spent the rest of his life at Fleet's Point and was buried +there. + + +_GEORGE MASON_ + +George Mason was another early settler in the upper wilderness of the +Northern Neck. + +The first George Mason came to Virginia during the Cavalier emigration. +He "went up the Potomac River and settled at Accohick, near Pasbytanzy." + +Apparently the first mention of this founder of the Mason family in +Virginia occurs in the patent of land obtained by him in March, 1655: +"Said land being due the said George Mason by and for the transportation +of eighteen persons in to the colony." Mason was married but it is not +known if his wife or family were among these persons transported as +"head-rights." + +The next mention of George Mason in the records is in 1658 when he sold +five hundred acres of land to Mr. John Lease for "five cows with calves +and two thousand five hundred pounds of tobacco." Westmoreland County at +this time included land on the Virginia side of the Potomac from the +northern boundary of Northumberland to the present site of Georgetown in +the District of Columbia. With the land sold to Mr. Lease, Mason +included "all privileges of hawking, fishing and fowling." + +By this time George Mason was fairly well established in his wilderness +home among the Indians, some of whom were friendly and some were not. + +George Mason, Giles Brent and Gerrard Fowke were the "men of the +border" at this time. From time to time they were involved in troubles +with the Indians. + +Colonel Mason's death occurred probably in 1686. He was buried in the +"Burying Place, at Accokeek." He was the great-grandfather of George +Mason, the Revolutionary patriot and author of the Bill of Rights. + + +_MARY CALVERT_ + +"Ye said Mrs. Calvert shall personally receive thirty stripes upon her +bare shoulders for her offence." Thus the court of Northumberland +decided in the case of Mary Calvert in the year of our Lord 1655. + +This court was probably held at Coan Hall, the home of Colonel John +Mottrom, as it is doubtful that a court-house had yet been built. + +Court Day was a great event to the men of Virginia in colonial times. It +created an opportunity for the discussion of politics, for trading +livestock, bargaining for the sale of tobacco, catching up with the +news, and last but not least, a free enjoyment of rough horse-play, +accompanied by the passing of the jug. + +Let us imagine this Court Day at Coan Hall. If the weather was warm +enough the session may have been held out of doors under the trees. In +the rear the virgin forest must have furnished an impressive background. +In front flowed the river where the small sailing vessels, barges and +log canoes belonging to the men who had come to court were tied or +anchored. A few horses may have been tied in the barn-lot or tethered +out to graze, but there were not many horses in the Neck at that time, +probably not more than fifteen or twenty in the county. + +In cold weather court was doubtless held inside before the blazing fire +in the great hall. Colonel Mottrom, if he was presiding, was no doubt +dressed in his best, as befitted the occasion and his position as +justice. Ursula was probably in the kitchen supervising preparations for +a feast for those among the gathering who would be their guests. + +If the crowd overflowed outside there was perhaps an outdoor fire near +the stables for warmth. And the passing flagon of ale no doubt helped to +warm and cheer the crowd. Contests of strength and skill, such as +wrestling, cudgeling, running, riding and shooting may have been going +on there while the court was in progress inside the house. + +Mary Calvert must have been embarrassed to have been the only woman in +such a crowd of men, for as a rule women stayed out of sight on Court +Days. The records reveal only enough information about Mary Calvert to +arouse the curiosity. What sort of woman was she? + +She was perhaps fairly young, as women of that day usually married early +and died early. There is no clue as to her appearance but it is safe to +assume that her clothes were bright because colonials wore gay colors, +and that she wore a hood of some sort over her head, and if it was cold +a mantle that covered her other garments. + +What heinous crime had this woman committed that she deserved to be +lashed thirty times across her bare shoulders? + +Mary Calvert had been so bold as to speak in public against Oliver +Cromwell and the Parliament of England. She had called them "rogues and +rebells." + +Now, Mrs. Calvert confessed in court that she had made this statement, +but in her own defense she stated that she was in danger of being +murdered by her husband and "spake those words" to bring about her +arrest and thus be "secured from her husband." + +Was Mary telling the truth? The true answer will never be known. But the +ancient county records do reveal the fact that her husband either loved +her and could not stand by and see her lashed, or that he wanted to save +his own self-respect. + +Whatever his reason may have been he did come forward and beg to pay a +fine in order that Mary's sentence be revoked-- + +"Upon Mr. Calvert's petition in behalfe of his wife," the court ordered +him to pay a thousand pounds of tobacco for commuting "of ye corporall +punishment to be inflicted upon his said wife, with charges of court." + + +_HE LIVED BRAVELY_ + +Colonel John Mottrom may not have presided at the county court of 1655 +for he died about that time. He was but forty-five years old and he had +not yet built his brew-house or seen his vision of the town at Coan come +true. + +The funeral was no doubt a big affair for Colonel Mottrom was a +prominent man, and all funerals then were important occasions. These +early funerals were carried on in a reverent manner but there was a +cheerful side too. Funerals could even be called festive. The reason for +this was that a funeral brought about one of the few chances friends and +neighbors had for a reunion, and for feasting and drinking together. + +The guests had to travel a long way by boat or on horseback to attend a +funeral and these funeral guests were regarded as even more "sacred" +than ordinary guests. The unwritten laws of hospitality would have been +broken if these guests had been allowed to return home without more than +ample food and drink. + +Thus the bereaved Mottrom household probably had to put their sorrows +aside while they made preparations for the funeral. + +Sometimes the minister and pall-bearers, who were usually the leading +citizens of the county, were directed to wear certain special items, +such as gloves, ribbons and a "love scarf." Mourning-rings and gloves +were often gifts to chief mourners from the family of the deceased. +Often the will of the deceased directed the family to make such gifts. + +Colonel Mottrom may have desired to be "buryed ... in the garden plote." +It was the usual custom to be buried not too far away from the dwelling. + +It could be truly written of this first settler of the Northern Neck, as +it had been said of another early Virginian--"he lived bravely, kept a +good house and was a true lover of Virginia." + +After the body was laid to rest the memory of the deceased was usually +honored by a furious fusillade. This may have been done more for the +entertainment of those who came to bury the deceased than to honor the +dead. Sometimes as much as ten pounds of powder were used. Many +accidents occurred at funerals because of the wild firing of guns by +persons who had been drinking. + +The extravagant use of powder was nothing when compared to the amount of +liquor, of all kinds, consumed at a funeral. At one funeral sixty +gallons of cider, four gallons of rum, two gallons of brandy, five +gallons of wine, and thirty pounds of sugar to sweeten the drinks were +used. + +Food for the occasion may have included geese, turkeys and other +poultry, a pig, several bushels of flour and twenty pounds of butter. +Sometimes a whole steer and several sheep were prepared for the crowd. A +big funeral cost many pounds of tobacco. + +Colonel Mottrom's inventory was valued at 33,896 pounds of tobacco, +which was as large as any estate in the colony at that time. His +inventory was recorded in Northumberland County in 1657, and shows that +he was a man of "wealth and literary pretensions." + +He left his children "well-fixed" as to land. In Northumberland alone he +had patented 3700 acres. Tradition says that he left the daughter of his +associate, Nicholas Morris, "a riding mare." His will was referred to +the governor "because of some ambiguities in the procurings of it." No +copy of it can now be found. + +Due to distances and lack of fast transportation the widow's hand was +sometimes spoken for at the funeral of her husband by one of the guests +who was afraid that he might lose out if he waited to make another +visit. This was probably not true in Ursula's case, but she did remarry +soon enough for her new husband to act as one of the executors of +Colonel Mottrom's will. + +Major George Colclough, Ursula's third husband, was a burgess in 1658. +After his death Ursula Bish Thompson-Mottrom-Colclough married Colonel +Isaac Allerton. Even after she had married this fourth time she +continued to have trouble in settling Colonel Mottrom's estate, because +of the "ambiguities" of his will. + +Colonel and Mrs. Allerton lived at his home, The Narrows, which was +located in the new county of Westmoreland, formed from Northumberland in +1653. + +Colonel Allerton was the son of Isaac Allerton, who came to Plymouth on +the _Mayflower_ in 1620, and of Fear Brewster, only daughter of Governor +William Brewster, of Plymouth. He was born in 1630 and was one of the +early graduates of Harvard College. He came to Virginia and settled in +the Northern Neck at The Narrows. + +From Ursula and Isaac Allerton was descended President Zachary Taylor. + + +_WITCHCRAFT_ + +The belief in witchcraft was prevalent amongst the early settlers of the +Northern Neck. The Neck at this time was beset with wolves and Indians +and was a true type of a frontier colony. + +To the witch was ascribed the power of inflicting strange and incurable +diseases, of changing men into horses when they were asleep at night, +and after bridling and saddling them, riding them at a gallop over the +countryside to the places where the witches had their frolics. Horses +too were thought to be ridden at night, unbridled and barebacked. In the +morning these horses would be fagged-out and caked with sweat and mud +and their manes plaited into "witches' stirrups." + +That witches were taken seriously by settlers of the Neck in the +seventeenth century is proven by the following abstract from the +Northumberland County records: + + "20 Nov., 1656. + + "Whereas, Articles were Exhibited against Wm. H---- by Mr. + David Lindsaye (Minister) upon suspicion of witchcraft, + sorcery, etc. And an able jury of Twenty-four men were + empanelled to try the matter by verdict of which jury they + found part of the Articles proved by several depositions. The + Court doth therefore order yet ye said Wm. H---- shall + forthwith receave ten stripes upon his bare back and forever to + be Banished this County and yet hee depart within the space of + two moneths. And also to pay all the charges of Court." + + +_SEAHORSE OF LONDON_ + +On a cold day in the late winter of 1657 some men were busily working in +the Potomac near the mouth of Mattox Creek. They were trying to lift a +foundered ketch, the _Seahorse_ of London. Among the men was young John +Washington, son of an English clergyman. + +John had sailed for Virginia in the winter of 1656, as mate and voyage +partner in the _Seahorse_. After arriving in the Potomac the ketch was +loaded with a cargo of tobacco. On her way out of the river she ran +aground. Before she could be floated a storm hit and sank her. The +entire cargo of tobacco was ruined. + +During the delay John made friends with a wealthy planter named +Nathaniel Pope, who lived in the neighborhood. + +The _Seahorse_ was finally raised but by that time John did not wish to +return to England. Perhaps Nathaniel's daughter, Anne, was the +attraction in Virginia. + +John prevailed on Edward Prescott, the master and part owner of the +_Seahorse_, to release him from further service in order that he might +remain in the Northern Neck of Virginia. He also demanded payment of his +wages. Prescott countered that Washington owed him money and was partly +responsible for the damage done to the vessel. He threatened to have +John arrested and imprisoned. + +John's new friend, Pope, offered to go his bond in beaver skins. If +there was a suit the outcome is unknown. Prescott finally sailed away in +the _Seahorse_ and Washington remained in Virginia, but they parted on +bad terms and this was not the last of their quarrel--but that is +another story. + +John soon married Anne Pope. As a wedding gift Nathaniel gave them a +seven-hundred-acre tract of land near Mattox Creek, in Westmoreland +County. In 1664 John and Anne moved to a new home four miles eastward on +Bridges Creek. + +John Washington was the first of that name to settle in the Northern +Neck. In Westmoreland he led an active life as a planter and as a leader +in county affairs. He had received "decent schooling" before he left +England. John and Anne were the great-grandparents of that most famous +Washington--George. + + +"_TENN MULBERRY TREES_" + +In the fall or early spring of 1656-57 the Virginians were planting +trees. + +Since the pioneers of the Northern Neck were living on the edges of a +virgin forest and had been trying desperately to clear away enough of it +to make fields for tobacco and corn, it seems strange that they would +now be engaged in planting more trees. + +But these trees were different--they had been imported from China. The +Assembly at Jamestown had recently declared that "whereas by experience +silke will be the most profitable commoditie for the country ... that +everie one hundred acres of land plant tenn mulberry trees." + +When the colonists came to Virginia they noticed the abundance of +mulberry trees. These native trees, such favorites of the Indians, had +reddish-blue berries. The early colonists thought that "the climate and +soil of middle America were ... adapted to the culture of silke." + +So, the first Assembly, in 1619, in the church at Jamestown, had adopted +measures on the planting of mulberry trees: + +"About the plantation of mulberry trees, be it enacted that every man as +he is seatted upon his division, doe for seven years together, every +yeare plante and maintaine in growte six Mulberry trees at the least, +and as many more as he shall think conveniente." + +But the silkworms would not cooperate--they refused to eat the leaves +of the red mulberry tree. In 1621, the white mulberry was imported from +China. But still the silk industry languished, this time it was said, +for want of cheap labor. + +In the beginning the care of the silkworms was held to be specially +suitable work for children. The mulberry trees were kept like a low +hedge so that children could pick the leaves to feed the worms. This is +probably where the singing-game originated: + +"Here we go 'round the mulberry bush, mulberry bush--." + +Tradition said that two boys, "if their hands be not sleeping in their +pockets, could care for six ounces of seed from hatching till within +fourteen days of spinning." After that three or four helpers, "women and +children being as proper as men," were needed to assist in feeding the +worms, airing, drying, cleansing and "perfuming" them. + +Now, under the Commonwealth, the silk industry was again being +stimulated. But all was in vain--the colonists had their minds set on +raising tobacco and they could not be diverted. + + +_ROADS_ + +As a rule the settlers of the Northern Neck built their homes on the +banks of rivers and creeks. Since travel was by boat there was little +need at first for roads through the forest. + +The Indians traveled through the woods over narrow footpaths not much +over twenty inches wide. These had been made originally by animals. Now +they were traveled by both Indians and wild beasts. These paths usually +ran along high ground or where there was little undergrowth and few +streams to cross. + +When it was necessary for settlers to penetrate the interior they used +these Indian and animal paths, or cut new paths and blazed the trees so +that the blazes stood out clear and white in the forest. + +Northumberland County records mention a horse path "wch leadeth from +Wicocomoco to Chickacoon buttin upon the north west side of an Indian +field knowne by the name of Fairefield." There was a cart path near the +Corotoman river "knowne by the name of Morratico & Wiccomcomico Path." +Early land patents mention other paths, horse paths and Indian paths. + +Rolling-roads were narrow roads cut through the woods over which +hogsheads of tobacco fitted with axles could be rolled or drawn. In this +way inland plantations could send their tobacco to wharves and +warehouses on the waterfront for shipment overseas. + +The parish church, court-houses, ferries and ordinaries became the focal +points that led from crude interplantation lanes. In 1658 the General +Assembly appointed surveyors whose responsibility it was to clear +general ways from county to county. These roads were to be forty feet +wide and the surveyors were to see that the citizens kept them up. This +last order was hard to enforce because for a long time the planters had +little interest in highways on land. + + +_MARKETS_ + +The custom of Market Day, which was a form of the English fair, was +brought to Virginia by the colonists. In 1649 it was decided to hold +markets every week in Jamestown, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. + +The Assembly decided in 1655 to establish one or more market-places in +each county. These were to be located on a river or creek, and all the +trade of the surrounding country was to be concentrated at these places. +Imported articles were to be brought from certain ports to each market +place. Here were to be built the court-house, prison, offices of the +clerk and sheriff, ordinaries and churches. Nothing seems to have come +of this attempt. + +Again, about 1679, certain places were designated as public marts, to +which all the Indians who were at peace with the white settlers were +invited to come, one day in the spring and one day in autumn. A +government clerk was to keep records of all the trading which took place +at each mart. + +One of these marts was situated in Lancaster County, and another in +Stafford. In Northumberland, the Wicocomico Indians were to be permitted +to trade with the English under special regulations adopted by the +authorities in that county. + +The purpose of these market places was to encourage the building of +towns, but the attempts were all unsuccessful. The settlers preferred +their independent way of life on the plantations. + + +_THE OLD DOMINION_ + +In May, 1660, Charles II returned to England by invitation of a new +Parliament. Cromwell was dead and his son and successor, "Tumbledown +Dick," had abdicated. + +Charles rode into London, where the streets were dressed with green +boughs and the windows hung with tapestry in his honor. Since everyone +was so glad to see him he wondered why he had stayed away so long. + +When the Virginians heard the news they went wild with joy! + +Sir William Berkeley already had control of the Virginia government +again. The Assembly at Jamestown had foreseen the restoration of the +king and they had called Sir William back from his self-imposed exile at +his plantation, Green Spring, in March, 1660--two months before Charles +was actually crowned King of England. + +It took four months for the news of the restoration to reach Virginia. +In September, Sir William issued a command that the news be proclaimed +in every county in Virginia. + +This was what the Virginians had been waiting for and they celebrated in +their typical way--by drinking healths and by making every kind of noise +that they could contrive to make. + +Hundreds of pounds of tobacco were exchanged for barrels of gunpowder +and kegs of cider. In some places "ye trumpeters" were paid as much as +eight hundred pounds of tobacco for their music, and at least one +minister was paid five hundred pounds of tobacco for a service of +thanksgiving. + +In recognition of Virginia's loyalty to him, Charles II caused her to be +proclaimed an independent member of his Empire. He had it engraved on +coins that the English Kingdom should henceforth consist of "England, +Scotland, Ireland and Virginia." Virginia's coat-of-arms was added to +those of the other three countries comprised in his dominions. +Traditions say that Charles wore a robe of Virginia silk at his +coronation. + +It was in this way that Virginia acquired the title of "The Old +Dominion." + + +_THE PROPRIETARY_ + +The settlers of the Northern Neck had hardly ended their celebrations in +honor of England's new king when they received a great shock. + +One of the first things that Charles II did, at the insistence of those +courtiers who had shared his exile, was to have the Northern Neck +patent, which he had issued while he was in France, recorded and put on +the market to be leased for the benefit of those courtiers to whom he +had given it. Thus in 1661, the Northern Neck became a proprietary--that +is, it was owned now by the seven courtiers. + +In 1662, several English merchants took a lease of the proprietary from +the original courtiers who owned it. The merchants hoped to settle new +"adventures" in the land between the Potomac and the Rappahannock. King +Charles then wrote a letter to Governor Berkeley instructing him to +assist these men who had leased the patent. + +Even Sir William who had always been fanatical in his loyalty to the +Crown was shocked. The royal order aroused the opposition of both the +governor and the council to the proprietorship and to the lease of it. +It was a threat to the colonial government and they were afraid that +they would lose their power to defend themselves. They felt that the +rights of the colonists should be protected. + +Before 1661, a total of 576 grants of "headright" lands in the Northern +Neck had been made in the King's name by the Colonial Governor. The +meaning of "headright" was that any person who paid his own way to +Virginia would receive 50 acres of land. He would also be assigned 50 +acres for each person he transported "at his own cost." + +Now titles to these lands previously taken would be clouded. Or the +lands might be completely lost. + +Instead of assisting the lessees of the patent the colonial government +at Jamestown prepared an address to the Crown and sent one of their +ablest citizens to England to act as an agent for Virginia. + +The King ignored this protest, rebuked the colonial government and sent +their representative back to Virginia with a renewed petition of the +proprietors and orders to "protect his agents and encourage them." + +Nevertheless, no more was heard of the English merchants. The colonials +had scored their first victory in the war over the Northern Neck patent, +but many troublesome years were still to follow. + + +_A FIRST LADY OF JAMESTOWN_ + +While life flowed on at Chicacone, what had become of little Frances +Mottrom? + +Frances had been growing up. She was now, in 1662, seventeen years old +and about to become the bride of one of the most important men in +Virginia. + +Since her step-mother's marriage Frances had probably been living with +her sister, Anne, who had been married for five or six years to Richard +Wright, formerly a merchant of London. The Wrights lived part of the +time at Coan Hall and part of the time at Cabin Point, in Westmoreland +County. The latter estate had been left to Anne by her father, Colonel +John Mottrom. + +And how did Frances find a suitable bridegroom in the wilderness of the +Northern Neck? Probably through her brother-in-law, Richard Wright. Her +future husband, the Honorable Nicholas Spencer, Esq., had also been a +London merchant who had taken up lands in the Neck. He was now a +neighbor of the Wrights, in Westmoreland County. + +And where was the wedding to take place? There are no records to tell +us, but a deed made a few years after Frances' marriage refers to her as +being "late of Chickacone." It is doubtful if a church had been built as +yet, although the Parish of Chicacoan had been established in 1653, and +the Reverend David Lindsaye, of the Established Church of England, had +arrived in the Northern Neck as early as 1656. + +Let us assume that Frances and Nicholas were married at Coan Hall by the +new minister, who would have been dressed for the occasion in a white +surplice with bands and a "close" cap of black velvet. + +The ceremony would probably have taken place on a Wednesday morning +between eight and noonday. + +The bride was doubtless radiant in a low-cut gown of the latest London +fashion. It may have been pink, yellow or some other pastel shade but we +can be sure that it was not white. The gown, no doubt fell in soft folds +to the ground, as hoops had not yet come into vogue. Her hair was +probably arranged just as she wore it as a child, with a veil in place +of the cap. + +Coan Hall was no doubt "passing sweet trimmed up with divers flowers" or +evergreens. All the kettles were doubtless a-bubble in the kitchen, and +the silver, pewter, brass and copper gleamed in the firelight. + +There seem to be no surviving records of the festivities accompanying a +seventeenth century wedding in Virginia, but we may be sure that there +was "an open cellar, a full house and a sweating cook," three things +dearly loved by these transplanted English people. + +They also loved noise--the sound of guns and firecrackers, bells and +music. They liked to sing the old ballads brought from "home," as they +still called England. + +The wedding guests may have brought small spiced buns to the wedding and +piled them high in the center of the table. If the bride and groom +succeeded in kissing each other over the mound, lifelong prosperity was +assured. + +Dancing and games were very likely to have followed the feasting. The +wedding guests may have lingered on a week or more at Coan. It is +possible that the wedding party followed the bride and groom to the +groom's house in Westmoreland and continued the festivities for awhile +there. + +And how did Frances reach her new home? Most likely by sailing vessel, +up the Potomac. If she traveled by land it was doubtless on horseback as +there were few if any carriages then, nor any roads. She may have been +seated on a pillion behind her new husband, holding on tight to his +waist. If the wedding party traveled by land they must have made quite a +clatter--riding at the reckless "planter's pace" between the big trees, +shouting and singing and making the forest ring with happy sound. + +Two wedding gifts that Frances may have brought to her new home were a +"garnish of pewter," that is a full set of pewter platters, plates and +dishes, and a bread "peel," which was significant of domestic utility, +plenty, and was a symbol of good luck. These were favorite wedding gifts +then. Glass and earthenware were scarce at that time because of breakage +on the trip across the Atlantic. An inventory later on shows that +Frances had only twelve glasses and not more than eighty-eight pieces of +earthenware. Silver plate was abundant in the homes of the wealthy. + +At the time of their marriage Frances' husband was a member of the House +of Burgesses. Later (1679-89) he was Secretary of the Colony which made +him, next to the Governor, probably the most powerful man in Virginia at +that time. People started calling his home on Nomini River, Secretary's +Point, by which name it was ever after known. + +Colonel Spencer's neighbors named their parish "Cople" in honor of his +ancestral parish in Bedfordshire, England. + +About 1675 Colonel Spencer and John Washington procured a patent for +five thousand acres of land on Little Hunting Creek, which later became +famous as the Mount Vernon estate. This land descended to the heirs of +Spencer and Washington. + +Colonel Spencer became President of the Council, which was a position of +great honor and dignity. As President of the Council in the absence of +the Governor, his cousin Lord Culpeper, he became acting governor from +1683-84. + +"Madam Spencer," as Frances was now respectfully addressed, had seen +many changes since she had left her wilderness playground in the +Northern Neck, to become for awhile the "First Lady of Jamestown." She +had borne six children. One son went to England and remained there to +claim the large estates which his father had inherited. + +After Governor Spencer's death Frances married Reverend John Bolton. + + +_LAND_ + +"Clear titles" to their lands were extremely important to the +landholders of the Northern Neck, probably because for many years due to +the proprietary their land was not wholly their own. + +To the natives of the Neck, land was an almost sacred possession. To +acquire more and more of it was an obsession with some of them. Land was +their wealth--without it tobacco could not be grown. The virgin soil +lasted only about three years under tobacco cultivation. It was easier +and cheaper to look for new lands than to enrich old acreage so the +planter was always looking for new lands, in the fertile river margins +or in the vast forests. It was a wasteful system. + +Land made a man's social position then. For social rating purposes the +amount of land he owned did not matter so much, but if he was to be +"somebody" he must own some land. Common expressions in those days +were--"he is a big landowner" or "he owns land." This manner of social +rating persisted for many years in the Neck. + +Land was a man's security--even if he could no longer make money on it +"the land was still there." If he did not have wealth he still had land +and a social position. + +The landowner rarely sold his land. The bulk of it was left to the +oldest son; other sons received smaller portions and the daughters +received still smaller portions. The girls were supposed to marry into +landed stock. + +The importance of land to natives of the Northern Neck in bygone days +can hardly be exaggerated. + + +_PROCESSIONING_ + +A morning in spring between Easter and Whitsuntide found all Virginians +out-of-doors. This special day came once each year--it was the day of +the "processioning." + +On this day, required by law, the planters would ride and walk over +their lands and inspect their property lines. We can visualize the +scene--the planter and his older sons leading the way, servants +following with axes and other implements, chattering women and girls, +servant women bringing up the rear with lunch baskets, and children +riding pillion, or in front of some older person, or when the procession +halted, darting about chasing a butterfly or rabbit. + +"Processioning" day was an important time, for in those days land +surveys were not always true and the boundaries of each man's plantation +were uncertain. At this time the various landmarks were impressed upon +the minds of the older sons--"yonder is a corner pine," "the four red +and the one white oak," "there is the grove of tulip poplars," "the +dogwood corner," "the hickory corner," "the two gums and the white +oak"--there was so much to remember! + +Sometimes the lands were divided by ditches, for ditches would last a +hundred years or more it was said. Landmarks were renewed at this time. +Blazes were recut on trees and in the places where trees had fallen +during the winter new ones were planted. Tradition says that pear trees +were often planted as they were long-lived trees. + +Here and there processions from neighboring plantations would meet at +the boundaries where the lands joined. A sociable time then followed, +and if it was at lunch time, perhaps a picnic. Disputed boundaries were +decided upon at these times and announced to all persons present so that +at the next "processioning" those who were still living would be able to +testify as to the correct line. + + +"_THE BANQUETTING HOUSE_" + +Among the planters whose lands adjoined near Machodoc Creek, in +Westmoreland County, were John Lee, Henry Corbin, Thomas Gerrard and +Isaac Allerton. + +John Lee was the oldest son of Richard, the immigrant, of Cobbs Hall in +Northumberland. John was the first of the Lees to establish a seat on +land acquired by his father on the Potomac. This first Lee home in +Westmoreland was called Matholic. John had been educated at Oxford and +had graduated at Queen's College, 1658, and then studied medicine. He +had probably returned to Virginia with his father in 1664. Two years +later he was seated at Matholic, and he immediately took his place among +the leading planters in the county. Besides the usual offices that went +with his station, he was on a committee appointed by the governor for +the defense of the Northern Neck against Indians. Later he served on a +commission with Colonel John Washington and others to "arrange the +boundary line between Lancaster and Northumberland Counties." But what +Jack really liked to do was to ride, shoot and fish. He liked the +militia training and the celebrations that went with it. He was young, +gay and a bachelor. + +Henry Corbin had been born in Warwickshire, England, about 1629. His +family was of high standing among the English gentry. Henry came to +Virginia during the Cavalier emigration and took up an estate on the +Potomac near Matholic. His home was named Pecatone for an Indian chief +of the region, according to tradition. Pecatone was one of the great +manors of Westmoreland. It was built of brick with a terrace and stone +steps in front. The large rooms were wainscoted. The house was set in a +grove of trees and the lawn sloped to the Potomac. The house had the +massive look of a fort and it was plain to severity. Life at Pecatone +was carried on in the grand manner. + +Doctor Thomas Gerrard lived not far from Isaac Allerton on a plantation +called Wilton. Gerrard had once owned lands and had been a prominent +figure in the Province of Maryland, but because of religious persecution +he had crossed the Potomac and found sanctuary in the Northern Neck. +Wilton had originally been patented by Major William Hockaday in 1651. +At that time the Indians were still living on the land and Hockaday had +to wait to seat the place "until the Indians could be removed." Doctor +Gerrard purchased Wilton from Hockaday in 1662. + +Isaac Allerton was the grandson of that celebrated Puritan, Governor +William Brewster of Plymouth. After Isaac graduated from Harvard +College, in 1650, he left New England and settled in Westmoreland +County, near the plantations of John Lee and Henry Corbin. Isaac called +his home The Narrows. He became a leading planter of the county and was +one of the men of Westmoreland "upon whom Governor Berkeley relied." In +1675 Allerton was second in command under Colonel John Washington to +fight Indians. Allerton married Ursula, the widow of John Mottrom. From +the union of Ursula and Isaac was descended President Zachary Taylor, as +has been stated before. + +These then were the four neighbors with such diverse backgrounds, whose +plantations adjoined and who all came together each year at +"processioning" time. + +In March of 1670 these men decided to build a "banquetting house for the +continuance of good Neighborhood." + +The plan was that each neighbor, or his heirs, would take turns in +preparing the banquet and entertainment "yearly, according to his due, +to make an Honorable treatment fit to entertain the undertakers thereof, +their wives, misters & friends yearly and every year, & to begin upon +the 29th of May." + +Thus the agreement was written, witnessed, and signed by Henry Corbin, +John Lee, Thomas Gerrard and Isaac Allerton, on the 30th of March 1670. +Jack Lee was assigned the responsibility of the building of the +"banquetting house." There is documented proof that the house was built +in "Pickatown field," and that the yearly celebrations were held. + +At these celebrations Jack Lee, arriving on his spirited mount dressed +in his "gray suit with silver buttons" and "gloves with silver tops," +must have been a dashing figure. + +We can imagine Ursula at "Pickatown field," escorted by her fourth +husband, Colonel Allerton; Henry Corbin with his wife Alice and +daughter, Laetitia; and the Gerrards--Thomas and Rose. + +Since friends were to be invited, Colonel Nicholas Spencer of +Secretary's Point may have been there with his wife, Frances Mottrom +Spencer. The host would probably have been afraid to omit from the guest +list Dick Cole of Salisbury Park, and his wife Anna. + +Perhaps a little eight-year-old girl from Tucker Hill was dancing gaily +at "Pickatown field" in the year 1671. In three more years "little +Sarah Tucker" was to put away childish things to become the bride of +Colonel William Fitzhugh, one of the wealthiest planters in the Neck. +And in two more years the laughter of young Jack Lee would be stilled +forever. + +But in the springtime of 1671 there was probably no small cloud over +"Pickatown field," and the "banquetting house" was filled with happy +sound. + +Here end all known records concerning the "banquetting house in +Pickatown field"--America's first country club, circa 1671. + + +_THE LAND AGENT_ + +Now, in the year 1670, something new had been added to the Northern +Neck--a land agent. + +The grapevine must have been buzzing in those days--what is a land +agent?--a man who represents the proprietary--what is a proprietary, +anyway?--the people who have taken our land away from us--who is this +land agent?--Thomas Kirton, from England--what will he do?--make us pay +rent--rent our own land?--something like taxes--I won't do it--how can +he make us?--what right have they-- + +The Northern Neckers had probably not fully realized that they no longer +owned their own land until they came face to face with a land agent. + +Thomas Kirton came to Virginia in 1670 and opened a land office in +Northumberland County. He was to be assisted by Edward Dale, a prominent +citizen of Lancaster. + +Kirton came armed with credentials, a copy of the patent and power of +attorney for himself and Dale. He presented these documents to the +General Court at Jamestown, April 5, 1671. He was recognized and action +was prompt "... the said letters, patent being read in court ...," +"obedience" and "submission" was given and recorded. + +This complete acceptance of Kirton, and what he stood for, by the +Colonial Government was another shock to the settlers of the Northern +Neck. There had never been "anything to so move the grief and passion of +the people as uncertainty whether they were to make a country for the +King or for the Proprietors." + +It had become a very real fact to the settlers now that they had +landlords over them. They had been accustomed to the utmost freedom and +independence and this was an almost unbearable blow. + +A strange thing about the story of the proprietary is that the people +who lived within it had very little understanding as to what it was all +about. Most of them lived all of their lives without understanding the +terms of the proprietary. This was partly due to the fact that +everything was done in secret. Even the Colonial Government was kept in +the dark as to the various changes and renewals, while the proprietors +increased their authority over the domain of the Northern Neck. + +Kirton's main duty was to collect quit-rents. The quit-rent was handed +down from the feudal system of medieval times. In simple terms--it was +the "bond between the lord and the land." The quit-rent was a monetary +payment to relieve the tenant of obligations, such as laboring for the +lord of a manor on a certain number of days a week, or paying him with a +portion of the produce. + +Under the system of the quit-rent the tenant still had complete control +of his land although he did not own it. He was free to bequeath the land +to his heirs. + +Kirton had little success in collecting quit-rents although they were +small, only two shillings per one hundred acres. The settlers had no +intention of paying anything to the proprietors unless they were +compelled to do so. As the years went on they acquiesced to a certain +degree, but the quit-rents were never willingly paid. + +However the settlers did not object to patenting new lands. These could +be paid for in English coins, Spanish pieces of eight, or in tobacco, if +metallic money was not to be had. + +Kirton was ousted from his office, in 1673, because for some time he had +failed to remit the quit-rents. Before this Kirton and Dale had +quarreled and Dale had ceased to act as an agent. + +Thomas Kirton probably had few friends in the Northern Neck. The fact +that he married Anna, the widow of Dick Cole, tells quite a lot about +him. She was despised and feared by her neighbors because of her +slanderous tongue. + +Kirton's home was in Westmoreland County, near the Northumberland +boundary. He probably remained in the Northern Neck, for in 1686 he +informed the Westmoreland court that its records were "somewhat delayed +and the transfers through time and carelessness were scarcely legible." +The court directed him to transcribe all the records in one book. For +this he was paid 2,000 pounds of tobacco and cask, if he finished the +work by 1688. + + +_HANNA AND THE HORSESHOE_ + +In early days the horseshoe was believed to have a magic potency. When +butter was slow in coming, a heated horseshoe was thrown into the churn. +A horseshoe was also believed to keep off witches. Doubtless most of the +early settlers of the Northern Neck had one nailed over the threshold. + +An instance of the belief in the power of the horseshoe is found in the +seventeenth century records of Northumberland County. From three sworn +statements filed in that county, "April ye 11, 1671," let us reconstruct +the strange happenings that were reported. + +The story starts on board a vessel at sea, bound home to the Northern +Neck from a trip to the Barbadoes. ("I Edw: Le Breton deposeth that +being aboard of our ship & Mr. Edward Cole talking then and there of +severall psons (persons) & among all ye rest of Mrs. Neall, Hanna +Rodham, daughter of Matthew Rodham, and wife of Christopher Neall.") + +We can imagine Le Breton and Cole in their ship's cabin relaxing a bit +as they neared home--two mariners dressed in loose breeches and jerkins +of canvas or frieze, with their warm Monmouth caps and outer garments +swaying on the pegs where they hung and the swinging lanthorn casting +crazy shadows over all. Perhaps a bottle of the West Indies rum had +loosened the tongue of Edward Cole as he told of "a certyne time some +yeares past" when "there grew difference" between himself and the family +of Hanna Neall. "She then," continued Cole, "made a kind of prayer that +he nor none of his family never prosper and shortly after his people +fell sick & much of his cattle dyed." + +When Edward Cole arrived home from the Barbadoes he found his wife ill +and the "suspition of Doctor S----, & others was that his wife was under +an ill tongue, & if it was soe he concluded yt (yet) it was Mrs. Neall +by reason of imprecations made by her & yt indeed he thought soe," and +"he did accuse Mrs. Neall of it alsoe." + +Edward Cole was greatly troubled. If Hanna Neall could do this much, she +could do worse things. He was almost "beside himself" with fear and +worry when he remembered the horseshoe nailed over his threshold. It was +there to keep off witches. If he could induce Hanna Neall to cross over +the horseshoe he could find out once and for all if she was a woman or a +witch. + +And so it came about that Edward Cole at "a certyne time sent for Mrs. +Neall to come to see his wife." + +Witches are usually thought of as being old hags, but from portions of +these statements it seems that Hanna was not an ordinary witch. She was +at least a fairly young woman, and quite possibly an attractive one. +Records of early land patents show that she and her father were +landowners, which gave her certain social distinctions, and only a small +number of persons of the best condition had the designation of Mr. and +Mrs. prefixed to their names in the seventeenth century. The +Northumberland records prove that she was fearless, for she answered +Edward Cole's invitation by coming at once. + +Did she live near enough to walk? Since individual landholdings were +large then we do not think that she lived close enough to walk. Did she +come riding on a pillion? Or did she come across the water in a barge +rowed by her servants? These are questions for speculation. + +We can assume that she was dressed in the usual outdoor costume of women +of that time and place. In April the air is still sharp in the Northern +Neck of Virginia so she probably wore a linsey-woolsey gown of blue with +undersleeves of white kenting, a dark mantle of wool, a hood with a +bright lining turned back around her face, and a white muslin apron. +Perhaps she carried a basket with some delicacy for the sick woman--a +pair of quail shot by her husband and roasted by herself on the spit in +her fireplace. + +What feelings of dread must Edward Cole have had as he watched the +approach of Hanna Neall! We can see him slowly opening the door and +standing far aside for her to enter. + +We can picture Hanna, looking into the dark room where the candle in the +tin lanthorn threw shadows across the strained faces, and a pomander +ball gave off the sickening odors that were supposed to ward off +infection. And there in the dimness of the bed with its heavy hangings +lay the sick woman. + +Was Hanna frightened when she looked into the face of her accuser? Was +she angry? Or did she pity him? In any case, when she trod on the +threshold, brushed the horseshoe with her skirts, and entered the +room--nothing happened. + +Hanna crossed to the sick woman, knelt beside the bed and "shee prayed +so heartily for her" that Edward Cole believed in her sincerity. + +It was in this way that Hanna Neall was saved from being banished from +the county, or from lashes at the whipping post, or from the ducking +"stoole" at Northumberland County court-house, down in Hull's Neck. +Saved by a horseshoe and a prayer! + +And Edward Cole straightened matters out with the following statement: + + "I, Edward Cole, doe acknowledge yt ye words which I did speake + concerning Mrs. Neall as tending to defame her with the + aspersion of being a witch, were passionately spoken. + + "Edward Cole" + + April ye 11, 1671 + + +_MUSTER_ + +In the early days of the colony there was a unit of militia in each +county. The governor, who was in command, appointed for each unit a +colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major, who had lesser officers under +them. Every freeman between the ages of sixteen and sixty was subject to +this military duty. Single troops and companies were mustered four times +a year, and once a year there was a general muster. + +Everyone looked forward to the general muster--on that day all roads led +to the county seat. Some of the people came as far as they could by boat +and then walked the rest of the way. Others came in carts and on +horseback, with the women and girls riding pillion behind their +husbands, fathers or brothers. Small children were probably perched up +in front of the riders. All were dressed in their bravest clothes. + +At the county seat there was excitement in the air--the British flags +were all flying, swords were glinting, and there was the sound of the +"brass Trumpetts w'th silver mouth pieces" and the roll of drums. There +were "Troopes of horse & Companies of Foot ... provided w'th Armes & +Ammunition" and with their "coullours" flying. The officers wore +handsome belts and "Bootes." The men carried "firelock musketts" and had +"Pistolls & Houlsters." + +After the parades and drills were over the people mingled and enjoyed +being together. It was probably the second day before the crowd broke up +and the people started homeward. Liquor was no doubt flowing freely +among the men. + +The citizens of Northumberland petitioned the House of Burgesses in +1696, "praying" that no musters should be allowed to take place on +Saturday, "as it led to the profamation of Sunday." + + +_THE STORE_ + +The store was one of the principal institutions in the colony in early +days. Every important planter kept a store somewhere on his plantation. +Sometimes it was in a room in the manor but usually it was in a detached +building. Storehouses were small, often not more than sixteen by +eighteen feet. + +The contents of these stores included nearly every article used by +Virginians. A plantation store of 1667, with contents valued at six +hundred fourteen pounds sterling, carried merchandise such as: materials +of all kinds, carpenters' tools, bellows, sickles, locks, nails, +staples, cooking utensils, flesh forks, shovels and tongs, medicines, +wool cards, compasses, needles, stirrups, looking-glasses, candlesticks, +candles, raisins, brandy, wine, and many other items. + +Most of the manufactured articles came from England. To be very salable +merchandise had to bear an English label. + + +_THE WOLF-DRIVE_ + +For a century after the first settlers came to the Northern Neck the +forest was still alive with wolves. In the evenings they could be heard +hunting and they sounded "like a pack of beagles." + +These wolves were small, not much larger than a fox, but so ravenous +that if a traveler was forced to spend the night in the woods he could +hardly keep his horse from being devoured even though tied close to him +and to the light of the fire. + +The scattered sheepfolds and grazing pastures had to be guarded. Wolves +were such a nuisance to the planters that authorities sought ways to +destroy them. Rewards were offered for any person killing a wolf +"provided the said wolf shall not be so young that it is not of age to +do mischief." + +The planters caught the wolves in various ways--in wolf-pits, log-pens +and log-traps. Several mackerel hooks were fastened together and then +dipped in melted tallow which hardened and concealed them. These were +fastened to a chain so that after the wolf had swallowed the hooks he +could not wander away in the forest and his head be lost for bounty. + +In 1674, John Mottrom, II of Coan was rewarded with fourteen hundred +pounds of tobacco for "killing seven wolves in a pitt." The settlers +often paid their public dues in the skins of wolves. + +As late as 1691 the county court of Northumberland made public +arrangements for an annual wolf-drive. The wolves were hunted on +horseback with dogs, very much in the manner of fox-hunting. Early +writers state that it was possible while going at full speed to run down +a wolf. + +The wolf-drive was somewhat like the old English "drift of the forest," +where a ring of men and boys with guns surrounded a large tract of +woods. The wolves scenting them would retreat to the center of the +circle, where the hunters would close in on them. Many were killed in +this way. "Wolf-driving" was considered great sport. + +Wolf-Trap Light, in Chesapeake Bay, is said to have been named because +ashore near there was a famous place for catching the last of the +wolves. + + +_THE INDIANS AND ROBERT HEN_ + +In the year 1675, strange things were happening in the Northern Neck. + +Thomas Matthews, a planter, whose "dwelling was in Northumberland, the +lowest county on Potomack River," recorded these strange events--there +"appear'd three prodigies in that country, which from attending +disasters were look'd upon as ominous presages. + +"The one was a large comet every evening for a week, or more at +Southwest; thirty-five degrees high streaming like a horse taile +westwards, until it reach'd (almost) the horizon, and setting toward the +North-west. + +"Another was, fflights of pigeons in breadth nigh a quarter of the +mid-hemisphere, and of their length was no visible end; whose weights +brake down the limbs of large trees whereon these rested at nights, of +which the ffowlers shot abundance and eat 'em; this sight put the old +planters under the more portentous apprehensions, because the like was +seen, (as they said), in the year 1644 when th' Indians committed the +last massacre, ... + +"The third strange appearance was swarms of fflyes about an inch long, +and big as the top of a man's little finger, rising out of spigot holes +in the earth, which eat the new sprouted leaves from the tops of the +trees without doing other harm, and in a month left us." (This insect +was the seventeen-year locust.) + +The events which followed these strange occurrences not only justified +the apprehensions of the old planters but also changed the course of +history in the New World. + +Thomas Matthews, of Cherry Point in Northumberland, also had a +plantation, servants and cattle in Stafford County. His over-seer there +had bargained with an Englishman, Robert Hen, to come "thither" and be +herdsman of the Stafford flocks. + +Robert Hen arrived in due course of time and made his habitation on the +Stafford plantation. + +On a Sunday morning in the summer of 1675, people on their way to church +found Hen lying across his threshold, and an Indian lying in the +dooryard--"both chopt on their heads, arms and other parts, as if done +with Indian hatchetts, th' Indian was dead, but Hen when asked who did +that? answered Doegs, Doegs, and soon died, and then a boy who came out +from under a bed where he had hid himself, told them, Indians had come +at break of day and done those murders." + +"Ffrom this Englishman's bloud," wrote Matthews, "did (by degrees) arise +Bacon's rebellion." + +Matthews continues: "Of this horrid action Coll: Mason who commanded the +militia regiment of ffoot & Capt. Brent[6] the troop of horse in that +county ... having speedy notice raised 30, or more men, & pursu'd those +Indians 20 miles up & 4 miles over that river into Maryland, where +landing at dawn of day, they found two small paths ... each leader with +his party took a separate path and in less than a furlong either found a +cabin, which they (silently) surrounded. Capt. Brent went to the Doegs +cabin (as it proved to be) who speaking the Indian tongue called to have +a council ... such being the usual manner with Indians ... the king came +trembling forth, and would have fled, when Capt. Brent, catching hold of +his twisted lock (which was all the hair he wore) told him he was come +for the murder of Rob't Hen, the king pleaded ignorance and slipt loos, +whom Brent shot dead with his pistoll, th' Indians shot two or three +guns out of the cabin, th' English shot into it, th' Indians throng'd +out at the door and fled, the English shot as many as they could so that +they killed ten ... and brought away the kings son of about 8 years +old ... the noise of the shooting awaken'd the Indians in the cabin, +which Coll: Mason had encompassed, who likewise rush'd out and fled, of +whom his company (supposing from that noise of shooting Brent's party to +be engaged) shot fourteen before an Indian came, who with both hands +shook him (friendly) by one arm saying Susquehanoughs netoughs, meaning +Susquehanoughs friends and fled. Whereupon Col: Mason ran amongst his +men crying out for the Lords sake shoot no more, these are our friends +the Susquehanoughs." + +[Footnote 6: This was the second Giles Brent, who was half-Indian.] + +This attack upon the friendly Susquehannocks was a very unfortunate and +costly mistake. The incensed Indians took to the warpath and murders +were committed in both Virginia and Maryland. A body of Virginia militia +under the command of Colonel John Washington, Colonel George Mason and +Major Allerton, all of the Northern Neck, crossed the Potomac after the +Indians. + +This warfare ended, after much bloodshed, with Bacon in command. The +allied Indians were defeated and the once friendly Susquehannocks were +anihilated. And it was in this way, with an army at his command, that +Bacon established his power and became strong enough to fight Governor +Berkeley. + +Thus it was, according to Thomas Matthews, that Bacon's Rebellion +started with the murder of Robert Hen in the Northern Neck. + + +_THE ROYAL CAVALCADE_ + +When Robert Carter of Corotoman, Lancaster County, dressed on Sunday +mornings he had a choice of several dress swords and of several belts to +hold them--there was the silken belt, the buff, and the one of tan +leather which was both "genteel and strong." His coat was of velvet with +lace choker and cuffs, and his satin shorts were fastened at the knees +with silver buckles to match those on his shoes. + +If he looked in the mirror, as a servant adjusted his wig, he saw a +strong man of medium height with a plump clean-shaven face and dark eyes +that observed everything but saw no humour in anything. + +When Carter and his lady, equally as splendid, stepped outside their +mansion, a coach was a-waiting them, with liveried servants to help them +inside. The coach was a heavy, four-wheeled, enclosed vehicle with two +seats facing each other, and it carried four or more passengers. Most +likely it was painted in shades of yellow and green, or a subdued red, +with the family crest or coat of arms painted on the doors. + +[Illustration: _"King" Carter attends Christ Church._] + +The six matched horses which drew the coach were being held in check by +the driver and the outriders. A chaise may have been waiting behind the +coach for the older daughters and guests. The sons of the house, if they +were old enough, were mounted and attended by servants on horseback, one +for each gentleman. Other mounted servants with led horses may have +brought up the rear, but it is doubtful, as the distance to be traveled +was only three miles. + +There must have been a great rumbling of wheels, creaking of saddle +leather and clatter of hoofs when the cavalcade swung onto the road +which led from Corotoman to Christ Church. The master had built the road +high, drained by deep ditches, and bordered on both sides by closely set +cedars. It was like a long formal alley. + +When the churchyard came into view people could be seen waiting there. +The procession came to a halt with noise and "a great to-do." The family +alighted and the master led the way. At the church door he halted and +drew a key from his vest pocket with which he unlocked the door. It was +customary for gentlemen to remove their swords at the church door and +place them in a rack provided for the purpose, but whether or not the +head of the Carter family did so is not known. + +The Carters entered the church and proceeded to their high boxed pews, +where curtains on gilt rods screened them from the gaze of the +congregation. + +According to tradition, this bit of pageantry was put on by Robert +(King) Carter every Sabbath, and the congregation, it was said, waited +rain or shine in the churchyard until he came to unlock the door. If he +chose to take a Sunday off, services were held in the churchyard, it was +said. + +Though it was the custom for the rector to sign the vestry minute book +first and then the members in order of their rank, in Christ Church the +Carters always signed first, tradition says. + +King Carter was a vestryman at Christ Church. He wanted his children to +belong to the Established Church--"As I am of the Church of England way +so I desire they should be." + +The first Christ Church had been built by John Carter, the immigrant, in +1669. The second Christ Church was built on the same site by King Carter +in 1732. + + +_THE KING OF THE NORTHERN NECK_ + +Robert Carter was born to be a king among men. His fellow countrymen +called him "King" and his real name was eventually forgotten. Like King +Midas, everything that King Carter touched turned to gold, but in the +case of the latter there was no magic in it--he planned it that way and +worked to make his plans succeed. + +Robert Carter was the second son of John, the immigrant and Indian +fighter. His mother was Sarah Ludlow Carter, his father's fourth wife. + +Robert Carter was born in 1663, at his father's plantation, Corotoman, +in Lancaster County. The foundation had already been laid there for his +future success. The immigrant Carter had done well. His plantation was +orderly and successful and he had accumulated considerable wealth. + +John Carter died when Robert was six years old, and the elder son +inherited the bulk of the estate, as was the custom then according to +the law of primogeniture and entail. + +But John Carter did not forget Robert. He left instructions that his +younger son should be well educated, specifying that "during his +minority" he should have a man or youth servant bought for him. This +servant was "not only to teach him his books ... but also to preserve +him from harm and evil." He further specified that his son should learn +both Latin and English. These instructions were followed and Robert's +education was completed in England. + +The elder brother soon died, without male heir, and the whole estate +reverted to Robert. It was now up to him to carry on the family +traditions. + +Corotoman, a bee-hive of activity, was typical of the plantations of +that day. It was like a village, which was dominated by the manor house. +There were the cottages of the white indentured servants, the slaves' +quarters, the barn and farm buildings, the spinning-house, the +laundry-house, the milk-house. There were the shops of the artisans who +manufactured and repaired the articles used on the plantation. There was +a shop where boats were built. Corotoman had everything that it needed +to make it a self-sustaining unit. + +To the sloop-landing, near the mouth of Carter's Creek, ships came +directly from foreign ports with cargoes of clothing, furniture and +luxuries for the manor, and shoes and other necessities for the white +serfs and negro slaves. These vessels went away loaded with tobacco and +grain. + +Robert Carter was aware of everything that went on at Corotoman and on +his other plantations, not the smallest detail escaped him. He knew when +a slave's shoes didn't fit, or when a servant's child needed medical +attention. When his sons were in school in England he followed their +progress by remote control and never let them forget that he was holding +the purse-strings--"Mind your book," he wrote his son, Landon. He wanted +them to have a classical education, a thorough understanding of Latin +and English. He also wanted them to have religious training. + +Robert Carter was a politician as well as a planter. He held every high +office in the county and colony, and even acted as governor for more +than a year. + +But most of all, the land fascinated Robert Carter. He loved the rich +virgin soil that would grow tobacco. It was the same thing as growing +money. But in about three years time tobacco had worn out the soil and +new fields must always be on tap in this tobacco game. + +Carter's big opportunity came in 1702 when he was appointed as a land +agent of the Northern Neck proprietary. He set up a land office at +Corotoman and began to acquire lands for himself as well as for others. +He had accumulated 20,000 acres by 1711, at which time he lost the +agency to Thomas Lee, of Westmoreland. + +In 1719 Carter regained the agency and again became the representative +of the Fairfax interests in the Northern Neck. In 1726 he took an even +bolder step by leasing the entire Northern Neck from the proprietor for +a fixed rental of 450 pounds a year. Now he had the income from the +quit-rents for the entire region. + +When King Carter died in 1732, he owned 330,000 acres of land, a +thousand slaves and 10,000 pounds sterling. The latter fact was +remarkable because there was such a small amount of metallic money in +the colony. He also left more than a hundred head of horses, over two +thousand cattle and swine and several hundred sheep. These slaves and +stock were scattered over his various plantations. His estate also +included indentured servants, ships and nautical equipment, crops, +farming equipment, cabins and mansions, furnishings, personal effects +and a library of 521 volumes. + +King Carter had done well for himself, and well for the proprietor. He +had also opened up the back lands of the Northern Neck to settlers, +which automatically forced the Indians back. + +King Carter was a builder. He had a large brick kiln at Corotoman, which +doubtless furnished the bricks for some of his homes and the church. He +built a breakwater at Corotoman to save the waterfront from being washed +away by tide and storm. It was made of huge rocks, probably brought as +ballast in some of the ships. He dug a well at Corotoman and had it +lined with stone. It was a far-cry from the early settlers' "spring near +the door." + +King Carter built a road from Corotoman to Lease-Land (Fredericksburg), +a distance of almost a hundred miles. It was known as the King's +Highway. + +In everything that King Carter did he looked ahead. He was building for +the future generations of his family. When he died he was the richest +and most powerful man in Virginia. His given name had long since been +forgotten. He was known to everyone in the Northern Neck as King Carter. +He was laid to rest in the yard of Christ Church. + + +_KITH AND KIN_ + +There used to be an old saying--"everybody in the Northern Neck is kith +and kin." This was almost a fact. + +It all came about because in the early days the families of wealth and +ability assumed leadership locally and in the Colonial Government. It +was the custom of these families to intermarry in order to keep the +power of wealth and influence within their own circle. + +By the end of the eighteenth century it was hardly possible to find a +prominent Northern Necker who was not "kin" to some other outstanding +Virginian. This rigid rule of "keeping up the bars," as they called it, +resulted in an aristocracy similar in many ways to the nobility of the +Old World. This system accounts for the high political intelligence for +which Tidewater Virginia was noted. + +The marriages of King Carter's children illustrate this characteristic +of colonial life in the Northern Neck, and in Virginia. King Carter +married only twice but he had twelve children. + +By his first wife, Judith Armistead, King Carter had four children, +John, Elizabeth, Judith and Anne. + +Judith died in 1699, and he married Elizabeth Landon Willis, a widow and +daughter of Thomas Landon of England. She died in 1719. The best known +of her eight children are Robert, Charles, Landon, Mary and Lucy. + +Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, was married to Nathaniel Burwell. King +Carter gave her Carter's Grove. After Burwell died she married George +Nicholas. Judith married Mann Page of Rosewell, in Gloucester County. +Anne married Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley, on the James. + +Mary married George Braxton of Newington, in King and Queen County. Lucy +married Colonel Henry Fitzhugh of Eagle's Nest, in Stafford County, on +the Potomac. + +John became a barrister in the Middle Temple, London, and married +Elizabeth Hill of Shirley, on the James. Robert settled on the +plantation of Nomini, on the Potomac. He married Priscilla, the daughter +of William Churchill, a member of the Council. + +Charles married three times--Mary Walker, Anne, daughter of William Byrd +of Westover, and Lucy Taliaferro. His home was Cleve on the +Rappahannock. + +Landon's home was Sabine Hall, on the Rappahannock. He married three +times--an Armistead of Hesse, a Byrd of Westover and a Wormeley of +Rosegill. + +King Carter's direct descendants include: a signer of the Declaration of +Independence (Carter Braxton), two Presidents of the United States (the +Harrisons), and General Robert E. Lee. + +Thus King Carter's children were well established. These Carters and the +heads of other top-ranking families were sometimes known in the Northern +Neck as the "river barons." + + +_THE FIELDINGS_ + +Ambrose Fielding was a justice of the peace for Northumberland County in +1670. + +Ambrose's son, Edward, came to Virginia from England, about 1687-88, to +take up his inheritance of three hundred twenty-five acres left him by +his father in 1675. His Northern Neck holdings were increased in 1695 by +the will of his "Uncle Edward" Fielding, a great merchant of Bristol, +England, who left him "500 acres at Wiccomocco in the County of +Northumberland, in the Country of Virginia beyond the seas." In the same +year Edward, by grant from Lady Culpeper and Lord Fairfax, acquired four +hundred twenty-five more acres on "Wicocomoco river ... near ye Mill Dam +of ye sd. Fielding, of Lee parish." + +Edward owned a snuff box, marked with his initials, "E.F.," and the date +"1716." The portrait of a young woman was painted on the lid. It is +believed to have been his wife, or his daughter Sarah. The girl in the +picture wears a dress of satin, with white skirt, green stomacher and +plain colored bodice; the head-dress, which is like a scarf or loose +hood, is of white and green, and the flower held in her hand is blue, as +are the velvet cushions of the chair. + +Edward's oldest son was born in 1689. Edward named him for his father, +Ambrose. + +When Ambrose was about twenty-one years old he married the daughter of a +"chirugeon," Mark Attkins. After their marriage Ambrose and Catherine +moved to Lancaster County and settled on a plantation known as Broad +Neck Quarter. + +The house of Ambrose Fielding II, was built like a small fort in the +wilderness, probably for defense against Indians. It was built of brick +with loop-holes in the walls. A brick wall surrounded the house, and it +too was pierced with loop-holes. + +This house is said to have been located near the seat of the Carters at +Corotoman. This statement seems to have been borne out by the will of +King Carter, 1728, in which he mentions a "Fielding's Place." In 1749 +the King's grandson, Robert Carter III, of Nomini Hall, owned about two +thousand acres in a tract in Northumberland called Fielding's Quarter. + + +_PIRATES_ + +In the time of King Carter of Corotoman, the Chesapeake was alive with +pirates. He wrote that they were "very bold and roguish ... miserable +case, the Crown takes no more care of so vast a fleet of ships as uses +this bay." + +The pirates reaped a rich harvest from the unprotected ships that +traveled to and from foreign ports. In one year four ships bound back to +Virginia from England had been sunk. + +There were three types of pirates--the "bloody pirate," who was simply a +robber on the high seas; the privateers, who commanded armed private +vessels commissioned to cruise against the commerce or war vessels of +the enemy; and buccaneers, who were freeholders who preyed upon Spanish +as well as American vessels and settlements. + +With its many bays and rivers the coastline of Tidewater Virginia was +hard to defend. Pirates could swoop down in their fast boats and rob +vessels and plunder the plantations along the shore. It was easy to make +a landing in the lower counties of the Neck where the land was low and +there were wharves at the plantations. + +In 1699, Captain Kidd, who tradition says wore a gold chain around his +neck and picked his teeth with a toothpick of gold, entered the +Chesapeake in his vessel _Alexander_. The militia of the maritime +counties was called out but Captain Kidd, after plundering several +ships, sailed away. + +Louis Guittar entered the Bay in 1700 and plundered and destroyed five +vessels while there. At some time during this period, a ship-load of +pirates reached the waters of the upper Chesapeake, where they captured +a large sloop. They anchored that evening not far from shore and, +tradition says, "the pirates were heard beating their drums all night +long." + +The pirate, George Lowther, entered the Bay in 1722. Roger Makeele was +another Bay pirate. He and his gang of thirteen men and four women +preyed on small craft in the Bay channels. After a successful venture +they celebrated by "drinking and feasting with Rumm or Brandy, mutton, +Turkey &C." This gang was captured and brought to trial by the Governor +of Virginia. + +The Virginia government used several methods of defense: look-outs, +militia, forts and guard-ships. There was a fort with twenty-four guns +and one hundred fifty "available shot" at Corotoman, on the +Rappahannock. At Yeocomico, on the Potomac, there was a fort with six +guns. Since almost no maintenance was given to the forts in Virginia +they were in a dilapidated condition by 1691. The guns were "spoiled in +the sand with the water flowing over them at high tide." This form of +defense proved to be ineffective. The colony had already turned to +guard-ships as a means of protection. + +These guard-ships were used to convoy merchant vessels to their +destination, or to a safe "riding place." The designated "riding place" +on the Rappahannock was above the fort at Corotoman. On the Wicomico and +on the Potomac the "riding places" were "as high as they can go." + +One of these guard-ships, _H.M.S. Deptford_, a ketch, under command of +Captain Thomas Berry, was upset in a squall in the Potomac. Captain +Berry, who was ill at the time, was drowned along with eight members of +his crew. + +In 1726, Joseph Parsons, mate of the ship _Tayloe_ of Bristol, was tried +in the court of Richmond County and convicted of piracy and the murder +of Captain John Heard of the _Tayloe_. Parsons was sent to the "gaol" at +Williamsburg. The Council in Williamsburg re-examined the case and +discharged Parsons because of lack of sufficient evidence. The silver +plate and other articles found in the possession of the crew were held +by the authorities until the rightful owners could claim them. The crew +said that they had taken the property from the _Tayloe_ "for sustinance +while journeying through the colony." + +After Blackbeard was captured by Maynard, in 1718, piracy in the +Tidewater declined. The last pirate reported in the Chesapeake was in +1807. Tales of pirates, piracy and buried treasure were told in the +region for many years. + + +_CHRISTMAS AT COLONEL FITZHUGH'S_ + +An account of a Christmas spent at Bedford plantation in the Northern +Neck was written by Monsieur Durand, a Frenchman, who was journeying +through Virginia in the holiday season of the year 1686. He wrote: + +"We were now approaching the Christmas Festival.... It was agreed that +all should go to spend the night with Colonel Fitzhugh, whose house is +on the shore of the great river Potomac.... + +"By the time we reached Col. Fitzhugh's we made up a troop of 20 horse. + +"The Colonel's accomodations were, however, so ample that this company +gave him no trouble at all; we were all supplied with beds, though we +had to double up. Col Fitzhugh showed us the largest hospitality. He had +store of good wine and other things to drink, and a frolic ensued. + +"He called in three fiddlers, a clown, a tight-rope dancer and an +acrobatic tumbler, and gave us all the divertisement one would wish. It +was very cold but no one thought of going near the fire because they +never put less than the trunk of a tree upon it and so the entire room +was kept warm." + +William Fitzhugh, the owner of Bedford, came to Virginia in 1670. He +secured a grant of land in the upper Neck, in what later became King +George County. He married "little Sarah Tucker" of Tucker Hill when she +was only eleven years old, and then sent her to England to be educated. +Sarah and William reared a family of five sons. Colonel Fitzhugh became +one of the largest landowners in the Northern Neck. At the time of his +death in 1701 he owned 54,054 acres of land. + + +_INDIAN VISITORS_ + +When the French Huguenot, Monsieur Durand, was in Stafford County in +1686 he described the Indians who lived along the Rappahannock River as +follows: + +"As we were about to take horse all those savages, men, women & little +children, came to return our visit. Those who had been able to procure +jerkins from the Christians were wearing them, as also the women who +wore some kind of petticoats, others wore some pieces of shabby cloth +from which were made the blankets they had traded on some ships in +exchange for deer skins. They had a hole in the center to put their +heads through & fastened it around their body with deer-thongs. The +women were wearing theirs as a mantilla, like the Egyptian women in +Europe, & their children were entirely naked. They had taken to adorn +themselves some kind of pure white fishbones, slipping a strand of hair +through a bone, & so on all around their head. They also wore necklaces +& bracelets of small grains which are found in the country." + + +_HORSE RACING_ + +Horse racing was the most popular form of amusement in Virginia in the +seventeenth century. The lower counties of the Northern Neck were the +center of horse racing in the colony at that time. + +These races had many spectators, including women, but only gentlemen +could participate. Racing was considered "a sport for gentlemen alone," +and records show that if one not of that class presumed to enter his +horse in a race he was heavily fined. + +The races were taken seriously and conducted with fairness, even if it +might be necessary to be assisted to this end by the courts. There are +many records of contested decisions decided by jury. + +Saturday was the customary day for the races. These occasions when a +crowd was gathered together were used by the public authorities for +making announcements to the people. + +In 1696 citizens of Northumberland complained to the House of Burgesses +that the races on Saturday often caused the Sabbath to be profaned. The +races may have been carried over into Sunday, or they may have ended in +drinking and fighting bouts which continued on that day. + +There were three racing tracks in the lower Neck: Coan Race Course, +Willoughby's Old Field, located in Richmond County, and a third course +at Yeocomico. Of these the principal and the most popular was the Coan +track. These race-tracks were kept in good condition. Early race-courses +were not always oval. Some were over "race paths." The "quarter race" +was the outcome of this--where two horses ran a straight quarter of a +mile. The stretch was sometimes a quarter and a half-quarter of a mile. + +Smoker, owned by Mr. Joseph Humphrey, was one of the most famous +race-horses in the colony. He was later owned by Captain Rodham Kenner, +who was High Sheriff of Northumberland. Prince, owned by Captain John +Haynie, II, was another noted race-horse. In 1695 Smoker was run in a +race against Prince on Coan Race Course. The stake was four thousand +pounds of tobacco and forty shillings. The race was won by Smoker. + +Betting was part of the pleasure of the races. The stakes ran high--they +were usually made up of a large amount of tobacco with a small addition +of metallic coin. + +Another horse celebrated in the region was Young Fire, owned by John +Gardiner. This horse was snow-white in color. Captain John Hartley owned +a horse called Campbell. Folly was a mare owned by Mr. Peter Contanceau. +The owners were sensitive as to the reputations of their horses and +would go to great lengths to preserve them. + +Other Northern Neck turfmen mentioned in seventeenth century records +were: Mr. Yewell of Westmoreland, John Hartridge, Daniel Sullivant, Mr. +Raleigh Travers, Mr. John Clemens, Captain William Barber and John +Washington. + + +_MANUFACTURE_ + +Early attempts at manufacture were begun in Virginia. The Assembly +estimated that five children not over thirteen years of age could spin +and weave enough to keep thirty persons clothed. In 1646 it was ordered +that two houses be erected in Jamestown for spinning-schools. + +These "Flax-Houses," as they were called in some records, were to be +"one-storey, measuring eight feet from floor to ceiling, with a loft of +sawn boards above." A "stack" of brick chimneys were to stand in the +middle of each house, and suitable partitions were to be made. + +Each county was to send to these schools two "poor children," about +seven or eight years old, who were to work at carding, knitting and +spinning. For their maintenance the county authorities were to supply +each of their children when they were admitted with: "6 barrels of +Indian corn, a pig, 2 hens, clothing, shoes, a bed, rug, blanket, 2 +coverlets, a wooden tray, and 2 pewter dishes or cups." + +This plan was not very successful and it probably failed before the +counties of the Northern Neck had advanced far enough to send children +to the spinning-schools. + +To encourage manufacture in early Virginia, prizes in tobacco were given +for every pound of flax raised, for every skein of yarn, and for every +yard of linen produced. + +In 1697, Tobias Hall of Lancaster County, claimed the reward for the +production of linen. Inventories of Lancaster disclose woolen-wheels and +wool cards. A loom was owned by Charles Kelly. Flannel, and even +blankets, were manufactured on these looms. + +Between 1660 and 1702 there were at least two tailors in Lancaster +County. Daniel Harrison, of the same county, must have manufactured +quite a lot of shoes, for the time and place. He employed three +shoemakers, and his personal estate included: "122 sides of leather, 72 +pairs of shoes, 37 awls, 26 paring knives, 12 dozen lasts and numerous +curriers' and tanners' tools." + +A reward of fifty pounds of tobacco was offered for any sea-going vessel +built in Virginia. There was no lack of Virginia-built small vessels, +such as barges, shallops and sloops. + +Rural life was not favorable to manufacture, although each plantation +manufactured those articles necessary to its needs. William Fitzhugh, a +wealthy landowner of the upper Neck, wrote to his London agent in 1692 +and requested him to send to his plantations several shoemakers, "with +lasts, awls and knives, together with half a hundred shoemaker's thread, +some 20 or 30 gallons of train oil and proper colorings for leather." He +had set up a tan-house and wished to convert the product into shoes on +his own plantation. + +Later on, in the eighteenth century, Robert Carter of Nomini Hall, a +grandson of King Carter, manufactured on quite a large scale. + + +_THE POTOMAC RANGERS_ + +The Potomac rangers were appointed by the governor for frontier duty. +The county lieutenant, in command of the county militia, was given the +power to impress men who lived in the region for this service. + +The outfit was composed of a commander and eleven men with horses, arms, +and necessary equipment. The Rangers had orders from the Jamestown +government to "seize any Indian or Indians whatsoever," and have him, or +them, put in jail to remain there until "delivered by due process of +law." + +Indians were not the only public enemies in the frontier country. In +1698, the gentlemen of Stafford sent a letter of "grievances" to +Jamestown asking that the "bloody villain, Squire Tom, a convict upon +record," be demanded from the "Emperor of Piscataway," who was then +protecting him from punishment. + +The activities of the Potomac Rangers are described in a quaint journal +kept by one of the Rangers in 1692: + +"A Journiall of our Ranging. Given by me, David Strahan, Lieutenant of +ye Rangers of Pottomack. June the 17th; We ranged over Ackoquane, and so +we Ranged Round persi-Neck and ther we lay that night. And on ye 18th +came to Pohike, and ther we heard that Capt. Mason's Servt-man was +missing. Then we went to see if we could find him, and we followed his +foot abut a mile, to a house that is deserted, and we took ye tract of a +great many Indians and we followed it about 10 miles, and having no +provisions we was forced to return. June 26th: We Ranged up to Jonathan +Matthews hs. along with Capt. Masone, and ther we met with Capt. +Houseley, and we sent over for the Emperor, but he would not come, and +we went over to ye towne, and they held a Masocomacko and ordered 20 of +their Indians to goe after ye Indians that carried away Capt. Masone's +man, and so we returned. July the 3d ... July 11th; We ranged up to +Brenttowne and ther we lay.... The 19th we ranged up to Ackotink, and +discovered nothing.... So we Ranged once in ye Neck till ye 20th +Sept^{br}, then we mercht to Capt. Masone's and ther we met with Capt. +Houseley and his men; so we draved out 12 of our best horses, and so we +ranged up Ackotink and ther we lay that night. Sept 22^d ... Sept. 23^d +We marcht to the Suggar Land[7].... And the 24th we Ranged about to see +if we could find ye tract of any Indians, but we could not see any fresh +signe ...; the 26th marcht to Capt. Masone's, and ther dismissed my men +till ye next March." + +[Footnote 7: Suggar Land was named for the sugar maple trees that at +that time grew in the region of what was later Fairfax and Loudoun +counties.] + + + + +PART II + +Eighteenth Century + + + + +_MURDERS IN STAFFORD_ + +Thomas Barton, of Stafford County, asked a neighbor to stay with his +children while he and his wife went away for a day. The obliging +neighbor, his wife and three children, came to the Barton plantation on +a Sunday, June 16, 1700. + +There were three children in the Barton family, and an orphan boy. On +that peaceful June day all must have been drowsy contentment at the +wilderness plantation--six children at play in the house, and the +neighbor and his wife trying perhaps to take a nap. Only the orphan boy +was outside, playing alone. + +Suddenly the peaceful Sunday afternoon was turned into a nightmare. A +party of Indian warriors swooped down in a sudden attack on the Barton +place. All was over in a few minutes no doubt. Only the orphan boy +escaped and ran to a neighboring plantation. + +Meanwhile Barton was on the way home. His wife had probably decided to +stay overnight wherever they had visited for he was alone. He stopped by +a mill where he had left some corn to be ground and picked up his bag of +meal. When he was almost home about twenty Indians started up from the +woods and closed in about him in a "half-moon." They were naked and +unarmed. + +Barton had a good mount but the meal was heavy. He finally got the bag +loose and threw it off, and then at full speed he "broke through the +woods and got safe to a neighbor's house." + +Colonel George Mason II, who was probably at the head of the Stafford +militia, was notified of the outrage. When he and a "small parcel of +men" arrived at the Barton place they found plenty of work to do. They +"pulled out of the people and a mare, sixty-nine arrows." They also +found five "ugly wooden tomahawks." Mason and the men buried the "poor +people." Arrows had made holes in the roof of the house as "big as swan +shot." + +From the tracks about the house Mason judged that there had been at +least forty Indians in the party. He was of the opinion that most of +them had gone back to Maryland. + +After Mason returned to his home he wrote a long letter to the governor +in which he described the murders as the "horriblest that ever was in +Stafford." These two plantations would be deserted for the year, he +wrote, and he was afraid that all the people would leave their +plantations. "I am afraid," wrote Colonel Mason, "that we shall have a +bad summer, but ... if I can keep them upon their plantations, it will +be some discouragement to the enemy ... but God knows what I shall do +now, for this has almost frighted our people out of their lives." + +In another letter written in July, Colonel Mason seemed to have gotten +the situation well in hand: "The Rangers continue their duties ... they +range ... four days a week, which is as hard duty as can be +performed.... The inhabitants still continue from their homes, but the +abundance are better satisfied since part of the Rangers are constantly +ranging among them." The Rangers had been re-enforced by the sons of the +planters and other young men. + + +_FREE SCHOOLS_ + +In 1652 the court of Northumberland County granted the petition of +Richard Lee of Cobbs Hall "concerning a free school to be set up." + +Francis Pritchard, 1675, Lancaster County, left a large estate for the +establishment of a free school. + +In 1700 William Horton endowed a free school in Westmoreland County. + +In 1702 John Farneffold made provision in his will for a free school in +Northumberland as early as August, 1672. In 1680 he was minister of St. +Stephen's Parish, and remained such until his death in 1702. He was the +son of Sir Thomas Farneffold of Sussex, England. + +The provisions in John Farneffold's will concerning the free school were +as follows: + +"I give 100 acres where I now live for the maintenance of a free school, +and to be called Winchester Schoole, for fower or five poore children +belonging to ye parish and to be taught & to have their dyett, lodging & +washing, & when they can read the Bible & write a legible hand, to +dismiss them & take in more, such as my exors. shall think fitt, and for +the benefitt of the said school, I give five cows and a Bull, six ewes, +and a ram, a carthorse & cart and two breeding sowes & that my two +mulatto girles, Frances and Lucy Murrey, have a yeares schooling & be +free when they arrive at the age of 22 years, to whom I give a sow shoat +to each, & for further encouragement of a schoolmaster, I give dyett, +lodging & washing & 500 pds. of tobacco & a horse, Bridle & Saddle to +ride on during his stay, the place where the school house is to be +directed, my will is to have it neare my dwelling house, some part of +which may serve for a school house til another may more conveniently be +built. Item what schoole books I have in my study, I leave for ye +benefit of ye schoole. Then my will is that some of my estate be sold +for the maintenance of the said schoole except what my exors. shall +think fitt to select necessary for use as bedding, potts, & pewter. My +will is that Mr. Tarpley, Mr. Leo Howson, Richard Nutt and Edward Cole +carry me to the grave, three to have guineas, and Richard Nutt a gold +ring.... If the school fail for want of maintenance, which I hope it +will not, give that hundred acres & all the rest of my land to +Farneffold Nutt, son of Richard Nutt; to the minister who preaches my +funeral sermon, my Preaching gown & Cassocke." + +Another school was provided for by Daniel Hornby, of Richmond County. In +his will, proved April 2, 1750, he made provision that a Latin master +should attend Travers Colston, a relative, at twenty pounds per year, +and that he should be obliged to teach ten children. + +In 1770-71 Colonel Landon Carter of Sabine Hall, Richmond County, was +supporting a free school in that county. William Rigmaiden was the +master of this school. + + +_THE HOME IN THE FOREST_ + +Mary Ball was born on a plantation "up in the forest," which was the way +the Northern Neckers described any place that was not on the water. + +In this Neck where one is never far from the water, river plantations +were the rule in colonial days, and it is an unusual fact that Colonel +Joseph Ball established his seat in the forest. Lancaster was still a +frontier county and there were only horse paths through the woods, for +the rivers were still used as highways. + +Joseph Ball had inherited his forested lands from his father, William +Ball, the founder of the Ball family in Virginia. William came to +Virginia, probably as a merchant, in 1650, but he did not settle until +about 1663, at which time he purchased land in Lancaster County and +established his seat on the east side of the Corotoman River, where it +empties into the Rappahannock. This location, which he called +Millenbeck, became the county seat. + +Joseph Ball followed in the footsteps of his father as a man of +prominence in county affairs. He was Lieutenant-Colonel in the militia, +and vestryman of St. Mary's White Chapel. This chapel was known as "the +Balls' church" just as Christ Church was known as the "Carters' Church." +Both churches were in Christ Church Parish. + +Joseph Ball was married twice. Just before his second marriage he gave +to the children of his first marriage certain portions of his estate, +reserving the right of dower for his second wife. + +Little is known of Joseph's second wife, Mary Johnson, except that she +was a widow. When Mary Ball was born to Joseph and Mary, probably in the +winter of 1708 or 1709, there was nothing to indicate that she was +destined to become the most important woman of the Northern Neck. She +was at that time just another baby born into the gentle, distinguished +and religious Ball family. + +Joseph Ball, who was no longer a young man, died when Mary was about two +years old. In his will he left Mary four hundred acres of land near the +head of the Rappahannock River, three slaves, fifteen cattle and "all +the feathers in the kitchen loft to be put in a bed for her." + +Within about one year, Mary Johnson Ball married again. Her third +husband was a prominent merchant-planter, Captain Richard Hewes, who +lived on his plantation Cherry Point in the upper part of Northumberland +County, in the neck between Yeocomico and Coan Rivers. + +When Mrs. Hewes went to Cherry Point to live she took her son by her +first marriage, John Johnson, and Mary Ball with her. Thus Mary at three +years of age had few, if any, memories of her birthplace "up in the +forest" of Lancaster County. + +Several generations later this Ball plantation became known as Epping +Forest. It was named, it is believed, for a Ball estate in England. + + +_CHERRY POINT_ + +Mary Ball's first memories were probably of the fields and rivers at +Cherry Point. It was a pleasant place to remember. The responsibility of +the plantation soon fell on Mary's mother, for Captain Hewes died in +1713. + +There were few toys then. Mary may have had one of those wooden dolls +with stiff joints and staring eyes. She probably played out-of-doors and +had animals for pets. + +There were no childrens' books then. A Mother Goose book was published +in Boston in 1719, but that was too late for Mary. She probably had only +a horn-book from which to learn her A B C's. Perhaps there was an +indentured servant who could teach her a little. + +On Sundays the family probably attended church at Upper St. Stephen's +Parish[8], where Captain Hewes had been one of the vestrymen. There may +have been some sort of a road from the plantation to the church over +which a coach could be pulled, but if so it certainly did not travel at +the lively speed of King Carter's! More than likely they rode there on +horseback--little Mary sitting up in front of some older person. She +doubtless learned to ride at an early age. + +[Footnote 8: NOTE: This church is said to have been located near the +present village of Lottsburg.] + +Mary probably valued the feather bed left her by her father far more +than she did the legacy of land. She had never even seen the land, but +every night she could sink into the warmth and softness of the feather +bed. + +Mary's childhood days at Cherry Point ended in 1721. The child's +half-brother, John Johnson, and her mother both died in that year. + +Mary Ball was now an orphan, but her mother had planned it so that she +would not be alone in the world. Mary Hewes had stipulated in her will +that--"my said Daughter Mary Ball--be under Tutiledge and government of +Captain George Eskridge during her minority." Colonel Eskridge was also +named as executor of Mary's estate. She had received almost the whole of +her mother's estate, consisting of lands, two horses and personal +property. And she had received all of her half-brother's estate, +consisting of land in Stafford County. + +Mary Hewes had chosen wisely in selecting her "trusty and well beloved +friend George Eskridge" as guardian of her youngest child. Colonel +Eskridge was not only a lawyer of distinction, an experienced business +man, a leading man in his community, but he was also a gentleman. And +Colonel Eskridge was "connected by marriage" with Mary Ball's +half-sister Elizabeth Johnson who had married Samuel Bonum. Mary was +therefore equally welcome to make her home at her guardian's plantation +or at the farm of the Bonum's. + +[Illustration: _Mary Ball at Yeocomico Church._] + + +_SANDY POINT_ + +Both the Bonums and the Eskridges lived in lower Westmoreland County, +just across the Yeocomico River from Cherry Point. + +Colonel Eskridge's plantation, Sandy Point, was directly on the Potomac. +Its name gave but a vague idea of the beauty of the beach and the sweep +of river beyond. There was a feeling here of space. It was a place of +restless sounds, made by the wind and waves. It was quite different here +from the quieter waters and forest walls that Mary Ball had known. + +Bonum's Creek Farm, the home of Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth, was east +of Bonum's Creek. The "home-place" was situated on the bank of the +Potomac, in sight of Pecatone, the manor home of the Corbin family. + +Mary now had the choice of these two delightful places for her future +home. She probably divided her time between the two. Perhaps Mary Hewes +had this in mind when she left Mary a "good Pacing horse together with a +good silk plush saddle," thus taking care of the problem of +transportation. + +Among the other things "bequeath unto" Mary by her mother were two gold +rings, the "one being a large hoop and the other a stoned ring," a trunk +and "all the rest of my wearing apparel." So when Mary went to her new +homes she had a trunkful of clothes which would come in handy as she +grew older, for it took a long time to receive an order from England, +and ships were being taken by pirates during these years. It was lucky +that fashions did not change much then, and that clothes were made to +last. + +Mary had a maid, who probably looked after her and her wardrobe. Mary +had enough income for her needs, therefore she was more fortunate than +most orphans of that time. + +Sandy Point was doubtless the scene of many larks after Mary joined the +Eskridge girls who lived there. In the evenings there was probably much +talk around the fireplace--of pirates and witches and houses where +mysterious lights flitted at night. And much giggling and chatter +upstairs after the candles had been put out. + +In 1726 Mary's life was again saddened, this time by the death of her +brother-in-law, Samuel Bonum. In his will he left her "a young gray +dapple horse." + +While at Sandy Point Mary attended Yeocomico Church, where her guardian +was a vestryman. She rode there on horseback, tradition says. In cold +weather she probably wore a red cloak, and a hood or scarf to protect +her head and face. + +The simple church, cloistered in the virgin forest, invited worship, but +the churchyard on Sundays was a festive place in those days. And it was +a noisy place--there was the rattling of wheels, the cracking of whips, +the neighing of horses and the chattering of the people, who were so +glad to see each other. There were "rings of Beaux chatting" around the +girls in their bright mantles. + +It was cold inside the church in winter, sometimes too cold to have even +the usual short sermon. The high-backed pews shielded their occupants +from drafts, and some people had their servants bring in little stoves +of perforated tin containing coals, or hot bricks to place under the +feet. + +After the service there was more "visiting together" in the churchyard, +and the men had business transactions to make. + +Near the church there was a spring, and a kiln where the bricks had been +burned for the church when it was built in 1706. + +Mary Ball lived among the gentle people of this region until she was +married. There are no early portraits of Mary Ball, but tradition says +that at the time of her marriage she was "a healthy orphan of moderate +height, rounded figure and pleasant voice, aged 23." + + +_AUGUSTINE_ + +Augustine Washington was "connected by marriage" with Colonel Eskridge. +He probably met Mary Ball on one of his visits to Sandy Point. + +Sandy Point was an ideal place for romance but there is not even a +traditional account of the courtship of Mary Ball. Even the scene of her +marriage is not known, but it was probably at Sandy Point or at the +Bonum home. Mary Ball and Augustine Washington were married by the +Reverend Walter Jones, on March 6, 1731. Ministers at that time usually +received "for marriage two shillings." + +Mary's new husband was "blond, of fine proportion, great physical +strength and stood six feet in his stockings, and had a kindly nature." +He was called Gus by his friends. + +Gus took his bride to his home on Popes Creek, in upper Westmoreland +County. Mary was not the first mistress at Popes Creek, for Augustine +had been married before, to Jane Butler, half-sister to Colonel +Eskridge's second wife. Jane had been dead for about three years. + +At Popes Creek now there were the servants and little Jane, who was +about nine years old. Augustine's other two children were teen-age boys, +Lawrence and Augustine, who were then at Appleby's School in England. +Gus himself had been educated at that school. + +Augustine Washington, while not a man of great wealth, owned land and +buildings in at least three counties, and he was part owner of two iron +furnaces. He was prominent in his community, having held at various +times the positions of Justice of Westmoreland County court, Captain in +the county militia, Sheriff of Westmoreland County, and he was a +vestryman in the church. Although he was not one of the wealthiest +planters in the Northern Neck, he was on an equal footing with them +socially. + + +_POPES CREEK_ + +When Mary came to Popes Creek to live she had some housefurnishings of +her own to bring with her. There was the feather bed, and her mother had +left her a bedstead to go with it, a quilt and a pair of blankets. She +had also left Mary two table-cloths "marked M. B. with inck," two pewter +dishes, two basins, one large iron "pott," one frying pan, one "Rugg" +and "one suit of good curtains and fallens" (valance). It must have been +with great joy that Mary arranged these things in her own home. + +The house at Popes Creek was not a magnificent residence such as +Stratford Hall or King Carter's manor at Corotoman. It is believed to +have been "a simple abode," but it was comfortable and it had a quality +that was lacking in the splendid mansions--it was homely. It was the +kind of place where a planter could sit with his family in the evening +and feel close to them and close to his earth. + +The house was situated on the west side of Popes Creek, about +three-quarters of a mile from the point where the creek emptied into the +Potomac. About a mile to the northwest was the last habitation of John +Washington, the immigrant, and near it was the family burying ground. + +Augustine had bought his tract of one hundred and fifty acres of land on +Popes Creek from Joseph Abbington in 1718. David Jones, a local builder +and undertaker, had contracted to build the home for five thousand +pounds of tobacco with extra amounts in cash for incidentals. He was +probably assisted by Augustine's slaves and indentured servants. The +house was completed and occupied by Augustine and his first wife about +1726, so it was still rather new when Mary came to live there. + +Mary probably found it not too difficult to assume her duties as +mistress of the plantation for the farm activities at Popes Creek were +about the same as those she had known before her marriage on the +plantations in lower Westmoreland. + +Many years later the Popes Creek plantation became known as Wakefield. + + +_THE WAR PATH_ + +The Shenandoah Valley was the historic war trail of the Six Nations of +Indians of the north in their warfare with the southern Indian tribes. +These wars had commenced before the settlement of Jamestown. There is no +evidence to show that the Valley was inhabited to any extent by Indians +immediately before the coming of the white man to the New World. +Scattered burial mounds prove that Indians lived there at an early +period but their history has been lost. + +Governor Spotswood believed that this migration of Indian warriors from +north to south would hold back the settlement of Virginia. He called a +conference which was attended by the northern Indians and the governors +of New York and Pennsylvania, and himself and other representatives from +Virginia. At this conference the Indians were persuaded to limit their +travel. In the Treaty of Albany, signed in 1722, the northern Indians +promised to let the southern Indians live in peace, and agreed that +their warriors would not cross Virginia without a passport. Disregard of +this treaty was punishable with death or transportation to the West +Indies and sale into slavery. + +Governor Spotswood bound the bargain by dramatically handing the +interpreter his "golden-horseshoe," which had been pinned at his breast, +and bidding him to give it to the speaker and to tell him that "there +was an inscription on it which signified that it would help him to pass +over the mountains; and that when any of their people should come to +Virginia with a pass, they should bring that with them." + +After this treaty was signed the Northern Neck could be opened to +settlers westward. And the planters could now patent immense tracts of +land. + + +_FALMOUTH_ + +About this time there was considerable trade between the Northern Neck +and both Ireland and Scotland. It has been said that Virginia tobacco +helped Glasgow, Scotland, to prosperity. A street in that city was named +for Virginia, and at one time Virginia merchants "thronged that street +and were regarded with such respect that other men gave way that they +might pass." Among these gentlemen were some of the planters from the +Potomac. In 1720 George Mason III, was given the freedom of the city of +Glasgow, in the form of a parchment "Burgess Ticket." + +Falmouth, in Stafford County, was founded in 1727 by Scotch merchants. +Boats from Scotland came directly to this trading village situated near +the head of the Rappahannock River. Something of this once thriving +trading center of the Neck is told in a letter written by a visitor by +the name of Ellen Gray. The undated letter was written to her friend, +Rose Douglas of Loch Lomond, Scotland. It says: + + "Dear Rose: + + "Falmouth is on a river that empties into Chesapeake Bay. The + houses are perched on declivities and hills. There are mills. I + love water wheels when they glisten.... We saw scenery much + wilder than any in Scotland. It consisted of islands in the + Rappahannock, lying above Falmouth. We gazed on them from a + long plank bridge. What a pity the Virginians will span their + streams with plank instead of stone! A stone bridge overgrown + with moss is a bewitching sight. Several Scotch families have + lived in Falmouth, tho the place is called Fal from a river in + England. Among its most successful merchants was Basil Gordon. + He arrived a poor boy in Falmouth. He died a millionaire after + a life of patient industry." + +Basil Gordon is believed to have been one of America's first +millionaires. + + +_BURNT HOUSE FIELD_ + +It was a cold night in January, 1729. Thomas Lee was ready to go to bed. +He had probably checked the doors and windows and all seemed well at +Matholic. + +His family were already asleep but perhaps Thomas lingered awhile, +thinking about his new home, Stratford, which he was building on his own +plantation twenty miles away. How good, he may have thought, it would be +to have something of his own. For Matholic, this ancestral Lee estate in +Westmoreland where he was now living, did not belong to Thomas. He was +leasing it from his older brother, the third Richard Lee. + +Thomas Lee was a younger son and therefore he had received little in the +way of a heritage; even his education had been neglected. His older +brothers had received the customary classical education, while Thomas +learned only reading, spelling and ciphering, probably from an +indentured servant. He had been ashamed of his lack of education. To +pass in the elegant society to which his family were accustomed it was +necessary to have a knowledge of Latin and Greek. After he was a mature +man he studied long hours alone until he had mastered these subjects. + +Thomas' father, the second Richard, had thrown at least one crumb in the +direction of his younger son. When he was compelled by age to resign as +naval officer of the Potomac, in 1710, the elder Lee persuaded Governor +Alexander Spotswood to give this post to his son, Thomas. So, before he +was twenty-one, Thomas was reporting on the maritime trade of his +district, and collecting fees from the ships' captains. + +Through his uncle, Edmund Jenings, Thomas had acquired the position of +manager of the Northern Neck proprietary. His uncle, who was then in +England, had a lease on the proprietary at that time. Thomas had opened +a land office at Matholic. He also traveled on horseback all over the +Northern Neck so that in this way he well knew the lands of that vast +domain. + +By the time Thomas was established, and thirty-two years old, his +thoughts turned to marriage. He went "a-courting" down at Green Spring, +near Jamestown, and won the hand of young Hannah Harrison Ludwell. When +Hannah came as a bride to Matholic she added to the family fortune with +her dowry of six hundred pounds sterling. + +Things were going well with Thomas Lee. Now, on this winter's night, he +probably went up to bed with a contented mind. + +Sometime during the night Thomas awoke suddenly to find the house in +flames around him. He shook Hannah and they grabbed up the children from +their beds and started for the stairs only to find that it was too late +to get down that way. The heat was hot on his back when he helped Hannah +over the window sill and watched her fall to the ground--fifteen feet. +He dropped his small children and then jumped himself. Just in time, +too, for he was hardly on the ground before the roof caved in--too late +to save the twelve-year-old white servant girl who was asleep in the +house. + +Shivering in their night clothes the family watched the barns and +outbuildings burn to the ground, shocked into silence by the loss of the +little servant. + +Later the ashes of the house were searched for Hannah's silver. When not +a trace of it was found the origin of the fire seemed evident--burglars +had broken in, stolen the silver and other valuables, and then set fire +to the house. + +The villians who burned the house were never caught. There were at large +a number of English convicts who had been transported to Westmoreland as +indentured servants. They had joined together and formed a lawless +gang--they frightened and robbed the citizens of the countryside. Thomas +Lee in his line of duty as a local magistrate had no doubt at some time +given them reason to want revenge. These convicts may have burned the +house. + +As naval officer of the Potomac, Thomas had to prevent smuggling. A year +before Matholic was burned his life was threatened by the crew of the +_Elizabeth_. No doubt some of his enemies made in the line of his duties +were at the bottom of this outrage. At any rate the Lords of Trade in +London thought so, for they sent him a bounty, three hundred pounds of +which was from the privy purse of Queen Caroline. Tradition says that +this bounty helped Thomas Lee to finish building his home, Stratford. + +In the meantime he built another house on the Matholic estate at a spot +removed from the original house. The new house was called Mt. Pleasant. + +The site of the destroyed house was ever after known as Burnt House +Field. It was used as a family burying ground. + + +_STRATFORD HALL_ + +Long before Matholic burned Thomas Lee had started building his own +home. + +As a land agent for the Northern Neck proprietary he was well acquainted +with its desirable lands, but the portion which he selected for his own +belonged to the Pope family, and had been patented by Colonel Nathaniel +Pope about 1650, before the proprietary came into being. + +"I want to buy the Clifts," said Thomas Lee. This land was situated in +Westmoreland County and bordered on the Potomac. Here the banks rose +sharply above the River. We can imagine Thomas Lee standing at the edge +of those bold cliffs, looking across the River while he dreamed of the +manor house which he would some day build. + +One day in 1716 a representative of the Pope family closed the deal by +ceremoniously presenting Thomas Lee with a handful of earth and a +twig--an ancient symbolic confirmation of the transference of the 1,450 +acres of land called "the Clifts Plantation." + +Thomas Lee built his home nearly a mile inland from the "clifts," where +it would not be so open to an enemy attack from the River. Pirates were +still roving the surrounding waters. + +It took a long time to build the kind of house that Thomas Lee had in +mind--a house with walls of brick two feet thick, that would stand for +centuries. The thousands of bricks required for this undertaking had to +be made there on the place. + +Thomas Lee made a trip to England at the beginning of his project, some +traditions say, and while he was there he doubtless visited the estate +at Strat-by-the-Ford, once owned by his grandfather, Richard Lee, the +immigrant. There could scarcely be any other reason why he would name +his own home, Stratford. + +Thomas Lee planned his house, it is said, after viewing the manor houses +of England, and the result was that Stratford turned out to be a sort of +medieval fortress. It was shaped like the letter H with pointed roofs. +The crossbar of the H was the Great Hall, about thirty feet square. + +On the roof of each wing arose a cluster of four great chimneys, which +were joined together by arches of masonry. These clustered chimneys gave +the appearance of two belfries, or towers. The space inside each group +of chimneys was made into a summer-house. A member of the Lee family +later described them thus: + +"Eight chimneys formed the summer-house pillars, From which were seen +Potomac's sea-like billows...." + +In medieval times the use of the summer-house was functional, and so +were these at Stratford--the activities of the plantation and on the +Potomac could be seen from them. + +At first glance Stratford appeared to be a one-story building, but its +main floor was raised to the level of a second story. Thomas Lee had an +idea of his own about architecture which was remarkably modern, that was +to bring the beauty of nature inside. He did this by having long flights +of steps leading directly from the lawn to the front and rear entrances +of the Great Hall. Doorways and windows framed the fields, forest and +lawn. + +The manor occupied the center of a large square marked at the corners by +four dependencies. A ha-ha wall ran across the front of the square, the +purpose of which was to keep the cattle away from the house without +obscuring the view. + +Stratford Hall was built between 1725-30. + + +_GEORGE WASHINGTON_ + +It was about ten o'clock of a February morning in the year 1732,[9] when +a baby's cry was heard in the dwelling at Popes Creek. A son had just +been born to Augustine and Mary Washington. + +[Footnote 9: George Washington was born "11th Day of February 1732, Old +Style," or February 22, 1732, "New Style." The latter is the now +accepted date.] + +The baby was named George. It is believed that Mary's first born child +was thus named in honor of her former guardian, Colonel George Eskridge. + +Neighbors, godparents and the minister assembled, probably at Popes +Creek, for the christening. A notation in Mary's Bible recorded the +event: "... and was Baptised the 5th of April following." George's +godmother was his aunt, Mrs. Mildred Washington Gregory. + +George's first memories must have been happy ones--of woods, fields and +water, and of animals, fowl and birds. His family loved him, and the +dark faces were kindly. + +George soon had a sister, Betty, to play with, and then Samuel. The +first three and one-half years of George's life were spent at the Popes +Creek plantation. + +[Illustration: _The infant, George Washington at Wakefield, his +birthplace._] + + +_EPSEWASSON_ + +In 1735, Augustine decided to move his family from Popes Creek to his +farm about fifty miles up the Potomac. + +This farm was part of the land acquired years before by John Washington, +the immigrant, and Nicholas Spencer, husband of Frances Mottrom. +Augustine had bought twenty-five hundred acres of it in 1726. + +This property was located on Little Hunting Creek, which flowed into the +Potomac. It was still called by the Indian name, Epsewasson. + +Tradition says that the Washington family moved in March, as soon as +"the ice cleared in the river." It was a new adventure for the children, +but one of them was missing. Little thirteen-year-old Jane had passed +away in January. + +Epsewasson was still quite primitive; some of the land had never been +under the plow. The Indians lived no longer in the forest, but the wild +animals were still there. + +At Epsewasson there was probably already a small dwelling, and Augustine +had cabins built for the slaves and servants. And there had to be a +mill--Augustine had one on Popes Creek and he built one here on Doeg +Run. + +Mary probably found life much harder at Epsewasson. The location was +isolated, but she was never lonely for the children kept her company, +and a fourth baby, John Augustine soon came to join his brothers and +sister. + +Thirty miles from Epsewasson was a place called Accokeek, where +Augustine had interest in an iron-works. He seems to have been the only +American actively interested in the iron enterprise, Principio Iron +Furnaces. The rest of the company was owned by Englishmen. + +Between Epsewasson and Accokeek there were several streams and marshes +and Gus found that it was just as hard to get to as it had been from +Popes Creek. + +Little George may have gone to Accokeek with his father sometimes and +watched the pig iron from the furnace being carried by cart to a landing +six miles away on the Potomac. Augustine had men and oxen there for that +purpose--"three hundred weight being a load for a cart drawn by 8 +oxen." + +[Illustration: _Young Washington helping in the handling of "seine" on +the Potomac._] + +1738 was an eventful year for the Washingtons. First, another baby, +Charles, was born, and then, Lawrence returned from his school in +England. He was a grown man now, with grace and polish. He immediately +became George's hero, and remained so forever. + +Augustine now made a decision--they must move out of the wilderness so +that the children could have schooling and so that he could be closer to +the iron works. + +A place near Fredericksburg seemed to fill these qualifications. It was +within easy riding distance of the iron-works, it was near a school, and +it was situated between the land bequeathed Mary by her father and the +land left her by her half-brother, John Johnson. + +Augustine bought the property, which was known as the "Strothers +estate," in 1738. They left Epsewasson, on Little Hunting Creek, which +was later to become well-known as Mount Vernon. + + NOTE: Epsewasson was sometimes spelled Eppsewasson, Ipsewason, + etc. + + +_FERRY FARM_ + +The Washington family moved to their new home in December, 1738. The +"Strothers estate," or Ferry Farm as it was called then or at some later +date, was located in what was then King George County but later became +Stafford County. + +The house was of moderate size, with the necessary farm outbuildings +nearby. There were open fields and some woodland. The property was on +the Rappahannock and at this part of the River it had dwindled to a +small stream. It was not much of a river here when compared with the +Potomac which the Washingtons had just left. The ferry which was +operated not very far from the house must have been of especial interest +to the children. + +Ferry Farm was by no means luxurious, but it was adequate for the needs +of the Washingtons. Here they lived a simple farm life. + +The meals were probably served in the hall, as the custom had been in +the seventeenth century. The china and linen were ample but in keeping +with farm-living. There were twenty-six silver spoons but no silver +plate. + +The family doubtless arose early, maybe at dawn. After grace was said a +simple breakfast was served. The main meal was served in the middle of +the day and it was called dinner. Game, fowl, fish or hot meat and +greens, vegetables and hot breads were included in this meal. The hominy +may have been made in the Indian fashion with a pestle and a +hollowed-out tree stump. Supper was a light meal. + +The objects which were probably of the most interest to George were his +father's surveying instruments, rifle and axe. + +Mary's chamber, it was said, was directly in the rear of the hall +downstairs. There were two beds in it, the trunk, a chest of drawers, +four rush-bottomed chairs, and a tea table before the fireplace. The two +windows had hangings. It was probably in this room that another baby +girl was born in June, 1739. She was the last child born to Mary and +Augustine. + +October, 1740, was a sad month for the Washingtons. The baby died that +month, and Lawrence sailed from the Chesapeake to a far-off war in +Cartagena. + + +_FREDERICKSBURG_ + +The town of Fredericksburg was just across the Rappahannock from Ferry +Farm. To the Washington children, straight from the wilderness, it must +have been a source of delight. + +Sloops lay at the wharf there, close to the public warehouses which were +built in the shape of a cross. Near the wharf there was a quarry of +white stone, and there were several other quarries in the river bank. +There was one building in the town that was built of the stone, and that +was the prison. Most of the buildings were of wood with wooden chimneys. +In a few years the wooden chimneys were to be outlawed by the Burgesses. + +Fredericksburg was a new town, and it was "by far the most flourishing +town in that part of Virginia." It was "pleasantly situated on the South +Shore of Rappahannock River, about a Mile below the Falls." It had been +established in 1727 on a fifty-acre tract of land known as the +Lease-Land. + +The preamble of the act which established the town stated its purpose: +"... good houses are needed and greatly wanted upon some navigable part +of said river, near the falls, for the reception and safe keeping of +such commodities as are brought thither from remote places with +carriages drawn by horses or oxen." + +When Colonel William Byrd of Westover visited Fredericksburg in 1732, he +stayed at the home of its "top man," Colonel Henry Willis, whose wife +was George Washington's aunt, Mildred. + +Colonel Byrd relates that after a breakfast of beefsteak, his host +walked him about "his Town." He saw the stone prison, the shops of the +tailor, the merchant, the smith, and an ordinary. There was also Mrs. +Levistone--"Who acts here in the double capacity of a doctress and +coffee woman. And were this a populous city, she is qualified to +exercise two other callings." + +"Mrs. Levistone," or Susanna Livingston, was for some years the only +physician in Fredericksburg. The vestry of St. George's Church paid her +for attending the poor who were sick in the parish: "To Mrs. Livingston, +for salivating a poor woman, promising to cure her again if she should +be sick again in twelve month, 1,000 pounds of tobacco." It was not +unusual then for a woman to be a "doctress." + +Probably the most interesting place in Fredericksburg to the Washington +children was the shop of William Lynn who sold, along with other things, +brown and white sugar candy. + +The same year that the Washingtons came to live at Ferry Farm, a law was +passed that "fairs should be held in Fredericksburg twice a year, for +the sale of cattle, provisions, goods, wares, and all kinds of +merchandise whatsoever," and "that all persons attending the Fair at +Fredericksburg were immune from arrest and execution during the fairs +and for two days before and after them." + + +_SCHOOL DAYS_ + +It was Easter, 1743. George Washington was visiting his relatives at +Chotank, in King George County. His vacation was interrupted by a +messenger from Ferry Farm who told him that he was to return home at +once as his father was ill. + +Augustine Washington died on April 12, 1743. He was buried in the old +family burial ground, near the banks of Bridges Creek, not far from his +old home on Popes Creek. + +Both of George's older half-brothers were now home; Lawrence was back +from Cartagena, and "Austin" had returned from his school in England in +June, 1742. + +Augustine left Lawrence, his eldest son, the largest part of his estate, +including all the property on Little Hunting Creek. "Austin" inherited +the Popes Creek Farm. George was left the Ferry Farm and three lots in +Fredericksburg. He was to receive his inheritance when he was +twenty-one. + +There is no definite proof as to where George lived after his father's +death, but it seems that he lived at various times, at Ferry Farm with +his mother, at Popes Creek with "Austin," and on Little Hunting Creek +with Lawrence. + +Tradition says that George had a convict-teacher named Hobby who taught +him to read, write and "cipher," that he attended a school in +Fredericksburg run by Reverend James Marye, and that while he was at +Popes Creek with his brother Augustine, he attended Henry Williams's +school near Oak Grove. These traditions have not been as yet verified. + +It is known that "ciphering" was George's "absorbing interest." +Tradition says that when he was attending school in Fredericksburg he +usually worked at his figures while the other boys were playing bandy +during recess, but one day he was "romping with one of the largest +girls; this was so unusual that it excited no little comment among the +other lads." + + +_THE INDIANS_ + +At the time of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 Powhatan had more than +thirty Indian tribes under his rule. Eight of these tribes lived in the +land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers: + +Moraughtacund, on the bank of the Rappahannock River in the territory +that was later Richmond and Lancaster Counties. Their main village was +at the junction of the Rappahannock and the Morattico Rivers. Population +about 300. + +Onawmanient (Nominies), in the section later known as Westmoreland +County, near Nominy Bay. Population about 375. + +Pissaseck, on the bank of the Rappahannock River in the area that was +later King George, Westmoreland and Richmond Counties. Its chief village +or "Kings howse" was located just above the present Leedstown. A large +number of surface artifacts found in late years indicate that it was a +large village. + +Patawomeke (Potomac), the principal village site, was in latter-day +Stafford County at the mouth of Potomac Creek. (It was here that +Pocahontas was kidnapped by Captain Argall in 1613.) Population about +750. + +Rappahannock (Toppahanock), on the bank of the Rappahannock River, in +Richmond County, from a short distance below Totuskey Creek to a point +some distance above Rappahannock Creek (later known as Cat Point +Creek). This was an important tribe with a rather large village at the +mouth of Little Carter Creek. Population about 380. + +Secacawoni (Cekacawon), in Northumberland County, along the Coan River +near its entrance into the Potomac River. Population about 110. + +Wicocomoco (Wighcocomoco), in Northumberland County on the Potomac +River, near its entrance into the Chesapeake Bay. Their principal +village was on Wicocomico River. Population about 490. + +Cuttatawomen, one town by this name was located at the junction of the +Corotoman and the Rappahannock Rivers, in what was later known as +Lancaster County. Population about 115. The other town was on the +Rappahannock at the mouth of Lamb Creek, in what was later King George +County. Population about 75. + +It is believed that the Yeocomico Indians moved to what is now +Westmoreland County in 1634, after they sold their lands in Maryland to +Calvert. + +At the time of the settlement of the New World it is evident that there +were more than two thousand Indians living in the land between the +Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. A century later the Indians were +extinct along the Rappahannock. And in Northumberland in 1700, according +to Beverley: "Wicomico has but few men living which yet keep up their +kingdom and retain their fashion; yet live by themselves, separate from +all Indians, and from the English." + +By 1700, wars, white men's diseases, liquor and a general moral +breakdown had caused the disappearance of most of the Indians east of +the Blue Ridge. Some had moved westward or southwestward. + +There was little left in the Northern Neck to mark the passing of the +Indians except their ossuaries, an occasional tomahawk or arrowhead and +the musical names of the waters. + + +_THE POW-WOW_ + +Friends and relatives had gathered at the Stratford Hall landing to +watch the sloop _Margaret_ start on a trip down the Potomac. It was a +May morning, in 1744. The forest was "a-bloom" with dogwood and redbud +and the "pyne" was sending its fragrance across the water, just as it +had when Captain John Smith traveled this way so many years before. + +On board the _Margaret_, "seven flaming fine gentlemen," headed by +Thomas Lee, were about to take off on the first lap of a history-making +mission. Indian war drums were sounding. Thomas Lee and William Beverley +had been appointed commissioners from Virginia to meet the chiefs of the +Six Nations of the Iroquois at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. + +Amid shouts and laughter and the booming of cannon the sloop headed down +the Potomac, in the direction of the Chesapeake. + +The _Margaret_ sailed up the Bay toward Maryland and before noon the +next day Annapolis had been reached. Here for five days and nights, the +party was wined and dined. Philip Ludwell Lee, eighteen-year-old son of +Thomas, danced until one in the morning with the pretty girls of +Annapolis. + +The remainder of the journey was by land. After four more days of travel +the party was refreshed near Chester by a big bowl of lemon punch. In +Philadelphia they were highly entertained for three weeks. While in that +city Lee and Beverley marched in a procession to the market place to +hear an official proclamation of a war between England and France. They +were solemn now, for their mission was more important than ever. The +colonists needed the Indians on their side. + +This excursion was turning out to be an important diplomatic mission for +the colony. It was to be Britain's first serious answer to French +encroachments. + +It was late in June when Lee's party finally reached Lancaster, a new +and still raw town. The conference convened in the court-house, with +Governor George Thomas, of Pennsylvania, presiding. On his right sat Lee +and Beverley and on his left were the two commissioners from Maryland. +The Indians occupied the space usually allotted to the audience, but the +powerful chiefs, like Jonnhaty, Canasatego and Tocanuntie, met the white +men as equals. A Pennsylvania Dutchman named Conrad Weiser, acted as +interpreter. He was trusted by both sides. + +The meeting was opened by the commissioners from Maryland, since they +had issued the invitation to the meeting. This was in accordance with a +rigid Iroquois custom. + +The complaint of the Six Nations was that the white settlers were coming +over the "Great Mountains" and moving into the Valley and trespassing on +their ancestral lands. "You English have come settling on our lands like +a flock of birds," said Canasatego. + +The white men explained that when they entered the country west of the +Blue Ridge it "was altogether deserted and free for any people to enter +upon." To which the Indians replied: "We have the right of conquest, a +right too dearly purchased and which cost us too much blood to give up +without any reason, at all.... All the world knows we conquered the +several nations living on Susquehanna, Cohongaranta and at the back of +the Great Mountains." + +Thomas Lee, when his turn came to speak, answered this charge by saying +that the King of England held Virginia by right of conquest and that the +bounds of the conquered land extended west as far as the Great Sea. +However, he continued, the "Great King" was willing to pay them for +certain lands. He was speaking, he told the Indians, for Assarogoa, +Virginia's governor. Coming to the point, Thomas Lee laid down the +customary string of wampum and said: + +"We have a chest of new goods and the key is in our pockets. You are our +brethren; the Great King is our common father, and we will live with you +as children ought to do in peace and love. We will brighten the chain +and strengthen the Union between us, so that we shall never be divided +but remain friends and brethren as long as the sun gives us light." + +The Indian spokesman replied: "We are glad to hear that you have brought +with you a big chest of new goods, and that you have the key in your +pockets. We do not doubt that we shall have a good understanding on all +points and come to an agreement with you." + +Each oration was ended with belts of wampum and "Jo-hahs." The great +Iroquois chieftains no doubt understood what was happening, but the +wampum and rum, the gifts of camlet coats and gold-braided hats, the +festivities and ceremonial dances which accompanied the conference, must +have caused them to shut their eyes to the truth. Or maybe they already +saw the handwriting on the wall. + +We can visualize the scene--the handsome and elegant Thomas Lee, in his +crimson suit and flowing white wig, and the grave and eloquent Indian +spokesman, in his equally gorgeous regalia. And the silent Indians, +listening and smoking their pipes. + +For 200 pounds in cash, and 200 pounds in knives, hatchets, kettles, +jew's harps, and other "trucke," the Six Nations, said to have been the +fiercest and most courageous of all the Indian tribes, finally put their +marks on a piece of parchment which said that the white men could have +all the country of their ancestors west of the "Great Mountains"--all +the land between the Blue Ridge and the Ohio. + +Thus it was that the red men surrendered their heritage to the white men +in the town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1744. + +[Illustration: _Young George Washington becomes a friend of Lord +Fairfax, Proprietor of Northern Neck._] + + +_MOUNT VERNON_ + +George Washington probably liked visiting his brother Austin at Popes +Creek, for there he was close to the Potomac where he could sail and +fish and go ducking, as wild fowl were plentiful there. He no doubt rode +and hunted and enjoyed the countryside just like any other Northern Neck +boy. + +Popes Creek was more luxurious than Ferry Farm. Austin kept a racing +stud that he probably raced at the Fredericksburg fairs. His wife owned +enough millinery and kid gloves to have been a "rather dashing figure at +the races." She had been Anne Aylett, of Westmoreland, a young woman of +birth and station. + +Although George was not destined to receive an English education, as his +father and brothers had, he learned, when he visited his brother +Lawrence at Hunting Creek, to move in the society of polished gentlemen. + +The old house at Epsewasson, where George had lived as a child, had +either burned or Lawrence had torn it down. Lawrence had built a new +home and he called it Mount Vernon, in honor of Admiral Vernon, under +whom he had served as captain of marines at Cartagena. + +Lawrence had married Anne Fairfax, daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, +who was a cousin and agent of Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the +Northern Neck. Belvoir, not far from Mount Vernon, was the home of the +Fairfax family. + +While he was at Mount Vernon, George visited Belvoir and became friends +with William Fairfax, the son of the house, who was seven years his +senior. At Belvoir, in 1748, he also met Lord Fairfax. They became +friends and hunting companions. Lord Fairfax remained at Belvoir, +amusing himself with reading, fishing and fox-hunting, until he moved to +his own home, Greenway Court, in 1751. + +In the spring of 1748 a party of gentlemen were about to start for the +South Branch of the Potomac for the purpose of surveying lands for Lord +Fairfax. George Washington, then sixteen, and a big lad for his age, was +invited to accompany this party. + +George was glad of this opportunity for the training it would afford +him, and because he enjoyed being in the company of polished gentlemen. +He did not go on this expedition as one of the surveyors. + +George Washington was not a rich boy but he was accustomed to nice +things. When he and his friend, "Mr. Fairfax" (George William) set out +upon this new adventure into the wilderness, he was dressed not as a +frontiersman but in "some of the clothes of fashion," and he carried a +watch. + + +_WASHINGTON WASHED HERE_ + +When George Washington came back from his trip with the surveying party, +in June, 1748, he went down into the Northern Neck and visited his +cousins at Chotank. He probably visited all of the neighbors near there +and told them of his experiences in the wilderness--of the Indians and +the frontier families. He probably stayed in the Neck for awhile. + +About this time, while he was at Ferry Farm, he decided one day to +"wash" in the Rappahannock. At that time in the Neck, and for many years +after, to "wash" meant to bathe. + +George undressed on the Fredericksburg side of the River. He probably +picked a secluded spot and believed that he was alone, for he undressed +and went in the water to "wash." + +When George came out of the water and started to dress he found that his +clothes had been robbed! + +George reported the theft to the Sheriff, or Constable. As a result two +women servants of Fredericksburg were arrested and locked in jail-- + +"Ann Carroll and Mary McDaniel, of Friedericksburg, being committed to +the gaol of this county by William Hunter, Gent, on suspicion of felony +and charged with robbing the cloaths of Mr. George Washington when he +was washing in the river some time last summer, the court having heard +several evidences are of the opinion that the said Ann Carroll be +discharged, and admitted on evidence for Lord the King against the said +Mary McDaniel, and upon considering the whole evidence and the prisoners +defense, the court are of the opinion that the said Mary Mc Daniel is +guilty of petty larcency, whereupon the said Mary desired immediate +punishment for the said crime and relied on the mercy of the court, +therefore it is ordered that the sheriff carry her to the whipping post +and inflict fifteen lashes on her bare back, and then she be +discharged." + +The case was heard, December 3, 1751, and Ann had turned King's witness +and testified against Mary. George was ignorant of the outcome of the +trial for he was far away at the time. He had sailed in September to the +Barbadoes with his brother Lawrence, who had not been well since his +return from the war at Cartagena. + +Whether George ever recovered his stolen money or valuables is not +known. + + +_THE ORDINARY_ + +At some time between 1750-55 George Fisher of London crossed the +Northern Neck on his way from Williamsburg to Philadelphia by horseback. +When he returned to England he wrote an account of his trip to America. +The following excerpt from his narrative tells of the night he spent at +Leedstown, Westmoreland County, a thriving tobacco port of the +Rappahannock River. George Fisher writes as follows: + + "So taking a feed of Corn with me into the Boat, which my Horse + eat in his passage, I crossed the River Rappahannock. In going + over the River about Two miles wide, I could see Leids Town on + the other side, two or Three miles up the River, the Place I + now intended to rest this night in.... I did not arrive till + Seven o'clock.... I put up at one Mr. T----ts, esteemed the + best Ordinary in Town, and indeed the House and Furniture has + as elegant an appearance as any I have seen in the country, Mr. + Finnays or Wetherburnes in Williamsburg not excepted. The + chairs, Tables, &c of the Room I was conducted into, was all of + Mahogany, & so stuft with fine large glaized copper Plate + Prints; That I almost fancied myself in Jeffriess' or some + other elegant Print Shops. I had the happiness, at my first + Coming in of my Landlord's Company, who understanding I came + from the Metroplis (and the Assembly now sitting) gaped after + news; he was troubled with gout, for he came limping in upon a + stick; When I had answered all his interrogatories, and he had + picked what intelligence of me he was able, and I calling at + First for a half Pint of wine only, he vanished and I could see + him no more; tho' I sent twice (at supper and afterwards) to + request the favor of his Company, in hopes of receiving in my + turn some useful directions, in the ensuing Day's Journey. His + excuse was, first, indisposition, and afterwards he was gone to + Bed; tho' the Boy who lighted me to mine assured me he was + sitting with his House-keeper, and that not one Person had been + in the House since my arrival. By what I could hear and + preceive myself this Landlord who bears the name honest Mr. + T----, like most of his Trade, proportions his regard to their + extravagance, in which respect I was doubtless too + contemptible for his notice. The Host--he could tell me nothing + of the Rout I was to take, so that I was now quite destitute of + intelligence. + + "This House stands pleasantly upon the North side of the River, + and a tolerable garden seemed to be in as decent order as most + I have seen in America. The method of Single men having + House-keepers is esteemed here very reputable and genteel. In + the morning while my Breakfast and Horse was getting ready, I + sought after some instruction for my journey, and as it + happened, I found a Person up that kepped a store, who gave me + a draught of the road to Hoes Ferry on Potomac River. I have + since been informed of my true Route was from Southern on this + Rappahannocke River to Lovels Ferry on Potomac River, it being + not only a better Road, but I should have saved at least Ten or + Twelve miles in the Riding of Thirty, the only objection being + that at the Hoes the River is not more than five miles wide; + but at Lovels to Cedar Point (in Md.) it is eight or ten, + consequently in windy weather the passage is more difficult and + unsafe; but at this time of the year no great danger was to be + apprehended. The Gentleman's name who delineated the Road for + me to Hoes Ferry is Thompson." + + +_NELLY_ + +It was for a special reason that Nelly wanted to go back home. It was +not that she was unhappy in her new home for it was beautiful there at +the head of the deeply wooded valley with the Blue Ridge towering in the +distance. The frame house, which had been built by her husband's father, +was modest but comfortable, and there were slaves to do the heavy work. +Still, she wanted to go home and her husband humoured his +nineteen-year-old wife, and prepared for the journey. + +To Nelly home was the low country--the flat lands where the air was damp +and the fogs rolled in from the River. + +Nelly probably traveled home in a carriage of some sort for the trail +led through the virgin forest. The nights were doubtless spent at +farmhouses along the way. As they neared Fredericksburg they probably +met up with other travelers on horseback, and teamsters with wagons +loaded with wheat and tobacco for export. + +Fredericksburg was all "a-bustle" at that time with foreign ships lying +at the wharves and wagons rumbling along the streets. What a welcome +sight the Rappahannock must have been to Nelly! And there was the ferry +which would carry her across to her homeland! It was a rope-hauled +ferry, pulled back and forth across the River by the ferryman. + +Once the River was crossed it was only a ten or twelve mile ride down +through King George County to her childhood home on the banks of the +Rappahannock. This was the plantation of Nelly's stepfather, John Moore. +She had known him as a father as long as she could remember, for her own +father, Francis Conway, had died when she was only a year old. Her +mother, Rebecca Catlett Conway, had soon married John Moore. Many of +Nelly's relatives lived in this region of the Northern Neck. What a +happy home-coming it must have been for Nelly. + +The chill winds of winter were still blowing across the Rappahannock, +but the crocuses were in bloom, when Nelly's baby arrived, on March 16, +1751. + +The Northern Neck relatives assembled for the christening. Nelly's +cousins, Judith and Elizabeth Catlett, acted as godmothers, and Mary +Catlett's husband, Jonathan Gibson, was godfather. The infant was named +for his father, James Madison. + +The Catletts and Conways and Madisons must have rejoiced at the birth of +Nelly's first baby, but they had no reason to think that the birth of +little "Jemmy" Madison would some day be a matter of national +importance. And little did Nelly dream when she made the long journey +home that by so doing the Northern Neck would fall heir to another +famous son. + +"Little Jemmy" grew up to be one of the foremost figures in the creation +of the American nation. He became the fourth President of the United +States, and he is remembered as "the Father of the Constitution." + +James Madison's birthsite in King George County later became known as +Port Conway. + + +_MISS BETSY_ + +In the spring of 1752 George Washington was riding down to Naylor's +Hole, in Richmond County. He had his mind set on a certain young lady +who lived there, but up to this time she had been uncooperative. George +had written to her father, Colonel William Fauntleroy: + +"I purpose ... to wait on Miss Betsy, in hopes of a revocation of the +former cruel sentence and see if I can meet with any alteration in my +favor." + +Betsy was just sixteen and she was probably having a good time at her +home on the Rappahannock. It was lively there on the River, for the +Rappahannock was the main highway for the tobacco trade and her father +was interested in ships and trade, and he operated a ferry. When she +tired of the River she could always go visiting in her father's imported +riding chair, drawn by "two horses abreast." It was a smart "turn-out"; +even the whip had her father's name on it. + +As George rode through the blossoming forest, which Betsy's ancestor had +bought from the Indians a century before, he must have had mingled +emotions. There was the pleasure of the expectation of seeing Betsy +again, mixed with the uncertainty of the outcome of his suit. Then too, +he must have wondered if she would notice the scars on his face. While +he had been in the Barbadoes, where he had accompanied his brother +Lawrence in his fruitless search for health, George had contracted the +smallpox which had left permanent scars on his face. + +Tradition says that Betsy did notice the scars. Whatever the reason may +have been--George's mission was unsuccessful. + +For years historians have tried without success to settle the +question--was Betsy Fauntleroy the "Lowland Beauty" to whom Washington +made references in his correspondence, or did he have in mind another +Northern Neck beauty named Lucy Grymes? + + +_THE PROPRIETOR OF THE NORTHERN NECK_ + +It was an autumn day in the year 1753. A group of men lounged in the +sunshine before a rudely constructed log tavern in a Virginia wilderness +clearing. Their rough attire of buckskin and homespun and their knives +and rifles proclaimed them to be hunters, trappers and settlers. + +Suddenly they were aroused by a noise in the forest. The drooping tree +boughs came to life and the tall grasses were pushed aside as an amazing +spectacle for this frontier setting emerged. With a great rattling of +wheels, creaking of leather and clumping of hooves, four shiny horses +came forth drawing behind them an English chariot that would very well +have graced the streets of London. + +The liveried driver drew up before the hitching rack and the footmen +descended from behind and opened the door of the chariot. Out stepped a +middle-aged man, so tall and so gigantic in frame, that he had +difficulty in getting through the opening. He was richly clad in a coat +of brown cloth decorated with embroidery and a waistcoat of yellow silk, +ornamented with silver thread and flowers. His peruke was carefully +powdered and his shirt ruffles were snow-white. + +As he issued from the chariot he drew about him the folds of a red +velvet cloak, and then bowing his head slightly to the admiring crowd, +he entered the tavern. + +This man was no stranger to these frontiersmen. Most of them had hunted +with him, or eaten at his "broad board," or transacted business with him +in his little stone office. But it was rarely that they saw him thus, in +the trappings of an English gentleman. They had seen him stab his +hunting-knife into a deer's throat, and hold up the brush of a fox at +the end of the chase, but then his garments had been weather-beaten and +on his head he had worn an otter-skin cap with a buck's tail stuck in +it. + +But this strange gentleman had no hunting trip in mind to-day. He soon +came out of the tavern and the chariot was rumbling away down the forest +road, for he was due to preside over a session of the justices' court at +the frontier town of Winchester. And although the Shawnee Indians were +still not too far distant, this gentleman evidently believed in carrying +into the wilds of the New World something of the English idea of the +propriety of full dress on occasions of ceremony. + +And who was this man who could change so easily from back-woodsman to +gentleman? None other than Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and +sole proprietor of that vast tract of land known as the Northern Neck. +This, his inheritance, embraced all lands lying between the headwaters +of the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers to the Chesapeake Bay, comprising +more than five million acres. + +Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax had inherited, in 1719, the Northern Neck of +Virginia, through his mother, Catherine, daughter of Thomas, Lord +Culpeper, and wife of Lord Fairfax. It was through this marriage that +the grant became known as the Fairfax Proprietary. + +In 1673, Thomas, Lord Culpeper had bought out the other grantees and had +become the sole proprietor of the original grant. He had cunningly had +the terms of the patent changed to the "first heads of springs" of the +two rivers, instead of "within the heads" of the two rivers, as +originally stated in 1649. The change in these few words changed the +size of the tract from one million to more than five million acres. This +change in description apparently was not noticed in the colony at the +time. + +It was in this way that Culpeper's grandson, Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, +through inheritance became sole proprietor of the Northern Neck. + +Lord Fairfax was born in Leeds Castle, England, in 1693. He was educated +at Oxford University and developed such a fondness for literature that +he wrote a number of papers for the _Spectator_. But he was unlucky in +affairs of the heart--he was jilted at the altar. + +After a time the embittered Fairfax decided to take a voyage to Virginia +to examine his inheritance. So well pleased was he with his domain that +he decided to make it his home. Perhaps the free way of life and new +hunting grounds appealed to him. He returned to England, arranged his +affairs and voyaged back to his wild new home, in 1748. + +Fairfax built a home in the Shenandoah Valley, called Greenway Court, +and went there to live in 1751. Tradition says that he planted a white +post--one mile distant--as a guide to his dwelling, and thus the town of +White Post was later so named. + +Lord Fairfax cultivated a large farm at Greenway Court. He had probably +one hundred and fifty negro slaves, who lived in huts scattered about in +the woods. There was very little cultivated ground around his house +because he preferred to leave the land as a natural park. The grounds +were encircled by a rude fence, which served also as a hitching rack. + +Locust trees shaded the mansion. It was a long stone building with a +slender chimney on each end and two belfries between on top of the roof. +These bells were probably used to call the servants or as an alarm when +Indians were near. There were four dormer-windows and a portico across +the front. This building was used by the steward, it was said, while +Fairfax lived and died in a single clapboard story-and-a-half house. + +Nearby the main house stood a small limestone structure, where +quit-rents were given and titles drawn of his lordship's domains. He +lived almost wholly from his rents. We can imagine him there, with a +court of deer-hounds at his feet. On the table lies a rudely drawn map +of the frontier, some folded letters, an inkstand and an eagle's quill +pen. Here he delivered the title deeds of nearly all of that portion of +Virginia over which he had dominion. + +Perhaps, too, it was here that he conversed with his young friend, +George Washington, who surveyed part of the immense tract among the +valleys of the Alleghany mountains for him. These were divided into lots +to enable Fairfax to claim quit-rents and give titles. + +In spite of the difference in their ages, Fairfax and Washington had +another interest in common--they were both passionately fond of hunting. +Tradition says that sometimes they passed weeks together in the +pleasures of the chase. + +When fox-hunting Lord Fairfax made it a rule that "he who got the fox, +cut off his tail, and held it up, should share in the jollification +which was to follow, free of expense." An early historian says that "as +soon as a fox was started, the young men of the company usually dashed +after him with great impetuosity, while Fairfax leisurely waited behind +with a favorite servant who was familiar with the water-courses, and of +a quick ear, to discover the course of the fox. Following his +directions, his lordship would start after the game, and, in most +instances, secure the prize, and stick the tail of the fox in his hat in +triumph." + +It is probable that some of these "jollifications" that followed the +hunt were held in a tavern in Winchester, for tradition says that he +occasionally held "levees" there. (This building was later used as a +stable.) + +Sometimes Fairfax entertained in the great room at Greenway Court. This +room, according to tradition, was a combination of crudity and +refinement. Rough oak furniture, carven mahogany, silver plate, cheap +crockery, leather-bound books, fishing nets, portraits, antlers and +blunderbuses, all intermingled. But Fairfax was a generous host and the +board groaned with ham, beef, fowl, game as well as mellow Jamaica rum. +But Fairfax did not drink, and women were never invited to his parties. + +When in the humor Fairfax sometimes gave away whole farms to his +tenants, simply demanding for rent some trifle like a turkey for his +Christmas dinner. + +Fairfax lived the life of a bachelor and adopted the rough customs of +his new land, but his life was not altogether happy in the New World. +Quit-rents were not willingly paid and he was constantly occupied with +lawsuits over boundaries. The Indian hostilities retarded the settlement +of his domain and therefore lessened his revenue. He was considered +eccentric and "a hoarder up of English gold." + +In spite of his friendship with George Washington, Fairfax was a Tory to +the end. When he heard that Cornwallis had surrendered he told his body +servant, "Take me to bed, John, it is time for me to die." He died +shortly after, on December 9, 1781. + +He was buried at Winchester, under the old Episcopal church, which was +on the public square. When this structure was later taken down the bones +of Fairfax were removed to a tomb in the crypt of Christ Church in +Winchester. At the time of his disinterment, it is said that a large +mass of silver was found, which was the mounting of his coffin. + +Around 1840 some excavating was done about the grounds at Greenway Court +and a large quantity of joes and half-joes were found. These were what +was termed cob-coin, of a square form, and dated about 1730. They were +supposed to have been secreted there by Lord Fairfax. + +Fairfax never married, therefore he left no child to inherit his vast +estate. He devised a large portion of his property to a nephew in +England. Later the estate passed through several hands and was finally +sold. + +A few years after the war of the Revolution an attempt was made by the +colonists to confiscate the estate. At last a compromise took place +between those who had bought it and the Virginia state government. + +During and after the Revolution no quit-rents were paid, and in 1785 an +act was passed by the Virginia Legislature which abolished the +proprietary system in the Northern Neck. The people there were finally +free of landlords, after one hundred and twenty-five years. + + +_THE MARSHALLS_ + +John Marshall "of the forest" owned two hundred acres of land in +Westmoreland County. "Of the forest" was a term used in the Northern +Neck in referring to those whose homes were some distance from the +water. + +John "of the forest" acquired this land by deed, for five shillings, +from William Marshall of King and Queen County. It is probable that this +William was the elder brother of John "of the forest" and that they were +both sons of Thomas "the carpenter," of Westmoreland. The latter's will +was probated in the same county in 1704. (In this will there was +mentioned "a heifer ... called White-Belly.") + +This land of John "of the forest" was located on Appomattox Creek. It +was low marshy land of such inferior quality that the former owners had +not bothered with it. Originally it had been a part of twelve hundred +acres which had been granted to "Jno. Washington & Thos. Pope, gents.--& +by them lost for want of seating." + +John "of the forest" married Elizabeth Markham, daughter of the Sheriff +of Westmoreland County. To John and Elizabeth were born ten children. +They lived simply on their farm until John died in 1752. + +Among the items left to Elizabeth by John was "one Gray mair named +beauty and side saddle." He also left her the use of his land "during +her widowhood and afterwards to fall to my son Thomas Marshall and his +heirs forever." + +Thomas was twenty-two years old at the time of his father's death. One +year later his mother deeded half of the two hundred acres to him. + +Thomas Marshall was fortunate in that he was powerful of stature and +intelligent. He was of a serious but adventurous nature. He and his +neighbor, George Washington, seem to have been friends from boyhood. For +about three years Thomas had been Washington's companion when he helped +him to survey the western part of the Fairfax domain. + +Thomas Marshall left Westmoreland County not long after his father's +death to seek his fortune in the frontier country toward the Blue Ridge. + +In 1754 Thomas married a well born and well educated girl named Mary +Randolph Keith. To this union were born fifteen children, the best known +being John, who became the fourth Chief Justice of the United States +Supreme Court. + + +_THE LEEDSTOWN RESOLUTIONS_ + +The town of Leeds on the banks of the Rappahannock River was a thriving +center of trade and shipping in colonial days. Here the big ships lay at +anchor while their holds were filled with tobacco for the London market. +Here the returning ships unloaded the English luxuries that were so dear +to the hearts of the Northern Neck planter-families. + +Leeds had been incorporated in 1742. When ten or twelve years later the +English visitor, George Fisher, spent a night at "Leids Town" he was +well pleased with the fine furnishings he found in the ordinary. There +were other ordinaries in the village, comfortable homes with gardens and +Leeds Church. + +George Washington often visited Leedstown. With his wife he dined there +in 1759. He spent the night there in 1763. Many times he crossed the +nearby ferry as he traveled between Mount Vernon and Williamsburg. + +On a winter's day in 1766 there was unusual activity at Leeds. The +excitement came about because Thomas Ludwell Lee had written to his +brother Richard Henry Lee as follows: "We propose to be in Leedstown in +the afternoon of the 27th inst., Feb. 1766, where we expect to meet +those who will come from your way. This would be a fine opportunity to +effect the scheme of an association, and I should be glad if you would +think of a plan." + +It is easy to visualize the arrival of the planters in their coaches and +on horseback--to hear the rattle of wheels, the thud of hoofs, the +creaking of saddle-leather and the excited voices speaking with a London +accent. + +The "plan" that Richard Henry Lee had thought of and prepared in +manuscript form and had brought to Leedstown that day could probably +have hanged him, and the one hundred and fourteen others who signed it, +if it had fallen into the wrong hands. But the Northern Neck was a +remote fortress and its inhabitants were bold when their freedom was +threatened. + +Among those who signed Lee's document were six Lees, five Washingtons, +and Spence Monroe, father of President James Monroe. The text of The +Leedstown Resolutions follows: + + "Rouzed by Danger and alarmed at Attempts foreign & domestic to + reduce the People of this Country to a State of abject and + detestable slavery by destroying that free and happy + constitution of Government under which they have hitherto + lived,--We who subscribe this Paper, have Associated, & do bind + ourselves to each other, to God, and to our Country, by the + Firmest Tyes that Religion & Virtue can frame, most sacredly + and punctually to stand by, and with our Lives & Fortunes to + support, maintain and defend each other, in the Observation and + Execution of these following Articles. + + "First, we declare all due Allegiance and Obedience to our + lawful Sovereign George the Third King of Great Britain. And we + determine to the utmost of our Power to preserve the Laws, the + Peace and good Order of this Colony as far as is consistent + with the Preservation of our Constitutional Rights and Liberty. + + "2.dly As we know it to be the Birthright Privilege of every + British Subject (and of the People of Virginia as being such) + founded on Reason, Law and Compact, That he cannot be legally + tryed but by his Peers, and that he cannot be taxed but by + Consent of a Parliament in which he is represented by Persons + chosen by the People and who themselves pay a part of the Tax + they impose on others--If therefore any Person or Persons shall + attempt by any Action or Proceeding to deprive this Colony of + those fundamental Rights we will immediately regard him or them + as the most dangerous Enemy of the Community and we will go to + any Extremity not only to prevent the Success of such Attempts + but to Stigmatize and punish the Offender. + + "3.dly As the Stamp Act does absolutely direct the Property of + the People to be taken from them without their Consent + express'd by their Representatives, and as in many cases it + deprives the British American Subject of his Right to Trial by + Jury; we do determine at every hazard and paying no Regard to + Danger or to Death; we will exert every Faculty to prevent the + Execution of the said Stamp Act in any instance whatsoever + within this Colony--And every abandoned Wretch who shall be so + lost to Virtue and publick Good, as wickedly to contribute to + the introduction or fixture of the Stamp Act in this Colony, by + using Stampt Paper, or by any other Means; we will with the + utmost Expedition convince all such Profligates, that immediate + danger and disgrace shall attend their prostitute Purpose. + + "4.thly That the last Article may most surely and effectually + be execut'd, we engage to each other, that whenever it shall be + known to any of this Association that any Person is so + conducting himself as to favor the Introduction of the Stamp + Act, that immediate Notice shall be given to as many of the + Association as possible, and that every Individual so inform'd + shall with expedition repair to a place of meeting to be + appointed as near the Scene of Action as may be. + + "5.thly Each Associator shall do his true endeavor to obtain as + many Signers to this Association as he possibly can. + + "6.thly If any attempt shall be made upon the Liberty or + Property of any Associator for any Action or Thing to be done + in Consequence of this Agreement, we do most solemnly bind + ourselves by the sacred Engagements above enter'd into, at the + utmost risk of our Lives and Fortunes to restore such Associate + to his Liberty, and to protect him in the enjoyment of his + Property. + + "In Testimony of the good Faith with which we resolve to + execute this Association, we have this 27 day of February 1766 + in Virginia put our hands & Seals hereto + + Richard Henry Lee + Will Robinson + Lewis Willis + Thomas Lud. Lee + Samuel Washington + Charles Washington + Moore Fauntleroy + Francis Lightfoot Lee + Thomas Jones + Rodham Kenner + Spencer Mottsom Ball + Richard Mitchell + Joseph Murdock + Rich'd Parker + Spence Monroe + John Watts + Robert Lovell + John Blagge + Charles Weeks + William Booth + Geo: Tuberville + Alvin Moxley + Wm. Flood + John Ballantine Jun. + William Lee + Thomas Chilton + Richard Buckner + Will Chilton + Joseph Peirce + John Williams + Jn. Blackwell + Winder S. Kenner + Wm. Bronaugh + Will Peirce + John Berryman + Jn. Dickson + John Browne + Edward Sanford + Charles Chilton + Lau. Washington + W. Roane Jr. + William Sydnor + John Monroe + William Cocke + William Grayson + Wm. Brockenbrough + Sam Selden + Daniel McCarty + Jer Rush + Edwd. Ransdell + Townshend Dade + Laur. Washington + John Ashton + W. Brent + Francis Foushee + John Smith Jr. + Will Balle + Thomas Barnes + Jos. Blackwell + Reuben Meriwether + Edw. Mountjoy + Thomas Mountjoy + William Mountjoy + John Mountjoy + Gilbt. Campbell + Jos. Lane + Richard Lee + Daniel Tebbs + Fran. Thornton Jun. + Peter Rust Jun. + John Lee Jun. + Fran Waring + John Upshaw + Merriwether Smith + Thomas Roane + James Edmondson + James Webb + John Edmondson + James Banks + Smith Young + Thomas Logan + Jo. Milliken + Rich Hodges + James Upshaw + James Booker + A. Montague + Richard Jeffries + John Suggett + Jn. L. Woodcock + Robert Wormeley Carter + John Beale Jun. + John Newton + Will B--le Jun. + Chs. Mortimer + John Edmondson + Charles Beale + Peter Grant + Thomson Mason + Jon. Beckwith + James Samford + John Belfield + W. Smith + John Aug. Washington + Thomas Belfield + Edgecomb Suggett + Henry Francks + John Bland Jun. + Jas. Emerson + John Richards + Thos. Jett + Thomas Douglas + Max. Robinson + John Orr + Ebenezer Fisher + Hancock Eustace." + + Text and names have been copied from a photostatic copy of the + original manuscript by Florienette Matter Knight, Organizing + Regent, Leedstown Resolutions Chapter, N.S.D.A.R. The original + manuscript, handwritten by Richard Henry Lee, is in the + archives of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va. + + +_FITHIAN_ + +On an October day in the year 1773 a man on horseback rode down through +Westmoreland County until he came to the entrance of a plantation known +as Nomini Hall. The avenue leading to the great house was bordered with +poplar trees, through which the white stuccoed house appeared "romantic" +and "truly elegant." + +Philip Vickers Fithian, lately graduated from Princeton, had been seven +days on the road since he had left New Jersey. He had ridden two +hundred and sixty miles and crossed a number of ferries. + +Fithian was not sure that he was doing the right thing in coming to +Virginia. His friends had tried to persuade him not to go to that +"wicked colony" where he would be sure to fall in with evil companions +and become a drunkard or a gambler. If his parents had lived Fithian +would probably have stayed in the North, but they had recently passed +away, and the salary as a plantation tutor was good. With a last prayer +to the Lord that he would be strong enough to stick to his upright way +of life, Fithian set off on his journey to the Northern Neck of +Virginia. + +Nomini Hall was the seat of one of King Carter's grandsons, Robert +Carter, III. His holdings, amounting to seventy thousand acres, were +scattered over a number of counties. He owned more than five hundred +slaves and employed numerous white overseers, clerks, stewards, +craftsmen and artisans. Tobacco was still the main crop of the +plantation, but its profits were now waning and Councillor Carter sought +other money crops to supplement this chief product. Carter also +manufactured supplies for the use of his plantations and for his +neighbors' needs. He operated grain mills, textile factories, salt works +and bakeries. + +Nomini Hall was laid off in the usual formal English style, with four +dependencies--one equally distant from each corner of the manor. These +were the large dependencies--there were many others, probably as many as +thirty. In the square thus formed by the four buildings there was a +bowling green, and gardens interspersed with oyster-shell walks. + +In one of the large dependencies, Fithian was established. Here he and +the Carter boys slept upstairs over the schoolroom. The five Carter +girls who were to be his pupils--"all dressed in white"--slept in the +great house. Fithian liked his room in the schoolhouse--"a neat chamber, +a large Fire, Books, & Candle & my Liberty to stay in this room or to +sit at the great house." In the household he held a delicate +position--equi-distant between the master and his eldest son. + +There was never a dull moment at Nomini Hall. There was the music +teacher--and the traveling dancing teacher who followed a plan of +rotation between the plantations. He spent about a week at each place, +which ended with a small informal dance. The big balls were splendid +affairs, lasting for days and nights. There was a continual procession +of chariots, drawn by four or six horses, with coachman, and +postillions, and attended by horseback riders, moving back and forth +between Nomini Hall and its neighboring plantations. The Carters often +dined and danced with the Lees at Stratford and Chantilly, the +Washingtons at Bushfield, the Tubervilles at Hickory Hill, and with the +Tayloes at Mount Airy, about twelve miles distant. Christenings, +birthdays, house-warmings--anything served as an excuse for a +celebration among these Northern Neckers! In no part of Virginia were +there more great planters than in the Northern Neck. + +Fithian observed everything and wrote it all down in his Journal. One of +the first things that he noticed were the ladies with the white +handkerchiefs: "Almost every Lady wears a red Cloak; and when they ride +out they tye a white handkerchief over their Head and face, so that when +I first came into Virginia, I was distress'd whenever I saw a Lady, for +I thought she had the Tooth-Ache!" + +Fithian walked often in the evenings in the garden with Mrs. Carter when +she was giving a last look at the poultry or the growing things. He had +a great admiration for the beauty and elegance of Mrs. Carter. With +Councillor Carter he attended the county courts and the horse-races in +Richmond County. Around the stables he watched the cock-fights. There +was skating on the "Mill-pond," and when warm weather came, the +"fish-feasts" and barbecues. The latter, he wrote, were just like the +"fish-feasts" except that they had roast pig instead of fish. + +Fithian did not approve of Sunday in Virginia--"A Sunday in Virginia +don't seem to wear the same Dress as our Sundays to the Northward. By +five o'clock on Saturday every face looks festive and cheerful.... It is +a general custom on Sundays here, with Gentlemen to invite one another +home to dine, after Church; and to consult about, determine their common +business, either before or after Service.... It is not the custom for +Gentlemen to go into Church til Service is beginning, when they enter in +a Body, in the same manner as they came out; I have known the Clerk to +come out and call them into prayers.... They stay also after the Service +is over, usually as long, or longer, than the Parson, was preaching." + +Nomini Church stood on the banks of the River Nomini about six miles +from the manor. The Carter family attended this church, traveling by +both land and water. Councillor Carter had a boat built for the purpose +"of carrying the young Ladies and others of the Family to Nominy Church. +It is a light neat Battoe elegantly painted & is rowed with four Oars." +On the way to church by boat, Fithian saw the river alive with people, +in boats and canoes, fishing. + +Whenever it was possible Fithian excused himself from the social +gatherings and stayed in his room, writing in his Journal and working on +his sermons, for he was to become a Presbyterian minister. He was +happiest there alone because he could not fit in with these strange +Northern Neckers. He felt a little sorry for himself because he was a +somber "meagre" figure in his dark clothes among these gay people. His +greatest handicap was that he had never learned to dance and--"blow +high, blow low, Virginians will dance or die!" He wrote to a friend in +the North: "Here we either strain on Horseback, from home to Church, or +from house to house if we go out at all--or we walk alone into a dark +meadow, or tall wood. But I love solitude, and these lonely recesses +suit exactly the feeling of my mind." + +In spite of his disapproval Fithian grew fond of the Northern Neck and +its people. When he returned from a visit home he wrote: "I am much more +pleased with the Face of the Country since my return than I have ever +been before--It is indeed delightsome! How natural, how agreeable, how +majestic the place seems! Supp'd on Crabs & an elegant dish of +Strawberries & Cream!" + +On Christmas morning Fithian was awakened by the guns being fired around +the house. Then the boy who made the fire came in with a "Christmas +Box," for a tip, and the other servants followed with their "Boxes." +Mrs. Carter sent him over some spermaceti candles--"large clear & very +elegant." The holidays were a round of balls and parties, which Fithian +excused himself from as much as possible. He was glad when they were +over--"We had a large Pye cut to-day to signify the conclusion of the +Holidays." + +It was so cold in January that "a cart and three pair of oxen which +every day bring in four loads of wood, Sundays excepted." In the manor +and other houses there were twenty-eight "steady fires & most of them +are very large." It grew so cold that the cart went for wood on Sunday +also. + +Mail was gotten infrequently from the post-office at Hobb's Hole, which +was the name of present-day Tappahannock. Newspapers from the North and +_The Virginia Gazette_ brought accounts of the Tea Party in Boston, and +other rumblings in the colonies. These "Golden Days" in Virginia were +not to last much longer--war was in the making. + +Fithian left Nomini Hall late in 1774. He could no longer stay away from +his Northern "dream-girl," the "fair Laura" of his Journal. He was +married to her in October, 1775. He enlisted in the Revolutionary forces +in 1776 as a chaplain, but his "meagre" body could not stand the life of +the army. He died shortly after the battle of White Plains. + +But Fithian had not lived in vain--his Journal was a legacy to +posterity. + + +_THE SCHOOL IN THE WILDWOOD_ + +In colonial days a small school was conducted in the forest of +Westmoreland County by a Scotch minister. His own sons were his pupils, +and a few children who lived close enough to walk to school through the +woodland lane which was cut for several straight miles through the woods +and was known as the Parson's Road. + +In 1755 the "Parson" had petitioned the Court of Westmoreland County to +have a road from the "new Glebe opened to Round Hill Church." The +petition was granted, for the Reverend Archibald Campbell was an +influential man in the region. + +Mr. Campbell came to Virginia from Scotland in October, 1741. The "new +Glebe" was purchased, tradition says, from Thomas Marshall, "the +surveyor," about 1753. The "Parson" moved to the "new Glebe" and lived +there until his death in 1775. It was there that he conducted his +school. + +The "new Glebe" was situated on Mattox Creek, originally called +Appamatox Creek after the Indians who had once lived there. This Glebe +was located not far from the present village of Oak Grove. + +The Reverend Archibald Campbell came from a distinguished and learned +Scottish family--his nephew, Thomas Campbell, became one of Britain's +greatest poets. The "Parson" himself was well equipped with "all the +learning which the Scottish universities could give." + +At the school in the forest it was all work and little play, for the +"Parson" was a hard taskmaster. His pupils were said to have been +"especially well grounded in mathematics and Latin ... and in their +various subsequent careers they were noted for solidity of character." +At least two of his pupils became historic figures. + + +_JAMES AND JOHN_ + +On winter mornings it was still dark when the Monroe family breakfasted, +but the "large living room" was cozy with its glowing hearth where pots +and kettles bubbled and steamed on their cranes and trivets. + +Around the breakfast table were seated Spence and Elizabeth Monroe and +their children who, according to age, were--Elizabeth, James, Spence, +Andrew and Joseph Jones. + +Breakfast at the Monroe home was not as formal as breakfast at the homes +of their neighbors at Stratford and Nomini Hall. Spence Monroe was not a +wealthy planter, although he was a gentleman and a small landowner. His +home in Westmoreland County was situated between Monroe Bay and Mattox +Creek, not far from present-day Colonial Beach. The Monroes had been +living in the Northern Neck since about 1650. + +The Monroes lived in a plain frame two-storied house "within a stone's +throw of ... a virgin forest." The Potomac flowed not far away. + +After breakfast James would start for school with his books under one +arm and his gun slung over his shoulder. The Monroe table never lacked +for game while James was around. + +James was tall for his fifteen years, and built like an athlete. He well +knew the forest and river. + +Somewhere along the woodland road James was joined by another tall +well-built youth, who was dressed in a pale-blue hunting-shirt and +trousers, fringed with white, and a black hat decorated with a buck's +tail. He also had a gun and books. There was the look of the mountains +about this lad. John Marshall's home was in Fauquier County and he was +only visiting in the Northern Neck. He had learned his classics from his +father in their frontier cabin, but now Thomas Marshall had sent his son +back to his people in Westmoreland for more schooling. + +John was three years older than James. He was dark--skin, eyes and +hair--with rosy cheeks and a round face. His eyes twinkled, for he was +as merry and fun-loving as James was solemn and serious. The two tall +boys must have made a fine-looking pair as they walked down the Parson's +Road, with gun and books, on a bright winter's morning in the year 1773. +As they come within sight of the Glebe we will leave them--in the firm +hands of the Reverend Archibald Campbell. + +Little did these boys dream of the adventures that lay ahead for them. +For these two backwoods boys were destined to become makers of history: +John Marshall, the great Chief Justice, who "found a Constitution on +paper and made it power"; and James Monroe who became the fifth +President of the United States and who formulated and declared the +Monroe Doctrine. + + +_CAPTAIN DOBBY_ + +Captains of the ships constantly lying at anchor in the rivers were +often guests at Nomini Hall and the other Northern Neck plantations. +Captain Dobby was a general favorite. Fithian described him in his +Journal as "a Man of much Spirit and Humour: A great Mimick." + +In the summer of 1774 Captain Dobby invited the Carters of Nomini and +Fithian, the tutor, "on Board his Ship next Tuesday to Dine with him & +wish them a pleasant Passage as the Ship is to Sail the day following." +Fithian must have especially liked the Captain for he commented in his +Journal: "If the Weather is not too burning hot I shall go, provided the +Others go likewise." + +On the appointed day, in August, Fithian and Ben Carter set out for the +River. They had intended to breakfast at Colonel Tayloe's, twelve miles +distant, "but the Servant who went with us was so slow in preparing that +we breakfasted before we set out. We arrived at Colonel Tayloe's however +half after nine." + +Colonel John Tayloe was one of the wealthiest men in the Northern Neck. +His manor house, Mount Airy, in Richmond County, was situated on an +elevation, and overlooked the Rappahannock River, several miles distant. +An interesting feature of the plantation was the deer park, located in a +grove of oaks and cedars. + +Fithian described Mount Airy as "an elegant Seat!--The House is about +the Size of Mr. Carter's, built with stone, & finished curiously, & +ornamented with various paintings, & rich Pictures. This Gentleman owns +Yorick, who won the prize of 500 pounds last November, from Dr. Flood's +Horse, Gift--In the Dining-Room, besides many other fine Pieces, are +twenty four of the most celebrated among the English Race-Horses, Drawn +masterly, & set in elegant gilt Frames. He has near the great House, two +fine two Story stone Houses, the one is used as a Kitchen, & the other, +for a nursery, & Lodging Rooms--He has also a large well-formed, +beautiful Garden, as fine in every Respect as any I have seen in +Virginia. In it stand four large beautiful Marble Statues." + +Mount Airy was built after the style of an Italian villa. The main +entrance was guarded by bronze dogs. + +When Fithian and Ben arrived at Mount Airy they found "the young Ladies +in the Hall playing the Harpsichord." + +Joined by the Tayloes the party set out for the River. The "Colonel and +his Lady" and daughters traveled in "their Great Coach," while Fithian +and Ben and the servants were on horseback. + +The land from Mount Airy to the ferry, opposite Hobb's Hole +(Tappahannock), was level and the road lay between fields of corn and +flax. As they neared the River the fields changed to marshes "covered +with thick high Reed." + +The Rappahannock River was about two miles wide here and they could see +ships lying at anchor on the other side near the town. They counted six +ships "riding in the Harbour, and a number of Schooners & smaller +Vessels." + +The party waited for half an hour in the burning sun. At last they saw +the long-boat coming, covered with an awning and rowed by four oarsmen. +It was past noon when they reached the ship, where they were warmly +welcomed by Captain Dobby. + +The _Beaufort_ was a "Stately Ship." For the comfort of his guests the +Captain had arranged an awning from the "Stern ... to the Mizen-Mast," +which kept off the sun but was open on the sides. + +By three o'clock the guests had arrived, forty-five ladies and sixty +gentlemen, and besides them the ship's crew, waiters and servants. +Dinner was served and "we were not throng'd at all, & dined all at +twice." + +The guests were then entertained by a boat race--"A Boat was anchored +down the River at a Mile Distance--Captain Dobby and Captain Benson +steer'd the Boats in the Race--Captain Benson had 5 Oarsmen; Captain +Dobby had 6--It was Ebb-Tide--The Betts were small--& chiefly given to +the Negroes who rowed--Captain Benson won the first Race--Captain +Purchace offered to bett ten Dollars that with the same Boat & same +Hands, only having Liberty to put a small Weight in the Stern, he would +beat Captain Benson--He was taken, & came out best only half the Boat's +Length--About Sunset we left the Ship, & went all to Hobb's Hole, where +a Ball was agreed on." + +After the ball was over the guests spent the remainder of the night at +Hobb's Hole. At half-past eight the next morning they were called to +breakfast--"we all look'd dull, pale & haggard!" + +After breakfast the party was entertained by the young ladies on the +harpsichord. At eleven o'clock they all went down to the River, where +the long-boat was waiting to take them back home to the Northern Neck. + + +_PEDLARS_ + +Probably the first pedlars in the Northern Neck were the Indians of +Cascarawaske, a merchant tribe that manufactured their products and sold +them up and down the Potomac--Patowmeke--meaning "traveling traders," or +pedlars. + +During colonial days the itinerant pedlar traveled from plantation to +plantation. He was welcome everywhere because he brought news and gossip +as well as merchandise. Children were always watching out for the pedlar +at certain seasons when he usually arrived. + +He was not hard to identify for he bore on his back, by means of a +harness of strong hempen webbing, two oblong trunks of thin metal, +probably tin. He carried a stout staff to help him to walk with his +burden and also for a weapon to ward off dogs and wild animals. He was +usually called the "trunk pedlar." + +His pack contained everything from dress materials and jewelry to +"plumpers." The latter were thin, round, light balls used to put in the +mouth and fill up hollow cheeks! + +The "indigo-pedlars" had a specialized trade. Blue, in all shades, was +the favorite color in colonial days, and indigo was used to dye this +color. It was especially in demand for dyeing wool. Pedlars traveled all +over the country selling indigo. + +Pedlars continued to travel through the Northern Neck until the early +part of the twentieth century. + + +_SEVEN SATIN PETTICOATS_ + +Settlers in the Northern Neck sometimes received boxes containing +luxuries from relatives in England. These boxes were received even until +a late date. + +In one family there were seven sisters. In probably the last box they +received from "home," as England was called for many years, there were +seven satin petticoats, some pink and some blue. They were made of heavy +satin and trimmed with lace. + +Needless to say, these petticoats were treasured and passed on for +several generations. When nothing was left of them except faded shreds, +the tradition of the "seven satin petticoats" was then handed down from +mother to daughter. + + +_PHI BETA KAPPA_ + +In Williamsburg, Virginia, on December 5, 1776, was founded the first +scholastic Greek letter fraternity--Phi Beta Kappa. That a native of the +Northern Neck had a part in this is shown by the minutes of that first +meeting: + + "On Thursday, the 5th of December in the year of our Lord God + one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six and the first of the + Commonwealth, a happy spirit and resolution of attaining the + important ends of Society entering the minds of John Heath, + Thomas Smith, Richard Booker, Armistead Smith, and John Jones, + and afterwards seconded by others, prevailed, and was + accordingly ratified." + + ".... Officers were elected--John Heath as President, Richard + Booker as Treasurer, and Thomas Smith as Clerk, the society + esteeming them as necessary persons for the functions of their + several duties accordingly selected them." + +These young gentlemen were students of William and Mary College. The +Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern is believed to be the birthplace of +the distinguished Phi Beta Kappa Society. + +John Heath was a native of Northumberland County. Heathsville, the +county seat, was named for his family. + +John Heath owned an estate called Black Point, on the outskirts of +Heathsville. Black Point was later known as Springfield. + + +_LIGHT-HORSE HARRY_ + +He rode into battle fast--with his sabre drawn and his three hundred +screaming troopers following close behind. Under him was his own horse +which he had ridden north from Virginia, one of those "fleet steeds" for +which his home country was noted. From his tall leather helmet the +horse-hair plumes streamed out behind and his jacket was a blur of +green. + +His white lambskin breeches and knee-high boots were perfection. His +troopers were brilliant and shining--that was because Henry Lee would +have his Virginians no other way. His detachment of cavalry stood out +like a torch amid the ragged forces of Washington's army. + +Henry Lee, lately graduated from Princeton, had been nominated by +Patrick Henry in 1776, to command a cavalry company raised in Virginia +for service in the Continental Army, under the command of Colonel Bland. +In 1777, Lee's Corps was placed under Washington's immediate control. It +was the "flower of Washington's troop." + +In Harry Lee's "flying detachment" there was one who was a neighbor of +his back in Northern Virginia, John Marshall. + +Light-Horse Harry Lee received his nickname because his outfit traveled +light. He never had more than three hundred men and they were as lightly +equipped as possible. Speed was necessary if they were to survive, for +to them fell the hard and dangerous assignments. + +It fell to them to spy on the enemy's movements, to harass them, to +destroy them and capture their supplies. They hunted for food for +Washington's hungry army. Their jobs were the lonesome ones, carried out +in the still of the night, while Death stalked them--waiting for them to +make just one sound, one slip, one mistake. But Light-Horse Harry and +his men were like foxes, and Luck traveled with them. + +General Washington was fond of Harry; he remembered him as a blond child +who had come with his father and mother on neighborly visits to Mt. +Vernon. He invited Harry to become one of his aides. + +It was a tempting offer. Washington had been Harry's hero since +childhood days and this was an opportunity to be near him. After a +struggle with this great temptation, Harry won and sent his answer to +General Washington: "I am wedded to my sword." + +In 1779, Light-Horse Harry decided to do the impossible. He and his men +would capture Paulus (Powles) Hook, a fort occupied by the British on a +point of land on the west side of the Hudson, opposite the town of New +York. The enemy had made the Hook an island by digging a deep ditch +through which the river flowed. It was strongly guarded on all sides by +British ships, troops or natural defenses. + +For three weeks Harry's scouting expedition had been watching the enemy, +moving among the ravines, hills and marshes, always in close touch with +the British. In this detachment of Lee's was Captain John Marshall. + +Lee laid his plans before General Washington, who approved, and made +sure that there were lines of retreat. + +On a hot day in August Light-Horse Harry and his men started on the +adventure. It was rough going--a long march through marsh land that was +doubtless swarming with mosquitoes. They had to make bridges in some +places and at other places they waded or swam. They sank deep into the +marshes. + +On the night of August the eighteenth they crept among the hills and +passed the main body of the British army, who were sleeping. At three +o'clock in the morning they crossed the ditch. From then on it was a +fast movement resulting in the capture of one hundred and fifty-nine +prisoners, which was all except a few men in the blockhouse. + +After the enemy's stores and supplies had been destroyed Light-Horse +Harry and his men returned to Headquarters with their captives. + +For this daring feat Lee received compliments from both Washington and +Lafayette. But his glory was not to last long. Some of the older +officers preferred charges against him for his conduct of the campaign. +He was court-martialed, but exonerated from the charges, and Congress +soon gave him a gold medal. + +But the happiness of it all had fled from the heart of Henry Lee. He had +fought four years with Washington in the North. Now he went South and +joined General Greene for the remainder of the war. His fame continued +to increase. Tradition says that he planned the final strategy at +Yorktown. + +At the surrender Light-Horse Harry stood in the line of officers as the +British army marched out and Cornwallis surrendered his sword to General +Washington. Lee was dressed in his usual brilliant perfection with his +hair powdered and queued in the back, but in his heart he felt old and +sad. At twenty-six he felt so old that he wanted to withdraw from the +world and sink into obscurity. + +After the war was over Light-Horse Harry turned his horse toward home. +That was where he wanted to go--home to Leesylvania on the Potomac. + + +_A BAND OF BROTHERS_ + +King Carter once wrote: "Pray God send in the next generation ... a set +of better-polished patriots." + +An example of the kind of "polished patriots" that King Carter probably +had in mind were the Lee brothers of Stratford: Thomas Ludwell, Richard +Henry, Francis Lightfoot, William and Arthur. They were the sons of +Thomas and Hannah Lee, and they were all born in the same southeast +bedroom at Stratford. + +Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot were signers of the Declaration of +Independence. All five brothers worked in various ways to win freedom +from Great Britain for the colonies in America and to shape a government +that would stand. + +President John Adams described the Lee sons of Stratford as "that band +of brothers, intrepid and unchangeable, who, like the Greeks at +Thermopylae, stood in the gap, in defense of their country, from the +first glimmering of the Revolution in the horizon, through all its +rising light, to its perfect day." + + +_THE DIVINE MATILDA_ + +Light-horse Harry Lee soon tired of his isolation and decided one day to +ride down to Stratford and call on the family of his cousin. It was a +long ride, but Virginians of that day thought nothing of traveling long +distances on horseback. + +Thomas Lee had left Stratford to his oldest son, Philip Ludwell, who had +lived there in great style. In his stables were a score or more of +blooded horses, including the imported stallion Dotterel, which was said +to be the "swiftest horse in all England (Eclipse excepted)." His +imported coaches were the finest that could be had. + +Philip had kept an open house, as Harry Lee well remembered, and he had +entertained on a lavish scale. A whole ox could be roasted for guests in +the kitchen fireplace. He had kept a band of musicians to whose airs his +daughters, Matilda and Flora, with their companions danced in the Great +Hall. But Philip Ludwell was now dead, Harry had heard, and Stratford +had passed on to his oldest child, Matilda. + +As Harry came up the oak and poplar lined road to Stratford, Matilda and +Flora recognized him "as he rode past the grove of maples" and they +"welcomed him with joy." + +Flora was described by a contemporary as being haughty in manner, "very +genteel and wears monstrous bustles." In describing Matilda the only +word used by her contemporaries was "divine." + +Harry was not prepared for this new Matilda. When he had last seen her +she was at the awkward age of thirteen. Now she was nineteen and his +first sight of her took his breath away. + +There was tea-drinking in the garden with laughter and talk of the good +old times before the war. Perhaps Matilda and Harry walked in the garden +and "sat under a butiful shade tree" or climbed to one of the +summer-houses on the roof from which they could see "Potomac's sea-like +billows." + +In less than a month Matilda was married to her cousin, Light-Horse +Harry Lee. And what was Matilda like? There are no portraits or +miniatures to tell us how she looked, no letters to unlock her +personality. Only the word "divine" bequeathed by her contempories. + +Matilda was expensive. Inventories tell us that her side-saddle cost +1,200 pounds of tobacco, and music lessons on the harpsichord cost 3,043 +pounds of tobacco. "1 pc. fine Chintz in Pocket Money for Mis Matilda," +whatever that meant, was 1,500 pounds, and another ninety pounds of +tobacco went for dental care. Listed among her belongings were a cap, a +pair of silk shoes and stays for her slender waist. + +Matilda could afford to have expensive tastes. She had inherited +Stratford and its six thousand acres of rich tobacco soil, with enough +slaves to tend it, and other lands scattered all over northern Virginia. + +Harry took Matilda to New York where for three years he represented +Virginia in Congress. They were gay and happy years, but it was over all +too soon. + +When Matilda died, Harry wrote: "Something always happens to mar my +happiness." + +At the foot of the garden at Stratford, Harry built a vault for Thomas +Lee's granddaughter, Matilda, who was called "divine." + +Matilda was twenty-six years old when she died. She left three children, +Philip Ludwell, Lucy Grymes and Henry. + + +_MADAM WASHINGTON_ + +Augustine Washington had left his wife, Mary: "the current crops on +three plantations and the right of working Bridges Creek Quarter for +five years, during which time she could establish a quarter on Deep +Run." + +Mary stayed on at Ferry Farm for twenty-nine years after her husband's +death. It is possible that she spent part of this time on some of her +adjoining property. Meanwhile her children had married--Betty Washington +Lewis was living in Fredericksburg, and George was established at Mount +Vernon, which he had inherited after Lawrence's death. + +By 1772 George had persuaded his mother to move to a house which he +owned in Fredericksburg where she would be close to Betty, at Kenmore. + +When Mary Ball Washington moved to Fredericksburg, her property in the +Northern Neck included: "43 Hoggs, Shoats and Pigs, 16 sheep, 24 head of +cattle, 2 horses; and at the Quarters (her dower land of 400 acres, some +miles down the river), 4 horses, 6 oxen, 8 cows and calves, 39 hogs." On +the two farms there were ten slaves. The "Quarters" was bringing her an +income of 30 pounds per year. + +After Mary was installed in Fredericksburg, she had her coachman, +Stephen, drive her almost every day to Ferry Farm. Mary's favorite +carriage in her old age was a light open phaeton. She was respectfully +greeted by everyone she passed on the streets of Fredericksburg. + +In her later years Mary is said to have worn a mobcap and kerchief. A +mobcap was a frilly white cap introduced from France. In summer she +probably waved a fan made from the bronze feathers of wild turkeys. + +During these years George Washington frequently visited his mother, and +other relatives in the Northern Neck. In August, 1768, he "hauled the +Sein for sheepsheads" off Hollis Marsh in Westmoreland County. In 1771, +he dined at the Glebe in Cople Parish, and "returned to my brother's in +the evening." George enjoyed the social life in Fredericksburg. He liked +to play cards, and he liked to dance--the minuet and cotillions and +country-dances. It was said that he liked beautiful women, punch, horses +and hunting, and that he could be gay or dignified, whenever the +occasion demanded. During Revolutionary days Washington and the Northern +Neck patriots often gathered at the Rising Sun Tavern in Fredericksburg. + +In 1784, while visiting Mount Vernon, Marquis de Lafayette rode to +Fredericksburg to pay a visit to Madam Washington before he returned to +France. When he returned to Mount Vernon after calling upon Mary Ball +Washington he made this comment about her: "I have seen the only Roman +Matron living at this day." + +George Washington traveled to Fredericksburg in March, 1789, to tell his +mother good-bye before leaving Mount Vernon to go to New York for his +first inauguration. She did not live to see him again. + +Mary Washington was buried in Fredericksburg, near Meditation Rock, a +spot near her home where she often went to read her Bible, pray and +meditate. It was her request that she be buried there. Many years later +a monument to her was erected there. + +The modest house where she spent her last years became a national shrine +in 1890. A college in Fredericksburg was later named for Mary +Washington. + +"All that I am I owe to my honored Mother," is the tribute that the +great George Washington paid to Mary Ball Washington. + + +_AFTER THE REVOLUTION_ + +The Northern Neck, like the rest of Tidewater Virginia, changed after +the Revolution. War had taken its toll of manpower and money. + +The tobacco lands had become exhausted, therefore the culture of tobacco +had been almost abandoned. Wheat and corn were now the main crops. + +The once thriving tobacco river ports fell into decay. Foreign ships no +longer tied up at the plantation landings. The tobacco rolling-roads +were no longer needed for their original use. + +After the war the English clergy was withdrawn and the churches were +unused and deserted for years. Some fell into ruins or were used for +other purposes. The glebes became "bones of contention" between the +Episcopal Church and the "people." In 1802 the General Assembly passed +an act by which the glebes were sold for the benefit of the public. + +After the Revolution other religious denominations gained a foothold in +the Northern Neck. + +People now turned away from anything British, even in architecture and +dress. Before the Revolution boys and girls dressed precisely like their +parents in miniature. After the war they wore a special dress of their +own. + +In 1789, there were still few conveniences of life in the Neck, or +elsewhere in the country. All cloth was woven by hand. Most of the farm +implements were made of wood. Wheat was cut with a scythe, raked with a +wooden rake and beaten out with sticks or "trodden out" by oxen. + +There were as yet no matches with which to make a fire. Flint and tinder +box were used instead and live coals were kept as a basis for the next +day's fire. Wood was the chief fuel and candles were used for light. + +Bananas and oranges were rarely seen in the Northern Neck then, for +sailboats were too slow to bring these fruits any distance in good +condition. Communication was slow. By 1790 there were fifteen +post-offices in Virginia. The postal service was crude. Mails were +carried by post-riders and stages. + +People of the Northern Neck lived comfortably but the great prosperity +was gone, and although eventually it was recovered in part, the pattern +of living was never on such a grand scale again as it was before the +Revolution. The large estates were broken up by division or sale. New +families took the places of the old. Many of the old names passed into +oblivion. The old order of social aristocracy declined, but the people +still clung to their old customs, traditions and family life. + + +_MANTUA_ + +"Chicacony" was selected as a townsite by the Burgesses some time after +John Mottrom and his friends had settled there. Mottrom had built a +wharf and a warehouse at Coan and he had plans for a "Brew-House." If he +had lived, the town might have matured. But Colonel Mottrom died and the +plans for a town seem to have been abandoned. Plantation life did not +encourage the growth of towns. + +The Coan Hall property passed on to the descendants of John Mottrom. +Coan Hall and the other early homes in the vicinity either burned or +fell into ruins. Toward the close of the eighteenth century, when the +Coan Hall property went out of the Mottrom family, there appears to have +been few traces left of the once thriving settlement at Coan. + +James Smith, a wealthy Baltimore merchant and shipowner, purchased a +portion of the Coan Hall estate from a Mottrom heir and erected a brick +mansion on a slope there, about 1785. He called his new home Mantua. + +Mantua was built along the traditional lines of a Virginia house--a +central hall, two rooms on each side and large end chimneys. From the +outside it appeared to have three stories but there were really six +floor levels. Later, identical wings were added on each side by Smith's +sons. Still later, Smith's grandson added an imposing front portico. +Before this addition coaches were driven, tradition says, right up to +the front steps and ladies could step from coach to marble steps without +soiling their dainty slippers. The conveyance could then continue around +to the stables on the west side, or follow the driveway on to Coan Stage +Road, which ran back of the plantation. + +The marble steps, marble window-sills and paneled inside blinds were +handsome details of Mantua which may have been the outcome of Smith's +residence in Baltimore. Originally he was a native of County Derry, +Ireland. + +In the rear of the house there were five terraces, planted with flowers +and, perhaps, vegetables and herbs. Brick slave quarters were ranged in +a semi-circle beyond the terraces. + +The second story front windows of Mantua overlooked both the Coan and +the Potomac. Before government lighthouses and buoys marked the +waterman's course in this section, he had only the stars, landmarks and +a lighted window here and there to guide him. Mantua was a help to the +watermen for they could always be sure of a lighted window there, a lamp +purposely placed by members of the Smith family, and by day the towering +poplar trees were familiar landmarks. + + + + +PART III + +Nineteenth Century + + + + +_ROBERT E. LEE_ + +In 1791, Light-Horse Harry Lee became Governor of Virginia. While he was +in Richmond he had the opportunity to visit the plantations along the +James River. + +When Harry rolled up before Shirley in all the trappings of a Virginia +governor, it is not surprising that the young daughter of the house saw +in him her "heart's desire." + +But Charles Carter did not see Harry through his daughter's rosy vision. +He saw him as a widower who was seventeen years older than Ann, and as a +soldier who had been disillusioned by war and had not adjusted to peace. + +However, Harry won his suit and carried the happy Ann back with him to +Stratford. Ann was a brunette of medium height and twenty years old. +Little else is known about her except that she was good. + +Ann's first impression of the Lee mansion must have been a gloomy one. +Gayety had left Stratford with Matilda. The musicians had long since +been gone, and the blooded horses. The windows once so brightly lighted +were dark, and with no voices and laughter to fill the house, one could +hear the wolves howling at night in the forest. This remote fortress in +the fastness of the Northern Neck was different from anything that this +great-granddaughter of King Carter had ever known. Shirley had been warm +and happy. + +Harry had no taste or ability as a farmer, and even if he had, +Westmoreland County was now losing ground as a tobacco country. At first +Ann may have traveled to Richmond with her husband and visited Shirley, +for Harry was thrice elected to the governorship of Virginia. But as the +years went by, Ann and her small children were more and more alone at +Stratford. As his political career waned, Harry stayed away from home +more and more, chasing various "will o' the wisps" which he believed +would recoup his fortune. + +Sometimes Ann stayed at Stratford as long as six months at a time +without going anywhere to visit, or without seeing her social equals. +Still, Ann wrote a friend that she was too busy to be bored. We can +imagine her moving about the house, sometimes carrying a charcoal +brazier with her into the living room, to warm her frail body or to give +the illusion of warmth. + +[Illustration: _Young Robert E. Lee learning to ride._] + +Into this sombre setting was born, on January 19, 1807, a new baby. He +was christened: Robert Edward Lee. He was born in the southeast bedroom +of Stratford, the same room in which the other great Lee men had been +born. + +The nursery was probably the coziest room at Stratford in those days. +Ann's one known accomplishment was singing, so we can picture her there +as she sang to the new baby while she rocked him in his wooden cradle, +and watched the flames in the fireplace as they illuminated the guardian +cherubs on the iron fireback. Perhaps those days with her children were +not unhappy. She taught her boys to be "honorable and correct" and to +"practice the most inflexible virtue." + +Meanwhile, Harry's last wild speculations had ended in his complete +financial ruin. Ann and the children were now living on a trust fund +left to them by her father, Charles Carter, when he died in 1806. + +One day, when Robert was not yet four years old, a carriage stood in +front of Stratford, waiting to take the family for their last ride down +the driveway. Stratford had been left to Matilda's son, Henry, and he +had now come of age and was ready to take over the estate. Harry and his +family traveled to Alexandria where they moved into a smaller house. + +A legend says that when everything was ready for departure little Robert +could not be found. He was finally discovered in the nursery saying +good-bye to the two cherubs on the fireback. + +After this Harry had still greater misfortunes. His body was broken and +maimed for life. In 1813, when Robert was six years old, his father left +Virginia, bound for the British West Indies, seeking health and a new +grip on life. He spent the next five years wandering about among the +islands. In 1818, he sailed for home but became so ill that he was put +off at one of the islands. There he found the family of his old friend, +General Greene. He was tenderly cared for by them during his final +illness. He died there and was buried in their family burying ground on +Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia. + + NOTE: In 1913 the body of General Henry (Light-Horse Harry) Lee + was brought from Cumberland Island and placed in the Chapel at + Lexington, Virginia, beside that of his famous son, Robert E. + Lee. + + +_SMITH POINT LIGHT_ + +For many years the watermen of the Chesapeake "steered by the stars," by +trees, and by a lighted window here and there. + +One of the earlier government lighthouses on Chesapeake Bay was the +Smith Point Light located at the mouth of the Potomac on Smith Point, +Northumberland County. + +There seem to be no available records concerning the erection of this +lighthouse. In an 1804 issue of _Blunt's American Coast Pilot_ reference +is made to a lighthouse having been "erected lately on Smith Point." +This establishes the date of its erection as prior to 1804. + +In the 1833 issue of the same book there is a small drawing of the +lighthouse at Smith Point which shows a tower with a house close by. +These structures appeared to be situated on the tip end of a point with +a gently sloping hill, or bank, in the rear. The picture shows a +lighthouse with the same general appearance as the first government +lighthouse at Cape Henry at the entrance to the Chesapeake, built in +1791. The Smith Point tower, however, was round instead of octagonal. + +According to older natives of the region who remembered the original +lighthouse at Smith Point, it was a round tower built of sandstone +blocks, approximately sixty or seventy feet high. A spiral inside +stairway with stone steps led up to the lantern at the top. + +The sandstone blocks for the tower at Cape Henry had been brought from +abroad as ballast in ships. The same thing may have been true of the +sandstone blocks of which Smith Point lighthouse was built. + +The light at Cape Henry first consisted of oil lamps burning, in turn, +whale oil, colza (cabbage) oil, lard oil, and finally kerosene after the +discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania in 1859. The same type of lamps +and fuel were doubtless used at Smith Point. + +The keeper's house at Smith Point, according to tradition, was located +thirty or forty yards back of the tower. It was a brick story-and-a-half +house with outside chimneys on each end and an ell in the back. There +were fireplaces in every room and a dark underground room which was +referred to in later years as the "dungeon." + +When this early lighthouse was built there were still a few pirates +lurking about the Bay. + + +_THE RAIDERS_ + +Frightening rumours must have flown up and down the Northern Neck in the +early part of the year of 1813. + +In June, 1812, Congress had declared war against Great Britain. The +Virginia militia had been called out to drill, and to prepare to defend +Washington if necessary. The sound of drum and fife was heard once more +in the countryside. Brass buttons were polished and firelocks were put +in good shooting condition. + +Now, in February of 1813, Admiral George Cockburn of the British Navy +had entered the Chesapeake with a flotilla of two brigs, several tenders +and a force of land troops. + +Along the grapevine ran the news that Admiral Cockburn was directing his +efforts principally against the citizens. The farmhouses and plantations +along the waterfront were being plundered and burned and the cattle were +being driven away or slaughtered. While the planters were away with the +militia some of their families had taken refuge with their tenants who +lived in the forest. + +Naval battles were taking place in the rivers. In April, the U. S. S. +_Dolphin_ was captured in the Rappahannock by the British ship _St. +Domingo_. In July a battle was fought in the Yeocomico, a tributary of +the Potomac. The U. S. S. _Asp_, a three-gun sloop, was at that time +overpowered by five British barges. + +Troops were stationed at Windmill Point, at the mouth of the +Rappahannock, in November, 1813. Here, April 23, 1814, the British made +a landing and pillaged a vessel. They were driven off by militia +stationed across the creek. It was perhaps on this same trip that the +raiders visited Corotoman. + +The crew went ashore and made themselves at home in the old house built +by John Carter, while the officers took over the home built later by his +son, King Carter. The well-stocked wine cellar and an abundance of fine +Rappahannock oysters furnished the ingredients, tradition says, for an +all-night party. + +In August, 1814, reinforcements consisting of many vessels of war and a +large number of troops arrived in the Chesapeake from Europe. Of this +force several frigates and bomb vessels were ordered to ascend the +Potomac. + +At this time the shores of the Potomac were ravaged and a number of fine +and ancient homes were burned. Washington city was captured and burned, +and President Madison and his wife Dolly were forced to seek refuge in +Virginia. + +[Illustration: _Skirmish between the Virginia Militia and the British +during the War of 1812 at Farnham Church._] + +In October, 1814, a force of British troops came up the Coan River and +marched to Heathsville. This force with some mounted troops continued +their march up through the Neck, pillaging, burning and destroying as +they went. At North Farnham Church, in Richmond County, a skirmish was +fought between the raiders and the Virginia militia, leaving bullet +holes in the walls of the church to mark the battle. + +In September, 1814, the British were on their way to bombard the city of +Baltimore. The Sunday before at their camp on Tangier Island, in the +Chesapeake Bay, they had been warned of their coming defeat by Joshua +Thomas, the Methodist "Parson of the Islands." + +At Fort McHenry the "Parson's" prophecy came true, and at the same time +an immortal song was born--"The Star-Spangled Banner." + + +_STEAMBOATS_ + +The _Chesapeake_ was the first steamboat on Chesapeake Bay. She made her +first run in 1813. The next steamer to make her debut was the +_Washington_, on the Potomac, in 1815. The next year the _Virginia_ +started running from Norfolk to Richmond. + +From then on until the Civil War the steamboat business expanded. All +the bay and river boats had both freight and passenger services to +Baltimore, Washington or Norfolk. These services were interrupted by the +war. + +During the Civil War, according to several unpublished letters of that +period, the steamboats _George C. Peabody_ and _North Point_ collided in +the Potomac on the night of August 13, 1862. Of the three or four +hundred persons on board the two boats only one hundred were saved. + +After the Civil War the steamboat services were restored. + +When the first steamboat ran up the Rappahannock, Bewdley was used as a +landing place. This Lancaster County home belonged to the Ball family, +relatives of George Washington's mother. When passengers awaited the +arrival of the boat at Bewdley, a white flag was raised as a signal by +day, and at night a light was placed in one of the many dormer-windows. + + +_HANNAH AND THE FALLING STARS_ + +It was Hannah's custom to get up before daybreak. She was a +sixteen-year-old Negro girl of Northumberland County. On this particular +morning she was to get the scare of her life. She started to go to the +well for a bucket of fresh water but when she stepped outside she +dropped her bucket and ran to her mistress screaming: "The stars are all +falling down!" Needless to say the whole plantation was aroused to watch +the strangest phenomenon they had ever beheld. + +Hannah was not the only person who was scared or bewildered that +morning. Throughout the eastern part of North America people were +exclaiming: "it is snowing fire," "the end of the world has come," "the +sky is on fire," "the Judgment Day is here!" + +What Hannah and the others had witnessed was the Leonid shower of +November 12-13, 1833, which lasted from midnight until day. People of +that time were generally uninformed about meteoric showers. It was a +topic of comment and speculation for many generations. + +Hannah lived many years to tell of the time when she saw "the stars +fall." She outlived most of her children and those who were living at +the time of her death were too feeble to attend her funeral. She was +buried in a quiet spot among the pines on the banks of the Great +Wicomico River. Her tombstone bears this inscription: "Hannah Crocket, +1817-1933, Age 116 yrs." + + +_DEAR TO HIS HEART ..._ + +Near the beginning of the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee's daughter +visited Stratford. The great manor no longer belonged to the Lee family. +She wrote to her father who was in the South at that time, and described +her visit to his childhood home. He answered her as follows: + +"I am much pleased at your description of Stratford and your visit. It +is endeared to me by many recollections and it has always been a great +desire of my life to be able to purchase it. Now that we have no other +home, and the one we so loved (Arlington) has been so foully polluted, +the desire is stronger with me than ever. The horse-chestnut you mention +in the garden was planted by my mother. I am sorry the vault is so +dilapidated. You did not mention the spring, one of the objects of my +earliest recollections." + +On Christmas Day, 1861, General Lee wrote his wife: "In the absence of a +home I wish I could purchase Stratford. That is the only other place +that I could go to, now accessible, that would inspire me with feelings +of pleasure and local love. You and the girls could remain there in +quiet. It is a poor place, but we could make enough bread and bacon for +our support and the girls could weave us clothes." + +General Robert E. Lee's desire was never fulfilled. + + +_THE BLOCKADE_ + +From time to time various writers have stated that the isolated Northern +Neck of Virginia was "out of bounds" or "bypassed" in the Civil War. +Despite these statements, which so lightly dismiss the Neck during the +war years, natives of that region, did not spend that time in the +carefree, unmolested state thus implied. + +All able-bodied men of the Neck were away on the battlefields. Anxiety +for them, and for the South, hung like a pall over the remaining +population. More tangible worries beset them also. + +Although the bordering waters of the Potomac, Rappahannock and +Chesapeake were rich with food, when the Virginians tried to take the +oysters, crabs and fish, a tug from the Federal flotilla which patrolled +these waters would come "steaming out to hasten them home, with +sometimes a six-pound shot sent after them for emphasis." + +The women, girls, old men and boys raised what they could, but many +fields, once lush with corn, tobacco, sugar cane and other crops, now +lay barren save for sedge and pine seedling. Many of the men had ridden +away to war on the horses. The people at home gave as much as they could +of what they could raise to the men at the front. + +The Federal gunboats shelled homes and landed soldiers who carried off +everything they could find. Many are the tales that lingered on in the +Neck about the geese that were struck down by swords, the bowls of milk +that were lifted to mouths and gulped down, the firkins of butter that +were carried away by soldiers who thrust their arms elbow deep in the +butter and carried it off that way, the cattle that were slaughtered +before the hungry eyes of the natives, the churches that were +profaned--the list could go on and on. And there were some instances +when the invaders were kind, or fair. + +The resourceful women of the Neck invented substitutes for lost +luxuries. Tea was brewed from sassafras, wheat, sage or mullein; coffee +was concocted from sweet potatoes and other things. Sorghum and honey +served for sugar. They got out the discarded spinning-wheels and looms +and revived those skills. They carded, spun and wove the wool from their +sheep. Polk berries and walnut hulls were used as dyes, and a special +mixture of plants produced a shade that would pass as Confederate gray. +The latter was used to dye garments made of the homespun so that there +was always a new suit ready for the soldier when he came home on +furlough. Thorns were used for pins, and seeds such as persimmon had +holes bored in them and were used for buttons. + +In spite of these and other ingenious substitutes the supplies of food +and clothing had been very nearly exhausted by 1862. Thus, the natives +of the Northern Neck were driven to running the blockade. + +At that time Hampton Roads was blockaded by Union naval forces, and the +rivers were patrolled by them. Maryland, just across the Potomac from +the Neck, was divided territory. Leonardtown, in southern Maryland, was +a trading center for the blockade runners from the Neck. + +On the Virginia side of the Potomac, Kinsale in Westmoreland County, +situated on an estuary called Yeocomico River, was one point of +departure and arrival. This village had become quite cosmopolitan, for +the country people were not the only ones who ran the blockade. +Strangers from the North and South--merchants, speculators, adventurers, +Northern draft dodgers, Southern sympathizers from the North, +pro-Unionists trying to reach the North, even ladies, usually married +women traveling with their husbands--all rubbed elbows in Kinsale. And +there was at least one blockade-runner among them who dodged the tugs on +the Potomac and blistered his hands on the muffled oars for no more +serious reason than romance. + +A steady stream of canoes from Maryland sneaked through to the Neck +bringing quinine and other drugs, food, and Southern sympathizers. They +landed anywhere in the Northern Neck. + +The rivers were probably dark, for by the latter part of April, 1861, +practically all lights in the lighthouses and lightships had been +extinguished, removed or destroyed, from the Chesapeake to the Rio +Grande by the Southerners. + + +_THE HOME GUARD_ + +Though no major battles were fought in Northumberland County during the +Civil War, it was the scene of a number of skirmishes which were never +recorded in history. + +The geographical position of this county in the tip end of the Neck and +surrounded on three sides by water isolated it from the main stream of +the war, but made it vulnerable to enemy naval raiders. Also, small +groups of Union cavalry rode through the Neck from time to time looking +for deserters from their own army and for Confederate soldiers who might +be at home on furlough. Homes were looted. + +A Federal flotilla was stationed across the Potomac at Piney Point, +Maryland, and although this river was not formally blockaded during the +war, it was patrolled, and the smaller rivers were patrolled from time +to time. Many of the homes adjacent to the shoreline were shelled by +these boats. The crew often landed and raided farms and houses. + +For the purpose of keeping these raiders away and defending the women +and children, a home guard was organized. (They were probably organized +in all the counties of the Neck.) Since the able-bodied men of +Northumberland were away on the battlefields, this group was composed of +teen-aged boys and old men. + +[Illustration: _"Yankee" foragers during the Civil War._] + +Except traditionally, very little has been known about this +organization. A notarized statement written by a former member of the +Northumberland Home Guard, sheds some light on their activities. It is +as follows: + + "I'm going to try and write something in regard to the Home + Guard to which I belonged but hardly know what to write. I was + only a boy then, and as to giving dates, I couldn't tell you + what month or even the year we organized but we didn't organize + untill those Yankee raids began to take place. The Gun Boats + would come in the rivers and land soldiers, go to the farm + Houses and carry off anything they wanted, so we organized to + try and keep off those raids and defend the Women and children + while the men-folks were in the War. Our Company, I suppose was + what you might call an independent company, don't think the + Confederate Government ever furnished us with anything except + Guns and ammunition. I think they permitted us to organize. + + "We had several skirmishes with the raiders, one in the + vicinity of Lotsburg where we captured a Horse and perhaps + killed the rider. His fellow soldiers got Him away but we got + the Horse. After getting their wounded or dead comrad aboard + ship they left. On another occasion at Glebe Point on the Great + Wicomico River, we opened fire on a Gun Boat that was going up + the river. She stoped immediately and turned around and went on + down the River. We kept up our fire untill she was out of + Gunshot. They gave us a severe shelling of shrapnell but shot + too high, didn't kill anyone. I heard one Horse was killed. And + at another time on Raisons Creek we captured a little Picket + Boat No. 2. She carried one brass cannon and a crew of seven + men. One man was shot in the leg. The Captain of the Boat gave + up His Sword and revolver to our Captain. We sent the Prisoners + to Richmond and Burned the Boat." + + (Signed) Bertrand B. Haynie + Apr 7--1927 + +Further data are added concerning this organization by Rev. C. T. +Thrift, who spent his boyhood at Wicomico Church, Northumberland County. +He writes: + + "Many Yankee gunboats came in the Great Wicomico River from + time to time. Marauding parties landed and did much pillaging. + Poultry and pigs and other things were taken. The women and + children were frightened not a little. + + "One such boat came in and anchored on the Wicomico side + between Rowe's landing and Blackwell's Wharf. A band of + pillagers landed and took what they wanted and then returned to + their boat. Young ... had hidden himself while the band was at + the home where he lived. He waited until they had left the + shore. Then he took an old rifle and crept down to the water's + edge, hiding in the bushes. The captain greeted his marauders + upon their return and stood leaning against the deckhouse + sunning himself. + + "Young ... raised his rifle aimed carefully and fired. The + bullet struck the captain in the forehead, killing him + instantly. Panic ensued on board, for they had no idea where + the shot came from nor did they have any idea how large a force + might be attacking. There was no time to be lost for they + needed to go and they could not stand on the order of their + going. + + "So they unfastened the end of the anchor chain at the capstan + and fled, leaving the chain and the anchor in the mud of the + river bottom. He said (many years later) that he supposed this + was still where it was left. He had thought of going there to + search for it but he had never done so." + +Young ..., tradition says, was a member of the Northumberland Home +Guard. + + +_THE MYSTERY OF HORSE POND_ + +When the Yankee gunboats patrolled the waters surrounding the Northern +Neck during the Civil War they found the entrance to Little Wicomico +River--where the Potomac and Chesapeake meet. They entered through its +natural channel which was open then and quite deep. + +Men went ashore to hunt for provisions--vegetables from the gardens, +eggs, milk and freshly made butter. Even preserves and jellies from the +shelves of the good housewives of Little Wicomico. They searched for men +who might be at home, too. + +One day near the beginning of the war, a small sailing vessel, probably +twenty-two feet in length, and with several persons on board, came into +Little Wicomico. She sailed in through the channel with the stone tower +lighthouse on Smith Point to her right and Tranquility Farm to her left. +She passed through Rock Hole, by tiny Bamboozle Island and around +Gough's Point. It was straight sailing then with Ellyson Creek to the +right and Sharps Creek to the left. + +When the boat passed the tract of land between Sharps Creek and Horse +Pond those on board were too far away to note the face of a woman +pressed to a window pane of the house on the left bank of the River. + +The woman, Sardelia, watched the boat with interest for it was a strange +boat, and no doubt with a little uneasiness since those were dark times. +Any unfamiliar boat was cause for alarm. + +To Sardelia's surprise the boat dropped anchor just beyond her house and +abreast of a strip of woodland near the pond where the horses drank. She +saw the persons on board go ashore and enter the woods. After a short +while they came out, boarded their boat, headed out of the River and +sailed out of sight. + +Sardelia called her little girl, Florence, and together they hurried +through their barn-yard and into the woods. They found the place where +the men had come ashore, their footprints on the sand, broken bushes +and bruised foliage in the woods, but they could find no clue to the +mysterious mission. Sardelia finally gave up her search and sat down +under the big water oak tree there in the woods to ponder what she had +seen. + +Nearly four years later, after the close of the war, Sardelia again saw +almost an exact re-enactment of the same scene she had witnessed before. +The same boat came into the River, stopped at the same place and the +persons on board went ashore and disappeared into the woods. After a +short while they boarded their boat and sailed away--for the last time, +so far as Sardelia ever knew. + +Sardelia again hastened to the woods. This time her search was not in +vain. About forty feet back from the shore amidst the trees she found a +newly dug hole. It had been hastily and loosely refilled with earth. + +This called for more than one period of meditation under the water oak +tree. Who were they? Why did they select this particular spot to bury +whatever they had buried? (The island at the mouth of the River would +have been a perfect setting for buried treasure.) Why did they come into +an inhabited area--almost in the barn-yard? Were they evading Federal +gunboats? Or, perhaps they were from the North themselves. Did they come +from one of the islands in the Chesapeake? And what did they bury? + +Tales of buried treasure circulated around Little Wicomico for a long +time, although many who lived close by never knew how it all started. +The woods became haunted, too, especially the big water oak. But the +haunts must not have been too bad because Uncle Zeke, a respected +colored man, lived peacefully for many years in his little house in the +woods by Horse Pond. + + +_SCHOONER IN A MILL-POND_ + +On November 18, 1863, Abraham Lincoln passed through Baltimore on his +way to dedicate a battlefield cemetery at Gettysburg. + +At least one Virginian, happened to be in the city on that same day +also. Captain Jehu, who hailed from the lower Northern Neck, was in +Baltimore on business. His schooner, _Pioneer_, lay at a city dock, +unloaded of her cargo of wood and ready for the return trip home, but +the Captain was having difficulty in getting his money for the wood. + +Nerves were tense in Baltimore on that day. Maryland was officially a +neutral state but her loyalties were divided. Matters were very bad with +the Confederate army near the end of 1863, and Captain Jehu was a +Virginian. He finally settled for part of a load of lime in payment for +the wood and sailed back down the Chesapeake as fast as the wind would +carry him. + +When he arrived home he found that matters were even worse there. Word +had spread that the Yankees were burning boats. Watermen were carrying +their boats to the heads of the rivers in a desperate attempt to save +them--perhaps they would be overlooked there, or the waters would be too +shallow for gunboats. + +Captain Jehu unloaded the lime and sailed the _Pioneer_, in company with +a number of other boats, far up the Great Wicomico River to a place +called Betts' Landing. The other boats were left by their owners to take +their chances there on the mud flats where the water was only two or +three feet deep, but Captain Jehu was not satisfied. He loved the +_Pioneer_; she was like a part of him, and besides that, if the war ever +got over, he had to make a living for his wife and children. In +desperation he thought of an idea that he might have laughed at in +ordinary times. + +Captain Jehu sailed the _Pioneer_ on to Public Landing at the very head +of the River. He waited there until the tide was at its full height, +then cautiously he floated the seventy-five-foot schooner through the +almost hidden entrance to a mill-pond. + +Once the schooner was well inside the pond Captain Jehu took down the +sails and bundled them up and carried them ashore and hid them in a +nearby barn. + +He then did something that any waterman would hate to do--he bored a +hole in the bottom of his boat. + +Captain Jehu went ashore again and started walking toward Burgess Store, +which was quite a distance. He had heard that men were being recruited +there for the Confederate army. He was in his late thirties and he had a +wife and several small children depending on him, but men were +desperately needed to fight and the time had come when he was needed +even more on the battlefield than at home. He joined the army that day. + +While in the Confederate army, Captain Jehu was taken prisoner by the +enemy and carried to Point Lookout, Maryland. There in a log pen he had +plenty of time to look up at the stars by which he had steered so many +times and to wonder what it was all about anyhow. He had not heard from +his family for so long--he didn't even know if they were still living. +His thoughts probably wandered to his early life. + +He had been cast out of his home by a cruel stepmother when he was +twelve years old, and had found refuge on a schooner that freighted +lumber from the river heads of the Northern Neck to Baltimore and +Philadelphia. He was too young to do much but he had helped with the +cooking. This was done in a fireplace which was in the cabin and was the +only source of heat on the "wood lugger." The fireplace was made of +brick and the chimney protruded through the top of the cabin. + +Those were hard days too. No doubt he thought of the proud day when he +finally owned his own schooner, the _Pioneer_. And how was she faring +now? Was she still sinking into the mire of the mill-pond or was she +just another charred skeleton? + +At last an eternity at Point Lookout came to an end. The prisoners were +herded on board an old tub of a steamer and carried to Richmond where +they were to be exchanged for Federal prisoners in Libby Prison. + +When Captain Jehu arrived at Libby Prison he was too weak to get in line +for mess. A big Irishman took pity on him, covered him with a blanket +where he lay on the floor and brought him his own rations. The food +tasted good after the maggoty fat back he had been living on at Point +Lookout, but the steaming coffee was the thing that revived him. + +Meanwhile, back in the Northern Neck, Captain Jehu's family was having a +hard time. His wife, who "never weighed more than a hundred pounds in +her life," raised what she could to feed her children. She grew cotton +and spun and wove it and made clothes for them. In the winter, and +winters were very cold in the Neck then, she went into the woods and cut +enough cordwood to keep them warm. In the words of one of her sons, "She +got along any way she could." + +One day, some time after the close of the war, Captain Jehu arrived +home, having walked all the way from Newport News. His wife didn't +recognize him and one of his small sons ran away and hid in the woods +all day thinking that he was a Yankee. He wore Yankee breeches and +jacket with nothing underneath. Years later one of Captain Jehu's sons +described the return of his soldier-father: "An awful-looking object +came walking home. He was hairy as a monkey, lousy, barefoot, and had +lost interest in everything." + +The happiness of being at home again and the necessity of making a +living must have aroused Captain Jehu's interest before very long. The +first thing he did was to go up the Great Wicomico River to look for his +boat. When he reached Betts' Landing he found a graveyard of blackened +ribs sticking out of the water. The Yankees had done a thorough job +there. + +It must have been with great trepidation that he once more entered the +mill-pond. But there--hidden among the cattails and deep in the mud--lay +the _Pioneer_. + +At low tide he shoveled the mud out of his boat, plugged up the hole and +bailed her out. He then floated her out of the pond on high tide and +carried her down the River to a place called Deep Landing, where he +cleaned her up and got ready for the sea once more. (He found the sails +safe in the barn, where muskrats had nested in the folds.) + +After the _Pioneer_ was put in shape again Captain Jehu freighted lumber +in her for twenty years. + + +_WAR BONNETS_ + +Shopping trips to Baltimore were curtailed by the Civil War. Even if it +had been possible to slip through the Federal patrol, Confederate money +was of little value. + +Women who still wanted bonnets for themselves and for their daughters +were forced to be resourceful. The most practical substitute they could +find for straw was the corn-shuck. They picked the shucks in the early +fall while they were still green and put them aside to work on during +the lonely winter evenings beside the fireplace. + +By that time the shucks were dry and stiff but the women soaked them in +water until they were pliable. Long strips were plaited and sewed around +and around together to form crown and brim. The finished product was +trimmed with a feather plucked from the barn-yard rooster, or with some +natural material, such as dried grasses, gum balls, sea shells or small +pine cones. + +One corn-shuck hat, made for a "Confederate bride" of the Neck, was +trimmed with flowers made of small white feathers. Each flower was +centered with a bit of gold from a raveled Confederate epaulette. + + +_AMANDA AND THE YANKEES_ + +On an April day in 1864 a young couple on horseback traveled down a +muddy Northern Neck road. Once they paused by the wayside to drink from +a spring that bubbled conveniently near, and toward evening they drew +rein under a giant mulberry tree at the head of a lane where gateposts +with acorn finials marked the entrance. From this vantage spot a cabin +roof showed here and there at the edge of the woods, and open fields +enclosed by zig-zag chestnut rail fences could be pointed out and called +by name--Upper Field, Lower Field, Middle Field, Back Field and Shelly +Bank. + +The house at the end of the lane could be glimpsed through its grove of +locusts, paper mulberry and towering ailanthus. It was a typical early +Tidewater Virginia house--story-and-a-half, without dormers. Three or +four brick outside chimneys and a small entrance porch were the +outstanding features. It was flanked on the right by a barn, cornhouse +and tobacco house, and on the left by a smokehouse, off kitchen, laundry +house and small sheds. + +In the background water gleamed where Cockerell's Creek meandered into +one of its many coves, and finally trickled up on either side to form +marshes, lush with wild flags and the foliage of wild lilies and +mallows. + +The couple were bride and groom and this was the bride's first view of +her future home, Pleasant Grove. The groom had little time to +familiarize his new wife with his ancestral acres as he was a +Confederate soldier and the honeymoon must end when his furlough ended, +which was soon. + +When the bridegroom went back to join Lee's dwindling forces, the bride +took up her new duties as mistress of Pleasant Grove. She was alone +except for the servants. How many stayed on after the war started, +tradition does not say. Amanda was well versed in the art of +housekeeping, thanks to the rigid early training of her mother. There +was plenty to do. The groom was an orphan and an only child and he had +been living in solitary freedom for some time before the war. She was +too busy at first to be lonely. + +The central passage, paneled to chair rail height and plastered above, +was as dark as night when all the doors were closed. If she opened the +heavy front door she could look out and see the little porch with its +built-in benches on each side that looked something like short church +pews. The yard was enclosed with a horizontal plank fence and the +gateposts had small acorns to match the larger ones on the Outer Gate. +They were always called the Outer and Inner Gates. + +The rooms of the house, like the fields, were named. Besides the doors +to the parlor and dining-room which opened from the passage, there was a +small door which opened to reveal a narrow twisted stairway which led up +to the Big Room and the Little Room. + +The shed addition on the rear was two steps lower than the main house. +There Amanda found the Chamber Room, the Middle Room and the Back Room. +All walls were of white-washed plaster and the floors and woodwork were +of heart pine. (The house was built of heart pine and put together with +hand-made nails. The cornhouse was fastened together with wooden pegs.) + +Amanda had fun exploring the old house and bringing it back to life once +more. One day she was dusting the clock on the dining-room mantel when +she discovered that it hid the opening to a secret metal box built in +the chimney. A hiding place for valuables! A lot of good that did her. +Confederate notes were of little value and the tobacco which she used in +place of money couldn't be hidden there. + +Amanda finally chose the Chamber Room as her bedroom, because it was +usually full of sunlight, had a cozy fireplace and a view of the creek +and garden. At the back of the house there was a combination garden of +flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruit trees, laid out in the English +manner. A walk down the center led to the Creek. Trees grew on both +sides of the Creek and Amanda's view ended where the Creek disappeared +around a point. She wondered what was on the other side and if the water +was deep enough for a Yankee gunboat. + +One afternoon Amanda was taking a nap in the Back Room when she was +suddenly and violently awakened by a great noise. The whole house seemed +to be shaking. Her eardrums felt like they would burst. After the noise +had subsided and the house became still and she had gotten her wits +together again she ventured outside. The frightened negroes pointed to a +jagged hole in the underpinning under the Back Room and a fragment of +cannon ball lying nearby. + +After the gunboat's rude salutation, Amanda was not surprised when one +day she looked up the lane and saw a number of Federal soldiers on +horseback turning in at the Outer Gate. She went out on the porch and +waited for them. + +Many years later Hannah, one of the servants, described the incident. +Through the cracks in the cornhouse where she was hiding Hannah saw the +soldiers dismount. Two of them went to the porch where "Missus" was +waiting. They talked some, then "Missus" went in the house and the men +who had talked with her sat down on the porch. The other soldiers +sprawled on the grass under the trees. Pretty soon she heard "Missus" +call so she "snuck" out of the cornhouse. + +"Hannah," said "Missus," "they are going to stay to dinner so we must +hurry and cook a good meal. Kill some chickens, put those ducks that are +already dressed in the oven and get a ham out of the meat house." + +Hannah remonstrated. "Stay to dinner, all dem men and dem wearing blue +coats, too!" But "Missus" was determined. "They are hungry, Hannah, and +I invited them. Besides, if they get a good dinner maybe they'll go away +and not burn the house or take the tobacco." + +Such a dinner! Baked duck, chicken, fried ham, batter bread and hot +biscuits--more things than Hannah could remember--and little glasses of +wine to "top off wid." After dinner the soldiers went out in the yard +again. A fat old goose came wandering around and one of the men took out +his sword and was about to cut off its head, but "de boss" who had +talked most with "missus" told him to put up his sword. + +The officer no doubt felt mellow and relaxed after the good meal. After +resting awhile they all rode away in high good humour, waving warm +good-byes. + +Thus the goose was saved. When a tired Confederate soldier came walking +home from Appomattox after the war had ended he found everything intact +as he had left it. + + +_THE HORSEHAIR RING_ + +When in the beginning of May, 1864, General Lee permitted General Grant +to cross the Rapidan without molestation in order to lure him into the +Wilderness, where it would be impossible for the Federals to use their +artillery, he intended to destroy the Federal Army in the depths of that +"bewildering thicket" by a surprise attack where Grant would be forced +to fight at a great disadvantage. + +The woods were very thick--so dense that a regimental commander could +not see the whole of his line at the same time, and in many instances +the only guides were the points of the compass. + +The battle was raging on May 6. In a bulletin sent to the Secretary of +War at the close of that day, General Lee stated: "Our loss in killed is +not large, but we have many wounded, most of them slightly, artillery +being little used on either side." + +General Grant's army had suffered severely, and he had become convinced +that it was useless to try to drive Lee from his position. He decided +to move his army southward to Spotsylvania Court House and get between +Lee and Richmond. + +During the afternoon of May 7, Grant sent his trains off in the +direction of Spotsylvania Court House, which was only fifteen miles +distant, and ordered the army to prepare to follow at nightfall. + +Among Grant's wounded men there was by some mistake a wounded +Confederate soldier. Perhaps the color of his home-made uniform, dyed +with a brew of herbs and vegetables concocted by his wife was not too +accurate a shade of Confederate gray, especially when obscured by the +blood and filth of the long battle. Whatever the reason may have been, +he was carried along by the enemy with their own wounded men. + +Near Spotsylvania Court House a home was commandeered by the Federals +for their wounded, but when the Confederate's uniform was recognized, he +was left lying in the yard. + +The lady of the house saw him there. She dared not take him inside, but +she made a pallet on the ground for him, and stayed by him, and +comforted him as best she could. + +The soldier was still conscious. He told her of his wife, her name and +where she lived, of his children, and of a ring in his pocket. He told +her that when he was holding the horses one day while a battle was in +progress, he had plucked some hairs from the mane of a horse and +fashioned a ring as a gift for his wife. It was a crude thing, he said, +entirely lacking in beauty, but he had woven his love into it. He hoped +that in some way it could be conveyed to her. + +The woman promised the dying man that his wish would be carried out, +having faith that in some way she could fulfill her promise. + +Satisfied by her promise, the soldier died quietly there on the pallet, +toward evening of May 7, 1864. + +The woman covered his body and left him there until nightfall. Under +cover of darkness she returned with a woman servant, and together they +laboriously dug a grave for him there in her yard. Before laying him to +rest she searched his pockets and found the ring and two Confederate +notes for fifty cents each, both issued April 6, 1863. Two Confederate +notes and a ring made of horse-hair--the total possessions on his +person. + +The ring, as the soldier had said, was lacking in beauty, but it was +skillfully made. He had fastened together a circle of horse-hair about +the size of a slender woman's finger, then he had covered it by weaving +a few strands of the hair around it, making a sort of button-hole stitch +on both edges. + +After the war had ended the woman managed in some way to fulfill her +promise. She wrote the soldier's widow a letter telling her the details +of her husband's death and enclosed the contents of his pockets. Whether +the postal system had been restored in the region where the letter +traveled, or whether it was conveyed by hand, is not known, but it did +finally reach its destination. + +As soon as it was possible, relatives of the bereaved family, an old man +and a small boy, made a long, weary and sad journey by ox-cart from +their home in the lower Northern Neck, through Fredericksburg to +Spotsylvania Court House, a distance of more than a hundred miles, for +the purpose of transporting the remains of their kinsman back to his +homeland. When this mission was accomplished, the remains of the young +Confederate sergeant were laid to rest in the family burial ground, near +Burgess Store, in Northumberland County. + +For many years the soldier's widow and the loyal Southern lady +corresponded. Although they never did meet, their spirits were bound +together by that common denominator--war. + + +_MIRACLE AT KETCHUM'S CAMP_ + +Toward the close of the Civil War the fortunes of the lower Northern +Neck like those of the entire South were low. This section was then so +isolated that news from the battlefields was long in coming, and usually +bad when it did arrive. Food was meager and monotonous and, despite the +ingenious efforts of the women, could only be stretched so far. + +As another war Christmas approached there was little heart to make +merry, but for the sake of the children the older people felt that an +appearance of festivity was necessary. A fowl of some sort was killed +and dressed and hung in the cold smokehouse in readiness for its last +minute stuffing. The tree had been selected but would not be cut until +late Christmas Eve. Some chose a holly, because it needed less trimming +and the berries held up for quite a while in the poorly heated rooms, +but cedar was still the favorite. The little ones were stringing long +garlands of holly berries and popcorn and making ornaments from whatever +they could find. + +On the night of December the twenty-third, the small spark of Christmas +spirit that had been kindled was dampened by a terrific storm that raged +over the Chesapeake, dashing huge breakers against the beach and shaking +and rattling the houses along its shoreline, like some monster bent on +destruction. By morning the wind and waves had subsided leaving a chill +gray atmosphere that warned of a snow-storm in the making. + +It is the natural thing for people who live close to the water to scan +the horizon the last thing before retiring and the first thing upon +arising, so on this bleak Christmas Eve it was not long after dawn when +residents along that section of the Bay between Smith Point and +Taskmakers Creek had observed two dark objects drifting toward shore +near a spot later known as Ketchum's Camp. In those uncertain days +anything unusual was viewed with great alarm. Not long before this, one +of the houses along this same stretch of beach had been fired upon by an +enemy gunboat and saved only because two daughters of the house had +waved a sheet on a pole and implored the officers who came ashore to +cease firing. + +Now, as the alarm went out members of the Home Guard swiftly assembled +with their miscellaneous firearms ready for action. These fiery lads +were sometimes overzealous in their defense tactics so on this day they +were restrained by their elders until the objects drifted in so close +that all could see that they were nothing but clumsy unmanned boats of +the scow type. + +The boys and a few very old men who were there hastened out in small +boats to the stranded vessels. As they pulled back the tarpaulin +coverings they could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw that both +boats were loaded with provisions. After much discussion, they concluded +that these must be Federal supply boats which had broken loose during +the storm while being towed up the Bay. Of course, the idea that they +were putting one over on the Yankees appealed to the Home Guard even +more than the food. They hastily and joyfully began the task of +transporting the windfall to shore. By midafternoon the beach was lined +with people who had learned the good news through the grapevine. + +A nondescript crowd they were, but representative of the countryside at +that time. Very old men, children and boys were there but the majority +were women of all ages. The clothes of every one were knitted and +homespun, their main virtue being warmth. They had come on foot, on +horseback, in carriages and wagons. Their faces were alight with the +thought of real coffee and tea on Christmas morning after months of +nauseous brews made from sweet potatoes, wheat or sage, sweetened with +sorghum. Real white loaf sugar! Their eyes glistened with delight--or +maybe, tears. Bacon, too, and flour and molasses! Plenty for all. They +did not doubt that this was a miracle. + +The children jumped and screamed in ecstatic anticipation of the +wonderful Christmas to come. Snow began to fall but now it was not the +dreaded stuff that makes the woes of the poor greater, but, instead, it +was the beautiful, dream-making substance that belongs to Christmas. It +fell softly on the loaded vehicles and on the heads of those who knelt +with one accord on the lonely sand beach and gave thanks to God. + + _Note_: This spot which was called Ketchum's Camp soon after + the Civil War, because a sawmill camp was located there, has in + recent years been known as Chesapeake Estates, a summer cottage + area. + + +_DESPERATE PASSAGE_ + +It was April of the year 1865, and Lee had already surrendered his army +at Appomattox. + +On the night of April 22nd a row-boat moved cautiously across the +Potomac in the direction of the Virginia shore. This was the second +time, it is believed, that the two men in the boat had tried to make the +river crossing from Maryland to Virginia. The night before they had +failed because it had been too dark and the tide had been too strong. +The past eight days had doubtless seemed like an eternity to them. + +Now they could see the Virginia shore and the dim outline of a landing +but the thin youth at the oars did not head for the public wharf. He +rowed on until he came to a smaller landing which belonged to a private +home. They landed there, at Upper Machodoc Creek near what later became +Dahlgren, in King George County. + +The younger man helped his passenger out of the boat and together they +approached the house on the bank of the creek, knocked on the door and +asked for lodging for the night. The mistress of the house could +doubtless see that the dark handsome man in the muddy Confederate +uniform was badly in need of rest. Tradition says that she took them in +for the night. + +The next morning the two men left the Quesenberry home. The older man +was limping badly and seemed to be in much pain. That day they traveled +slowly on foot over back roads. + +Toward dusk they came to a home set in a grove of beautiful trees. It +was Cleydael, the residence of Doctor R. H. Stuart. Tradition says that +the men knocked on the back door and asked for food and aid. + +Whether Doctor Stuart rendered surgical aid to the man in the tattered +uniform is still a controversial subject in that region. They did +receive food and were waited on by Junius and Patsy Dixon, servants at +Cleydael. Tradition says that the older man left a note to Doctor Stuart +in which he enclosed a five-dollar bill and grudgingly thanked him for +"what we did get." + +Stories vary as to where the two men spent the night of April 23rd. + +At some time or other they rested in the yard of St. Paul's Church, it +is said. One account says that they spent the night at the house of a +man named Rollins near Office Hall. Another story says that they found +shelter for the night in the cabin of William Lucas, a Negro, and that +the next day the man who was burning with fever, ordered Lucas's son to +take him and his companion to the Rappahannock ferry at Port Conway. + +All accounts seem to agree that the men came to the Rappahannock in +daylight on April 24th, and that they were in a spring wagon driven by a +Negro man. + +It seems that the ferryman was fishing and wouldn't come ashore for only +two fares. At this point three Confederate soldiers who, it has been +said, were veterans of Mosby's Raiders and were on their way home, rode +up on horseback. + +The haggard man got out of the wagon and limped over to the soldiers, +the story goes, and told them who he was and asked them to help him. +Tradition says that the young veterans moved off and held a conference +together and when they had reached a decision they told him that they +were not in sympathy with what he had done, but since he had thrown +himself on their mercy they would help him. + +One story says that the Confederate veterans then leveled their rifles +at the ferryman and ordered him to come ashore at once and get them or +he would have his head blown off. The ferryman came ashore and the two +men and at least one of the veterans got on the ferry. + +It was in this way that John Wilkes Booth, who had shot and killed +Abraham Lincoln in Washington on the night of April 14th, and his +faithful companion, Herold, finally completed their journey across the +Northern Neck, from the Potomac to the Rappahannock. In their devious +flight across the Neck they had traveled perhaps twenty miles. + +The painful journey was in vain, however, for it was only a matter of +hours before Federal soldiers would track down the assassin and his +companion and find them in a barn on Garrett's farm. + + +_AFTER THE WAR_ + +The old order of things finally died in the Northern Neck with the +surrender of 1865. But, though the splendor was gone, the people +continued to cling to the old ways--the traditions, customs, family life +and ties of kinship. + +With the younger generation--the war children--there began a new type of +manhood. Knowing nothing except privations, they grew up with hard +bodies and practical minds, and though thrust into manhood while they +were still adolescent, they shouldered their responsibilities. + +Those who lived near the water turned to it because it was now more +fruitful than the land. Its harvests could be reaped more quickly, and +they could be reaped by one man working alone, or by several men working +together. + +Bundled up in home-made garments and warmed by caps, mufflers, socks and +mittens knitted by their mothers and grandmothers, these boys sallied +forth at dawn in the bitterest weather to tong oysters. Winters were +much colder then. They worked until nightfall, often in open boats, +stopping only long enough to refresh themselves with a hearty lunch, +which was usually packed in a tin bucket, and usually included pork, +biscuits and sorghum molasses. This was washed down with cold coffee +drunk from a stone jug. + +The girls too had changed and they now belonged to this new regime. +During the winter evenings they helped the older women to knit fish +nets. They used home-made wooden needles for this, and sometimes they +fastened one end of the net to wooden pegs driven in the wall. (Years +later people were to wonder why those pegs were found in some homes of +the lower Neck.) The women helped the men to fashion sails for their +boats by sewing together pieces of canvas. + +With the nets and small sailing vessels the men caught fish in what were +known as pound nets. These were staked out on weir poles. + +The seafood and whatever other marketable farm produce they could +assemble was conveyed up the Bay to the nearest and best cash market, +which was Baltimore, one hundred miles from the end of the Neck. They +brought back from this city clothing, sugar, molasses, kerosene and +hardware, among other things. This contact with a large cosmopolitan +city greatly influenced the lives and natures of the natives of the +Northern Neck. Those who could manage it sent their children there to be +educated. Other children were educated by older relatives, or by anyone +who would teach them. Some received very little education during this +period. + +Children had few toys and those they had were almost as crude as those +of the pioneer children--toys made of corn-cobs and pieces of wood. +Children were glad to have an old coffee pot to pull on a string. There +was no money for toys. + +Farther inland men turned to the forests where they cut cordwood and +railroad ties. These were carried to the heads of the rivers and loaded +on vessels bound for Baltimore, Philadelphia or Norfolk. + +Men then did any sort of work where they could make an honest dollar and +still stay in the Northern Neck. It was rugged but they managed to +survive. + +As things began to ease up, they picked up some of the old sports +again--horse-racing, fox-hunting and jousting. The men were intensely +interested in politics. + +Court Day was one of the biggest events for the men in those days. These +were colorful occasions, with the hundreds of people gathered together, +horses tied to the rails and ox-carts, stallions and hucksters all +milling about the green. This was an opportunity for making a little +cash. There was a man at Heathsville, at one time, who made a specialty +of "cent cakes" on Court Days. These were of especial interest to little +boys who came with their fathers. The cakes were big round and flat and +had one raisin in the center of each. Negro women cooked oyster stews in +the open and served them on tables improvised from dry-goods boxes and +covered with clean sheets. Bars were in full swing, brass knucks, +pistols and knives glinted here and there. There were many fights, or +tests of prowess. It was often late at night when the revelers, or +perhaps their horses, found the way home over rough country roads. + +The women had less exciting pleasures, such as quilting parties, +"spending the day" with a neighbor, and church socials. + +The colonial pattern of living and way of speech lingered on until the +beginning of the twentieth century. Tradition tells of a wedding feast +as late as 1872 where roast suckling pig with an apple in its mouth, +conical sugar loaves and butter sculptured in the form of Solomon's +Temple were featured. The flavor of seventeenth century England still +lingered in the Northern Neck at that time. + +The marriages between the families of the Neck were endless and thus the +Anglo-Saxon strain remained pure in the region. + + +_SPEECH_ + +The early population in the Northern Neck were mostly from London and +the surrounding counties where the classic English language of +Shakespeare was spoken. + +There is evidence that the speech of the people of the Northern Neck had +from early days little of the provincial or dialectal about it. + +Until the early part of the twentieth century such Shakespearean +expressions as, "wrack upon ruin" and "all mommicked up," were commonly +used in the Neck. The now archaic word mommick meant to mutilate. The +play of the double noun was also frequently heard until a late +date--men-folks, women-folks, baby-child, man-child, boy-man, and so on. + +Many of the indentured servants came to the Northern Neck from +Warwickshire and their manner of speech was added to the region, for +instance: off sporting, or frolicking, meant, having a good time; +traipsing about, meant, off walking about; make the fire, meant, kindle +the fire, and peart, meant, lively. + +The constant reading of the Bible also helped to keep the speech pure +and simple. + + +_SHOPPING TRIPS_ + +After the war the shopping trips to Baltimore were resumed, but with a +difference. There were few men in the Neck now and the women had +changed. Hardened by sorrow and privations they were now able to face +realities. There were many widows. + +They gathered their children together, and all the produce they could +assemble, and traveled to town on the sailing vessel of some older +relative or neighbor who might be taking a cargo of oysters or cordwood +to market. + +When they arrived in Baltimore, usually in the very early morning, the +sleepy children must be aroused and dressed. Pantalettes,[10] so +painstakingly laundered before leaving home, were now dirty and +wrinkled. With the bedraggled children, coops of quacking ducks and +hissing geese, crates of eggs and firkins of lard and butter, the brave +women finally landed on the dock and made their way up Light Street to +the commission merchants, who would buy their produce. After disposing +of their business they went to the stores to shop for necessities to +carry home to the Northern Neck. + +[Footnote 10: Pantalettes were generally worn about 1830-50. The fact +that they were still being worn by children of the Northern Neck is +probably due to the isolated location of this peninsula.] + + +_MENHADEN_ + +In their voyage of discovery in the Chesapeake Captain John Smith and +his companions found schools of fish agitating the surface of the water. +The written accounts of these men state that the fish were so thick that +they attempted to dip them up in a frying-pan but it proved to be "not a +good instrument to catch fish with." + +These fish are believed to have been menhaden, known to naturalists as +brevoortia. This ordinary looking fish was destined to change the course +of history in the lower Northern Neck. + +The Indian names for this species, munnawhatteaug (corrupted to +menhaden), and pauhagen (pogy), literally means fertilizer--"fish that +enriches the earth." The Indians were accustomed to employ this species, +with others of the herring tribe, in enriching their cornfields. They +showed the white men how to make their corn grow by putting two dead +fish in each hill of corn. + +The following passage written by Thomas Morton in 1632 shows the use of +fish as fertilizer in Virginia at that time: "There is a fish at the +spring of the yeare that passe up the rivers to spawn in the ponds, & +are taken in such multitudes that the inhabitants fertilize their +grounds with them." + +The menhaden was called alewife by the Virginia colonists because of its +resemblance to the allied species known by that name in England. Alewife +was corrupted to old-wife and ell-wife. It has been said that the +half-grown menhaden were called bug-fish by Virginia negroes in early +days because they believed them to have been produced from insects. +This superstition probably arose from the fact that a parasitic +crustacean, known to watermen as "a fish louse," was often found +clinging to the roof of the menhaden's mouth. + +The menhaden had many other popular names, among them: porgie, +bony-fish, poggie, mossbunker, greentail, bunker, yellowtail, +white-fish, fat back, and another Indian name, chebog. "Mossbunker" is a +relic of the Dutch Colony at New Amsterdam. It was in use there as early +as 1661, probably a corruption of their Dutch word, _marsbancker_. + +It is said that the Indians did not like to eat menhaden because of +their oily content. Many years later it was learned that this fish was +also rich in minerals. Early settlers ate them, salted them for winter +use, and fed them to the stock. + +Catesby wrote, 1731-1742, concerning a fish called a "Fatback: It is an +excellent Sweet Fish, and so excessive fat that Butter is never used in +frying. At certain Seasons and Places there are infinite Numbers of +these Fish caught, and are much esteemed by the Inhabitants for their +Delicacy." + +Menhaden were used to some extent as a food by watermen for many years +but it does not appear probable that they were ever extensively used for +food except in seasons of scarcity. They were used for many years to +feed stock. + +Menhaden were used at an early date as a fertilizer all along the +Atlantic coast. In 1792 a paper published in New York gave directions +concerning the use of fish as a fertilizer: "Experiments made by using +the fish called menhaden or mossbankers as a manure have succeeded +beyond all expectation. In dunging corn in the holes, put two in a hill +on any kind of soil where corn will grow, and you will have a good crop. +Put them on a piece of poor loamy land and by their putrefaction they so +enrich the land that you may mow about two tons per acre." About eight +or ten thousand fish to the acre was considered about the right amount. + +Farmers also spread the fish "head to tail" in a plowed furrow and +covered them with earth. They also mixed the fish with earth in a +compost. + +It seems that the possibilities of making use of the fish oil were not +considered at this time. Whale oil was still being used. It was not +until about 1850 that the value of menhaden oil was recognized. + +The following statement of Eben B. Phillips, a Boston oil merchant, +dated 1874, throws some light on the beginning of the use of menhaden +oil: "In about 1850 I was in the oil business in Boston. An elderly lady +by the name of Bartlett, from Bluehill, Maine, came to my store with a +sample of oil which she had skimmed from a kettle in boiling menhaden +for her hens. She told me the fish were abundant all summer near the +shore. I told her I would give her $11 per barrel for all she would +produce. Her husband and sons made 13 barrels the first year. The fish +then were caught in gill-nets. The following year they made 100 barrels. +From that time and from that circumstance has grown a business as +extensive as I have represented." + +Mr. Phillips then furnished nets, and large kettles, which they set up +out-of-doors in brick frames, for drying out the fish. It was thought +that much oil was thrown away with the refuse fish or scrap, and the +idea of pressing this scrap was suggested. At first this was +accomplished by pressing it in a common iron kettle with a heavy cover +and a long beam for a lever. Later it was weighted down by heavy rocks, +in barrels and tubs perforated with auger holes. Mr. Phillips then +fitted out some fifty parties on the coast of Maine with presses of the +model known as the screw and lever press. + +Others claim to have manufactured menhaden oil at about the same time. +"At that time," according to another statement from Rhode Island, "there +were some few whalemen's try-pots used by other parties in boiling the +fish in water and making a very imperfect oil and scrap." + +Tradition says that at first some of the oil merchants mixed the +menhaden oil with whale oil, or sold it outright as whale oil. It was +used for tanning hides, currying, in paint, in soap, for "smearing +sheep" and for other things. + +After the value of menhaden oil was recognized many makeshift menhaden +fish factories were established along the coast of Maine and elsewhere +on the northern coast. It was much easier for the whaling men to go +offshore a few miles, return with a boat-load of fish and spend the +night at home. + +By the end of the Civil War the menhaden catch along the coast of Maine +was beginning to drop off. + +In 1866 a party of New Englanders visiting the Chesapeake found menhaden +in almost incredible quantities--"they were so thick that for 25 miles +along the shore there was a solid flip-flap of the northward swimming +fish." One member of the party is said to have jumped into the water and +with a dip-net thrown bushels of fish upon the beach. + +In December, 1866, the floating fish-factory, _Ranger_ of 1,500 tons, +hailing from Greenport, N. Y., came to Virginia. She was equipped to +cook fish and extract oil on board. Tradition says that on these first +floating factories the scrap was thrown overboard. The _Ranger_ remained +in Virginia only about eleven days during that year but returned each of +the two succeeding years. + +In the late summer of 1867, Elijah W. Reed, of Sedgwick, Maine, loaded +his kettles and presses on two small sailing vessels, the _Two Brothers_ +and the _A. F. Powers_, and sailed for Virginia. He landed first at Back +River, then moved up the Chesapeake and operated his kettles and presses +on the Bay shore between the Little Wicomico and the Great Wicomico +Rivers. The spot was in Northumberland County and was later known as +Ketchum's Camp. + +That winter the New Englander moved into Cockrell's Creek, in the same +county. It was a sheltered harbor near the mouth of the Bay with deep +water running close to the shore. He built there, at Point Pleasant, the +first menhaden plant on the Chesapeake Bay. + +From 1868 factories were built from time to time by local people, and +others, on points in Cockrell's Creek, and at other points on various +inlets of the Chesapeake, and on Tangier Island. + +These early factories were known as "kettle-factories." The kettles were +brought down the Bay from Baltimore. The menhaden products, oil and +green scrap in bulk, were carried back to the same city by sailing +vessels. The scrap, or guano, was sold both in the city market and +locally for fertilizer. + +These first Virginia fish factories were crude affairs consisting of +five or six iron kettles, each with a capacity of one hundred or more +gallons. They were established on a brick firebox with a chimney in the +center of the unit and openings at both ends for firing. This was +protected by a rough frame shelter with a slab-pine roof. This was a +typical factory, though the number of kettles varied. + +Cordwood was used for fuel. Scows with sails were sent to the heads of +the rivers where wood was brought down from "the forest" and loaded on +them. + +At the temporary Ketchum's Camp factory the fish were pulled up on the +shore in haul seines. After that they were caught in purse seines +operated from sailing vessels. + +It had been found, as previously explained, that by cooking the fish +much more oil could be extracted. The fish were boiled and then dipped +out with dip-nets and put in what was called a press. Burlap was then +placed over the mass of fish, and then boards on top of that. The boards +were then pulled down tight with a screw-jack. + +After the oil and water had been pressed out, the residue of fish was +spread out on the wharf in the sun to dry. To hasten this process the +mass was turned over and over by men with pitchforks. Acid was sprayed +on the "green scrap" to kill the maggots. It usually took about a week +to change the menhaden from the raw state into oil and guano. + +The following government report is probably the first of the menhaden +industry of the Chesapeake and its tributaries. It is dated 1869. + + Men employed on vessels fishing 12 + Vessels employed 4 + Men employed making guano 9 + Fish taken 3,000,000 + Oil made 200 bbls. + Guano made 300 tons + +In 1873 Reed's factory on Point Pleasant burned. The next year he built +another factory on another point on Cockrell's Creek on a spot where a +windmill for grinding corn had been previously located. This location +was known as Windmill Point. Later the village of Reedville grew up on +this small peninsula. + +By 1874 the manufacture of menhaden oil and guano had become identified +as one of the important industries of this country. The annual yield of +the menhaden oil now exceeded the whale oil (from American fisheries) by +about 200,000 gallons. + +By 1878 the menhaden industry of the Chesapeake area had grown +considerably according to the government report of that year: + + Men employed on vessels fishing 286 + Vessels employed fishing 78 + Men employed on shore 201 + Fish taken 118,309,200 + Gallons of oil made 234,168 + Tons of guano 10,832 + +The next advancement in the industry came when steam cooking superseded +the use of the kettles. The first steam factory in Virginia was built by +Elijah Reed in 1879. The first fishing steamer used in the business in +the Chesapeake, _Starry Banner_, was purchased by him in Rhode Island. +This steamer's capacity was one hundred and fifty thousand fish. + +The menhaden fishing industry continued to grow and to advance with the +times. It brought prosperity to the lower Northern Neck. Reedville +became an important menhaden fishing center and fishing port. + +Eventually menhaden became the biggest fishery in America. + + +_THE OLD STONE PILE_ + +About 1868 the tower lighthouse on Smith Point was condemned by the +government as unfit for use. At that time a new lighthouse of the screw +pile type was built two and one-half miles offshore from Smith Point. + +After the tower was condemned the keeper's house on the government +reservation was rented to various tenants. In summer the Point became a +social center for the neighborhood. Carriages, road-carts, and perhaps +even ox-carts tied up at Tranquility, the nearest farmhouse, on a Sunday +afternoon, and their occupants strolled up the beach with their picnic +baskets. + +The breakwater some distance out in the water from Smith Point was a +favorite fishing spot, but the high point of any trip there in those +days was a climb to the top of the condemned tower. The long, full +skirts of the ladies of that era were hard to maneuver up the narrow +spiral stairway. + +The tower finally became too dangerous to enter. During an easterly +storm in the spring of 1889 it crumbled in the night, so gently that the +people living in the keeper's house didn't hear it fall. + +The sandstone blocks lay there for many years and later generations knew +them as "the old stone pile." Each year the sea took its toll of the +Point until the land between the tower and the water, where "ten rows of +corn" had once grown, finally disappeared completely. And then "the old +stone pile" was swallowed by the persistent sea. + +The keeper's house gradually deteriorated and then it too was claimed by +the sea. For many years after, people of the region came at low tide and +loaded their ox-carts and wagons with the stones and bricks. The stones +were used for foundations of buildings and the bricks were used to line +wells. Only the burial ground was left at Smith Point. There on the +bank, "under the wide and starry sky," rest some of the early keepers of +the light. + + +_KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT_ + +When the new lighthouse was built two-and-one-half miles offshore from +Smith Point in 1868, it was manned by only two men. Shore leave or need +for provisions meant a trip for one man in a small open sail boat, +weather permitting, and a lonely watch for the man left behind. + +If a keeper became ill he had to make out as best he could with a chest +of medicine and a doctor's book. He had to be his own cook and +housekeeper. Due to lack of refrigeration the lighthouse diet became +monotonous, although seafood was a help. Kerosene for the lamps and +firewood was brought by a lighthouse tender. The lonely keepers of the +light often kept pets. Canaries and parrots made good companions, but +dogs sickened and died. + +The lighthouse keeper had to be a machinist, carpenter and painter, in +order to keep the lighthouse in working order. Stamina was perhaps the +quality most needed in a keeper of those days. The bell had to be wound +up like a clock every half hour and kept ringing during storm and fog. +There were instances when the keeper sometimes stayed awake for eight +days and eight nights. But he kept the bell ringing, and without the aid +of alcoholic drink. + +A lighthouse keeper had to be a waterman, and that meant a man who had +been born and bred in the region. Many lives were saved by these early +lighthouse keepers. Winters were colder then. In those days the Bay +often froze over like a mill-pond. + +The winter of 1895 was a cold winter. The Bay was frozen, and, to make +matters worse, in February there was a blizzard that went howling +through the region of Smith Point. Both keepers were on duty that night +when part of the ice started moving. They felt it hit the lighthouse and +they loaded whatever they could find on a boat and somehow they got out +alive. Before they started away the lighthouse had gone to pieces. They +took turns pushing the boat over the ice toward land. That was a long +two-and-a-half miles, but they made it. + +They were welcomed by people on shore who waited, with lanterns, to +serve them hot coffee and food. They had seen the light go out and had +been anxiously waiting, as there was nothing that they could do to help. +The lighthouse keepers were taken into warm homes that night. Later they +found that the ice had carried the remains of the lighthouse six miles +away from its foundation. + +Years later one of the keepers who had been on Smith Point lighthouse +that night said: "Things like that happened all the time then." + +A light-ship was stationed at Smith Point until another lighthouse could +be built. The new lighthouse was built on a cylindrical pier of metal. +The tower was square and made of brick, with an octagonal dwelling. It +was completed in 1897. + + +_THE HEADLESS DOG_ + +In those days between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the +century, life in the Northern Neck still followed the old Southern +pattern, but in a diminished way. War had destroyed all glamour and +pared the design down to its skeleton. The planter had become a farmer, +the mistress of the plantation a farmer's wife. An independent way of +life remained, however. Each farm was a self-sustaining unit, though +besides the occasional day hands there were usually only a colored girl +who helped with the housework, laundry and dairy and a colored boy who +tended the stock, did the chores and worked in the fields. The Boy and +Girl, as they were always called, were regarded with affection, +especially by the children. + +"Evening-time," when work was over for the day, was something to be +looked forward to by the children. They gobbled their suppers with a +listening ear toward the soft murmur of voices in the kitchen, for they +were anxious to hear the latest news about the Headless Dog, who prowled +the by-roads, bottoms and graveyards of the Neck after dark. + +As soon as permission was granted the youngsters to leave the supper +table they would make a dash for the kitchen where the Boy and Girl sat +at the big pine table lingering over their dessert. When pressed for the +latest news of the Headless Dog they pretended an indifference and +ignorance that was maddening. The children then began a breaking down +process, made up of threats and cajolery, which they had cunningly +developed from experience over a period of time. + +Finally, the Boy would remember that he did "just catch a glimpse" of +the Dog the night before when returning from the store. As he reached +the bottom it seemed that the Dog appeared for an instant and faded +before his eyes. + +Bottoms, which were low places where creeks or ponds "made up" near the +roads, seemed to be favorite haunts of the Headless Dog. This was +possibly due to the mists which arose from the marshy places and made +his appearances and disappearances quite easy, as well as dramatic. + +Sometimes, when the Boy borrowed the horse and road-cart for a Sunday's +visit to his people "up in the forest," he encountered the Dog near a +graveyard. The sudden halt of the horse and the pointing of his ears +were signals of the Dog's proximity. If you wished to see him, the +certain way was to look at the space between the horse's ears, like +sighting through a camera. You could always find him in that spot--"a +great big dog with no haid a-tall." Further details as to the Dog's +appearance were left to the imagination. When the horse lowered his ears +and began to move cautiously forward, you knew that the Dog was +continuing his journey to some other graveyard or bottom and it was safe +to proceed. + +The Boy's meetings with the Dog were much more exciting than the Girl's, +maybe because she did not travel very much at night. Sometimes she would +see him at the "edge of dark," usually just before or shortly after the +death of some local person. Her stories were always gruesomely connected +with death. + +While these tales were spinning out in the kitchen where the fire burned +low in the iron range, the children, who had heard them a hundred times +before, huddled closer and closer together. Their eyes shone round and +bright, and, if the flame of the lamp flickered, they jumped and drew +away from dark corners. When the Girl had washed and dried the last dish +and set the morning rolls to rise behind the stove, the Boy took his hat +from its peg and prepared to depart for his nightly visit to the store. + +Hours later the children, snug in their beds, were aroused by music. In +that delicious stage between sleep and waking they lay half-dreaming and +unaware that they were listening to some unwritten bars of a blues +melody that were being created and lost to posterity on the still night +air. They only knew that the perfect notes were being produced by the +Boy on his jew's-harp and accompanied by the yeast powder bottles, mouth +organs and guitars of his companions, the Nehemiahs, Daniels and +Zechariahs of the neighboring farms. (Bible names were popular then.) + +The children knew, too, that their friends were wending their leisurely +way home from the store where the nightly session was over. Their +interest was not in music, but in the hope that the Boy had met with +adventure in that marshy, ferny and woodsy-smelling place known as the +bottom. + +The lower section of the Neck was evidently a favored land at that time. +Besides being a hideout for the Headless Dog, a white mule and a +Headless Man, it also furnished a routine route for another interesting +Dog. This Dog had a head. Furthermore, the head was punctuated by +glaring red eyes. According to good authority, he was as big as a calf, +brown in color except about the mouth which was patched with gray. His +neck was encircled with a chain which dragged on the ground and rattled +as he moved. He was a methodical animal and traveled always at night, +and only between Cockrell's Neck and Heathsville, and only before or +after the death of some local person. Instead of appearing suddenly and +fading out like the Headless Dog, he had a disconcerting habit of +trailing moving vehicles. + +After motor vehicles became numerous the Headless Dog was seen no more, +but the Cockrell's Neck Dog was still seen occasionally for some time +after that. His systematic ways probably kept him going longer. Some +said that he was not brown but black, and if you struck at him with a +whip it went clear through him. + + + + +PART IV + +Conclusion + + + + +_THE ANCIENT MANSION SEATS_ + +Visitors to the Northern Neck often ask the question: "Where are the old +houses?" + +Most of the remaining ancient seats are off the beaten path due to the +fact that when they were built the rivers, creeks and bays were the +highways. + +Many of the old houses burned, either accidentally or during the wars. +Others fell into decay during the years of depression following the +Civil War, and after traffic by boat was discontinued. + +Some of the early homes were remodeled beyond recognition, or torn down +to give way for new buildings. Some were bought by persons of wealth and +faithfully restored by them. A few of the old seats are still owned and +lived in by descendants of the original planters who built them. + +Portions of some of the old mansions of the Northern Neck found their +way into museums. An instance of this is a room from Marmion, a Fitzhugh +home of King George County. The Marmion Room in the American Wing of the +Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, is described in the museum +literature as follows: "Of all the rooms we have gathered together, +possibly the most extraordinary and impressive is the one from Marmion." + +Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County had been lost to the Lee family in +1820. Many years later, in 1929, the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, +Incorporated, was organized to acquire, restore, furnish and preserve +the Stratford plantation. After a great deal of dedicated effort by a +great many people this goal was finally achieved. Under the painstaking +guidance of the ladies of the Foundation Thomas Lee's mansion was +restored to its original splendor. The garden was restored by the Garden +Club of Virginia. + +Stratford Hall and plantation is now a restored working colonial +plantation open to the public. The restored mill grinds meal. Virginia +cured hams hang in the smokehouse, and jellies and preserves are made by +old recipes. + +Thoroughbreds stand again in the stables. The fields are worked by +modern machinery, but the 1,164-acre estate is run as nearly as possible +as it was in the days of Thomas Lee. + +Stratford Hall is pronounced "of prime architectural importance" by the +American Institute of Architects. + +George Washington referred to his birthplace as "the Popes Creek home" +or the "ancient mansion seat in Westmoreland County." + +The name Wakefield seems to have been given the plantation about 1773 by +the Washington heir who lived there at that time. The name is said to +have been suggested by Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield." + +The original house at Popes Creek was destroyed by fire. It is believed +to have burned on Christmas Day, 1779. + +Thirty-six years passed before the birthsite of George Washington was +marked and then it was only by a simple stone which bore an inscription. + +In 1881 Congress authorized the construction of a monument to mark the +birthsite, but fifteen years passed before the granite shaft was +erected. + +A group of patriotic women were not satisfied. They dreamed of the +plantation as it was when George Washington was born, and they planned +to bring it alive again. In 1923, under the leadership of Mrs. Josephine +Wheelright Rust, they organized the Wakefield National Memorial +Association. Their goal was to restore the Wakefield plantation and make +it a shrine for all people. + +The Association acquired land which adjoined Government property, and +Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., purchased additional acreage of the old +Wakefield plantation and transferred it to the Federal Government. + +An act of Congress granted the Association authority to erect a building +on the birthsite "as nearly as may be practicable, of the house in which +George Washington was born." + +By act of Congress, January 23, 1930, the 394.47 acres owned by the +Federal Government was designated as George Washington Birthplace +National Monument to be administered by the National Park Service of the +United States Department of the Interior. + +The dream of the patriotic women came true when the new Memorial Mansion +was erected in 1930-31. It was immediately opened to the public. + +Reliable information concerning the appearance of the original house +could not be found, therefore the house that was erected represents a +typical Virginia plantation house of the eighteenth century. + +In the old-fashioned garden established near the Memorial Mansion there +is a sundial bearing this inscription: + + "A place of rose and thyme and scented earth-- + A place the world forgot, + But here a matchless flower came to birth, + Time paused and blessed the spot." + +Wakefield plantation is a memorial to the many people who had a part in +saving it and bringing it to life again, as well as a monument to George +Washington. + + + + +APPENDIX + + + NORTHERN NECK BURGESSES (JAMESTOWN ASSEMBLIES) + + + _Assembly of October, 1644_ + + Northumberland County + Capt. Fr. Poythers, Jo. Trussell + + + _Burgesses of the Assembly, convened November 20, 1645_ + + Northumberland County + John Matrum + + + _Assembly of 1651_ + + Northumberland County + Richard Lee + + + _Members of Assembly, convened April 26, 1652_ + + Northumberland County + John Mottram, George Fletcher + + Lancaster County + Francis Willis + + + _Members of Assembly, November, 1652_ + + Lancaster County + Capt. H'y Fleet, Wm. Underwood + + + _Assembly convened July 5, 1653_ + + Lancaster County + Capt. M. Fantleroy, William Hackett + + Northumberland County + Lt. Col. Fletcher, Walter Broadhurst + + + _Assembly convened November 20, 1654_ + + Lancaster County + John Carter, James Bagnall + + Northumberland County + John Trussell + + Westmoreland County + John Holland, Alex. Baynham + + + _Burgesses, March 13, 1657-8_ + + Lancaster County + Col. John Carter (a member of the Council) + + Northumberland County + Peter Montague, John Hanie, Peter Knight + + + _Burgesses, March, 1658-9_ + + Lancaster County + Col. John Carter, Henry Corbin + + Northumberland County + Geo. Coleclough + + + _Assembly of March, 1659-60_ + + Lancaster County + Col. John Carter, John Curtis, Henry Corbin + + Northumberland County + Capt. Peter Ashton + + Westmoreland County + Capt. Tho's Foulke + + + _Burgesses in Assembly, September, 1663_ + + Northumberland County + Wm. Presley + + Westmoreland County + Col. Gerard Fowke + + Lancaster County + Raleigh Frances + + + _Assembly convened October, 1666_ + + Lancaster County + Raleigh Traverse + + Westmoreland County + Col. Nich. Spencer, Col. John Washington + + Northumberland County + Mr. William Presley + + + _May 4,1683_ + + Nich. Spencer and Jos. Bridger were Councillors at this time. + + (_Compiled from old manuscripts and documents. This list is + probably incomplete._) + + +COUNTIES + +The formation of the counties of the Northern Neck took place as +follows: + +Northumberland, 1648; Lancaster, 1651; Westmoreland, 1653; Stafford, +1664; Richmond, 1692; King George, 1721. + +The names of these counties reflect the English origin of the first +white settlers. + + +NATIVE SONS (NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA) + +George Washington, First President of the United States; "First in war, +first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." These +famous words were written by General Henry (Light-Horse Harry) Lee. + +James Madison, Fourth President of the United States, and Father of the +Constitution. + +James Monroe, Fifth President of the United States, and author of the +Monroe Doctrine. + +Signers of the Declaration of Independence: Richard Henry Lee, and +Francis Lightfoot Lee. + +General Robert Edward Lee: Leader of the Confederate forces in the Civil +War. + +Hall of Fame for Great Americans: George Washington, James Madison, +James Monroe, Robert Edward Lee. + + + + +SOURCES + + +PART I--_SEVENTEENTH CENTURY_ + + +INDIANS AND EARLY EXPLORERS + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_The Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846. + +_History of Virginia_, by Mary Tucker Magill, 1888. + +_History of Virginia_, by R. B. Smithey, 1898. + +_A History of the United States_, by Franklin L. Riley, 1910. + + +CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_The Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846. + +_Arrival of the First Permanent English Settlers Jamestown_, by G. B. +Coale, 1950. + + +POWHATAN'S EMPIRE + +Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, 1840. + +Beverley's _History of Virginia_. + +_Virginia_, Virginia Writer's Project, 1940. + + +CAPTAIN SMITH VISITS THE NECK + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_The Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + + +"A PLAINE WILDERNES" + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + + +"WILD BEASTES" + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +Clayton's _Virginia_, p. 37, Force's _Historical Tracts_, Vol. III. + +Writings of Ralph Hamor, William Strachey and other early writers. + + +"BIRDS TO VS UNKNOWNE" + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_The Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, Vol. +I. + +Writings of: William Strachey, Thomas Hariot, Ralph Hamor, Robert +Beverley, and other early writers. + + +THE NOMINIES + +_Virginia_, Virginia Writers' Project, 1940. + +Bureau of American Enthnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington. + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, Vol. +I. + +_Our Republic_, Riley, Chandler, Hamilton, 1910. + +_History of Virginia_, Magill, 1888. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia_, by Ben C. McCary, 1957. + + +THE DISCOVERERS + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + +_History of Virginia_, by R. B. Smithey, published 1898. + + +THE RIVER OF SWANS + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +Writings of Dr. Walter Russell and Anas Todkill. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach, published 1929. + + +MOTHER OF WATERS + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +Writings of Dr. Walter Russell and Anas Todkill. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Bruce, Vol. I. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by A. P. Middleton, Ph. D. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington. + +"The Chesapeake's Million Years," by Harold A. Williams, in _Baltimore +Sunday Magazine_, October 18, 1953. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + +_The Bay_, by Gilbert Klingel. + + +QUICK-RISING-WATER + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_Virginia_, Virginia Writers' Project, published 1940. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + + +HENRY AND POCAHONTAS + +HENRY AND KING PATOWMEKE + +HENRY'S RELATION + +BETRAYED + +Henry Spelman's _Relation of Virginia_, a manuscript first published in +London, in 1872. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, pp. 52-53. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_History of Virginia_, by Mary Tucker Magill, published 1888. + +_Travels and Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach, published 1929. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + +_Virginia_, Virginia Writers' Project, published 1940. + +"The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673," by A. J. Morrison. _William & Mary +College Quarterly_, 2nd Series, vi. + +_The Genesis of the United States_, by Alexander Brown, Vol. 2, pp. +1020-1021. + +_Howes' Abridgment._ + +_Observations of William Simmons_, Doctor of Divinity, 1609. + +_Writings of William Box_, 1610. + +_Narratives of Early Virginia_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia_, by Ben C. McCary, 1957. + + +KIDNAPPED + +_Smith's Generall Historie_, Book IV. + +_State Historical Markers of Virginia_, Sixth Edition, 1948, p. 16. + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, published 1846. + +_History of Virginia_, by Mary Tucker Magill, published 1888. + + +THE INDIAN TRADER (_also_ FLEET'S POINT) + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, p. 238. + +_Cavaliers and Pioneers_, by Nell M. Nugent. + +"The Money of Colonial Virginia." _Virginia Magazine of History and +Biography_, Vol. 51, pp. 36-54, January, 1943, by Mrs. Philip W. Hiden. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington. + +_Smith's Generall Historie_, Book IV. + +Henry Fleet's _Relation_. + +"The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673," by A. J. Morrison. _William & Mary +College Quarterly_, 2nd Series, vi. + + +A PETITION + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, p. 289. + + +FROM NORTH OF THE POTOMAC + +_Jamestown and St. Mary's, Buried Cities of Romance_, by H. C. Forman, +1938. + +"The Virginia Indian Trade to 1673," by A. J. Morrison. _William & Mary +College Quarterly_, 2nd Series, vi. + +_Narratives of Early Virginia_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_History of Virginia_, by R. B. Smithey, 1898. + +_Our Republic_, by Riley, Chandler & Hamilton, 1910. + +"Roving Maryland's Cavalier Country," by William A. Kinney. _The +National Geographic Magazine_, April, 1954. + +"History of Northumberland County," by Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe. +_Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December, 1951. + +"Maryland Influence in the Northern Neck," by Henry Wright Newman. +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1954. + + +THE FIRST SETTLER + +"Mottrom," _William and Mary Quarterly_, Vol. 17, p. 53. Archives of +Maryland, Vol. IV, p. 269. + +York County Records (Shallop). + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, Vol. I, by P. A. +Bruce. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by Arthur Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., published 1953. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, published 1953. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, published +1934. + +_State Historical Markers of Virginia_, Sixth Edition, 1948, p. 180. + +"A Little Tour of Northumberland County," by Thomas Lomax Hunter, +(published in the _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, date unknown). + +"Northumberland, Mother County," by Thomas Lomax Hunter, (published in +the _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, date unknown). + +"History of Northumberland County," (From 1648 to War of Revolution), by +Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe. _Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, +Vol. I, December, 1951. + +_History of Northumberland County_, by Miss Lucy Brown Beale. (Pageant) + +"Old Northumberland," by Elwood Street. (An article in the _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, April 19, 1942.) + +_Virginia Magazine_, X, (402). + +Northumberland County Records. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach, published 1929. + + +COAN HALL + +_Jamestown and St. Mary's, Buried Cities of Romance_, Henry C. Forman, +p. 33, 1938. + +The Holy Bible, Genesis 2: 8-10, 19. + +"Log Cabin or Frame," by Janet Foster Newton. _Antiques Magazine_, Nov. +1944. + +1953, Williamsburg Antiques Forum, Theme: "European Influence on +American Craftsmanship"; "Architecture Up to the Time of the +Revolution." Speaker, Dr. Richard H. Howland, Chairman of the Art +Department of Johns Hopkins University. + +_The Log Cabin Myth_, by Harold R. Shurtleff. + +_The Homes of Our Ancestors_, by R. T. H. Halsey and Elizabeth Tower, +1937. + +_A Treasury of Early American Homes_, by Richard Pratt, published 1946. + +"Notes on Imported Brick," by Charles E. Peterson. _Antiques Mag._, +July, 1952. + +_Glassmaking at Jamestown_, by J. C. Harrington, published 1952. + +"Roving Maryland's Cavalier Country," by William A. Kinney. _The +National Geographic Magazine_, April, 1954. + +_Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +"The Buttolph-Williams House," (In Wethersfield, Connecticut) by +Frederic Palmer. _Antiques Magazine_, September, 1951. + +"Hurstville," by Jennie Harding Cornelius, in _Northumberland Echo_, +Heathsville, Va. + +"Green Spring," by Leonora A. Wood, in _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, March +27, 1955. + +Westmoreland County Records, 1661-1662. + +"A Visit to Historic Old Marmion," by Joseph A. Billingsley, Jr., in +_Richmond Times-Dispatch_, August 6, 1939. + + +NEIGHBORS + +Maryland Archives (Vol. V: 204). + +_The Homes of Our Ancestors_, by R. T. H. Halsey and Elizabeth Tower, +1937. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + + +THE "KIDS" + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman. + +_Diary of John Harrower_, (A journal by an indentured servant-teacher.) + +"_Spirits_," from a treatise published in 1657, by Lionel Gatford, B. +D., p. 278. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + + +INDIAN SERVANTS + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_William Presley_, by Miss Lucy Brown Beale. + + +MONEY + +"The Money of Colonial Virginia," by Mrs. Philip W. Hiden. _Virginia +Magazine of History and Biography._ + +Northumberland County Records. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbors_, by John Fiske, Vol. I. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by A. P. Middleton, 1953. + +_James Madison_, by Brant, p. 413. + + +A PARADISE DISCOVERED + +_Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia_, +edited by William Waller Hening. Richmond, 1809. 1619-60. + +_Jamestown and St. Mary's: Buried Cities of Romance_, by Henry Chandlee +Forman, Baltimore, 1938. (The Johns Hopkins Press.) + + +A VISIT TO JAMESTOWN + +_Jamestown and St. Mary's: Buried Cities of Romance_, by Henry Chandlee +Forman, Baltimore, 1938. (The Johns Hopkins Press.) + +_The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and Its First Statehouse_, +by Charles E. Hatch, Jr. Washington: 1943. + +_The Cradle of the Republic, Jamestown and James River_, by Lyon G. +Tyler, Richmond, Va., 1906. The Hermitage Press, Inc. + +_Minutes of the Council and General Court of Virginia, 1622-1632, +1670-1676_, edited by H. R. McIlwaine, Richmond, 1924, pp. 497-498. + +_Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1619-1658-59_, edited +by H. R. McIlwaine, Richmond, 1915, p. 36. + +_Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + + +FRANCES + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934. + +"Old Northumberland," by Elwood Street. (An article in the _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, April 19, 1942.) + +Northumberland County Record Book, 1652-1665, p. 47. ("cow calfe") + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by Philip A. Bruce. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +_Child Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +_The Homes of Our Ancestors_, by R. T. H. Halsey and Elizabeth Tower, +1937. + + +FOREVER LOST + +Hening's _Statutes at Large_, 1619-60. + +_Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December 1951, p. 6. + + +URSULA + +_William and Mary Quarterly_, Vol. 17, p. 53. (Archives of Md., Vol. IV, +p. 269.) + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +Northumberland County Records, 1655-56, 1657-58. + +Maryland Archives, Vol. V: 204. + +_Homes of Our Ancestors_, by Halsey and Tower, 1937. + +Records of Lancaster Co., Orig. Vol., 1690-1709, p. 21. (Ref. to leather +coverlet.) + +Records of Lancaster Co., Orig. Vol., 1674-1687, p. 77. (Wardrobe of F. +Pritchard.) + + +THE YARD + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Patrician and Plebeian in Virginia_, by T. J. Wertenbaker. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +Beverley's _History of the Present State of Virginia_. + + +KITTAMAQUND + +_Genealogy of the Brent Family_, compiled by W. B. Chilton, Washington, +D. C. + +_Virginia Magazine of History & Biography_, V. 12, July, 1904-April, +1905. + +(Relatio Itineris, _Father Andrew White, S. J._, pp. 74, 76 & 82.) + +_Maryland Historical Magazine_, Vol. III, p. 30. + +_Landmarks of Old Prince William_, p. 43. + +_Maryland Council Proceedings_, Vol. 3, p. 403. + +"Maryland Influence in the Northern Neck," by Harry Wright Newman, in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1954. + + +THE GIFT + +_The First Patent of the Proprietary._ + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_History of England_, by Charlotte M. Yonge, 1879. + +_Our Republic_, by Riley, Chandler & Hamilton, 1910. + + +THE CAVALIERS + +Smithey's _History of Virginia_, 1915. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by A. P. Middleton, 1953; pp. 8, 15, 16. + +_Cavaliers and Pioneers_, V. I, by N. M. Nugent, published 1934. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary N. Stanard, 1928. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, by John Fiske, 1897, V. I. & V. II. + +_Patrician and Plebeian in Virginia_, by Thos. J. Wertenbaker, 1910. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, 1927. + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, published about 1840. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833. + +"Cavaliers of the Northern Neck in the 17th Century," by Dr. J. E. +Monohan, in _Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1953. + +_Virginia, A History of the People_, by John Esten Cooke, 1883, p. 227. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_William and Mary Quarterly_, V. 17, p. 196. + +"Perfect Description of Virginia," Force's _Tracts_ II, No. viii. + +Hammond's, _Leah and Rachel_. + + +"CHARLIE-OVER-THE-WATER" + +_Life of General R. E. Lee_, by J. D. McCabe, Jr., 1866. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick, 1935. ("Introductio ad +Latinam Blasoniam," by John Gibbon, 1629-1718. Lee's trip to Brussels.) + +_Stratford Hall and the Lees_, by F. W. Alexander, 1912. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, John Fiske, 1897. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by E. D. Neill, 1886. + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman, pp. 452-453. + + +THE LEGACY + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, V. II, p. 19, by John Fiske, 1897. + +_Stratford Hall and the Lees_, by F. W. Alexander, 1912. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Hendrick (B. J.). + +_Life of General R. E. Lee_, by J. D. McCabe, Jr., 1866. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +THE INDIAN DEED + +_Barons of the Potomack and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach, p. 247. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, # 148. + + +A SUMMONS TO JAMESTOWN + +Archives of Maryland, V. IV, 269. + +_The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and Its First Statehouse_, +by Charles E. Hatch, Jr., Washington: 1943. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934. +(Northumberland County, Record Book, 1652-1665.) + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by E. D. Neill, 1886. + +_Virginia and Its Antiquities_, about 1840. + +Magill's _History of Virginia_, 1888, p. 80. + +"The Treaty of Jamestown, 1652," by W. H. Gaines, Jr., in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Spring, 1952. + + +THE OATH + +"The Treaty of Jamestown, 1652," by W. H. Gaines, Jr., in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Spring, 1952. + +"History of Northumberland County," by Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe, +_Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December, 1951. (Northumberland +Order Book, 1650-53.) + +_Virginia's First Century_, by M. N. Stanard. + + +THE CHALLENGE + +"Courthouses of Lancaster County, 1656-1950," Abstracted and Compiled +from County Court Records by Elizabeth Combs Peirce, in _Northern Neck +Historical Society Magazine_, December, 1951. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, pp. +250-252. + +_Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, V. II, p. 96. + +_Patrician and Plebeian_, by T. J. Wertenbaker. + +Lancaster County Records, V, 1652-56, p. 64. + + +TRADE + +_Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, by John Fiske. + +_Economic History of the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +Lancaster County Records, Original volume, 1654-1702. + +Lancaster County Records, 1652-57. + +_Orders of Wm. Fitzhugh._ + +Records of Lancaster County, Original volume, 1682-1687. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by E. D. Neill, 1886. + +_Virginia and Its Antiquities_, p. 67. + + +JOHN CARTER + +_Virginia's First Century_, by M. N. Stanard. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle. + +_Robert Carter of Nomini Hall_, by Louis Morton, 1945. + +_Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia_, edited by H. R. +McIlwaine (1619-1658/59, p. 94). + +_Economic History of Virginia_, by P. A. Bruce, V. II, p. 124. + +"Old Virginia Bottles," by Walter J. Sparks, in _Richmond Times-Dispatch +Sunday Magazine_, 1938. + + +FLEET'S POINT (_see_ chapter, The Indian Trader) + + +GEORGE MASON + +_The Life of George Mason_, by Kate M. Rowland (1725-1792). + +Westmoreland Court House Records, 1664. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by E. D. Neill, 1886, p, 344. From a MS. owned by +the Virginia Historical Society. + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. II (storehouse). + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. III (boats). + +Copy of an old paper of 1793, by Geo. Mason, of Lexington. + +Westmoreland Court House and Virginia Land Registry Office (patent). + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. II, 1661-2 (Indian trouble). + + +MARY CALVERT + +Northumberland County Records, 1655. + +"History of Northumberland County," by Lillian Anderson Hatton Metcalfe, +in _Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December 1951. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce, 1927. + + +HE LIVED BRAVELY + +_William and Mary Quarterly_, vol. 17, p. 53. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +Surry County Records, vol. 1645-72, p. 246. + +Lower Norfolk County Records, vol. 1686-95, f. p. 171. + +York County Records, vol. 1675-84, p. 87. + +Westmoreland County Records, vol. 1655-77, p. 186. + +_Virginia Historical and Genealogical Magazine_, vol. X, p. 402. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, 1934. + +Northumberland County Records, 1655-56. + +_George Washington_, by D. S. Freeman (V. I, p. 4). + + +WITCHCRAFT + +Northumberland County Records, 1656. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833, pp. +280-283. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, vol. I, p. 127. + + +SEAHORSE OF LONDON + +_Virginia Carolorum_ (1625-85), by E. D. Neill, 1886. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +1 Westmoreland Deeds and Wills, 88. + +Westmoreland County Records. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +"TENN MULBERRY TREES" + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard. + +_The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and Its First Statehouse_, +by Charles E. Hatch, Jr., Washington: 1943. + +_Plants of Colonial Days_, by Raymond L. Taylor, pub. 1952, +Williamsburg, Va. + +_Child Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + + +ROADS + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, Vol. II, by John Fiske. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Sara Pryor. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Roads and Vehicles_, _William and Mary Quarterly_, vol. III, pp. 37-43. + +_The Journal of Philip Vickers Fithian._ + +_Cavaliers and Pioneers_, by Nell M. Nugent, 1934. + + +MARKETS + +Records, original volume 1652-1657, p. 214. + +_Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, 1886. + +THE OLD DOMINION + +Smithey's _History of Virginia_, published 1898. + +_Young Folks History of England_, by Charlotte M. Yonge, published 1879. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard. + +Magill's _History of Virginia_, published 1888. + + +THE PROPRIETARY + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, published +1833. + + +A FIRST LADY OF JAMESTOWN + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary Newton Stanard, p. 252. + +_Virginia Magazine_, V. II, p. 33. + +_New England Hist. and Gen. Reg._, Vol. XLV, p. 67. + +_Virginia Magazine_, Vol. V, p. 257 (Anne Mottrom). + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +A collection of magazine and newspaper articles on early wedding +customs. + +_Historic Dress in America_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +"Cavaliers of the Northern Neck in the 17th Century," by Dr. John E. +Monohan, in _Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, +1953. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +Westmoreland County Records, Vol. 1665-77, folio p. 79 (Madam Spencer). + +"Old Northumberland," by Elwood Street, in the _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, April 19, 1942. + + +PROCESSIONING + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +_George Washington_, V. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_James Madison_, V. I, by Irving Brant, p. 44. + + +"THE BANQUETTING HOUSE" + +9 Westmoreland Deeds and Wills, 344-45, March 30, 1670. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 103, +106, 110, 112. + +"The First Country Club in America," by Arnold Jones, in _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_, 1953. + +"A Mayflower Relic in Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Autumn, 1952. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + +Maryland Archives, IV, 109, March 21, 1639. + +_Buried Cities, Jamestown and St. Mary's_, by Henry Chandlee Forman. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by B. J. Hendrick. + +"Revolutionary Suffragists," by Elizabeth Dabney Coleman, in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Autumn, 1953. + + +THE LAND AGENT + +Westmoreland Orders, 1676-89, p. 529. + +"Land Agents in Virginia," by G. H. S. King, in _Northern Neck of +Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1954. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, D. S. Freeman, p. 458. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + + +HANNA AND THE HORSESHOE + +Northumberland County Records, 1671. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. 17, pp. 247-48. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833, pp. +280-83. + +_Historic Dress in America, 1607-1800_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + + +MUSTER + +Virginia County Records, 1689. + +_Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1904-06, p. 191. + +Minutes of the House of Burgesses, Sept. 30, 1696, B. T. Va., L 11. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast_, by E. R. Snow. + +_Pirates of Colonial Virginia_, by Lloyd H. Williams. + + +THE STORE + +_Virginia and Her Neighbours_, Vol. II, p. 213, by John Fiske. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, 1886. + +_Historic Dress in America_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + + +THE WOLF-DRIVE + +Northumberland County Records, Orders, September 16, 1691. + +Clayton's _Virginia_. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +Force's _Historical Tracts_, Vol. III. + +_Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber, p. 60. + +Beverley's _History of Virginia_. + +Lancaster Court Records: 1677. + +Northumberland County Record Book, 1666-78, p. 107. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle (McDonald Lee). + + +THE INDIANS AND ROBERT HEN + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, pp. 18-34. + +_The Story of Virginia's First Century_, by Mary N. Stanard. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill, pp. 347-49. + +_Virginia and Her Neighbours_, Vol. II, by John Fiske. + +Spencer ii, 61, 80, 89, 111. + +_Descendants of Coll: Giles Brent_, by Chester Horton Brent, 1946. + +Force's _Tracts_, Vol. I, tract viii. + +_The Life of George Mason_, by Kate M. Rowland. + + +THE ROYAL CAVALCADE and THE KING OF THE NORTHERN NECK + +_Robert Carter of Nomini Hall_, by Louis Morton, Williamsburg, 1945. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle. + +"Colonel Robert (King) Carter," by Samuel Bemiss, in _Northern Neck of +Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1953. + +"The Fruits of His Labor," by Samuel Bemiss, in _Virginia Cavalcade_, +1953. + +_Old Churches and Families of Virginia_, by Meade, V. II, p. 116. + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_King Carter, the Man_, by James Wharton. + + +KITH AND KIN + +_Robert Carter of Nomini Hall_, by Louis Morton. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_King Carter, the Man_, by James Wharton. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + +_Baron of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + + +THE FIELDINGS + +_Virginia Historical Magazine_, V. 12, pp. 98, 101, 215. + +_Robert Carter of Nomini Hall_, by Louis Morton, p. 64. + + +PIRATES + +"Pursuits of a Pirate," by Wm. H. Gaines, Jr., _Virginia Cavalcade_, +Autumn, 1952. + +"Treasure Trove," in _News from Home_, Autumn, 1955. + +_Pirates of Colonial Virginia_, by Lloyd Haynes Williams, published +1937. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by Arthur Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., 1953. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, 1953, p. 198. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Sara Pryor. + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, V. II, by John Fiske, p. 338. + +_Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast_, by Edward Rowe Snow. + +Records of Middlesex County, original volume, 1679-1694, p. 472. + + +CHRISTMAS AT COLONEL FITZHUGH'S + +_Description de la Virginie & Marilan dans L'Amerique_, by Durand Du +Dauphine. + + +INDIAN VISITORS + +_Description de la Virginie & Marilan dans L'Amerique_, by Durand Du +Dauphine. + + +HORSE RACING + +_The Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +Minutes of House of Burgesses, Sept. 30, 1696. B. T., Va., Vol. LII. + +_Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, Vol. VIII, p. 130. + +Northumberland County Records, Orders, January 17, 1693-4. + +Northumberland County Records, Orders, August 22, 1695. + +Westmoreland County Records, Vol. 1665-77, folio p. 211. + +Westmoreland County Orders, January 11, 1687-8. + +Westmoreland County Records, Orders, April 7, 1693. + +Northumberland Orders of August 22, 1695. + + +MANUFACTURE + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + +Lancaster County Records, 1654-1702; 1674-78; 1690-1709. + +Letters of Wm. Fitzhugh. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + +Hening's _Statutes_, 1, 336, 337. + + +THE POTOMAC RANGERS + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. II. + +_The Life of George Mason_, Vol. I, by K. M. Rowland. + +_Virginia Calendar Papers_, Vol. I, pp. 44, 60. + +_Ibid._, p. xlvi. + +_James Madison_, Vol. I, by Irving Brant, pp. 408-09. + + + + +PART II--_EIGHTEENTH CENTURY_ + + +MURDERS IN STAFFORD + +_The Life of George Mason_, by Kate M. Rowland. + +_Ibid._, p. 69. + +_Letters of Col. George Mason_, II. + + +FREE SCHOOLS + +_Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +_History of Virginia_, by Robert Beverley, 1703. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. 17, pp. 244-247. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. xvii, p. 188. + +_Social Life of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_A History of Education in Virginia_, by C. J. Heatwole. + +_William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. XIII, Series I, p. 158. +(Landon Carter) + + +THE HOME IN THE FOREST + +_George Washington_, V. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +10 R. Lancaster Wills and Inventories, 88. + +"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 159, 161, 162. + +_Virginia Carolorum_, by Edward D. Neill. + + +CHERRY POINT + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Sara Pryor. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"Will of Mary Hewes," found in Archives of Northumberland County, by +Rev. G. W. Beale, published in _Virginia Historical Magazine_. + +19 Northumberland Orders, 42. + +Northumberland County Order Book, No. 6, p. 17. + + +SANDY POINT + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 115, 117, 121. + +Will of Mary Hewes, (19 Northumberland Orders, 42). + +_Yeocomico Church, Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Mrs. Roger A. Pryor, 1903. + +_Virginians at Home_, by Edmund S. Morgan, 1952. + +Westmoreland Deeds and Wills, 72. (Will of Samuel Bonum.) + + +AUGUSTINE + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +Hening's _Statutes_, Vol. I, p. 160. (Fees) + +"Mary Ball Washington and Her Family," by Robert O. Norris, Jr., in +_Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + +_Wakefield, The Birthplace of Washington_, by Paul Hudson, Museum +Specialist National Park Service. + +"Colonel George Eskridge," by Lucy Brown Beale, in _Northern Neck of +Virginia Historical Magazine_, December, 1953. + + +POPES CREEK + +19 Northumberland Orders, 42. (The will of Mary Hewes.) + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Wakefield, The Birthplace of Washington_, by Paul Hudson, Museum +Specialist National Park Service. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +THE WAR PATH + +_James Madison_, Vol. I, by Irving Brant. + +_The Life of George Mason_ (1725-1792), by Kate M. Rowland. + +_Colonial History of New York_, Vol. V, pp. 655-677. + +_Virginia Historical Magazine_, 1904-06. + +_James Mooney, The Siouan Tribes of the East_, Smithsonian Institution: +1894. + +_Archeologic Investigation in James and Potomac Valleys_, by Gerad +Fowke, Smithsonian Institution: 1894. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +Byrd Manuscripts, Vol. II, p, 262. + + +FALMOUTH + +_The Life of George Mason_ (1725-1792), by Kate M. Rowland. + +Address of Rev. Phillip Slaughter before Virginia Historical Society, +1850. + +_In Tidewater Virginia_, by Dora Chinn Jett, 1924. + +A letter written by a Scotch girl while on a visit to Falmouth, +published in _The Herald_, Fredericksburg, June 3, 1854. + + +BURNT HOUSE FIELD + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by B. J. Hendrick. + +"President Thomas Lee of Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Summer, 1953. + +"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, _Holiday Magazine_, +January, 1953. + +"Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," Department of Conservation and +Development of Virginia. + + +STRATFORD HALL + +Stratford Hall and the Lees, by F. W. Alexander. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, _Holiday Magazine_, +January, 1953. + +"President Thomas Lee of Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, in _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Summer, 1953. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +A poem which described the early Stratford, by Carter Lee, brother of +General R. E. Lee. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +"The Summerhouse," a talk by Marcus Whiffen, Williamsburg Antiques +Forum, February, 1956. + + +GEORGE WASHINGTON + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +"Wakefield, The Birthplace of Washington," by Paul Hudson, published in +_The Commonwealth_, February, 1954. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +EPSEWASSON + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +FERRY FARM + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_King George Inventories_, 1721-44, pp. 285-91. + + +FREDERICKSBURG + +Act of establishing town of Fredericksburg. + +_Diary of Col. Wm. Byrd of Westover, 1732._ + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. M. Conway. + +_Tidewater Virginia_, by Paul Wilstach. + + +SCHOOL DAYS + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_The Private Life of George Washington_, by F. R. Bellamy. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_Wakefield_, by Paul Hudson. + + +THE INDIANS + +_Old Virginia and Her Neighbours_, Vol. II, by John Fiske. + +_Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia_, by Ben C. McCary, 1957. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle. + +Beverley's _History of Virginia._ + + +THE POW-WOW + +"President Thomas Lee of Virginia," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Summer, 1953. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +A pamphlet: "A Treaty held at the town of Lancaster, Penn., with the +Indians of the Six Nations, in June, 1744, Philadelphia; printed and +sold by Benjamin Franklin at the New Printing Office near the Market, +1744." + +A pamphlet describing the conference at Lancaster, published by William +Parks, in Williamsburg, Va. + +_Virginia Magazine of History_, XIII, 5. + +_James Madison_, Vol. I, by Irving Brant, p. 46. + + +MOUNT VERNON + +"To the Walls of Cartagena," by Wm. H. Gaines, Jr., _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Winter, 1955. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + +_The Private Life of George Washington_, by F. R. Bellamy. + + +WASHINGTON WASHED HERE-- + +Spotsylvania Orders, 1749-55, p. 141. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by Dr. Douglas S. Freeman. + + +THE ORDINARY + +"Narrative of George Fisher (1750-55), His Voyage from London to +Virginia," _William and Mary Quarterly._ + + +NELLY + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_James Madison_, by Irving Brant, 1941. + +"James Madison, Father of the Constitution," by Wm. M. E. Rachal, +_Virginia Cavalcade_, Winter, 1951. + +"The Evening of Their Glory," by Wm. H. Gaines, Jr., _Virginia +Cavalcade_, Summer, 1953. + + +MISS BETSY + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock_, by M. D. Conway. + + +THE PROPRIETOR OF THE NORTHERN NECK + +_Virginia, Its History and Antiquities_, circa 1840; pp. 235-36, 275. + +_A History of the Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, 1833. + +Smithey's _History of Virginia_, 1915; pp. 72-79. + +Magill's _History of Virginia_, 1888. + +_Fairfax_, by J. Esten Cooke, 1868. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_State Historical Markers of Virginia_, 1948. + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + + +THE MARSHALLS + +_The Life of John Marshall_, by A. J. Beveridge. + +Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, viii, 1, 276. + +Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, xi, 419. + +Will of John "of the forest," made April 1, 1752, probated May 26, 1752, +and recorded June 22, 1752; Records of Westmoreland County, Deeds and +Wills, xi, 419. + +_Autobiography, John Marshall._ + +_Binney, in Dillon_, iii, 287-88. (Description of J. Marshall.) + +Will of Thomas Marshall, "carpenter," probated May 31, 1704; Records of +Westmoreland County, Deeds and Wills, iii, 232, _et seq._ + + +THE LEEDSTOWN RESOLUTIONS + +Fithian's _Journal_, pp. 84, 248, 258. + +_Historic Northern Neck of Virginia_, by H. Ragland Eubank, No. 75. + + +FITHIAN + +_The Journal of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1773-74_, edited by Hunter +Dickinson Farish, Williamsburg, Va., 1945. + + +THE SCHOOL IN THE WILDWOOD + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 31, 59. + +_Historical Atlas of Westmoreland County, Virginia_, by David W. Eaton, +p. 44. + +_The Life of John Marshall_, by A. J. Beveridge. + +_Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia_, by Bishop Meade, +Vol. II, pp. 159-161. + +_James Monroe_, by W. P. Cresson. + +Manuscript by Rose Gouveneur Hoes, in James Monroe Law Office, +Fredericksburg, Virginia. + + +JAMES AND JOHN + +_James Monroe's Childhood and Youth_, by Rose Gouveneur Hoes. + +_James Monroe_, by W. P. Cresson, 1946, Chapel Hill. + +_The Life of John Marshall_, by Albert J. Beveridge. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank, Nos. 31, 58, 63. + +_Meade's Old Churches, etc._, V. 2, pp. 159-161. + +_Historical Atlas of Westmoreland County, Virginia_, by D. W. Eaton, p. +44. + +_Binney, in Dillon_, iii, pp. 287-288. + + +CAPTAIN DOBBY + +Fithian's _Journal_. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + + +PEDLARS + +_Life of Capt. John Smith_, by W. Gilmore Simms, 1846. + +_Historic Dress in America_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_Home Life in Colonial Days_, by Alice M. Earle. + + +SEVEN SATIN PETTICOATS + +_Olivia Frances Jett Williams_ (1874-1940). + + +PHI BETA KAPPA + +_Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography_, under the editorial supervision of +Lyon Gardiner Tyler, LL.D., Vol. II, 1915. + +_The History of Phi Beta Kappa_, by Oscar M. Voorhees, D.D., LL.D., +1945. (The Founding of the Society, 1776.) + +"Records of Phi Beta Kappa Society of William and Mary College," printed +in _William and Mary College Quarterly_, IV, 236. + + +LIGHT-HORSE HARRY + +"Speech Delivered at Spring Celebration at Stratford," by Blake Tyler +Newton, May 6, 1951. _Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December, +1952. + +_The Life and Campaigns of General Robert E. Lee_, by James D. McCabe, +Jr., published 1866. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +_John Marshall_, by Albert J. Beveridge, p. 138. + + +A BAND OF BROTHERS + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"The Six Brothers of Stratford Hall," by Rev. Edmund J. Lee, D.D., in +_Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, December, 1952. + + +THE DIVINE MATILDA + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +_Stratford Hall and the Lees Connected With Its History_, by F. W. +Alexander. + +"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, _Holiday_, January, +1953. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +Fithian's _Journal_. + +_Journal of a Young Lady of Virginia_, 1782, published in Baltimore, +1788, by Lucinda Lee (daughter of Thomas Ludwell Lee). + + +MADAM WASHINGTON + +_George Washington_, Vol. I, by D. S. Freeman. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +_The Mother of Washington and Her Times_, by Sara Pryor. + +"Betty Lewis," by Elizabeth Dabney Coleman, _Virginia Cavalcade_, +Winter, 1952. + + +AFTER THE REVOLUTION + +"After the Revolution," by Arthur H. Jennings, _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_. + +_Virginians at Home_, by Edmund S. Morgan, 1952, p. 3. + +_Tobacco Coast_, by Arthur Pierce Middleton, Ph.D., 1953, p. 42. + +_Historic Dress in America_, by Elizabeth McClellan. + +_Virginia Methodism_, by W. W. Sweet. + +"The Colonial Glebes," by Emily Blayton Major, in _Richmond +Times-Dispatch_. + +_Our Republic_, by Riley Chandler Hamilton, 1910. + + +MANTUA + +"Old 'Mantua'," by Lucy Brown Beale, from notes of Dr. George William +Beale, published in the _Northern Neck Historical Magazine_, 1951. + +Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Chatfield-Taylor, Mantua, Northumberland County, +Virginia, 1952. + +The late Miss Sallie H. Barron, Warsaw, Virginia, 1952. + + +PART III--NINETEENTH CENTURY + + +ROBERT E. LEE + +_The Lees of Virginia_, by Burton J. Hendrick. + +_The Life of General Robert E. Lee_, by James D. McCabe, Jr., published +1866. + +"Stratford Hall," by Henry F. and Katharine Pringle, _Holiday Magazine_, +January, 1953. + +"W & L's 'Maybe Portrait'," by Sally Leverty, _Richmond Times-Dispatch_, +Sunday Features, June 7, 1953. + + +SMITH POINT LIGHT + +Blunt's _American Coast Pilot_, 1804 and 1833 issues, (courtesy of +Robert H. Burgess, The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va.). + +U. S. Coast Guard, Public Information Division, Washington, D. C. +(Historically Famous Lighthouses.) + +Capt. Clem F. Haynie, Reedville, Va. + +Capt. Henry Haynie, Reedville, Va. + +Miss Maggie Gough, Sunny Bank, Va. + + +THE RAIDERS + +"Memoirs of Judge Samuel Downing," published in _Northern Neck +Historical Magazine_, 1951. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"Old Virginia Bottles," by Walter J. Sparks, published in _Richmond +Times-Dispatch Sunday Magazine_, 1938. + +_Virginia Methodism_, by W. W. Sweet. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, 1953. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +Hale's _United States_, 1844. + +"The Chesapeake's Million Years," by Harold A. Williams, published in +_The Baltimore Sun_, October 18, 1953. + + +STEAMBOATS + +Civil War letters (unpublished). + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, 1953. + + +HANNAH AND THE FALLING STARS + +As told to the writer in 1932, by: Hannah Crockett (1817-1933). A native +of Northumberland County, Virginia. + +_Virginia Cavalcade_, Winter, 1955. + +The Diary of Governor John Floyd, of Virginia, 1833. (Virginia State +Library.) + +_Northern Neck News_, Warsaw, Va., February, 1931. + + +THE BLOCKADE + +Unpublished Civil War letters (private collection). + +"Annals of the War," by Col. Joseph Mayo, Hague, Va., published in +_Philadelphia Public Ledger_, 1880. + +Dr. Douglas S. Freeman, (correspondence). + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926). + +_Historically Famous Lighthouses_, published by U. S. Coast Guard. + +_Chesapeake Bay_, by M. V. Brewington, 1953. + + +THE HOME GUARD + +A notarized statement written in 1927 by a former member of the +Northumberland Home Guard, Bertrand B. Haynie, Reedville, Va., addressed +to the Virginia Pension Office in Richmond, and later transferred to the +Archives of the Virginia State Library, Richmond. (This document was +brought to the attention of the writer by Miss Eva Jett, Reedville, Va.) + +"Rev. C. T. Thrift," Durham, N. C., in the Voice of the People, +_Richmond Times-Dispatch_, April 5, 1952. + +Incidents related to the writer by Hon. Theodore Augustus Jett +(1850-1920), a member of the Northumberland Home Guard. + + +THE MYSTERY OF HORSE POND + +As related to the writer by Hon. C. O. Hammack, Sunny Bank, Va., a +grandson of Sardelia Evans. + + +SCHOONER IN A MILL-POND + +As told to the writer in 1953 by two of Capt. Jehu's sons: Capt. Henry +Haynie and Capt. Clem F. Haynie, both of Reedville, Va. + + +WAR BONNETS + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926), a native of Northumberland +County. + +Estelle Betts Haynie, Reedville, Va., 1955, a native of Northumberland +County. + + +AMANDA AND THE YANKEES + +Olivia Frances Jett Williams (1874-1940). + +Hannah Crocket (1817-1933). Interviewed by writer in 1932. + +Bible records, letters, documents, etc. + + +THE HORSEHAIR RING + +Olivia Frances Jett Williams (1874-1940). + +Confederate Army records, Bible records, letters, obituaries, etc. + +Tangible Proof: the Horsehair Ring and Confederate Note. + + +MIRACLE AT KETCHUM'S CAMP + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926). + +Hon. Theodore Augustus Jett (1850-1920), a member of the Northumberland +Home Guard. + + +DESPERATE PASSAGE + +"Rappahannock Ferry," by Turner Rose, published in _Washington Post_, +March 13, 1938. + +_Historic Northern Neck_, by H. Ragland Eubank. + +"On the Trail of an Assassin," by Benjamin Herman, published in +_Baltimore Sun Sunday Magazine_, 1954. + +"America's Greatest Unsolved Murder," by Joseph Millard, published in +_True Magazine_, February, 1953. + +_Virginia_, W. P. A., 1946. + +_The Chesapeake Bay Country_, by Sampson Earle, pp. 96-97. + + +AFTER THE WAR + +Hon. J. J. McDonald, in _Northumberland Echo_, 1923. + +S. Roland Hall, in _Northumberland Echo_, September 28, 1934. + +Hon. Theodore Augustus Jett (1850-1920). + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926). + + +SPEECH + +_Warwickshire Dialect_, by Appleton Morgan. + +_The Cradle of the Republic_, by Lyon G. Tyler. + +Writings of Rev. Hugh Jones, A. M., 1722. + + +SHOPPING TRIPS + +S. Florence Covington Jett (1854-1926), a native of Northumberland +County, Va. + + +MENHADEN + +_Works of Capt. John Smith_, edited by Arber. + +_Economic History of Virginia in the 17th Century_, by P. A. Bruce. + +_The Menhaden Industry of the Atlantic Coast_, by Rob Leon Greer, Bureau +of Fisheries Document No. 811, Washington Government Printing Office, +1917. + +_An Account of the Reed Family_, written by the late George N. Reed, +Reedville, Virginia. + +_American Fisheries: A History of The Menhaden_, by G. Brown Goode and +W. O. Atwater. New York, Orange Judd Company, 245 Broadway. Pub. 1880. +(The fifth annual report of the Commissioner of Fisheries.) + +Capt. Henry Haynie, Reedville, Va. + +W. Harold Haynie, Reedville, Va. + + +THE OLD STONE PILE + +Miss Maggie Gough, Mrs. Ruth Dodson, Capt. Clem Haynie and Capt. Henry +Haynie, all natives of Northumberland County, Va. + +1939 issue of the _Light List of the South Atlantic Coast_, (courtesy of +Robert Burgess, Mariners' Museum). + + +KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT + +_Light List of the South Atlantic Coast_, 1939 issue. + +Capt. J. R. Moore of the Wicomico River Light, 1952. + +Miss Maggie Gough, Sunny Bank, Va., and Mrs. Ruth Dodson, Edwardsville, +Va. + + +THE HEADLESS DOG + +From many traditional accounts. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +This is a rule 6 clearance. Extensive research indicates the copyright +on this book was not renewed. + +Spelling variations have been left as printed. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stronghold, by Miriam Haynie + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRONGHOLD *** + +***** This file should be named 36749.txt or 36749.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/4/36749/ + +Produced by Mark C. 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