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diff --git a/38130-8.txt b/38130-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de4a84a --- /dev/null +++ b/38130-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12437 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Legends of Loudoun, by Harrison Williams + +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: Legends of Loudoun + An account of the history and homes of a border county of + Virginia's Northern Neck + +Author: Harrison Williams + +Release Date: November 25, 2011 [EBook #38130] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEGENDS OF LOUDOUN *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Julia Neufeld and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + +^{x} indicates superscript. + + + +LEGENDS OF LOUDOUN Reprinting of this book has been granted to the +Loudoun Museum by Mrs. Harrison Williams and Mr. and Mrs. Winslow +Williams. + +All proceeds from the sale of book will benefit the Loudoun Museum. + +We are indeed grateful to the Williams family for this generous gesture +and to the Loudoun County Independent Bicentennial Committee for +assistance in making this possible. + +[Illustration: JOHN CAMPBELL, 4th Earl of Loudoun (1705-1782). +Governor-in-Chief of Virginia and Commander-in-Chief of British forces +in America, for whom Loudoun County was named in 1757.] + + + + +LEGENDS OF +LOUDOUN + +_An account of the history +and homes of a border county +of Virginia's Northern Neck_ + +By HARRISON WILLIAMS + + +[Illustration: decoration--rider on horse] + + + +GARRETT AND MASSIE INCORPORATED +RICHMOND VIRGINIA + + +COPYRIGHT, 1938, BY +GARRETT & MASSIE, INCORPORATED +RICHMOND, VIRGINIA + + +MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES + + + + +To + +J. S. A. + + + + +PREFACE + + +Many causes have contributed to the great upsurge of interest now +manifesting itself in Virginia's romantic history and in the men and +women who made it. If, perhaps, the greatest and most potent of these +forces is the splendid restoration of Williamsburg, her colonial +capital, through the munificence of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., of New +York, we must not lose sight of the part played by the reconstruction of +her old historic highways and their tributary roads into the fine modern +highway system which is today the Commonwealth's boast and pride; the +systematic and constructive activities of the Virginia Commission of +Conservation and Development of which the present chairman is the Hon. +Wilbur C. Hall of Loudoun; and the excellent work done by the Garden +Club of Virginia in holding its annual Garden Week celebration in each +spring and the generous permission it obtains, from so many of the +present owners of Virginia's historic old homes and gardens, for the +public to visit and inspect them at that time and thus capture, if but +for the moment, a sense of personal unity with Virginia's glamourous +past. + +The increasing flow of visitors to Loudoun and to Leesburg, its county +seat, has developed a steadily growing demand for more information +concerning the County's past and its charming old homes than has been +available in readily accessible form. These visitors, in their quest, +usually call at Leesburg's beautiful Thomas Balch Library which, during +Garden Week, lends its facilities to Virginia's Garden Clubs for their +Loudoun headquarters; and Miss Rebecca Harrison, its Librarian, has upon +occasion found the lack of published information in convenient form +somewhat a handicap in her always gracious efforts to welcome and inform +our growing tide of visitors. Knowing as she did my lifelong interest in +Colonial history and the lives and family stories of the men and women +who enacted their parts therein (my sole qualification, if such in +charity it may be called, for such a task) she, from time to time, had +suggested that I prepare a book upon Loudoun, the people who built up +the County and the old homes which they erected and in which they +lived. The present volume has been written in an effort to respond to +those requests. When some four years ago the work was contemplated, it +was proposed to make it primarily a small, informal guidebook to +Loudoun's older homes; but as my research into her earlier days +progressed, I became deeply conscious that the people of Loudoun have +forgotten much of her past that tenaciously and loyally should be +remembered; and so the story of the County almost crowded out, beyond +expectation, the story of the homes. It is hoped that, sometime in the +future, another book pertaining wholly to these old plantations and +their owners may be prepared and published. + +Although there has been no very recent book devoted to her history, +Loudoun has had her historians within and without her boundaries and, +above all, has been fortunate in attracting the interest of that +outstanding scholar and historian of the Northern Neck, the late Fairfax +Harrison, Esq., whose beautiful country-seat of Belvoir is near by in +the adjoining county of Fauquier. As the most casual reader of the +following pages will quickly recognize, I have been under constant +obligation, in the preparation of this work, to these earlier writers +and can but here sincerely acknowledge the help I have derived from +them. + +The first published history of Loudoun was written by Yardley Taylor, a +Quaker of the upper country, prior to 1853 in which year it made its +printed appearance. With it was published a map of the County prepared +by him (for his vocation was that of a land-surveyor) and both map and +book are highly creditable to their author. The book, however, is not +very large and, concerning itself somewhat extensively with the +topography, geology, etc. of the County, it has less to say of Loudoun's +history than its admirers could wish. The map, embellished with +cartouches of old buildings, was the first county map to be prepared in +this part of Virginia and so accurate was it found to be that it was +used by both Federals and Confederates in the devastating War Between +the States. That war, with its aftermath, set back the cultural +activities of Virginia for a full generation; thus it was not until 1909 +that the next Loudoun history appears, this time by Mr. James W. Head of +Leesburg. His volume is more comprehensive than Mr. Taylor's but, +again, it covers far more than the County's history, including carefully +prepared surveys of its minerals, soils, farm statistics, commercial +activities, and many other interesting and closely related subjects. In +1926 Messrs. Patrick A. Deck and Henry Heaton published their _Economic +and Social Survey of Loudoun County_ which is somewhat similar in its +scope to the work of Mr. Head but not so large a volume. In the +meanwhile, however, in 1924, Mr. Fairfax Harrison, himself a scion of +the Fairfax family, had privately published his comprehensive _Landmarks +of Old Prince William_ covering the early history of all the territory +originally comprised in old Prince William County; and thereby built an +enduring monument to his own erudition and industry that will stand as +long as there remains a man or woman who retains an interest in the +fairest part of the princely Colepeper-Fairfax Proprietary. It remains a +pleasant and grateful memory that I had the benefit of Mr. Harrison's +personal suggestions and advice, as well as access to the overflowing +treasury of his published writings, in my preparation of this volume. + +In addition to the authors named, much help was derived from Mr. John +Alexander Binns' treatise on his agricultural experiments, from the +war-books of Major General Henry Lee, Col. John S. Mosby, Col. E. V. +White, Rev. J. J. Williamson, Captain F. M. Myers and Mr. Briscoe +Goodhart, although in the case of the two latter authors their writings +are measurably impaired by the rancour which controlled their pens. Dr. +E. G. Swem's _Virginia Historical Index_ was of constant assistance as +were the publications of the Virginia Historical Society, those of the +College of William and Mary and similar historical magazines as well as +Virginia's Colonial records and the records of Loudoun County. The +resources of the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution and +those of our little Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg have all been +available to me. In short, I had intended to append a bibliography of +volumes consulted and relied upon for many of the views hereafter +expressed; but when those volumes grew in number to five or six hundred +I realized that limited space would permit no such project. Therefore I +have contented myself with frequently indicating in footnotes the +principal sources from which my information has been derived. + +To my acknowledgment of aid obtained from books, pamphlets, newspapers +and magazines, official records and documents, must be added my +appreciation of the help of many friends. Mr. Thomas M. Fendall of +Morrisworth and Leesburg, of distinguished Virginia background himself, +has made such careful and comprehensive studies of Loudoun's past that +he was and is the logical prospective author of a book thereon; but his +modesty equals his industry and scholarship to the very obvious loss, in +this instance, to the County and its people. From him I have had such +constant and constructive assistance and cheerful response to my +frequent appeals that without his aid this book could not have attained +its present form. To Loudoun's present County Clerk Mr. Edward O. +Russell and to his deputy Miss Nellie Hammerley; to Mrs. John Mason; +Mrs. E. B. White and Miss Elizabeth White of Selma; Mrs. Frederick Page; +the Rev. G. Peyton Craighill, the present Rector of Shelburne Parish; +the Rev. J. S. Montgomery; Miss Lilias Janney; Judge and Mrs. J. R. H. +Alexander of Springwood; Mrs. Ashby Chancellor; Mrs. John D. Moore; Mr. +Frank C. Littleton of Oak Hill, and his long studies of the history of +that estate and of President Monroe; Trial Justice William A. Metzger; +Mr. J. Ross Lintner, Loudoun's County Agent; Hon. Charles F. Harrison, +Commonwealth's Attorney; Mr. Oscar L. Emerick, Superintendent of +Schools, for permission to use the map of the County prepared by him; +Mr. E. Marshall Rust; Mr. George Carter; Hon. Wilbur C. Hall and his +efficient official staff; Mr. Valta Palma, Curator of the Rare Book +Collection of the Library of Congress, and Mr. Hirst Milhollen of the +Fine Arts Division of the same great institution; Mr. John T. Loomis, +Managing Director of Loudermilk and Co. of Washington, as well as to +very many others, my sincere thanks are again tendered for the valuable +help they all so willingly have given me. + +The illustrations used to embellish the text deserve a word of comment. +The portrait of the Right Honourable John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, +Captain-General of the British forces in America and Governor-in-Chief +of Virginia, in whose honour the County of Loudoun was named, is +reproduced from an engraving that appeared in the London Magazine of +October, 1757, when Loudoun was at the height of his career. It was +copied from the engraving by Charles Spooner of an earlier painting of +the Earl by the Scotch artist Allan Ramsay (1713-1784), who later became +the principal portrait painter to King George III and his court. I have +in my collection two copies of this London Magazine engraving, one of +which I found in the hands of a dealer in New York and the other in +London. No other copies, so far as I can learn, have recently been +offered for sale. + +The fine portrait of the Right Honourable William Petty-FitzMaurice, +Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Landsdowne, for whom Shelburne +Parish was named, is by Sir Joshua Reynolds and is now in the National +Portrait Gallery in London to which it was presented by his son Henry, +3rd Marquess of Landsdowne, K. G., in June, 1858. I obtained an official +photograph of this painting at the National Portrait Gallery in the +summer of 1937, and permission to reproduce it in this book. + +The portrait of Sir Peter Halkett, Baronet, of Pitfiranie, Scotland, who +commanded that part of Braddock's army that passed through the present +Loudoun on its way to the fatal battle near Fort DuQuesne, is from P. +McArdell's engraving of the portrait painted by Allan Ramsay in 1740, +and is considered by me one of my most fortunate discoveries. + +The pictures of Oak Hill in the body of the book and that of the meeting +of the Middleburg Hunt on its spacious lawns, reproduced on the +dust-jacket, are from the extensive collections of Mr. Frank C. +Littleton. The original of the portrait of General George Rust of +Rockland (1788-1857), builder of that cherished family seat in 1822, +belongs to and is in the possession of a grandson, Mr. John Y. Rust of +San Angelo, Texas, but a carefully executed copy hangs on Rockland's +walls. During the two administrations of President Andrew Jackson, +General Rust was in command of the United States Arsenal at nearby +Harper's Ferry and for many years he was one of the most respected and +influential of the County's citizens. The photograph of the original +portrait herein used I owe to another grandson, Mr. E. Marshall Rust of +Leesburg and Washington, as I do the picture of Rockland itself and that +of the old John Janney residence in Leesburg, later so long the home of +the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Edwards, the latter a sister of Mr. +Rust. They were all photographed in this masterly fashion by Miss +Frances Benjamin Johnston of Washington. The pictures of Foxcroft, Oak +Hill and the old Valley Bank in Leesburg are from the Pictorial Archives +of Early American Architecture in the Division of Fine Arts of the +Library of Congress and the negatives are also the work of Miss +Johnston. + +Reproduction of the portrait of Nicholas Cresswell, the Journalist, is +due to the courtesy of the Dial Press, of New York, publishers of the +American edition of his journal. The original portrait is owned by Mr. +Samuel Thorneley of Drayton House, near Chichester, West Sussex, England, +a descendant of Cresswell's younger brother, Joseph Cresswell. The map +of Loudoun is based on that prepared by Mr. Oscar L. Emerick in 1923, +and is used by his kind permission. + +And now, gentle reader, step with me into the pleasant land of Loudoun. + + HARRISON WILLIAMS. + +Roxbury Hall + Near Leesburg, Virginia + March, 1938. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PREFACE vii + + THE EARLIER INDIANS 1 + + ENGLAND ACQUIRES VIRGINIA 10 + + THE PASSING OF THE INDIANS 20 + + SETTLEMENT 31 + + THE MELTING POT 43 + + ROADS AND BOUNDARIES 60 + + SPECULATION AND DEVELOPMENT 72 + + THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 83 + + ORGANIZATION OF LOUDOUN AND THE FOUNDING OF LEESBURG 97 + + ADOLESCENCE 114 + + REVOLUTION 123 + + THE STORY OF JOHN CHAMPE 142 + + EARLY FEDERAL PERIOD 159 + + MATURITY 182 + + CIVIL WAR 198 + + RECOVERY 222 + + INDEX 235 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + _John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun_ Frontispiece FACE PAGE + + _Map of Loudoun County_ 1 + + _Sir Alexander Spotswood_ 20 + + _Sir Peter Halkett, Bart_ 83 + + _The Fall of Braddock_ 93 + + _William Petty-FitzMaurice_ 116 + + _Nicholas Cresswell_ 129 + + _Noland Mansion_ 139 + + _Oatlands_ 171 + + _Foxcroft_ 173 + + _Rockland_ 175 + + _General George Rust_ 176 + + _Oak Hill_ 178 + + _Oak Hill, East Drawing Room_ 179 + + _Old Valley Bank_ 203 + + _Battle of Ball's Bluff_ 205 + + _Old John Janney House_ 226 + + + + + +LEGENDS OF LOUDOUN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE EARLIER INDIANS + +[Illustration: MAP LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA] + + +The county of Loudoun, as now constituted, is an area of 525 square +miles, lying in the extreme northwesterly corner of Virginia, in that +part of the Old Dominion known as the Piedmont and of very irregular +shape, its upper apex formed by the Potomac River on the northeast and +the Blue Ridge Mountains on the northwest, pointing northerly. It is a +region of equable climate, with a mean temperature of from 50 to 55 +degrees, seldom falling in winter below fahrenheit zero nor rising above +the upper nineties during its long summer, thus giving a plant-growing +season of about two hundred days in each year. + +The county exhibits the typical topography of a true piedmont, a rolling +and undulating land broken by numerous streams and traversed by four +hill-ranges--the Catoctin, the Bull Run and the Blue Ridge mountains and +the so-called Short Hills. These ranges are of a ridge-like character, +with no outstanding peaks, although occasionally producing well-rounded, +cone-like points. The whole area is generously well watered not only by +the Potomac, flowing for thirty-seven miles on its border and the +latter's tributary Goose Creek crossing the southern portion of the +county, but also by many smaller creeks or, as they are locally called, +"runs"; and by such innumerable springs of most excellent potable water +that few, if any, of the farm-fields lack a natural water supply for +livestock. These conditions most happily combine to create a climate +that for healthfulness and all year comfortable living is without peer +on the eastern seaboard and, indeed, truthfully may be said to be among +the best and most enjoyable east of the Mississippi. + +Before the advent of the white man, the land was covered by a dense +forest of oak, hickory, walnut, sycamore, locust, ash, pine, maple, +poplar and other varieties of trees--not by any means unbroken, for here +and there the Indian tribes that roamed the area, had burned out great +clearings for grazing-grounds to entice the wild animals they hunted and +in which the native grasses then quickly and indigenously sprang up; +attracting particularly the buffalo, in those days, and at least until +as late as 1730, to be found in vast numbers all through the Piedmont +region and always in the forefront as an unending supply of flesh-food +to their Indian hunters. With the buffalo were great herds of "red and +fallow deer" and wolves, foxes in abundance, bears in the mountains, +opossum, racoons, and, along the streams, otter and beaver (later to be +so greatly valued for their pelts) and whose presence, with that of +other fur-bearing animals, was to have its influence on the history of +the region. + +When in 1607 the doughty Captain John Smith--in writing of any part of +Virginia one sooner or later is certain to shake hands with that +amourous hero--when Captain Smith made his first voyage to Virginia and +came in contact with her aboriginees, the latter were, in a broad sense, +of several stocks or nations, distinguishable principally by linguistic +affinity and more or less common cultural idiosyncracies rather than by +close alliances; and indeed frequently appearing to cherish their +bitterest enmities among their own blood-kindred. Along the coast, in +what we now know as Tidewater, the territory running from the Chesapeake +to those rocky outcrops making waterfalls in all the great rivers +flowing from Virginia into the Bay, the Indians were generally of the +Algonquin stock, a tribe covering an enormous territory along the +Atlantic seaboard from the neighborhood of Hudson's Bay southerly to at +least the Carolinas but by no means monopolizing the regions where they +were found. + +To the north, in what is now New York, centred the Iroquoian tribes, +with ramifications as far south as Virginia and North Carolina. Among +these more southerly Indians of the Iroquoian stock were the fierce and +powerful "Susquehannocks" along the river we still call by that name who +later were to play a prominent rôle in our Loudoun yet to be; the +Nottoways, occupying a part of southeastern Virginia; the Cherokees, +occupying the area in Virginia and North Carolina west of the Blue +Ridge, extending north as far as the Peaks of Otter near the +headquarters of the James; and the Tuskaroras of famous and bloody +memory, who were paramount in North Carolina until their conquest and +all but annihilation by the English in 1711. What were left of the +fiercest and most implacable of the Tuskaroras after that crushing +defeat, retreated to New York where, as the sixth nation they joined the +Iroquois Confederacy of their near kinsmen of the Long House. A few of +the more friendly were removed to a local reservation in 1717 but +gradually, in small parties, says Mooney, they too moved to join their +kindred in the north. + +Both Algonquins and Iroquois were to be classed as barbarians rather +than savages. The former have been described as having generally "found +locations in permanent villages surrounded by extensive cornfields. They +were primarily agriculturists or fishermen, to whom hunting was hardly +more than a pastime and who followed the chase as a serious business +only in the interval between the gathering of one crop and the sowing of +the next." The Iroquois, who found their highest development in their +confederacy of the Five Nations of the Long House in central New York +(the Massawomecks so dreaded by the Powhattans and Manahoacs of Smith's +narratives) were even further advanced. Described by historians as the +Romans of America, they led all other Indians of what is now the United +States in their powers of organization and extraordinary political +development. They lived in cleverly and strongly palisaded villages and +their agricultural activities, falling to the women's share of tribal +work, were probably further advanced than those of any other Indians +north of Mexico. Our earliest knowledge places them on the banks of the +St. Lawrence, in the neighborhood of the present Montreal, whence they +were driven by the neighboring Algonquins. Their defeat and expulsion to +the south bred in them a deep determination for revenge. In the New York +wilderness they developed and cultivated a passion for ruthless warfare +and forming their famous Confederation somewhere about the year 1570, +they rapidly became the most powerful Indian military force east of the +Mississippi and a sombre threat and terror to the other Indian tribes +far and wide. + +In contrast to both Algonquins and Iroquois, the Siouan tribes who +ranged the Piedmont country from the Potomac south, were primarily +nomads--and nomads, observes Mooney, have short histories. Modern +scholarship inclines to place the origin of the great Siouan or Dakotan +family possibly amidst the eastern foothills of the southern Alleghanies +or at least as far east as Ohio, whence, after a long period, they +probably were driven by the Iroquois and other enemies beyond the +Mississippi. Being essentially nomadic, without permanent villages and +relying on constant hunting for their food, following their game +wherever it might lead, they necessarily ranged widely and covered broad +areas. From the days of the earliest European invasion, locations of the +Iroquois and Algonquin stock were known, but as the earliest English +scouts and adventurers found no such long established villages in the +Piedmont country, their tendency and following them, that of the early +writers and historians, was to loosely assume that the Indians found +there were, in common with their neighbours, either Algonquins or +Iroquois. Later antiquarians and ethnologists seem to have followed +their lead; with an exasperating paucity of record, tradition or +material remains, there was but little on which to base knowledge of +language, whence racial stock might be deduced. It was not until Horatio +Hale announced, sixty years ago, his discovery of a Siouan language +bordering the Atlantic coast and James Mooney, in 1894, published his +_Siouan Tribes of the East_ that these Indians of the northern Virginia +Piedmont, known to be members of the Manahoac Confederacy, were +identified as of the Siouan stock. They "consisted of perhaps a dozen +tribes of which the names of eight have been preserved. With the +exception of the Stegarake," writes Mooney, "all that is known of these +was recorded by Smith, whose own acquaintance with them seems to have +been limited to an encounter with a large hunting party in 1608." + +As Smith's narrative, after its wont, paints a vivid picture of the +Manahoacs, a picture which almost stands alone in the mist of conjecture +and deductive reasoning making up what is left to us of them, it is well +to quote it in full, bearing always in mind that while these people were +found on the upper Rappahannock, we have excellent reason to believe +that they also occupied all the land now within the bounds of Loudoun. +As allied bands, without fixed habitation, they wandered over the lands +between Tidewater and the Blue Ridge, from the James to the Potomac. + +The story is contained in Smith's _Generall Historie of Virginia_ which +states on its title page to be "by Captaine John Smith sometymes +Governor in those Countryes & Admirall of New England." Chapter VI of +the book, from which we quote, is however apparently signed by Anthony +Bagnall, Nathaniel Powell and Anas Todhill who were three of Smith's +companions on this adventure. Bagnall and Powell were among the six +listed as "Gentlemen" in distinction to an additional six listed as +"Souldiers," among the latter being Todhill. + +On the 24th July, 1608, Smith and these twelve men set out on this +second voyage of discovery along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Going +as far north as the head of the Bay and the "Susquesahannock's" river +and noting their many findings, they eventually, upon their return +south, came to "the discovery of this river some call Rapahanock" up +which they proceeded, with occasional brushes with the Indians along its +banks. On their third day upon the river + +"Wee sailed so high as our Boat would float, there setting up crosses, +and graving our names in the trees. Our Sentinell saw an arrowe fall by +him, though he had ranged up and downe more than an houre in digging in +the earth, looking of stones, herbs, and springs, not seeing where a +Salvage could well hide himselfe. + +"Upon the alarum by that we had recovered our armes, there was about an +hundred nimble Indians skipping from tree to tree, letting fly their +arrows so fast as they could: the trees here served us for Baricadoes as +well as they. But Mosco (their Indian guide) did us more service than we +expected, for having shot away his quiver of Arrowes, he ran to the Boat +for more. The Arrowes of Mosco at the first made them pause upon the +matter, thinking by his bruit and skipping, there were many Salvages. +About halfe an houre this continued, then they all vanished as suddenly +as they approached. Mosco followed them so farre as he could see us, +till they were out of sight. As we returned there lay a Salvage as dead, +shot in the knee, but taking him up we found he had life, which Mosco +seeing, never was Dog more furious against a Beare, than Mosco was to +have beat out his braines, so we had him to our Boat, where our +Chirugian who went with us to cure our Captaines hurt of the Stingray, +so dressed this Salvage that within an houre after he looked somewhat +chearefully, and did eat and speake. In the meane time we contented +Mosco in helping him to gather up their arrowes, which were an armefull, +whereby he gloried not a little. Then we desired Mosco to know what he +was, and what Countries were beyond the mountaines; the poore Salvage +mildly answered he and all with him were of Hassinninga, where there are +three Kings more like unto them, namely the King of Stegora, the King of +Tauxuntania and the King of Shakahonea, that were coming to Mohaskahod, +which is onely a hunting Towne, and the bounds betwixt the Kingdom of +the Mannahocks, and the Nantaughtacunds, but hard by where we were. We +demanded why they came in that manner to betray us, that came to them in +peace, and to seeke their loves; he answered they heard we were a people +come from under the world, to take their world from them. We asked him +how many worlds he did know, he replyed, he knew no more than that which +was under the skie that covered him, which were the Powhattans, with the +Monacans, and the Massawomecks, that were higher up in the mountaines. +Then we asked him what was beyond the mountaines, he answered the Sunne: +but of anything els he knew nothing; because the woods were not burnt. +These and many such questions we demanded, concerning the Massawomecks, +the Monacans, their owne Country, and where were the Kings of Stegora, +Tauxintania, and the rest. The Monacans he said were their neighbours +and friends, and did dwell as they in the hilly Countries by small +rivers, living upon rootes and fruits, but chiefly by hunting. The +Massawomecks did dwell upon a great water and had many boats, & so many +men that they made warre with all the world. For their Kings, they were +gone every one a severall way with their men on hunting: But those with +him came thither a fishing until they saw us, notwithstanding they would +be altogether at night at Mahaskahod. For his relation we gave him many +toyes, with perswasions to go with us, and he as earnestly desired us +to stay the coming of those Kings that for his good usage should be +friends with us, for he was brother to Hassinninga. But Mosco advised us +presently to be gone, for they were all naught, yet we told him we would +not till it was night. All things we made ready to entertain what came, +& Mosco was as dilligent in trimming his arrowes. The night being come +we all imbarked, for the river was so narrow, had it biene light the +land on the one side was so high, they might have done us exceeding much +mischiefe. All this while the K. of Hassinninga was seeking the rest, +and had consultation a good time what to doe. But by their espies seeing +we were gone, it was not long before we heard their arrowes dropping on +every side the Boat; we caused our Salvage to call unto them, but such a +yelling and hallowing they made that they heard nothing but now and then +a peece, ayming for neere as we could where we heard the most voyces. +More than 12 miles they followed us in this manner; then the day +appearing, we found ourselves in a broad Bay, out of danger of their +shot, where we came to an anchor, and fell to breakfast. Not so much as +speaking to them till the Sunne was risen; being well refreshed, we +untyed our Targets[1] that covered us as a Deck, and all shewed +ourselves with these shields on our armes, and swords in our hands, and +also our prisoner Amoroleck; a long discourse there was betwixt his +countrimen and him, how good we were, how well wee used him, how we had +a Patawomeck with us, loved us as his life, that would have slaine him +had we not preserved him, and that he should have his liberty would they +be but friends; and to doe us any hurt it was impossible. Upon this they +all hung their Bowes and Quivers upon the trees, and one came swimming +aboard us with a Bow tyed on his head, and another with a Quiver of +Arrowes, which they delivered to our Captaine as a present, the Captaine +having used them so kindly as he could, told them the other three Kings +should doe the like, and then the great King of our world should be +their friend, whose men we were. It was no sooner demanded than +performed, so upon a low Moorish poynt of Land we went to the Shore, +where those foure Kings came and received Amoroleck: nothing they had +but Bowes, Arrowes, Tobacco-bags, and Pipes: what we desired, none +refused to give us, wondering at every thing we had, and heard we had +done: our Pistols they tooke for pipes, which they much desired, but we +did content them with other Commodities, and so we left foure or five +hundred of our merry Mannahocks, singing, dancing, and making merry and +set sayle for Moraughtacund." + + [1] i.e. Shields. + +The spelling, punctuation and capitalization follow the text of the +first edition (1624) in which, opposite page 41, is a map shewing +apparently the Manahoacs (there spelled "Mannahoacks") in possession of +the present Loudoun and the Monacans south of them, around the upper +waters of the James. + +With Smith's return to the mouth of the Rappahannock the mist descends +again upon Loudoun for many years. + +In 1669 and 1670, John Lederer made three journeys into the interior of +Virginia. His first journey took him up the York River; his second, up +the James; and the route of his third he describes as "from the Falls of +the Rappahannock River to the top of the Apalataen Mountains." Although +he obtained the consent of Sir William Berkeley before making his +explorations, he seems to have incurred the ill-will of the Virginians +themselves and by them was forced to flee to Maryland. There he met Sir +William Talbot, who sympathized with and befriended him and translated +his story of his travels from the latin in which it had been written. It +was published in London in 1672 with a "foreword" by Talbot in Lederer's +defense. + +Of the "Indians then Inhabiting the western parts of Carolina and +Virginia," Lederer says: + +"The Indians now seated in these parts are none of those which the +English removed from Virginia, but a people driven by the Enemy from the +northwest, and invited to sit down here by an Oracle above four hundred +years since, as they pretend for the ancient inhabitants of Virginia +were far more rude and barbarous, feeding only upon raw flesh and fish, +until they taught them to plant corn, and shewed them the use of it." + +Concerning the whole Piedmont region, called by Lederer "The Highlands" +he writes: + +"These parts were formerly possessed by the Tacci, alias Dogi, but they +are extinct and the Indians now seated here, are distinguished into the +several nations of Mahoc, Nuntaneuck, alias Nuntaly, Nahyssan, Sapon, +Managog, Mangoack, Akernatatzy and Monakin &c. One language is common to +them all, though they differ in dialects. The parts inhabited here are +pleasant and fruitful because cleared of wood and laid open to the Sun." + +Apparently in Lederer's "Monakins" and "Mangoacks" we may recognize +Smith's "Monacans" and "Mannahocks" or "Mannahoacks"; but on his third +or Rappahannock journey he does not speak of such Indians as he may have +actually met. James Mooney thinks that by that time the Manahoacs may +have been driven out of their earlier hunting grounds. The "Tacci, alias +Dogi" described by Lederer are suggested by Mooney to have been only a +mythic people, a race of monsters or unnatural beings, such as we find +in the mythologies of all tribes and had no relation to the Doeg, named +in the records of the Bacon rebellion in 1676, who were probably a +branch of the Nanticoke. + +What became of the Manahoacs? Did their pursuit of the game they hunted +gradually draw them westward or were they, more probably, driven from +the Piedmont country by their terrible foes the northern Iroquois, aided +perhaps by the Susquehannocks who next appear upon the scene? But before +taking up the story of the Iroquois and Susquehannock influence in +Loudoun, we must turn to the English Kings and their grants of Virginia +and particularly its Northern Neck, that spacious territory lying +between the Rappahannock and Potomac, extending from the Chesapeake to a +disputed western boundary. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ENGLAND ACQUIRES VIRGINIA + + +Mighty in her military strength and with an all but inexhaustible wealth +pouring into her coffers from her American conquests, Spain stood as a +very colossus over the Europe of the sixteenth century; and England, +watching and fearing her hostile growth, grimly determined that she too, +should have her share of that fabulous new world and its treasure. So +deeply planted and so greatly grew this determination that it eventually +became a part of England's public policy and in June, 1578, the great +Elizabeth, with her eyes on the American coast, issued letters patent to +Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and after Gilbert's death reissued them on the +25th March, 1584, to his half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh, to discover, +have, hold and occupy forever, such "remote heathern and barbarous +lands, countries and territories not actually possessed by any Christian +prince, nor inhabited by Christian people." As by its terms the new +grant was to continue but for "the space of six yeares and no more," it +was clear that advantage of its provisions should be taken with +promptness; and Raleigh was not a man given to delay or indecision. He +had been making his preparations; hardly more than a month elapsed +before an expedition of two ships captained by Philip Amidas and Arthur +Barlow set sail from England, bound for America. On the 4th of the +following July, having landed on an island off the coast of the present +Carolinas, these men raised the English flag and formally declared the +sovereignty of England and its Queen. They brought home with them such +glowing accounts of their discovery that Elizabeth was moved to bestow +upon all the coast the name of Virginia--the land of the Virgin Queen. +Two more attempts were made to establish permanent settlements in the +neighborhood and although both failed, enough had been done to found a +claim of English ownership and dominion, a claim which covered the +entire coast from the French settlements in the north to the Spanish +settlements upon the Florida peninsula, and thus the original Virginia +became coextensive with England's pretensions on the North American +continent. It is true that Spain then claimed the entire coast under a +Papal Bull but Papal Bulls meant very little to Elizabeth or to her +pugnacious sea-rovers. One of the many curiosities of history is that +neither Raleigh nor his captains ever saw the soil of that part of +America which was to become the Virginia we know, nor did the Queen who +named it ever have knowledge of its physical characteristics, its +resources or its inhabitants. In short, Virginia proper was neither to +be discovered nor have its first precarious settlement until after +Elizabeth's death. + +After these first abortive attempts to found English settlements under +his patent, Raleigh, on the 7th March, 1589, assigned it and all his +rights thereunder to a company of merchants and adventurers who were +resolved to proceed with the enterprise. These assigns, after the death +of Elizabeth, became the leaders in seeking from King James I "leave to +deduce a colony in Virginia." That monarch, says Bancroft, "promoted the +noble work by readily issuing an ample patent" and on the 10th day of +April, 1606, signed and affixed his seal to the first Charter of an +English colony in America under which permanent settlement was to be +effected. This charter declared the boundaries of Virginia to extend +from the 34th to the 45th parallels of longitude and authorized the +planting of two colonies. The first of these, to be founded by the +London Company, largely made up of men of that city, was designated a +"First Colony" to be established in the southerly portion of England's +claim; the right to establish a "Second Colony" to be planted in the +north, went to the Plymouth Company, whose membership, headed by Sir +Ferdinando Gorges, Governor of the garrison of Plymouth in Devonshire, +came principally from the west of England. Under this Charter the King +named the first "Council for all matters which shall happen in +Virginia;" under it the London Company dispatched the expedition of +three ships in command of Sir Christopher Newport and having Captain +John Smith among its members; and under it and the Second Charter (of +1609) the infant colony was governed until, in the year 1624, the +Charter was revoked and the Crown took over the affairs of the Colony. + +Until the troubled reign of the first Charles, the growth of Virginia's +population had been very slow. It was not until the defeat of the +Royalists in 1645 by the forces of the Parliament and the King's +execution in January, 1649, that the first great increase in population +occurred. In a pamphlet published in London in that latter year, by an +unknown author, it is stated that her population was at that time 15,000 +English and 300 negroes and these were scattered along the lower +portions of the James and the York and the shores of the Chesapeake. +Then the defeated Cavaliers began to arrive in such great numbers that +by 1670 Sir William Berkeley estimated that 32,000 free whites, 6,000 +indentured servants and 2,000 negroes were there. Many of the old +population and the newer arrivals as well, were pressing northward to +the land between the mouth of Rappahannock and that of the Potomac which +in 1647 had been organized into a new county, under the name of +Northumberland, to include all the lands lying between those latter +rivers and running westerly to a still indefinite boundary. This was new +territory recently, and still very sparsely, settled by the English and +even as late as 1670 it was contemporaneously estimated that the Indians +between the two rivers had nearly 200 warriors. + +Although the Stuarts had been deposed in England and the younger Charles +forced to fly to the Continent, he was still King in Virginia with loyal +and devoted subjects. It was under such conditions that Charles, +actuated not only by a desire to reward certain of his Cavalier +adherents who were sharing his exile, but also to create a refuge for +others of his followers from the ire and oppression of the triumphant +Roundheads, granted by charter dated the 18th day of September, 1649, +the whole domain between the Rappahannock and Potomac to seven of his +faithful lieges who, during the Civil War, had fought valiantly in the +Stuart cause. These men were described in the charter, still preserved +in the British Museum, as Ralph Lord Hopton, Baron of Stratton; Henry +Lord Jermyn, Baron of St. Edmund's Bury; John Lord Colepeper, Baron of +Thoresway; Sir John Berkeley, Sir William Morton, Sir Dudley Wyatt and +Thomas Colepeper Esq. And thus, says Fairfax Harrison, "the proprietary +of the Northern Neck of Virginia came into existence." + +He notes that of the patentees Lord Jermyn, after the Restoration, +became Earl of St. Albans and Sir John Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of +Stratton. "The only conditions" quotes Head "attached to the conveyance +of the domain, the equivalent of a principality, were that one-fifth of +all the gold and one-tenth of all the silver, discovered within its +limits should be reserved for the royal use and that a nominal rent of a +few pounds sterling should be paid into the treasury at Jamestown each +year." + +But to receive a grant of this splendid Proprietary from a fugitive and +powerless King was one thing and to reduce it to actual possession was +another and very different one. Charles might and did consider himself +King in both England and Virginia and the ruling Virginians might and +did consider themselves his very loyal and obedient subjects; but +unfortunately for the seven Cavalier patentees of the Northern Neck, the +Parliament and Cromwell took a radically different view of the matter +and, even more unfortunately, were in a position to enforce that view. +No sooner had the representatives of the new Proprietors come to +Virginia and were duly welcomed by the royalist Governor Sir William +Berkeley, than a Parliamentary fleet of warships arrived from England, +deposed the Governor, set up the rule of Parliament in 1652 and abruptly +ended, for the time being, the patentees' hopes of gaining possession +of their new grant. + +There was little to be done by these Cavaliers while Parliament and +Cromwell ruled. And then the wheel of history, after its fashion, +completed another cycle. On the 3rd September, 1658, Cromwell died and +soon the ruthless and efficient but never very cheerful control of +England by the Puritans came to an end. In 1659 word came to Virginia of +the resignation of Richard Cromwell and the Puritan Governor Mathews +dying about the same time, the Virginia Assembly in March, 1660, +proceeded to elect Sir William Berkeley to be their Governor again. On +the 8th of the following May, Charles II was proclaimed King in England +and in September a royal commission for Berkeley, already elected by the +Assembly, arrived, the Virginians themselves welcoming the restoration +of Stuart rule with great enthusiasm. + +The owners of the patent of the Northern Neck believed that their +patience was at length to be rewarded. Again they sent a representative +to Virginia, this time with instructions from King to Governor to give +his aid to the Proprietors to obtain possession of their domain. But +during all the years of their forced inactivity, the settlement of +Virginia had gone on apace. What had been in 1649 a thinly settled +frontier, shewed now a largely increased population and land grants to +these new settlers had been freely issued by Virginia's government. Many +of those newly seated in the Northern Neck were very influential men and +in their opposition to the claims of the patentees received popular +sympathy and encouragement. As a result, Berkeley found himself +confronted by a Council which obstructed his every effort to carry out +the King's instructions and the endeavours of the Proprietors to gain +possession of their grant being completely blocked, they were obliged to +appeal to the home government for relief. The outcome of negotiations +between them and Francis Moryson, then representing Virginia in London, +was that the patent of 1649 was surrendered by its holders for a new +grant carrying on its face substantial limitations of the earlier +patent. This new grant was dated the 8th day of May, 1669, almost twenty +years after the first, and contained provisions recognizing the title to +lands already seated or occupied under other authority; generally +limiting the Proprietors' title to such other lands as should be +"inhabited or planted" within the ensuing twenty-one years, together +with a constructive recognition of the political jurisdiction of the +Virginia government within the Proprietary.[2] + + [2] Harrison's _Virginia Land Grants_, 63. + +This appeared a reasonably satisfactory compromise of the controversy to +both sides. But suddenly in February, 1673, Charles made a grant of all +Virginia to the Earl of Arlington and Lord Colepeper to hold for +thirty-one years at an annual rent of forty shillings to be paid at +Michaelmas. Thus was Virginia rewarded for her faithful loyalty to the +Stuarts. When the news came to Jamestown the Colony flamed with +resentment and anger; and now Berkeley and his Council were in hearty +accord with the wrathful indignation of the Colonists. Even though the +King had not intended to interfere with the title of individual planters +in possession of their land, his action threw the whole situation, and +particularly in the Northern Neck, into turmoil and confusion. +Exasperation was directed against the holders of the Charter of 1669 as +well as those of 1673 and again the original patentees appealed to the +Privy Council for relief. Again the King sought to help them but by this +time they had grown weary of the long controversy and indicated their +willingness to sell out their rights to the Colony; before an agreement +could be reached, Bacon's Rebellion flared up and the whole subject was +again in abeyance. + + * * * * * + +We must now return to the Indians. The Dutch settlements along the +Hudson had early developed a very lucrative and active trade with their +native neighbours, particularly the Iroquois, who brought to them furs +for which they were given European manufactures, especially spirits and +firearms and when, in 1664, the English conquered and took possession of +these Hudson settlements, they continued the Dutch trade and friendship +with the Iroquois. To obtain furs, the hunters and warriors of the Five +Nations ranged further and further afield and before long were in bitter +conflict with the Susquehannocks who had their headquarters and +principal stronghold fifty or sixty miles above the present Port Deposit +in Maryland on the east bank of that river from which they derived their +name. They were mighty men and warriors, these Susquehannocks. All the +early English who mention them pay tribute to their splendid strength +and stature. Smith who, it will be remembered, came in contact with them +before his skirmish with the Manahoacs, said of them that "such great +and well proportioned men are seldom seen, for they seem like giants to +the English, yea to their neighbours." And in 1666 Alsop wrote that the +Christian inhabitants of Maryland regarded them as "the most noble and +heroic nation of Indians that dwelt upon the confines of America.... +Men, women and children both summer and winter went practically naked," +and adds, among other details, that they painted their faces in red, +green, white and black stripes; that the hair of their heads was black, +long and coarse but that the hair growing on other parts of their bodies +was removed by pulling it out hair by hair; and that some tattooed their +bodies, breasts and arms with outlines. Our American soil, from the +beginning, appears to have favoured the art of the barber and +beauty-shop. + +From the English in Maryland these Susquehannocks acquired guns and +ammunition and thus were able to hold their own with their Iroquois foe +for over twenty years of the harshest warfare. But the Iroquois were +relentless and though repulsed again and again, returned year after year +to the attack. The Susquehannocks finally weakened by an epidemic of +smallpox, were overcome, the Iroquois captured their main stronghold and +completely overthrew their power. Fugitive bands of Susquehannocks, +nominally friendly to the English of Maryland and Virginia, then roamed +the western frontiers of those colonies and along both banks of the +Potomac, still harassed by pursuing bands of Senecas. + +Under such conditions it was not long before they came in open conflict +with the English settlers, some say through Indian thefts, others +because the English attacked a party of them, mistaking them for +pilfering Algonquin Doegs. The fighting, once begun, spread rapidly and +the settlers on their exposed frontiers, denied practical assistance by +the Virginia Governor Berkeley and his colleagues (whom rumor said were +making such substantial profits from the Indian trade that they were +loath to antagonize the Indians by sending organized forces against +them) turned for leadership to Nathaniel Bacon, a young planter of +gentle birth, not long come out from England. Bacon was a natural +leader, their cause was popular and soon Virginia found herself in the +midst of an Indian war and a rebellion against the Jamestown government +as well. Bacon led his men to victory over both Indians and Governor but +suddenly dying from a dysentery or from poison--to this day the cause of +his death is surrounded by uncertainty--the "rebellion collapsed with +surprising suddenness," his former followers were overcome by the +Governor with the aid of English troops and Berkeley proceeded to wreak +a vindictive and merciless revenge. + +Meanwhile knowledge of the turmoil had reached England and the King sent +Commissioners to Virginia to investigate the causes of the trouble and +Berkeley's wholesale executions and confiscations of estates. These men +made a fair report of their findings to the King, which, added to the +many complaints from the families of Berkeley's victims, caused Charles +to exclaim: "As I live, that old fool has taken more lives in that naked +country than I have done for the murder of my father." In the spring of +1677 the royal order for Berkeley's removal arrived and he sailed for +England in an attempt to justify himself in an audience with Charles, +his departure being "joyfully celebrated with bonfires and salutes of +the cannon" by the Virginians. But in England he found that the King, +resentful at his abuse of power, avoided meeting him and in July the old +man fell ill and died, his end hastened, it is said, by his vexation and +chagrin over the King's attitude. + +Upon the death of Berkeley, the King appointed Lord Colepeper Governor +of Virginia. As he was not ready nor, possibly, inclined to go +immediately to his post, the King issued a special commission to Sir +Herbert Jeffries, who had been one of his emissaries to investigate +Berkeley, as Lieutenant Governor in immediate charge of affairs. +Jeffries ruled until his death in 1678 when he was succeeded by Sir +Henry Chicheley as Deputy Governor under an old Commission issued to him +as early as 1674. Colepeper did not personally take charge on Virginia's +soil until 1680, and then but for a brief period, soon returning to +England and remaining there over two years. It was not until December, +1682, that we again find him in Virginia. + +Colepeper, it will be remembered, was not only by inheritance a part +owner of the patents of 1649 and 1669 to the Northern Neck but he was +coproprietor with Arlington under the grant of 1673 of all Virginia and +now in his own person Governor of the Colony as well. For good measure, +his cousin, Alexander Colepeper, was also an owner by inheritance of a +share in the grants of 1649 and 1669. It was apparent that he was in a +position at long last to turn his Virginia interests to account; but in +doing so he sought to make the new dispensation as personally profitable +to his rapacious self as possible. Therefore he opened negotiations with +his old associates, by 1681 had succeeded in buying most of them out, +and declared himself sole owner of all these grants, although his cousin +still owned his one-sixth interest. But the King had become annoyed at +his conduct and the stories of his rapacity and, seeking an opportunity +to punish him, seized upon the pretext that he had been absent from his +post without leave. On this charge he, in 1682, was deprived of his +office as Governor. Two years later (1684) Colepeper sold out his rights +under the so-called Arlington Charter of 1673 to the English Crown for a +pension of Ł600 a year for twenty-one years. He tried also to sell to +Virginia his rights to the Northern Neck under the Charter of 1669, but +in that transaction he was unsuccessful. A curiously ironic fate seemed +intent upon keeping the Northern Neck Proprietary, reward of Cavalier +loyalty and devotion, as an inheritance for the still unborn sixth Lord +Fairfax, scion and representative of the family of two of the most able +of the Parliamentary leaders. + +Although Bacon and his men, when they took the field in 1676, had +thoroughly disciplined the Indians in Virginia, the Iroquois and the +Susquehannocks still entered Piedmont and roamed its forests. The +Iroquois are believed to have driven out the Manahoacs and their kinsmen +prior to 1670 and certainly claimed their lands by conquest; not +coveting them for settlement but for hunting and particularly for such +furs as they could trap and collect in a land plentiful of beaver and +otter. The Virginians built forts at the navigation heads of the great +rivers for the protection of settlers; but the northern Indians passed +beyond and between them and not only attacked the tributary Virginia +Algonquin tribes, from time to time, but were frequently in conflict +with the English as well. Lord Howard of Effingham, successor to +Colepeper as Governor, met Governor Dongan of New York in July, 1684, +and with him closed a treaty with the Iroquois whereby the latter were +to call out of Virginia and Maryland "all their young braves who had +been sent thither for war; they were to observe profound peace with the +friendly Indians; they were to make no incursions upon the whites in +either state; and when they marched southward they were not to approach +near to the heads of the great rivers on which plantations had been +made."[3] But the treaty also contained a provision that the Iroquois, +when in Virginia, should "Keep at the Foot of the Mountains" which +seemed to acknowledge their right to be there and so continued the +Indian menace to such settlers as pushed into Piedmont. Nevertheless the +frontier forts of the Virginians were allowed to fall into disuse, the +Colony depending on companies of armed and mounted rangers to patrol the +back country and keep the Indians in order, and there seemed some +prospect of peace though the outlying plantations, long keyed up to +Indian alarms, remained alert and watchful. However for awhile there was +less Indian trouble in the upper country and then a new alarm occurred, +resulting in the first recorded exploration of the present Loudoun. + + [3] Howison's _History of Virginia_, I., 387. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PASSING OF THE INDIANS + +[Illustration: SIR ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD] + + +When Smith came to Virginia, there was an Indian tribe of the Algonquin +stock called by him the Nacothtanks, a name later evolving into +Anacostans, which occupied the land about the present city of Washington +and some years later having moved its principal village southward to the +banks of the Piscataway Creek, thereafter was known by the name of that +stream. A daughter of their so called "Emperor" or Chief, having been +converted to Christianity, married Giles Brent of Maryland and with him +moved across the Potomac to land he acquired on the north shore of Aquia +Creek, then still in a frontier wilderness. The Susquehannocks, at the +time of their outbreak in 1675, had sought refuge within the fort of the +Piscataways but had been refused asylum, the Piscataways remaining loyal +to their Maryland neighbours and aiding them in the fighting. In +consequence the Susquehannocks bore these lower river Indians bitter +hatred. When the Iroquois completed their conquest of the Susquehannocks +and reduced them to vassalage, they embraced their side of the quarrel. +Toward all the tribes of the east the attitude of the Iroquois was +simple, consistent and uncompromising. Rule or ruin, subjugation or +extinction, was the harsh choice offered and there was no alternative +for these others save in remotest flight. To protect the Piscataways, +the Marylanders gave them a reservation amidst their settlements. +Blocked and perhaps made jealous by this move, the Iroquois changed from +force to guile, seeking every opportunity to turn them against their +Maryland protectors and, it is thought, eventually in 1697, persuading +them to move across the Potomac into the forests of the Virginia +piedmont where they camped for a while near what is now The Plains in +Fauquier County. It was not long before white hunters or friendly +Indians brought the news to the settlements and the Virginians, still +having sporadic troubles with the Iroquois and Susquehannocks in these +backwoods, viewed the incursion of another tribe with great alarm. They +immediately sought to induce the newcomers to return to Maryland but +this they suavely, though none the less stubbornly, refused to do. At +length in 1699, feeling the loss of their normal and accustomed diet of +fish, they, of their own accord, broke up their camp and traversing the +forests of the present Loudoun, settled on what has since been known as +Conoy Island in the Potomac at the Point of Rocks. There had recently +occurred several murders of English settlers by Indians, probably roving +Iroquois; and Stafford County--which some years before, had come into +existence to cover this upper country and was to include all this +northern piedmont wilderness until through increasing settlement, it was +separately formed into Prince William County in 1731--was again in fine +ferment over the whole Indian menace. By direction of Governor +Nicholson, the county sent two of its officers, Burr Harrison of +Chipawansic and Giles Vandercastel whose plantation was on the upper +Accotink, to summon the "Emperor" of the Conoy Piscataways to +Williamsburg. Mounted on horseback and, we may believe well armed, the +two intrepid emissaries promptly set out upon their mission, travelling +it is thought, an Indian trail about a mile or more south of the +Potomac, which is in its course approximately followed by the present +Alexandria Pike, and fording as well as they could the various creeks +which run into that stream from the south. The Governor had ordered that +they keep a record of their journey and a description of their route and +the land traversed and complying with those instructions they wrote the +first detailed description of any part of Loudoun. Their report exactly +complied with the Governor's orders as to its scope and became a +document of primary importance in Loudoun's history. It reads: + +"In obedience to His Excellency's command and an order of this Corte +bearing date the 12th day of this Instance, April," (1699) "We, the +subscribers have beene with the Emperor of Piscataway, att his forte, +and did then Comand him, in his Maj'tys name, to meet his Excellency in +a General Assembly of this his Maj'ties most Ancient Colloney and +Dominion of Virginia, the ffirst of May next or two or three days +before, with sume of his great men. As soone as we had delivered his +Excellency's Commands, the Emperor summons all his Indians thatt was +then at the forte--being in all about twenty men. After consultation of +almost two oures, they told us they were very bussey and could not +possibly come or goe downe, but if his Excellency would be pleased to +come to him, sume of his great men should be glad to see him, and then +his Ex-lly might speake whatt he hath to say to him if Excellency could +nott come himself, then to send sume of his great men, ffor he desired +nothing butt peace. + +"They live on an Island in the middle of the Potomack River, its aboutt +a mile long or something Better, and aboute a quarter of a mile wide in +the Broaddis place. The forte stands att ye upper End of the Island butt +nott quite ffinished, & theire the Island is nott above two hundred and +ffifty yards over; the bankes are about 12 ffoot high, and very heard to +asend. Just at ye lower end of the Island is a Lower Land, and Little or +noe Bank; against the upper end of the Island two small Island, the one +on Marriland side, the other on this side, which is of about fore acres +of Land, & within two hundred yards of the fforte, the other smaller and +sumthing nearer, both ffirme land, & from the maine to the fforte is +aboute foure hundred yards att Leaste--not ffordable Excepte in a very +dry time; the fforte is about ffifty or sixty yardes square and theire +is Eighteene Cabbins in the fforte and nine Cabbins without the forte +that we Could see. As for Provitions they have Corne, they have Enuf and +to spare. We saw noe straing Indians, but the Emperor sayes that the +Genekers Lives with them when they att home; also addes that he had maid +peace with all ye Indians Except the ffrench Indians; and now the +ffrench have a minde to Lye still themselves; they have hired theire +Indians to doe mischief. The Distance from the inhabitance is about +seventy miles, as we conceave by our Journeys. The 16th of this Instance +April, we sett out from the Inhabitance, and ffound a good Track ffor +five miles, all the rest of the days's Jorney very Grubby and hilly, +Except sum small patches, but very well for horses, tho nott good for +cartes, and butt one Runn of any danger in a ffrish, and then very bad; +that night lay at the sugar land, which Judge to be forty miles. The +17th day we sett ye River by a small Compasse, and found it lay up N. +W. B. N., and afterwards sett it ffoure times, and always ffound it +neere the same Corse. We generally kept about one mile ffrom the River, +and a bout seven or Eight miles above the sugar land, we came to a broad +Branch of a bout fifty or sixty yards wide, a still or small streeme, it +tooke our horses up to the Belleys, very good going in and out; about +six miles ffarther came to another greate branch of about sixty or +seventy yeards wide, with a strong streeme, making ffall with large +stones that caused our horses sume times to be up to theire Bellyes, and +sume times nott above their Knees; So we conceave it a ffreish, then not +ffordable, thence in a small Track to a smaller Runn, a bout six miles, +Indeferent very, and soe held on till we came within six or seven miles +of the forte or Island, and then very Grubby, and greate stones standing +Above the ground Like heavy cocks--they hold for three or ffoure miles; +and then shorte Ridgges with small Runns, untill we came to ye forte or +Island. As for the number of Indeens, there was att the fforte about +twenty men & aboute twenty women and abbout Thirty children & we mett +sore. We understand theire is in the Inhabitance a bout sixteene. They +informed us there was sume outt a hunting, butt we Judge by theire +Cabbins theire cannot be above Eighty or ninety bowmen in all. This is +all we Can Report, who subscribes ourselves + + "Yo'r Ex'lly Most Dutifull Servants + + GILES VANDERASTEAL + BUR HARRISON." + +This "Sugar land" where our emissaries spent the first night of their +journey, and the Sugarland Run passing through and named from it, are +frequently referred to in the early records and the mouth of the Run +became in 1798 the starting point of Loudoun's corrected southern +boundary line with Fairfax. They derived their name from the groves of +sugar maples found growing there which, with the use of their sap, were +well known to the Indians from earliest times. In 1692 David Strahane +"Lieut. of the Rangers of Pottomack" tells in his journal that while +patrolling the upper woods, he and his men on the 22nd September "Ranged +due North till we came to a great Runn that made into the sugar land, & +we marcht down it about 6 miles & ther we lay that night." The wording +quite clearly shows that the sugar land was then well known to the +whites. + +Although, as their report shews, Vandercastel and Harrison reached their +goal and duly delivered their message, the Piscataways did not then or +later comply with the Governor's pressing invitation. That their +attitude was not prompted by defiance but rather by worried caution +based on their appreciation of the manifold difficulties of their then +relations with the whites, is indicated by the report of two other +English envoys who, later in the same year, were sent by the authorities +to Conoy. These men, Giles Tillett and David Straughan, kept a journal +from which we learn that in November, 1699, they in their turn reached +the fort and found that "one Siniker" (i.e. Seneca or Iroquois) was +among the Piscataways who had had trouble with "strange Indians" who +they called Wittowees and that the "Suscahannes" had captured and +brought two of these Wittowees to the fort. The "Emperor" received the +Englishmen very kindly and told them that he was then willing to "come +to live amongst the English againe but he was afeared the sstrange +Indians would follow them and due mischief amongst the English, and he +should be blamed for it, soe he must content himselfe to live there." He +accused the French of stirring up these "strange Indians" and "presents +his services to the Gove'n'r, and thanks him for his Kindness to send +men to see him to know how he did." + +Our friend the Emperor shews his knowledge of statecraft. Doubtless he +continued to find plausible reasons for holding on to Conoy where he and +his people complacently continued to remain until after the +Spotswood-Iroquois Treaty of 1722 which had such a broad effect on +Loudoun and which we shall presently consider. During this long +occupation of the island, the Piscataways finished building and occupied +their fort and village and to this day evidence of their tenure, in +arrowheads and other objects, is still, from time to time, discovered. + +The journey of Harrison and his companion Vandercastel is important to +Loudoun not only because it resulted in the first known description of +any of the topography of what is now that county, but also because it +marks the first definitely known white exploration of the locality above +the Sugarland Run and while unknown English hunters may have theretofore +penetrated some part of Loudoun's wilderness, these men were, it is +believed, the first whites _named and recorded_ who ever trod Loudoun's +soil above the Sugarland. Vandercastel's connection with our story then +ends; but Burr Harrison became the progenitor of one of the most +prominent and respected families of the county which has now been +identified with its best life for five generations. He had been baptized +in St. Margaret's, Westminster, in 1637 and came with his father +Cuthbert Harrison of Ancaster, Yorkshire, to Virginia some time prior to +1669 when Burr, with others, patented land on Asmale Creek near +Occoquan. Afterward, but before 1679, he acquired land on the +Chipawansic, presumably from Gerrard Broadhurst. Therefore, to +distinguish him and his descendants from the other numerous and not +necessarily related Virginia Harrisons, he and they were thenceforward +usually known as the Harrisons of Chipawansic. It was not, however, +until 1811 that Burr Harrison's descendants in the male line took up +their permanent residence in Loudoun; in that year the widow of his +great-great-grandson Mathew Harrison moved with her children to +Morrisworth, an estate seven miles southeast of Leesburg, now the home +of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Fendall, which had come to her from her family +the Ellzeys of Dumfries, and there she continued to live until her +death. + +In the year 1712 another courageous adventurer sought out Conoy. The +Swiss Baron Christopher de Graffenreid had been interested in forming a +colony of Germans, refugees from the lower Palatinate, at New Bern in +North Carolina and also having obtained authority to make a settlement +on the Shenandoah in Virginia's remote frontier, he proceeded to explore +the neighbourhood. He followed the Potomac up to Conoy Island and drew a +map of the surroundings. This map notes the great number of wild fowl on +the river, particularly at the mouth of Goose Creek. "There is in +winter," he wrote, "such a prodigious number of swans, geese and ducks +on this river from Canavest to the Falls that the Indians make a trade +of their feathers." Such a description is enough to reduce to envious +inanition our Loudoun Nimrod of today whose occasional reward of a few +wild ducks may at rare intervals reach the hardly hoped for bagging of a +single wild goose, as a rule now far too alert and wary to alight in +their spring and fall flights over the county. The wild swan has, alas, +wholly disappeared. + +De Graffenreid's reference to the vast number of wild fowl on the upper +Potomac, in those early days, has abundant confirmation from others. So +numerous were the wild geese that the Indians called the river above the +falls "Cohongarooton" or Goose River and the English at first gave it +the same name; applying the name Potomac to only so much of the stream +as lay between the falls and the bay. It was not until well after 1730 +that the whole river was generally called by the latter name. + +The "Canavest" referred to by de Graffenreid was the village of the +Piscataways on Conoy and in his journal he describes it as "a very +pleasant and enchanting spot about forty miles above the falls of the +Potomac, we found a troop of savages there ... we made an alliance, +however with these Indians of Canavest, a very necessary thing in +connection with the mines which we hoped to find in that vicinity, as +well as on account of the establishment which we had resolved to make in +these parts of our small Bernese colony which we were waiting for. After +that we visited those beautiful spots of the country, those enchanted +islands in the Potomac above the falls." De Graffenreid's "mines" and +"establishments" were to be over the Blue Ridge in the nearby Shenandoah +Valley; but he shrewdly recognized the advisability of making friends +with a tribe so firmly and strategically planted as he found at the +settlement on Conoy. As to his "enchanted islands," those contiguous to +the Loudoun bank of the Potomac long have had Loudoun owners and seem to +its people to be sentimentally part of her domain; as a matter of cold +fact and colder law, they lie within the bounds of Maryland; for in 1776 +the long dispute over the sovereignty of the Potomac was settled by a +clause in Virginia's Constitution of that year relinquishing +jurisdiction. + +Two years before de Graffenreid's expedition, there arrived in Virginia +as Lieutenant Governor, Colonel (afterward Sir) Alexander Spotswood, the +most alert, devoted and able ruler the Colony had had since Smith--a man +"who still enjoys an almost unrivalled distinction among Virginia's +Colonial Governors"[4] and, says Howison, whose "chief advantage +consisted in his social and moral character, in which aspect it would +not be easy to find one of whom might be truly asserted so much that is +good and so little that is evil."[5] Spotswood came to love Virginia as +though it were his native land and great was the moral debt the Colony, +and especially the counties created from its old frontier, came to owe +to his strong and conscientious administration. Under a vicious practice +by that time obtaining in England, the titular governship of Virginia +had been held, since 1697, by George Hamilton Douglas, Earl of Orkney, +who though never setting foot in the Colony, drew Ł1,200 of the annual +salary of Ł2,000 attached to the office until his death in 1737; and +thus Spotswood, preëminent among Virginia's rulers, served but under a +lieutenant-governor's commission. A great-grandson of John Spottiswoode, +Archbishop of St. Andrew's and Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, who +lies buried in Henry VII's Chapel in Westminster Abbey, Spotswood +descended from an old and aristocratic Scottish family, whose +progenitor, a cadet of the great house of Gordon, married an heiress of +the ancient race of Spottiswoode which took its name from the Barony of +Spottiswoode in the Parish of Gordon, County of Berwick. Born in 1676 in +Tangier where his father Robert Spotswood then served as physician to +the English Governor and garrison, Spotswood "a tall robust man with +gnarled and wrinkled face and an air of dignity and power"[6] had, in +1704, fought valiantly under Marlborough and had been desperately +wounded in the battle of Blenheim. He brought with him recognition of +the right of Virginians to the writ of Habeas Corpus, which though, +since Magna Carta, the common heritage of every free-born Englishman, +had not theretofore run in Virginia. Had this been his all, Virginia +would have been his debtor; in the event it was but an augury of many +benefactions to follow. + + [4] Dr. P. A. Bruce in _A Virginia Plutarch_. + + [5] Howison's _History of Virginia_. + + [6] Fiske's _Old Virginia and her Neighbours_. + +From the first, Spotswood shewed a keen and enlightened interest in the +problems of the frontier. His efforts to expand the settlements westerly +and to subdue the Indians did not always meet with co-operation from the +Virginia legislature, controlled by representatives of the more +protected and densely settled tidewater sections, whose people, the +"Tuckahoes" as they were called, were frequently unresponsive to the +plight of those in the upper country; and from time to time Spotswood's +impatience with his legislators boiled up into strong and bluntly worded +reproof. To one of his assemblies, recalcitrant in Indian affairs, he +addressed his well remembered words of dismissal: "In fine I cannot but +attribute these miscarriages to the people's mistaken choice of a set of +representatives whom Heaven has not ... endowed with the ordinary +qualifications requisite to legislators; and therefore I dissolve you." +A few Spotswoods, scattered here and there in the seats of the mighty of +our modern America, might not prove inefficacious. + +In May, 1717, we find him reporting upon the Indian situation to Paul +Methuen, the then English Secretary of State, that though the English +had carefully kept the terms of Lord Howard's Treaty of 1685, the +Iroquois "had committed divers hostilitys on our ffrontiers, in 1713 +they rob-d our Indian Traders of a considerable cargo of Goods, the same +year they murdered a Gent'n of Acco't near his out Plantations; they +carried away some slaves belonging to our Inhabitants, and now threaten +not only to destroy our Tributary Indians but the English also in their +neighbourhood." He adds that such conduct requires "some Reparation" and +asks the Secretary to instruct the Governor of New York to cause his +Iroquois to "forebear hostilitys on the King's subjects of the +neighbouring Colonies and likewise any nation of Indians under their +protection."[7] + + [7] _Official Letters of Alexander Spotswood._ Virginia Historical +Society, 1882. + +Neither by temperament nor training was Spotswood a man to acquiesce in +such conditions. After consulting with and urging co-operation upon the +Governors of Maryland and Pennsylvania, he set out in the winter of +1717-'18 for New York "to demand something more substantial than the +bare promises of the Chief men of those Indians, w'ch they are always +very liberal of, in expectation of presents from the English, while at +the same time their young men are committing their usual depredations +upon ye Frontiers of these Southern Governments." He was fortunate in +arriving in New York "very opportunely to prevent the march of a Great +Body of those Indians w'ch I had Advice on the Road was intended chiefly +against the Tributaries of this Governm't, and the Governor of New +York's Messengers overtook them upon their march and obtained their +promise to Abstain from any hostilitys on the English Governments." + +It being late in the season for a conference with the Sachems of the +Long House and the New York Assembly being in the "height of its +business and like to make a larger session than ordinary," Spotswood +arranged, through the Governor of New York, preliminary negotiations +with the Indians and returned to his Virginia. + +The discussions thus begun dragged along during the ensuing five years. +At length, in 1721, the Iroquois sent their representatives to +Williamsburg with more definite proposals and in May, 1722, the General +Assembly passed an act reciting in detail the terms on which the treaty +would be made.[8] Later in the summer Spotswood, with certain of his +Council, went to New York on a man-of-war and thence proceeding to +Albany (where he was joined by the Governor of Pennsylvania) the new +treaty was closed after the usual endless speech making and other +ceremony. By its terms the Iroquois were prohibited from ever again +crossing the Potomac or the Blue Ridge "without the license or passport +of the Governor or commander-in-chief of the province of New York, for +the time being"; and the Virginia tributary Indians were similarly +prohibited from crossing the same boundaries. Moreover, there were +provisions that should any Indians--Iroquois or tributary--ignore the +prohibition, they were, upon capture and conviction, to be punishable by +death or transportation to the West Indies, there to be sold as slaves. +There was added a clause rewarding him who captured an Indian found in +Virginia without permission, with 1,000 pounds of tobacco when the +latter should be condemned to death; or, if he should be condemned to +transportation, the captor should "have the benefit of selling and +disposing of the said Indian, and have and receive to his own use, the +money arising from such sale." + + [8] Hening IV, 103. + +There was nothing ambiguous in this treaty's terms; the Iroquois in +signing it realized that their Piedmont hunting grounds were lost to +them and that the sportive raids of their war parties below the Potomac +were ended. + +And now Spotswood's consulship had reached its end. His enemies in +London and Williamsburg had been industriously intriguing and upon his +return he found he had been superseded. He had acquired a vast estate of +over 45,000 acres in the Piedmont forests and to settle and improve +those lands he proceeded to devote his great and able energies. But he +had far from retired from his public labours. As Postmaster General for +the American Colonies he, by 1738, developed a regular mail service from +New England to the James; and was about to sail as a major-general on +Admiral Vernon's expeditions against Carthagena when he suddenly died. +He was buried on his estate, Temple Farm, near Yorktown, where latterly +he had made his home. It was in his mansion there, then owned by his +eldest daughter Ann Catherine and her husband M. Bernard Moore, Senior, +that many years later the negotiations for the surrender of Lord +Cornwallis to General Washington closed the American Revolution. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +SETTLEMENT + + +Although Spotswood's treaty, as we now know, had finally ended the +Indian menace in Piedmont, the Colonists had to be convinced of that +fact by reassuring experience before any great movement to the upper +lands would begin. There had been other treaties and, as they well knew +to their cost, Indian promise and performance were not always +consistent. The first ten years following the treaty, or from 1722 to +1732, are a twilight zone for Loudoun in which one has to depend on +fragmentary traditions and comparatively few grants as to actual +settlement; but after the latter year the records become increasingly +numerous and tradition more definite and the student stands on +progressively firmer ground. Slowly there grew a steady increase in +trappers and hunters to the cismontane region and then, gradually and +cautiously, the landless men, the poorer whites from the lower +settlements, the redemptioners or indentured servants who had fulfilled +their contracts of service, began to make their way by Indian trail or +through the untravelled woodlands. Very soon, however, there were +purchases of substantial tracts by a more prosperous class who began to +seat themselves upon their new possessions. They were a rough and sturdy +folk, those first poorer arrivals, illiterate for the most part, bred to +primitive conditions of living, many accustomed from birth to +self-reliance in meeting the problems of existence on a sparsely settled +land and wholly ignorant of the relative comforts of life enjoyed by the +prosperous planters in tidewater. They built their rude cabins of logs +in such places as seemed best to them, paying scant attention to land +titles and being in fact, for the most part, mere squatters on their +holdings; and there they planted small patches of corn and beans which, +with the abundant game in the woods and fish in the streams, provided +their liberal and hearty fare. It has been traditional that these +earliest pioneers found many open spaces burned over before their +arrival; for so prevalent had been the Indian habit of firing the woods, +that historians have suggested that had the coming of the Europeans to +Virginia been delayed for a few more centuries, its great forests would +have vanished before their arrival. Taylor records that the early whites +found the timber (probably second or younger growth) "far inferior in +size and beauty to what it is at present. Indeed it has been asserted +that in clearing ten acres of land there could hardly be obtained from +it sufficient material to enclose it;" but as he was a Quaker, living in +the midst of the Quaker settlement between the Catoctin range and the +Short Hills in the northern part of the county, whose people were in +habits and daily life somewhat isolated and up to Taylor's time at +least, given to keeping largely to themselves, we may assume that his +tradition applied more particularly to his locality. However, the +present writer, some twenty years ago, while improving a farm then owned +and occupied by him in the Catoctin hills, about four miles northeast of +Leesburg, had occasion to clear woodland for roads and gardens, he found +that none of the larger trees, many of them oaks, had rings indicating +an age of over two hundred years. Taylor, and following him Head, places +the responsibility of burning the forests upon the hunters (ranging over +the ground before the first settlers) who are said to have fired the +underbrush "the better to secure their quarries;" but it is +unquestionable that the Indians had preceded them in the practice. It +will be remembered that more than a hundred years before, Smith's +Manahoacs could not inform him of conditions _beyond_ the mountains +"because the woods were not burnt;" obviously in contrast to conditions +on the Piedmont side; and Beverly in his history, written in 1705, amply +confirms the Indian usage. + +Although tradition tells us, and the absence of recorded grants +confirms, that these earliest settlers were mostly squatters, there had +been acquisition of large tracts within present Loudoun from the +Proprietor of the Northern Neck long before their arrival. + +In an earlier chapter the title to the Northern Neck has been traced +down to the year 1681 when it vested for the most part in the second +Lord Colepeper and it is now time to continue its history. Upon +Colepeper's death, in 1689, his only child Catherine, with her mother, +inherited the Proprietary. This second Lady Culpeper, or Colepeper as +the name was then also spelled, was something of a character. By birth, +it seems, she was Dutch and had inherited from her own family both a +large fortune and an independent spirit, not infrequently found +together; and it was this fortune + +"which enabled Lord Colepeper to hold together his large properties, +particularly the vast Northern Neck proprietary in the Colony of +Virginia. It was also her fortune which rescued from bankruptcy the +English property of her son-in-law, the fifth Lord Fairfax.... Lady +Colepeper, it appears, never succeeded in mastering the English +language. She both spoke and wrote it very imperfectly."[9] + + [9] _An Historical Sketch of the two Fairfax Families in Virginia._ + Lindsay Fairfax, (1913) p. 41. As to spelling of Culpeper or Colepeper, + see Fairfax Harrison's _Proprietors of the Northern Neck_; also 33 + _Virginia Magazine History and Biography_, 223. + +Lady Culpeper died in 1710. The daughter Catherine had, some years +before, married Thomas, fifth Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron in the +peerage of Scotland and, on her mother's death, the grant rested in +them; for in the meanwhile Alexander Colepeper also had died (1694) and +left his one-sixth interest to Lady Margaret Colepeper, the second +Lord's widow. The fifth Lord Fairfax, dying in 1710, left three sons +(all of whom later died without issue) and it was the eldest of these, +Thomas, who inherited the title and became the sixth Lord. This sixth +Lord Fairfax had been born in England in 1691 and came later to +Virginia, living out his long life as something of a misogynistic +recluse (due, it is said, to an unfortunate love affair in early life +with a mercenary adventuress) at his seat Greenway Court, then in the +wilderness of Frederick County, where he died in 1781. Today his body +rests in Christ Church, Winchester. He it was who became the friend and +patron of the youthful George Washington and who fills so large a part +in the history of the Northern Neck. + +The family of Fairfax had long been seated in Yorkshire where the men +were something more than typical English squires, often rising to +positions of much national as well as local importance. It traced its +descent from Richard Fairfax, Lord Chief Justice of England in the reign +of Henry VI. Sir Thomas Fairfax accompanied the Earl of Essex to France +and was knighted for bravery in the camp before Rouen. On the 4th May, +1627, he was created a Baron of Scotland with the title of Lord Fairfax +of Cameron, which not very glorious honour he purchased for the sum of +Ł1,500.[10] His son, Sir Ferdinando, was a general in the Parliamentary +Army during the English civil war, becoming the second Baron, and the +latter's son Sir Thomas, later third Baron, was commander-in-chief of +the Parliamentary Armies and a most capable soldier. Becoming +dissatisfied with the extreme policies of the Parliamentary party, he +resigned his position in 1650 and was succeeded by Oliver Cromwell. This +third Baron died in 1671, without male issue, and the title then passed +to his cousin Henry, grandson of the first Lord. Upon his death, in +April, 1688, he was succeeded by his son Henry as the fifth Lord Fairfax +who has already been mentioned as the husband of Catherine Culpeper. + + [10] Neill's _Fairfaxes of England and America_, p. 8. (1868.) + +The fifth Lord Fairfax, although his marriage brought the great +Proprietary into the family, seems to have been dissolute and +extravagant. When he died in London, on the 6th of January, 1710, his +affairs were in great disorder and it is said that at that time "his +servant who attended him robbed him of the little money he had left." +His widow, however, was a woman of thrift and character and intent on +guarding her Virginia patrimony for the benefit of her sons. In 1702 +Robert Carter had been appointed local agent for the Proprietary; but +after her husband's death Lady Fairfax became dissatisfied with his +conduct of its affairs and the revenues she was receiving and appointed +in his place Edmund Jenings and Thomas Lee (then only twenty-one years +of age) as resident agents. As Jenings was unable to go to Virginia at +the time, young Lee found himself for four years in sole charge; and a +most conscientious and capable agent he became and continued until +Jenings came to Virginia in 1717 and took matters into his own hands. +This Jenings was a man of considerable prominence who later was to +serve, for a short time, as acting governor awaiting the arrival of +Spotswood. After the death of Lady Fairfax, her testamentary trustees +"turned again to Micajah Perry[11] for help and he pursuaded Robert +Carter to agree once more to assume the agency"[12] (1722) which he +continued to hold until his death ten years later. The Virginia office +of the estate then remained closed until 1734 when Lord Fairfax +appointed his cousin William Fairfax (whose son Bryan by his second wife +Deborah Clarke of Salem, Massachusetts, was eventually to succeed to the +title as the eighth Lord and in whose descendants the title still +remains) to act as collector of rents. In 1736 Lord Fairfax himself +assumed the management in Virginia for a short time; once more the +office was closed until in 1739 we find William Fairfax again in charge, +this time with more extensive powers until Lord Fairfax returned to +Virginia in 1745 and took upon himself control for the rest of his life. + + [11] Micajah Perry, the great Virginia merchant of London. + + [12] _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, I, 231. + +We are thus introduced to two more men who, in themselves and their +families, had paramount rôles to play in and about the territory now +Loudoun; and between whom there was to develop no little rivalry and +conflict of personal ambitions and interests. Lee, himself between 1717 +and 1719 a purchaser of several thousand acres of wilderness lying on +either side of Goose Creek, had been born in 1690 at the family home Mt. +Pleasant in Westmoreland County and eventually became "President[13] and +Commander-in-Chief" of Virginia, as he is described in his will. He was +a grandson of that Richard Lee of a family long in possession of the +estate of Coton in Shropshire who, coming to Virginia sometime prior to +1642, first settled in that part of York which subsequently became +Gloucester, later moved to Northumberland and became the progenitor of a +family ever since of outstanding importance in the Northern Neck and +Virginia. Carter, a later purchaser of land on a truly vast scale, whose +father Colonel John Carter, believed to have been the son of William +Carter of Carstown, Hertfordshire and of the Middle Temple, had come to +Virginia prior to 1649 and first settled in upper Norfolk, now +Nansemond County, came to wield an even greater power than his long-time +rival. Our Robert Carter, (1663-1732) the "King Carter" of towering +memory, was the second surviving son, and his residence Corotoman was in +Lancaster County. The descendants of both Lee and Carter continued for +many years to hold great estates in Loudoun. One of Lee's grandsons, +Thomas Ludwell Lee, built Coton (long since vanished) about 1800 and +another grandson Ludwell Lee built about the same time and just across +the highway, the beautiful Belmont, that home of irresistible charm; +while in 1802 George Carter, great-grandson of the mighty Robert, built +and occupied Oatlands. Both Lee and Carter and their families and the +great mansions built in Loudoun by their descendants will receive later +mention.[14] + + [13] President of the Council. + + [14] Chapter XIII. + +Unfortunately for the development of parts of the southern and +southeastern portion of the county, the purchase of these great tracts +by Lee, Carter and others greatly delayed their settlement and this to +the disadvantage of the owners as well as the neighborhood. Even Lord +Fairfax is found setting off to himself large specific tracts.[15] It +was their intention to create hereditary landed estates, modelled on +those existing in England and to be farmed by a numerous class of yeoman +tenantry. But as the very type of farmer-settler most desired as tenants +by the great owners came in, they early and strongly evinced that +determination, common to all in the Colonies, to hold their land in a +freehold that could be passed on indefinitely to their children and thus +insure to them the benefit of their parents' industry and thrift rather +than to become tenants for a limited period of any great estate; and +this no matter how advantageous or tempting the proffered terms of +tenancy. Under then existing conditions, with the supply of new and +cheaply purchasable land seemingly inexhaustible if one had but the +determination and courage to push on to the newer frontier, they went +beyond the great manors, as they came to be called, and seated +themselves in the upper lands or crossed the Blue Ridge to the +Shenandoah Valley. Eventually and much later, when parts of the manors +were sold, it was often in comparatively large parcels and these and the +remaining portions were, as a rule, farmed with slave labor, a custom +practically nonexistent in the northwest part of the county. Thus the +relative thinness of settlement, persisting to this day, of much of the +lower lands of Loudoun may be attributed not wholly to the fact that the +stronger and more fertile lands lay above Goose Creek but in part to the +social history of those early days as well. + + [15] The well known Leeds Manor in Fauquier was one; named for Leeds + Castle, the Fairfax seat in Kent. + +The first specific grant of land in the later Loudoun appears long +before the treaty of 1722. Under date of the 2nd February, 1709, Captain +Daniel McCarty "of the Parish of Cople in the County of Westmoreland, +Esq." obtained title to 2,993 acres "above the falls of the Potowmack +River, beginning on said River side at the lower end of the Sugar Land +Island opposite to the upper part of the rocks in said River,"[16] +apparently for speculation or investment rather than for immediate +occupation; the number and character of the Indians still to be +encountered thereabout made settlement on isolated plantations or farms +far too risky to be inviting to rich or poor. This Daniel McCarty was +the founder of another eminent family of the Northern Neck which +intermarried in early days with many of the best known of the early +Potomac gentry. He subsequently married, as her second husband, Ann, +sister to Thomas Lee already mentioned, and widow of Colonel William +Fitzhugh of Eagle's Nest in King George County. The joining together of +the prominent families of the lower peninsula began very early and by +the closing years of the eighteenth century had gone so far that almost +all were in very truth "Virginia cousins" of various degrees and through +numerous alliances. Indeed this became so general that the social status +of any family, tracing back to that period and locality, can generally +be determined merely by the test of its affinities. + + [16] Land Patents Book, III, 248. + +It is remarkable that the literature of romance has concerned itself so +little with Daniel McCarty. His ancestry, his own life and that of his +descendants unite in offering the richest material but, save in the +traditions of Virginia, he is today all but unknown. He was the son of +Donal, the son of Donough, Earl of Clancarty. Donal was an officer in +the Irish Army that fought against King William and was ruined with its +defeat. The Earl and his descendants were exiled and Daniel came to +Virginia as a youth and settled in Westmoreland County. The Earls of +Clancarty were the heads of a family descended from Cormac who was King +of Munster in 483; and Burke, the great authority on the British +peerage, declares that "few pedigrees in the British Empire, if any, can +be traced to a more remote or more exalted source" than theirs; while +another authority asseverates that "long before the founders of the +oldest royal families of Europe, before Rudolph acquired the empire of +Germany, or a Bourbon ascended the throne of France, Cormac McCarty +ruled over Munster and the title of King was at least continued in name +in his posterity down to the reign of Elizabeth."[17] Daniel's eldest +son and heir, Colonel Dennis, married Sarah Ball, first cousin to Mary +Ball, mother of General Washington; and Augustine Washington, the +general's father, named him as one of the executors of his will. It was +another descendant of Captain Daniel who was surviving principal in the +famous McCarty-Mason duel over a century later--an event that so +profoundly stirred the country and cost the life of one of the most +prominent and beloved citizens of the Loudoun of that day.[18] + + [17] Journal Cork Historical and Genealogical Society, 2nd Series, Vol. + II, p. 213. + + [18] Captain Daniel's descent is given in _The McCarthys in Early + American History_, by Michael J. O'Brien, who corrects Hayden's + assumption that Daniel was the son of Dennis of Lynn Haven, Lower + Norfolk. Also see Chapter XIV. + +Francis Aubrey became a large purchaser of Loudoun land soon after the +Iroquois evacuation, first obtaining a grant at the mouth of Broad Run +about 1725. Among the tracts he later acquired was a grant of about 962 +acres purchased on the 19th December, 1728 from Lord Fairfax on or near +which later he built a home and lived. Nothing of this early house has +survived; but we know that it was near the "Big Spring" then as now a +conspicuous landmark on the old Carolina Road and about two miles north +of the present Leesburg. Probably "the Chappel above Goose Creek" of +the Truro Vestry books, the Chapel of Ease or convenient neighbourhood +church, the building of which was supervised by him for the Parish, was +immediately adjacent to his home and the location of that structure, the +first church edifice of any kind to be erected within the bounds of +present Loudoun, is known within a fair degree of accuracy and in 1926 +with appropriate ceremonies, was marked with a stone monument.[19] + + [19] Aubrey's house is shewn on Robert Brooke's survey (1737) of the + Potomac River below the Shenandoah. Original of survey is in Enoch Pratt + Library, Baltimore; photostat copy is in Library of Congress. + +Hamilton Parish was coextensive with Prince William County when the +latter was created in 1731. By a legislative act of May, 1732, that part +of Prince William lying above "the river Ockoquan, and the Bull Run (a +branch thereof) and a course thence to the Indian thoroughfare of the +Blue Ridge of Mountains" (Ashby's Gap) was set off as Truro Parish and a +Parish organization promptly followed. The new Parish was named for +Truro in Cornwall, a great mining district, for mining was expected to +be an important industry there. The first Vestry meeting was held on the +7th November, 1732; at a meeting held on the 16th April, 1733, an +agreement was made with the Rev. Lawrence De Butts to preach at the +Parish Church and "at the Chappell above Goose Creek" for 8,000 pounds +of tobacco, clear of the warehouse charges and abatements. The chapel +was then either contemplated or preliminary work on its construction may +have been begun; it was not finished until 1736. But during that +interval it is obvious, from the Vestry records, that occasional +services were held there--perhaps at first in the open air or at the +nearby house of Aubrey and thereafter in the unfinished chapel. At a +Vestry meeting held on the 12th October, 1733, Joseph Johnson was chosen +"Reader to the new Church and the Chappell above Goose Creek.... In the +Parish Levy for this year provision is made for 2,500 pounds of tobacco +to Captain Francis Aubrey toward building the Chapel above Goose Creek, +and the next year the same amount and in 1735, 4,000 pounds for +finishing said chapel."[20] Thus the construction of the chapel cost +the Parish 9,000 pounds of tobacco which about this time seems to have +been valued at eleven shillings per 100 pounds,[21] making the money +cost of the chapel about Ł49" 10s in Virginia currency or much less in +the more stable money of England. Undoubtedly it was built of logs from +the trees in its immediate vicinity and we may assume that it was very +small. + + [20] _History of Truro Parish_, by Rev. Philip Slaughter, D.D., Edited + by Rev. Edward L. Goodwin, p. 7. + + [21] Idem, 16. + +At a Vestry meeting held on the 18th November, 1735, a payment of 1,000 +pounds of tobacco was ordered made to Samuel Hull, Clerk of the Chapel +above Goose Creek. In a meeting nearly a year later, on the 11th +October, 1736, the Vestry ordered "that the Reverend Mr. John Holmes +Minister of this Parish preach six times in each year at the Chappell +above Goose Creek; and it is also ordered, that the Sundays he preached +at the said Chappell the sermon shall be taken from the new Church;" but +Mr. Holmes' ministry seems to have been somewhat irregular for at the +bottom of the page is found this note signed by the Rev. Charles Green +"the first regular Rector of Truro Parish": + +"The Levity of the members of the Vestry is worth notice. They applyed +to Collo. Colvill & entered an order, 23d Sept. 1734 for him to procure +them a Clergyman from England. By the order on the other page they gave +Cha. Green a title to the Psh. when ordained, and he had scarcely left +the country when they received Mr. John Holmes into the parish as +appears by the above order. N.B. Mr. Holmes was an Itinerant Preacher +without any orders, & recd. Contrary to Law." + +This Dr. Green, for he was a physician before becoming a clergyman, was +"received into, and entertained as Minister" of Truro Parish at a Vestry +meeting held on the 13th day of August, 1737. At the same meeting it was +"ordered that the Churchwardens place the people that are not already +placed, in Pohick and the new Churches in pews, according to their +several ranks and degrees." Also "Ordered that the Reverend Mr. Charles +Green preach four times in a year only, at the Chappell above Goose +Creek. And that the Sundays he preaches at the Chappell, the sermon +shall be taken from the new Church." + +At a meeting on the 3rd October, 1737, the Vestry appropriated "To +Francis Aubrey gent. for finding books for the Chappell 200 pounds +tobacco." Also + +"Whereas the Rev. Charles Green hath this day agreed with the Vestry to +take the tobacco levied to purchase books for the Chappell above Goose +Creek and ornaments for the Churches, at the rate of eleven shillings +current money per hundred. He by the said agreement obliging himself to +find and provide the said books and ornaments, being allowed fifty per +cent. upon the first cost in accounting with the Church-Wardens. It is +ordered that the collector pay to the said Green the sum of 8000 pounds +of tobacco, it being the quantity this day levied for the purpose +aforesaid." + +At a Vestry meeting held on the 15th April, 1745, it was ordered that +Messrs. John West, Ellsey and French view what necessary repairs were +wanting at Goose Creek Chapel and agree with workmen therefor. + +That seems to be the extent of the Truro Parish records concerning the +"Chappell." It is believed to have been in use until about 1812 and +thereafter utterly disappeared.[22] In 1742 Fairfax County was created, +consisting of the Parish of Truro. In October, 1748, the Assembly passed +an act dividing Truro Parish at Difficult Run and the upper part became +Cameron Parish, in delicate compliment to the Lord Proprietor's Barony; +but most unfortunately the Vestry book of Cameron, which would be +invaluable source material for the Loudoun student seeking information +for the period from 1748 until after the Revolution, seems to have +wholly disappeared or been destroyed.[23] The Chapel had from its +beginning until it became a part of Cameron Parish, that is from 1733 to +1748, these Clerks and Lay Readers: + + Joseph Johnson, new or Falls Church and Goose Creek 1733-1735 + Samuel Hull, Goose Creek, 1736-1740 + John Richardson, 1741-1745 + John Alden, 1745-1746 + John Moxley, 1747 + Thomas Evans, 1748 + + [22] _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, 304. + + [23] Chapter X post. + +Aubrey is believed to have been the son of John Aubrey or Awbrey of +Westmoreland, was an ally and close friend of Thomas Lee and, from his +appearance in what is now Loudoun until his death in 1741, was of such +dominant importance that he has been called its then "first citizen." +When the county of Prince William was set off from Stafford in 1731, he +became a member of its first Court and, in 1732, "the inspector of the +Pohick warehouse and a member of the Truro Vestry." Two years before his +death he became the Sheriff of Prince William County and, at about the +same time, established the ferry at the Point of Rocks.[24] + + [24] _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, 148 and 155. + +But before Francis Aubrey settled at Big Spring, Philip Noland in 1724 +had purchased land at the mouth of Broad Run. He married Aubrey's +daughter Elizabeth and later removed to lands on the Potomac above the +mouth of the Monocacy which his wife had inherited from her father. As +early as 1758 and probably before, Noland operated a ferry across the +Potomac from his new plantation to the Maryland side; thus joining the +Maryland and Virginia sections of the Carolina Road, from the earliest +days of local history a main artery of travel between north and +south.[25] It was in this immediate vicinity that he built the mansion +he was destined never to finish and which still stands incomplete, a +most interesting example of one of the earliest of the more pretentious +homes of Loudoun. + + [25] Chapter VI post. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MELTING POT + + +Thus far we have been noting the arrival of Virginians from Tidewater. +Rich or poor, great landowners or squatters, gentlemen of position and +influence or the mere riff-raff of the settlements, with all the varying +gradation between those extremes, they had at least in common their +English blood and traditions and being the product of Virginia life, +either through birth or years of residence. It is now time to consider +other and wholly dissimilar strains which, during this period of early +settlement, were coming into the newly opened country and which were to +have such a lasting influence on its population. + +As early as 1725 there was, it is said, a group of Irish immigrants +which had established itself on the Virginia bank of the Potomac, +opposite the mouth of the Monocacy. This particular cluster had come +from Maryland having, perhaps, been attracted to the large grant between +the Monocacy and the Point of Rocks which, before 1700, had been +acquired by the first Charles Carroll, founder of his family in Maryland +who, when he acquired the land on the Monocacy, was acting as Agent for +Maryland's Proprietor, Lord Baltimore. Later his grandson, another +Charles Carroll, inherited the grant, added greatly thereto, bestowed +upon it the name of Carrollton Manor and in signing the _Declaration of +Independence_ as Charles Carroll of Carrollton, gave it and himself +immortality. The Carrolls were Irish and Roman Catholics; perhaps they +had encouraged these newcomers to go out to their great holdings on the +Monocacy where life could be begun anew and there was less danger of +interference with their religion than in the strongly Protestant east. +However, whether encouraged or not, our particular covey of Irish seem +eventually to have crossed to the Virginia shore and there planted +themselves with small formality and no title. All was wilderness on both +sides of the Potomac. The matter of a legal title was probably the least +of our adventurers' troubles. + +In the first half-century following the founding of Jamestown, few Irish +were to be encountered in Virginia. The Colony was overwhelmingly +English with, it is true, occasional Welsh, Irish and Scotch here and +there; but these were accidental and the basic and dominating race of +the settlers was so wholly Anglo-Saxon that the few others were +submerged and lost in the English flood. But between 1653 and 1660, +hundreds of unfortunate Irish, resisting Cromwell, were shipped as +political prisoners and little better than white slaves to Virginia and +the other Colonies. Again, after the defeat in 1690 of James II and his +Irish supporters by William III at the Battle of the Boyne and the +resultant Treaty of Limerick the next year, great numbers of the Irish +were banished or condemned to transportation and of these many were sent +to Maryland and Virginia where as servants or labourers on the land, +their services were in demand. While the majority thus transported were +ignorant peasants, feudal vassals of their lords, the "Kerns and +gallowglasses" of Macaulay, numbers of the nobility and gentry were +exiled as well, of which we have already recorded a prominent example in +Daniel McCarty. Inasmuch as those transported were so treated as +punishment for their uprising in favour of James and against the de +facto English government of William, they were stigmatized as criminals, +although, as shown, their offense was purely political. But Irish +offenders against the penal laws other than political were also from +time to time condemned to transportation and as the demand for labourers +by wealthier planters in Virginia grew and until negro slaves later were +generally available to them, there was also much kidnapping of wholly +innocent Irish who, too, were taken to the Colonies and sold into +servitude. Among this heterogeneous mass of unfortunates there were +undoubtedly many who were disorderly, depraved and vicious and who, we +know, subsequently gave great trouble to the Virginians; but to classify +all the Irish forcibly transported as criminals or lawless would be as +unjust as it would be untrue. It well may be borne in mind that to most +of the English, they were a strange, impulsive and foreign people and +equally or even more damning, Romanists in an intensely anti-Roman +community. As such, we may well believe, they seldom enjoyed the benefit +of a doubt of their inherent depravity. + +The town of Waterford was, according to tradition, founded by an +Irishman, one Asa Moore, who is reputed to have built his, the first +house there in 1732, naming the new settlement for the place of his +nativity. Later it received many English, Scotch-Irish, Germans and, +particularly, Quakers to whom it largely owed the prosperity and +progress it was then to enjoy. + +During the interminable wars of the seventeenth century--in ghastly +refutation as they were of those blissful dreams of the solidarity of +Europe and that international brotherhood of peace and culture so fondly +entertained by the Erasmian school only a few generations before--few +parts of that same Europe had suffered more hideously than the land +known as the Palatinate along the Rhine. The so-called Thirty Years War, +from 1618 to 1648, brought devastation particularly to its lower +portion. In 1688 its whole territory was invaded again by the French of +Louis XIV--an invasion which, for sheer savage brutality to the people +there and the inconceivable atrocities perpetrated on them, is difficult +to parallel in the annals of civilized nations but which, with its +certain legacies of distrust and hatred, is somewhat conveniently +forgotten by the professional French patriot of today. The land was +reduced to little more than a desert and such of its inhabitants as +survived, to the utmost want and privation. For nine years, until the +Treaty of Ryswick (1697), the French scourging of the land ground it to +dust. A few years of quiet followed, in which the poor Palatines sought +to restore their ruined towns and farms but fate seemed resolved on +their annihilation. In 1703 another war, that of the Spanish Succession, +broke out and raged until 1713 and the Palatinate again and again was +overrun by hostile armies. It was during these years and after, that +those left with the breath of life in their bodies appeared to give up +hope of ever again occupying their homeland in peace. A great emigration +began, ten thousand fugitives first going to England where they were +received kindly by Queen Anne and her people and given much aid; but, in +an England where work was none too plentiful, the Germans soon became an +economic and social problem. About 3,800 were sent to Ireland where, in +Munster, their descendants are still to be found; but many more were +sent to America, some to New York but the greater number to +Pennsylvania. In the latter Colony they were so well received that they +sent back word encouraging others to follow them; and soon the harassed +Germans began to arrive in such swarms that between 40,000 and 50,000 +are believed to have come to Pennsylvania between 1702 and 1727, wholly +changing its complexion. The Colony's Governor, George Thomas, writing +to the Bishop of Exeter in 1747 stated his belief that the Germans then +comprised three-fifths of the population of that Province. But of the +early arrivals many of the most impoverished worked out toward the +cheaper and still wild lands on the then frontier and thence south +through the strong and fertile regions of western Maryland. + +Meanwhile Virginia had been encouraging settlements of refugee Europeans +on her frontiers in an effort to form buffer groups between the inimical +French and Indians to the north and the seated parts of her domain. In +1730 a grant of 10,000 acres on the Shenandoah River was made to one +Stover for settlement by Germans who began to pour south from +Pennsylvania and Maryland and soon the Valley was taking on that +perceptible Teutonic colour with which it is still dyed. + +In 1731 there came to the present Loudoun the first colony of Germans +from the Valley. Of all the early settling it is doubtful if any was +more intelligently planned or more reasonably could anticipate success. +Instead of a few individuals pioneering in haphazard fashion, there was +a compact and homogeneous group of about sixty families, the men almost +without exception artisans of various trades or peasants skilled in +thrifty farming; and their lot had heretofore been so harsh and their +fortune so adverse that the hardships inseparable from making a new home +in the wilderness were, by comparison, a kindly dispensation of a +hitherto hostile fate. On crossing the Blue Ridge they and those +following them settled the land between the Catoctin Mountains and the +Short Hills, north of the present Morrisonville, which from that time on +has been known as the German Settlement and than which no part of +Loudoun has been more industriously and providently farmed. Little +those early Teutons spent on luxury or even comfort; a sound and certain +living was their objective and the land and its increase, rather than +ornate dwellings, received their uttermost effort. Even as late as 1853, +Yardley Taylor was moved to record that their "farms are generally small +and well cultivated and the land rates high. This class of population +seldom goes to much expense in building houses ... many old log houses +that are barely tolerable are in use by persons abundantly able to build +better ones." But if their houses were primitive, the occupants were +generally prosperous and free from debt and in later years comfortable +and commodious farmhouses have taken the place of the earlier cabins. +These earliest Germans, having neither speech nor habits in common with +their neighbours, developed a self-sustained and independent community +wholly different and set off from those of others around them and to +this day their locality measurably carries on its distinctive life. + +Following so closely upon the advent of the Germans that there has +arisen some dispute as to which actually entered first, we find the +arrival of the Quakers. "In 1733 Amos Janney left his residence at the +Falls of the Delaware in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and migrating to +Virginia with his family, established himself at Waterford"[26] and many +other Quakers soon joined him. Local tradition places, even earlier than +Janney, David Potts (another Pennsylvania Quaker) as a pioneer in the +northern part of the present county but no record confirms his presence +before the 16th November, 1746, when he leased 866 acres on "Kittockton +Run" from Catesby Cocke for five shillings in hand paid with right of +purchase. Legend may or may not be correct; the earliest settlers, as we +have seen, often seated themselves without title. Both Janney and Potts +were founders of well known families in the county where their +descendants still worthily bear their names. It is definitely known, +however, that soon the Quakers became very numerous; and as ever since +they have been such a conspicuous element in the diversified population +of the county, a brief narration of their story and migration is of +interest. + + [26] _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, I., 267. + +The "Friends" or "Quakers" as they were subsequently called, are a +religious sect founded by George Fox in England in 1647 when he was but +twenty-three years old. They owe their name of Quakers to their +tendency, in their early religious meetings, to have become so wrought +up in individual enthusiasm as to be seized with an emotional trembling +or quaking and the earlier Friends "definitely asserted that those who +did not know quaking and trembling, were strangers to the experience of +Moses, David and other Saints."[27] Their characteristic tenets included +the doctrine of non-resistance and opposition to all formalism in +religious services and as Fox began his activities at a time of intense +religious fanaticism met by relentless persecution, it was not long +before he and his followers were in open conflict with the constituted +authorities. From proselyting in public and interrupting conventional +religious services, the more extravagant of the zealots indulged in +activities which can only be ascribed to religious mania and the +authorities promptly met their challenge.[28] Merciless whippings, +dragging at cart-tails, the pillory, branding with hot irons and even +occasional execution were their fate; but in common with other religious +persecution their growth in number seems to have been coincident with +the most vigourous efforts made to suppress them. Fox, a man of humble +birth, with no advantages of formal education, possessed tireless energy +and great bodily vigour coupled with the assurance of a natural and +magnetic evangelist; and although equally detested by Churchmen and +Puritans and in conflict with every other religious body, his following +rapidly grew throughout England. Journeys by his proselytes to +continental America, the West Indies, Holland, Germany, Austria, Hungary +and Italy left converts where they preached and this was particularly so +in the American Colonies where Fox himself came in 1672. + + [27] _Encyclopedia Britannica_, _"Friends, Society of."_ + + [28] Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_. + +The first of the Colonies to hear Quaker preaching was Massachusetts in +1656, but Virginia was a close second; for in the following year Thomas +Thurston and Josiah Cole of Bristol arrived in the Old Dominion and are +said to have made a number of converts before they were promptly +banished. The Quakers were as little welcome in either Massachusetts or +Virginia as in England itself and both Colonies passed stringent laws +for their repression. Virginia ordained that any shipmaster found guilty +of smuggling in Quakers was to be fined Ł100 and upon the third return +of a Quaker after banishment, he was to be treated as a felon. But even +before the passage of the English Toleration Act of 1689 the persecution +had died down. By the end of the century they had so increased in number +that they were a major element in Rhode Island, controlled New Jersey +and Delaware and had, under William Penn in 1681, founded and were +supreme in Pennsylvania. Penn declared for liberty of conscience in the +Colony he termed his "experiment," with absolute religious freedom "for +Papists, Protestants, Jews and Turks"--if not an absolutely unique, at +least a sorely needed attitude in the seventeenth century religious +life. Thence forward Pennsylvania was to be a great centre of Quakerism +and from it mainly but also from Maryland, New York and other Colonies, +as well as directly from Great Britain, were recruited the Quakers of +Loudoun. Undoubtedly the familiar combination of economic pressure, the +cheaper and more fertile lands of the new settlement and the pioneering +spirit inherent in the British race explains the migration. It is +interesting to note that by 1694 a Quaker had become Governor of South +Carolina and that from 1725 to 1775 there was a constant flow of Friends +from Pennsylvania, New York, New England and Great Britain to that +State. As a main north-and-south highway, the famous Carolina Road, +passed through the Loudoun to be, doubtless many came that way and we +may believe that not a few of those emigrants joined their +coreligionists who they found living in such comfort and prosperity in +their fertile Virginia colony. + +The Quakers of Loudoun had with characteristic shrewdness picked out for +their settlement that part of the far-famed Loudoun Valley, between the +Catoctin Hills and the Blue Ridge, that lies in the central part of the +present county--perhaps the best and most fertile land the county +boasts; and there the so-called "Quaker Settlement" continues to the +present time. In common with their German neighbours to the north, they +tended to form a more-or-less compact colony, segregated from the other +pioneers. They were frugal, industrious, far better farmers than their +Virginia neighbours; but between Germans and Quakers no love was lost +and, though each was isolated from the Tidewater element, there was +little or no intermingling. Nevertheless we find them occasionally +making common cause against the slaveholding portion of the community +and, in the next century in the War Between the States, both German and +Quaker adhered to the Federal cause and were, at least for the time +being, more than ever cut off from their then intensely Confederate +neighbours. Time has softened and gradually worn down these old-time +edges of difference and today, perhaps more than ever before, we find +the descendants of these earlier opponents living in concord and mutual +respect. + +Our melting-pot is slowly filling. In the Scotch-Irish it now takes +another human ingredient as distinct from the Anglo-Saxon as were the +Germans or Irish but destined to make a major contribution not only to +the new population of the Piedmont but to that of Virginia generally and +the other Colonies as well. They were splendid pioneering material with +the persistent industry and frugality of the German and Quaker but, +unlike them, mixing freely with the other settlers, planting themselves +anywhere and everywhere they found conditions and lands to their liking +and so soon and freely intermarrying with their Virginia neighbours that +their blood today is found very generally mixed with the older Virginia +strain. Concerning their origin and history there has been much +misinformation and occasionally rather prejudiced and heated argument; +but the main facts are not obscure. + +In the sixth century one of the Irish tribes known as the Scotti or +Scots, inhabiting the island then known as Scotia, but which we now call +Ireland, crossed the Irish Sea and made a mass descent on the west coast +of ancient Caledonia; and driving before them the Picts they found +occupying the land, they settled down in possession of their newly +conquered territory, covering roughly the present Argyle. Five centuries +later the descendants of these invaders, having waxed mightily in power +and numbers and become one of the four tribal kingdoms of Caledonia, +united with the others, the Picts, British and Angles, to make the +Kingdom of Scotland to which they gave their name and of which their +history thenceforth was a part. Thus apparently their future destiny was +fixed for all time in Scotland; but Providence had not forgotten them +and had other plans. + +In all Ireland, never renowned for its meekness nor pacification, there +was in Elizabethan days and before, probably no part more constantly and +consistently embroiled than the Province of Ulster. More or less +continuous fighting between its people and Elizabeth's soldiers +gradually wore down the Irish and their final complete collapse came in +1607 when their native princes, the Earls of Tyrconnel and Tyrone, +deserted them and fled to the Continent. Thereupon the first James of +England, having succeeded Elizabeth, declared all the lands of the +Province forfeited and escheated to the English Crown, thus providing a +convenient and legal basis for dispossessing the native Irish of their +holdings, which the King thereupon undertook to repopulate with English +and Scotch. But the English did not view the King's inducements with +enthusiasm. Inasmuch as, in comparison with the Scotch, they "were a +great deal more tenderly bred at home in England, and entertained in +better quarters than they could find in Ireland, they were unwilling to +flock thither except to good land such as they had before at home, or to +good cities where they might trade, both of which in those days were +scarce enough" in Ulster.[29] But the Scotch, many of them from Argyle +found Ulster, their old homeland, to their liking and James, Scotch +himself, seems to have preferred them for his purpose. They came in +great numbers, took root immediately and soon were creating a peace and +prosperity in the Province unknown there for many a long day, their +ranks being later heavily augmented by Covenanters fleeing from the +persecution of Charles I. But between these Presbyterian newcomers and +the native Irish Roman Catholics, their neighbours, there was friction +and hostility from the beginning which has lasted unabated to the +present day. + + [29] Testimony of a contemporary, the Rev. Andrew Stewart. _The + Scotch-Irish Settlers in the Valley of Virginia_, by Bolivar Christian. + +Had the English government the wit and policy to have let this new +settlement alone all would have been well; but the England of those days +had yet to learn, from the costly experience of the American Revolution, +that art of governing colonies in which she is today without peer. After +the final crushing of the Irish at the Battle of the Boyne, in which the +new Ulster population was of no small assistance, the English merchants +grew jealous of the trade, manufactures and aggressive competition of +the Province and in 1698 succeeded in obtaining from Parliament +restrictive laws which all but ruined her industries, particularly in +linen and woolen then, as now, outstanding. And now to the ruin of their +trades was to be added religious coercion. Although, as we have seen, a +Toleration Act had been passed for England in 1689, it was not until +nearly one hundred years later that in 1782 the Toleration Act for +Ireland became law. From 1704 on there was a great effort to force the +Presbyterians of Ulster, as well as those of Scotland, to conform to the +English Church and those who refused were forbidden to keep schools, +marriages performed by their ministers were declared invalid and other +civil disabilities were imposed. By 1719 the people of Ulster had been +made desperate by this senseless interference and persecution and they, +too, began to flock to America. As with the others, the movement, once +started, grew rapidly and in this instance reached such proportions that +it became by far the greatest immigration that, until the later day of +steam, was to come to America's shores. Again Philadelphia appears to +have been the chief port to receive them, as many as six shiploads +landing there in one week alone. Before the emigration was eased by the +Toleration Act and a generally saner attitude in England, it is +estimated that half a million of the Scotch-Irish had crossed the +Atlantic, carrying with them a deep resentment toward England, for which +she later was to pay a heavy price in the stubborn and valiant support +these people and their descendants gave to the American side in the war +of the Revolution. + +As most of these Scotch-Irish immigrants were very poor, many paid for +their passage by selling their services and labour for a term of years, +becoming a part of that flood of "indentured servants" which we shall +soon consider. Fairfax Harrison in his _Landmarks of Old Prince William_ +vividly describes their advent and early distribution in the Northern +Neck. As soon as the earlier arrivals had worked out their contracted +years of servitude, Colonel Robert Carter, about 1723, began seating +them around Brent Town and Elk Marsh. But as their numbers grew, they +soon shewed a disinclination to become tenants, preferring to push +further into the wilderness "where they could and did take up small +holdings on the same terms that Colonel Carter took up his great ones +and in that process they scattered."[30] Being too poor to purchase +negro slaves and the supply of "redemptioners" or indentured servants by +that time beginning to diminish, they bought the cheaper convicts for +labourers and the Piedmont backwoods of the Proprietary acquired a +reputation for turbulence and lawlessness to which both master and +servant contributed his share. But they settled the land, planted +tobacco and corn as persistently and relentlessly as did their more +prosperous neighbours and in common with them laboured to develop the +future Loudoun. + + [30] _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, I., 235. + +To understand the status of the "indentured servants," who were so +numerous in the Virginia Colony and were such a large and important +factor in the population of the Northern Neck, it is well to first +consider the meaning of the term. In the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries the word servant was not at all confined to one who was +engaged in a menial task but broadly referred to anyone who, for +compensation, rendered service to another and it was customary in all +occupations, calling for especial training or instruction, to take on +apprentices "bound to serve for a certain time in consideration of +instruction in an art or trade"--the apprentice to be fed, lodged and +clothed by the master during the term and to give his labour and +services in compensation for his support and instruction. This custom +obtained not only in the various crafts and trades but even in the +professions as well, lawyers and doctors taking students on similar +terms. In modern England the broader and older meaning of the word +persists in the expression "civil servant" in reference to a government +clerk or employé in what in America, too, is known as the Civil Service. + +Virginia's agriculture was based on the cultivation of tobacco and +corn--both hand-hoed crops, with practically no use whatever of the +plow. As land was plentiful and the plantations increased in size, the +great and pressing need was always for labor--and more labor. This +system of indentured service in Virginia began very early and opened a +great supply of labor not otherwise available. There were many in +England of the poorer class and even of those once more affluent who had +for one reason or another become the victims of misfortune and sought a +fresh start in the colonies but were without the money to pay their +passage. No small number of those who had become bankrupt became +indentured servants. The severe English laws against debtors forced many +to fly from that country and Virginia was a safe escape; for in 1642 a +law had been passed in Virginia protecting these fugitives from their +English creditors.[31] Little social stigma seems to have attached to +the indentured servants as such. Frequently they lived with the family +of their master, especially so when he was one of the smaller +proprietors, and as they became proficient and earned their master's +confidence they were often made overseers of their fellow workers. +Although by far the greater demand was always for workers on the land, +not all of them were so employed; some were artisans, some of the better +educated became teachers and it was not unusual for the wealthier +planters to seek and purchase these latter for that purpose. George +Washington is said to have thus received his earlier schooling. As a +whole, they appear to have been well and humanely treated in Virginia, +or at least after the earlier days of their introduction, with little or +none of the shocking brutality they are known to have met with upon +occasion in Maryland, such as called for that Colony's legislation of +1664, 1681, etc.[32] + + [31] Hening, 256. Also _Patrician and Plebeian in Virginia, T. J. + Wertenbaker_, p. 164. + + [32] E. I. McCormac's _White Servitude in Maryland_, p. 67. + +That there had been some earlier harshness, but more probably to +convicts, is suggested by the effort made by Robert Beverley, in his +_History of Virginia_, first published in 1705, to refute rumours of +ill-treatment or undue hardship in the lives of these people which had +been spread abroad in the England of his day. No doubt the writings of +Defoe and other authors without personal knowledge of what they +undertook to describe, had had their affect. "A white woman is rarely or +never put to work on the ground, if she be good for anything else," +Beverley declares and further on has this to say: + +"Because I have heard how strangely cruel and severe the service of this +country is represented in some parts of England, I can't forebear +affirming, that the work of the servants and slaves is no other that +what every common freeman does; neither is any servant required to do +more in a day than his overseer; and I can assure you, with great truth, +that generally their slaves are not worked so hard, nor so many hours in +a day, as the husbandman and day labourer in England. An overseer is a +man, that having served his time, has acquired the skill and character +of an experienced planter, and is therefore entrusted with direction of +the servants and slaves ... all masters are under the correction and +censure of the County Courts to provide for their servants food and +wholesome diet, clothing and lodging." + +And again: + +"If a master should be so cruel, as to use his servant ill, that is +fallen sick or lame in his service, and thereby rendered unfit for +labor, he must be removed by the churchwardens out of the way of such +cruelty, and boarded in some good planters home till the time of his +freedom, the charge of which must be laid before the next county court, +which has power to levy the same, from time to time, upon the goods and +chattels of the master, after which, the charge of such boarding is to +come upon the parish in general.... No master of a servant can make a +new bargain for service or other matter with his servant, without the +privity and consent of the County Court, to prevent the masters +over-reaching, or scaring such servant into an unreasonable compliance." + +Moreover, when the servant had redeemed himself by working out his time, +he received from his former master, as assistance to start out for +himself "ten bushels of corn (which is sufficient for almost a year) two +new suits of clothes, both linen and woolen, and a gun, twenty dollars +value"; all of which were given to him as his due. He had the right to +take up fifty acres of unpatented land and thereupon took his place, +according to his merit and industry, in the free life of the Colony. + +The system was necessary from the first; for if the servants had not +been bound they promptly would have secured tracts of land to work for +themselves, leaving those who had paid for their passage in the lurch. +That it was advantageous to both master and servant is indicated by its +growth. Its end in Virginia was caused by a cheaper labor supply having +become available rather than from any lack of those seeking +transportation. It has been estimated that, between the years 1635 and +1680, from 1,000 to 1,600 came annually to Virginia under its conditions +and that from first to last not less than eighty thousand persons so +arrived. But with the importation of negroes, beginning on a larger +scale about 1680, the custom declined until by the middle of the +eighteenth century, it seems to have practically ended in Virginia. + +The transporting of convicts by England to her American Colonies--a far +greater injustice to them than the later taxation by which they were +lost to her--began early and was, in Virginia, at once and most +vigourously opposed; but the everpressing demand for laborers seems to +have rapidly modified the opposition, at least on the part of the larger +proprietors whose power and influence was out of all proportion to their +number; and it was not long before convicts were not only accepted +without protest but even sought. It is the old story, in America as +elsewhere, of a selfish economic advantage blinding those in power to +the welfare of the State as a whole, although many continued to hold +misgivings of the outcome. Thus we find Beverley in a later edition of +his history, recording: "as for malefactors condemned to transportation, +the greedy planters will always buy them, yet it is to be feared that +they will be very injurious to the Country, which has already suffered +many murders and robberies, the effect of that new law of England."[33] + + [33] He refers to the Act passed in 1718, on the transportation of + convicts. + +But a loose assumption that all the convicts or prisoners arriving were +moral derelicts, or those whose offense essentially involved moral +depravity, and that the proportion these bore to others leaving Europe +for Virginia fixes the ratio of their descendants or influence in the +Old Dominion's later population, would be wholly and demonstrably +untrue. We must be much more discerning and analytical than that and, as +in another instance, look to our definitions. + +The penal law of England, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, +was far more severe than today. Literally scores of offenses were +punishable by death or transportation which today are either not crimes +or, if still so considered, are punishable only by fine or imprisonment. +Among the transgressions most severely dealt with, were purely political +offenses; and a political offense was essentially to have picked the +wrong side in the many religious, dynastic or civic disturbances of the +period. After the various Irish upheavals of the seventeenth +century--and that island, it may be said, was conquered by the English +no less than three times within less than a hundred years--there was +banishment or transportation of many of the losing side. The +transportation was especially ruthless after Cromwell's operations and +again, a generation or more later, after the Battle of the Boyne. But +the Irish were not the only political victims. When the forces of +Parliament defeated the Stuart followers, they condemned to +transportation a goodly number of their opponents; treatment which was +promptly reciprocated by the triumphant Royalists after the Restoration +who meted out the same punishment to former Cromwellian soldiers and +non-conformists as well. Again, after the abortive effort made in 1685 +by the Duke of Monmouth to seize his uncle's crown, the vicious and +bloody Jeffries and his colleagues, in their less frenzied moments, +sentenced, as criminals, multitudes of the unfortunate followers of +Monmouth to transportation to Virginia--there to be sold into as virtual +slavery as any thug convicted of murder or highway robbery who had, in +one way or another, been lucky enough to escape hanging. On arrival they +sold for from Ł10 to Ł15 each; and we find the King adding his gentle +touch to the work. "Take all care" wrote James to the Council of +Virginia "that they shall serve for ten years at least; and that they be +not permitted to return themselves by money or otherwise until that term +be fully expired. Prepare a bill for the Assembly of our Colony, with +such clauses as shall be requisite for that purpose." Thus the king; but +in four years he has lost his throne and William III is issuing a full +pardon for all political offenders. + +Hence no small part of the convicts were unfortunates, rather than +criminals, to our modern way of thought. But there remained a large and +unpalatable number who had been convicted of crimes of all degrees and +in their ranks were found a motley crew ranging from the lowest type of +profligate, whose escape from the noose had been a public misfortune, to +the minor offenders punished for a first violation of law. However even +this evil residue was fated to leave but a minor contamination of the +Colony's bloodstream. A great death-toll was taken by sickness on the +transporting ships, particularly by the dreaded "goal distemper" as it +was called. Those who survived the voyage naturally received far less +consideration from their purchasers than was accorded the indentured +servant; the unaccustomed climate took its quota and all in all the +mortality was very great. Of those who outlived their period of +servitude, some rose to positions of trust; many of the incorrigibles +soon made the Colony too hostile for their comfort and took themselves +off either voluntarily or as fugitives--sometimes to the more remote and +unseated parts of Piedmont or, more generally, to the North Carolina +backwoods, a favorite refuge for the dregs of Virginia's Colonial +population. And at length, in 1740, came an opportunity for a great and +general house-cleaning. In raising the Virginia levies for the ill-fated +expedition against Carthagena, many a convict was pressed into service +and, in the disasters attending that adventure, ended his turbulent +career. But unfortunately the polluted stream continued to pour in on +Virginia's shores until after the Revolution. + +An unduly large proportion of these undesirables appears to have found +its way into the backwoods of the Northern Neck which, in 1730, Governor +Gooch described as "a part of the Country remote from the Seat of +Government where the common people are generally of a more turbulent and +unruly disposition than anywhere else, and are not like to become better +by being the Place of all this Dominion where most of transported +Convicts are sold and settled."[34] One may, without an undue straining +of the imagination, discover the descendants of some of these people in +modern Loudoun's small lawless element. + + [34] _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, I., 162. + +The negro slaves were practically confined to the eastern and southern +parts of Loudoun. They were all but unknown in the German Settlement and +the Quakers as a sect were so opposed to the very institution of slavery +that, as early as the eighteenth century, the Society in America reached +the decision to disown any member thereof who held slaves. + +In all this varied assortment of population, it is a tribute to the +natural leadership of the Tidewater Virginian that he maintained his +supremacy and control. From him the county inherits all that is best and +most attractive in its social life--the courtesy of its people, the +unfailing hospitality, the love of social intercourse, the ardour for +outdoor sports, particularly the devotion to horses, dogs and +fox-hunting, all of which so definitely distinguish it today and +contribute to the outstanding and well-recognized charm of its life. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ROADS AND BOUNDARIES + + +We have mentioned in the foregoing pages that an unusual feature in the +settlement of these Stafford or Prince William backwoods, soon to be +known as Loudoun, was not only the diversity of origin of the new +population but that it came almost simultaneously from the north and the +south and the west as well as from the Tidewater east. As the falls of +the Potomac and Rappahannock blocked continuous water transport from the +older settlements, the pioneers all were forced to come through the +woodland trails and these trails or roads, if they could be then so +called, now demand our attention. + +What one might call the Appian Way of Piedmont, the _longarum regina +viarum_ as Statius calls the Roman road, was undoubtedly that aboriginal +trail which, perhaps beginning as a buffalo path,[35] was followed +habitually by the Indians in their north-south journeys to the earliest +knowledge of the whites and appears in the records of the Colony at a +very early date. The Carolina Road, as it is best known, became a great +highway between the north and the south and if our surmise be correct +that, in common with so many of our earliest colonial roads, it owes its +origin to a beaten trail made by the heavier animals of the forest, it +was probably used by the Manahoacks and their predecessor tribes long +before the Susquehannocks frequented it in the latter half of the +seventeenth century, not only on their trading journeys between the +Dutch of Manhattan and the Carolina Indians, but in their war forays as +well. The Iroquois of New York, as we have seen, followed their +Susquehannock kindred to Piedmont and in Spotswood's day it was their +ordinary and accustomed route. We think we get our first record of it +among the Susquehannock "plain paths" noted in the Virginia Act of 1662 +and it was sometimes referred to by that name. Later and from about 1686 +until at least 1742, that part of the road between Brent Town and the +Rappahannock was also known as the "Shenandoah Hunting Path," a name +still occasionally heard; but the popular name was the Carolina Road +with its no less popular descriptive appellation of "The Rogue's Road" +due to the cattle and horse thieves who infested it throughout the +eighteenth century. That these gentry misused the road only, rather than +were residents of the country it traversed, was always maintained, and +apparently with truth, by the Piedmont people; but so numerous had they +become by 1742 that the Assembly passed an act[36] calling on those +driving stock along the public highways to have in their possession a +bill of sale of their cattle and horses to be exhibited to any justice +of the peace when due demand therefor was made. Yet the rogues still +continued to travel their road until the ebb and wane of its traffic in +the early nineteenth century. Although the records fail to shew that +highwaymen plied their trade on this or other Virginia roads, Loudoun +folklore has held to a belief in their activities as witness the legend +concerning Captain Harper, Loudoun's own Robin Hood: + +"This portion through the present Loudoun of the old Carolina Road was +then locally known as 'Rogue's Road' on account of the many bold +robberies committed along its route by the famous gentleman highwayman +of the day, Captain Harper, who regularly patrolled it and terrorized +all those who lived adjacent to it until such was the fear of this +dashing and bold highwayman, that women were afraid to venture out upon +this road alone. A rather pretty story is related in this connection--a +young Virginia maiden was walking this road alone one evening about +twilight, hurrying from a visit to a neighbour, when a dashing cavalier +rode up and reined his horse beside her. 'Are you not afraid to walk +this road alone on account of Captain Harper and his band?' he asked. +'No' replied the maiden 'for I have always heard Captain Harper was a +gentleman.' The dashing horseman looked at her a moment and then walked +his horse beside her until she reached the gate leading to her home. And +then raising his hat and bowing he said: 'Captain Harper bids you good +night' and digging the rowels into his steed he vanished as he +came."[37] The writer omits to mention the local tradition that Harper, +though mercilessly robbing the rich, gave generously to the poor. + + [35] _Historic Highways of America_, A. B. Hulbert, I, 19. + + [36] Hening, V, 176. + + [37] Harry T. Harrison in _Loudoun Times_, 20 Dec., 1916. + +The Carolina Road entered Virginia at a point on the bank of the +Potomac, above the mouth of Maryland's Monocacy, where Noland's Ferry +sometime prior to 1756 became its connecting link with Maryland; thence +it ran in a southeasterly direction somewhere along the present clay +road to Christ Church just south of modern Lucketts; thence south, +following closely the present Leesburg-Point of Rocks State Highway, +through Leesburg over what is known as King Street (the King's Highway +of yesteryear) and approximately along the present James Monroe Highway +(Route 15 of the United States Highway System) to Verts' Corner, thence +along what is still locally called the Carolina Road (or sometimes the +Gleedsville Road) to Goose Creek at Oatlands. The present hard road from +Verts' Corner to Oatlands, now the main road, was probably built and the +old road's traffic at that point diverted about 1830 when the rough +pavement of the road was undertaken. From Goose Creek at Oatlands the +old road followed United States Route 15 as at present to the Little +River Turnpike, now known as the Lee-Jackson National Highway, just east +of the village of Aldie; crossing this, it followed what is now but a +local and little used county road which, in its progress south of the +county and under changing conditions, eventually crosses the other great +rivers above their falls line and so on to North Carolina. Along its +route the first church in Loudoun, Aubrey's little log "Chapel of Ease," +was erected at the Big Spring; and later many of the mansions of the +Loudoun gentlefolk, such as the Noland House, Rockland, Springwood, +Selma, Raspberry Plain, Morven, Rokeby, Oatlands, Oak Hill, and others +in due time came to be built and historic "Ordinaries" or taverns such +as that known as West's and later as Lacey's and towns such as Leesburg +and the nearby Aldie grew up. All through the eighteenth century the +flow of its colorful traffic continued and developed in volume until the +founding of the City of Washington, as the nation's Capital, drew to the +east those travelling between the northern and southern States. And now, +over a hundred years after the passing of its golden days of activity, +there are rumoured plans to revive the old road as a main north and +south highway and once again, in the not too distant future, we may see +its old life restored, with motors and trucks speeding along its surface +where the old-time foot and horse-travel and Indians and soldiers, +missionaries and traders, drovers honest or otherwise, were wont slowly +to pass. + +Nor are the old mansions and towns the only surviving landmarks along +its way. The famous Big Spring still rises in as steady volume as of +yore; the Tuscarora and Goose Creeks, no longer needfully forded but now +spanned by modern concrete bridges, still flow complacently in their +old-time channels and between them, on the west side of the present road +and two and a half miles south of Leesburg, still stand the old Indian +mounds. + +These mounds, for there are others scattered to the west of the one so +noticeable from the highway, have always excited local interest but the +present generation has all but forgotten their traditional story. +Somewhere in the neighbourhood of the house of Mr. T. W. Gaines, on +whose land rises the mound nearest the road, or perhaps over the land +where the mounds themselves now stand, there was fought a hardly +contested Indian battle at about the time the first of the white +pioneers were coming into that neighbourhood. Many years ago the late +Mrs. William H. Martin, then a bride recently come to Leesburg, with the +assistance of the late Miss Lizzie Worsley, who gave a lifetime of study +to the past of Leesburg and Loudoun, carefully gathered up what she then +could of the old story which had been handed down from generation to +generation and incorporated it in a gracefully written "History and +Traditions of Greenway" which was published in the _Record_ of Leesburg, +then edited by her husband. + +"Numberless were said to be dead warriors," wrote Mrs. Martin, "who +found their last resting place so far from their native lands beneath +the mounds that were easily distinguishable in the gloom of the thick +forest. This battle had been between the Catawbas of the Carolinas and +the Delawares.[38] An hereditary enmity existed between these two +tribes, distant as they were, the one from the other. A large band of +Delawares, pushing into the territory of the Catawbas had severely +punished that tribe, and victorious, were travelling northward to their +home. The Catawbas followed and unexpectedly fell upon them, having +overtaken them at the Potomac. Terrible and swift was their revenge, yet +such were the fighting qualities of the Delawares thus brought to bay, +that the Catawbas were forced to retreat, without prisoners. But when +the remaining Delaware warriors looked upon their dead they saw the +flower of their tribe, stark in death, and too far to be carried to +their own hunting grounds. So there they were buried...."[39] + + [38] According to C. W. Sam's _The Forest Primeval_ (p. 382) the + Delawares and Catawbas were at war in 1732. + + [39] Balch Library. Loudoun Clippings, Vol. 2, p. 66. + +The surviving conquerors gathered together the bodies of their slain +tribesmen and over them toiled to erect the mounds that still stand. The +mounds and many hundred acres of surrounding land were early acquired by +the Mead family, who later built nearby Greenway, and in that family the +legend was handed down that in the springtime of each year, about the +anniversary of the battle, there came through the forest a band of +Indians who, when they reached the mounds, conducted weird mourning +rites for their fallen brethren, made offerings of arrows and food and +then disappeared in the surrounding woods as silently as they came. As +the years passed, the mourners grew fewer and fewer until at length but +a solitary old warrior arrived and held what proved to be the final +ceremony. But the story does not end with those last solitary rites. +According to the Mead family tradition, year after year, as the night +fell on the anniversary of the battle, weird sounds of conflict came +from the Indian mounds though no person or living thing could be seen. + +Perhaps of equal antiquity and second only to the Carolina Road in early +importance but in that respect now by far surpassing it, is the highway +roughly paralleling the Potomac, the old Ridge Road now generally known +as the Alexandria Pike. This road also originated in an Indian trail, +possibly following an earlier buffalo path; it joined the famous Potomac +Path of Tidewater above the ford at Hunting Creek and it was along its +course that we have seen Giles Vandercastel and Burr Harrison, in 1699, +exploring their way on their mission to Conoy Island. This was the main +entrance from the lower part of the Northern Neck to at least so much of +Loudoun as lies between the Potomac and the Catoctin Hills; and along +its course and that of the Colchester Road to the south came the +majority of the Tidewater settlers. Its route through what later was to +be the Town of Leesburg is marked by Loudoun Street. The late Charles O. +Vandevanter of Leesburg, who made a careful study of the location of +these old roads, believed that originally its course west of Leesburg +followed what is now known as the Dry Mill Road to Clark's Gap; but +there is reason to believe that he was mistaken. As the road approaches +the rise of the Catoctin Hills, it certainly at one time followed the +hollow to the west of the present established road and upon the land +later owned by the author; so running west of the present Roxbury Hall +and on to Clark's Gap, marks of its old route being still plainly +discernible. When the highway was incorporated in 1831, its route at +this point was changed to approximately its present location to avoid +the sharpness of the grade as it left the little branch now crossed by +stone culverts. Remains of the old road were discovered in 1923 when +building the private road to the house last named. At the foot of the +hill and in front of the present tenant house, rough piking was +uncovered and nearby, where the path leaves the lane to go to the barn, +some old brick were dug up. The late Samuel Norris, who died in 1933 at +the age of eighty-four, said that at this point there once was a cottage +where, as he had heard when a boy from older people, there had lived a +man whose duty it was to care for the extra horses which were attached +to the stage coaches before they began the abrupt rise of the road at +that point in following the hollow northwesterly. From Clark's Gap the +early road followed the present sandclay road to what is now known as +Ely's Corner, past the present Paeonian Springs and Warner's Cross Roads +and Wheatland and Hillsboro to the depression in the Blue Ridge known +as Vestal's or Key's Gap--Gershom Keys having owned land at that point +as early as 1748 and the Vestal family having operated a ferry across +the Shenandoah nearby at least as early as 1754 and perhaps in 1736; for +we know it was in operation at that time and that one G. Vestal was +living in the immediate neighbourhood then. Washington followed this +road on his mission to Fort du Quesne in 1753 and once again in 1754 as +major of that expedition against the French on the Alleghany (to the +command of which he later succeeded on the illness and death of Colonel +Fry), which resulted in the building and surrender by him of Fort +Necessity.[40] In the following year it was trodden by that brigade of +Braddock's army which, under the command of Sir Peter Halkett, left the +main body of the troops when that main body crossed the Potomac over +into Maryland at the present Georgetown as is related in a later +chapter. + + [40] _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, 481, 511. + +In an effort to attract the increasing traffic to and from the west, +Leesburg citizens incorporated in 1831 the Leesburg and Snickers' Gap +Turnpike Company which built an improved road north from Clark's Gap to +Snickers' Gap, as the old Williams' Gap had then come to be called; and +this new road (which is the present Alexandria-Winchester Highway) took +the traffic theretofore going through Vestal's Gap and has since been +the northerly main route across the Blue Ridge. + +To carry the old Ridge Road over Broad Run, we know that there was +built, before 1755, one of the earliest highway bridges in Loudoun's +territory of which record has been preserved; for on the 1755 edition of +the Fry & Jefferson map a wooden bridge is shewn at that point. The +picturesque stone bridge that now spans the stream, venerable as it +appears, may not have been constructed before 1820, at about which time +that part of the road was being improved by the Leesburg Turnpike +Company; nevertheless in eastern Loudoun it is a popular legend that it +was built by George Washington as a young man and the inhabitants of the +neighbourhood firmly believe that to be true. + +The third of the principal roads of colonial Loudoun is called by +Fairfax Harrison the Colchester Road and is described by him as also, in +its first beginning an Indian path, developed about 1728 by King Carter +and his sons Robin and Charles from the Occoquan below the falls "past +the future sites of Payne's Church and the present Fairfax Court House +all the way to the Frying Pan run."[41] The Carters believed that there +was copper on certain of their recently acquired lands and this road was +developed to bring the ore to tidewater. It became known as the Ox Road +and a year or so later joined Walter Griffin's Rolling Road running west +across Little Rocky Run and eventually across Elk Lick and Bull Run, +across the Carolina Road (near which crossing West's Ordinary was +built), and so above the ford over Little River to the Blue Ridge Road +to Williams' Gap. It was over this road that the youthful Washington +returned in the spring of 1748 from his survey with George William +Fairfax of the lands of Lord Fairfax in the valley and thus first set +foot in the present Loudoun; crossing the Blue Ridge at Williams' +Gap[42] they proceeded to William West's house, later to be licensed as +West's Ordinary and still later as Lacey's. Incidentally this old +building and landmark continued to stand until the year 1927 when it was +quite needlessly and most unfortunately torn down. + + [41] _Landmarks_, 423; also C. O. Van Devanter in _Loudoun County + Breeders Magazine_, spring, 1931. + + [42] Washington's _Journal Of My Journey Over the Mountains_. Edited by + Dr. J. M. Toner in 1892. p. 52. + +The Colchester Road continued to be a main thoroughfare up to about 1806 +when the construction of Little River Turnpike diverted most of its +travel and the new road with its branches became the principal highway +system in southern Loudoun. + +The Virginia roads in the early days were in terrible condition for +wheeled traffic. Their most earnest defenders can only allege that they +were no worse than other American roads of those days and better than +many, a defense that damns without even the proverbial faint praise. +Englishmen of the period were still asleep in their attitude toward road +building and many of the highways of England seem to have been as bad as +those in America. One peculiarity of the Virginia road was its general +lack of side-fencing. Adjacent property owners were quite apt to run +their boundary fences across the highway, leaving a gate for the +traveller to open and pass through. Curious as this may seem to us, it +was not wholly without its advantage; for where the highway had become a +sink-hole of mud, it thus was possible for the passer-by to make as wide +a detour through adjacent fields or woods as might be necessary to avoid +the obstruction. This throws light upon the effort at Georgetown, +predecessor settlement of the larger Leesburg, to have the course of the +Carolina Road as it passed through that hamlet definitely established by +the court as early as 1742 and again in 1757.[43] + + [43] Balch Library Clippings, III, 41 and 53. + +Bridges were few, far between, and primitive. There was, as we have +shewn, a wooden bridge prior to 1755 carrying the Ridge Road over Broad +Run and it is believed that prior to 1739, the same road crossed +Difficult near Colvin Run over a bridge of sorts; but for the most part +fords were used to cross streams, or ferries in the case of the Potomac +and other great rivers. When fords and ferries failed, the mounted +traveller swam his horse across, leaving the wayfarer on foot to such +more precarious adventure as conditions and his courage offered. + +In a preceding chapter we have seen the Vestrymen of Truro Parish +engaged in ecclesiastical affairs committed to their charge; among their +secular duties was to appoint every four years reputable Freeholders to +"perambulate" the Parish, that is to say to travel over the plantations +and farms within it and renew their landmarks. In Virginia this was +called "processioning" but it derived from a very ancient English +practice know as "beating the bounds" believed to have been brought by +Saint Augustine to England from Gaul where "it may have been derived +from the Roman festival of Terminus, the god of landmarks, to whom cakes +and ale were offered, sports and dancing taking place at the +boundaries." In England we find the "beating of the bounds" observed +under Alfred and Aethelstan, whose laws mention it. In later days, maps +still being rare, it continued an English parish custom, generally +observed on Ascension Day or during Rogation Week. A procession was +formed, headed by the Priest of the Parish, the Churchwardens and other +Parish dignitaries and followed by a crowd of boys who were armed with +sticks with which they beat the Parish boundary stones and were +sometimes beaten themselves at each marker in order to fix those markers +in their minds and to insure the location of the boundary stones being +remembered through the life of the younger generation. The procession +frequently ended in a "parish-ale" or feast which doubtlessly assisted +in reconciling the boys to it all.[44] In earlier days the Priests +sought the Divine blessing for the following harvest on the lands within +the parish. But translated to Virginia the procedure was robbed of much +of its formality and many of its picturesque features and came to apply +to renewing the landmarks of private holdings rather than confirming in +memory those of the Parish bounds. There was a Truro Vestry meeting held +on the 8th October, 1743, to appoint "Processioners," which meeting, the +record states, was pursuant to an order of Fairfax County Court, Loudoun +then being included in Fairfax. The Vestrymen at their meeting "laid off +the said Parish into Precincts and appointed Processioners in manner +following." As the men appointed were representative men in their +neighbourhoods and as the "Precinct" may be taken to forecast the later +division of Loudoun into its Magisterial Districts of modern days, it is +interesting to study so much of the record as refers to the country +above Difficult Run which in a few years was to be organized as Loudoun: + +"That John Trammell and John Harle procession between Difficult Run and +Broad Run; that Anthony Hampton and William Moore procession between +Broad Run and the south side of Goose Creek as far as the fork of Little +River; that Philip Noland and John Lasswell procession between Goose +Creek and Limestone Run as far as the fork of Little River; that Amos +Janney and William Hawling procession between Limestone Run and the +south branch of Kitoctan. + + [44] _Encyclopedia Britannica_, and W. S. Walsh's _Curiosities of + Popular Customs_. + +"Between the south fork of Kitoctan and Williams Gap, no free holder in +this precinct; between Williams Gap, Ashley's Gap, the County line and +Goose Creek, to the Beaver Dam, and back to the Gap, no freeholder in +this precinct. Between the Beaver Dam and the north east fork of Goose +Creek no freeholder in this precinct." + +Level Jackson and Jacob Lasswell were ordered to procession between the +northeast and northwest forks of Goose Creek; John Middleton and Edward +Hews between Little River and Goose Creek; William West and William Hall +Junior between Little River and Walnut "Cabbin" branch; George Adams and +Daniel Diskin between Walnut Cabbin branch, Broad run and Cub run and +Popes head. The editors of the record add that these Processioners owned +land within their several precincts at that date.[45] + + [45] _History of Truro Parish in Virginia_, 19. + +The statement that there were no freeholders + + (a) between the south fork of "Kitoctan" and Williams Gap; + and + + (b) between Williams Gap, Ashley's Gap, the County line and + Goose Creek to the Beaver Dam and back to the Gap; and + + (c) between the Beaver Dam and the north east fork of Goose + Creek + +is interesting. A and C take in parts of the Quaker Settlement. Also it +is traditional in the Osburn family of Loudoun that their forebears John +and Nicholas Osburn, sons of Richard Osburn of New Jersey and later of +Chester County, Pennsylvania, came from Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah +Valley near Harper's Ferry and thence in 1734 crossed the Blue Ridge and +settled on its eastern foothills near the present Bluemont. It may be +that with other pioneers in the upper lands they occupied their farms at +first without title and later were obliged to buy the lands they had +rescued from the wilderness from the more shrewd and far-sighted land +speculators for we find no grants from the Proprietor to them. Many of +the earliest settlers were in that position. Catesby Cocke and Benjamin +Grayson particularly, took title to great tracts west of the Catoctin +Hills and in 1740 sold their holdings to John Colvil of Cleesch as will +later appear.[46] Neither Cocke nor Grayson were settlers in Loudoun. +The former was the son of Dr. William Cocke, Secretary of State and he +himself had been successively clerk of the counties of Stafford, Prince +William and Fairfax. Grayson, a Scotch merchant from Quantico, became +the father of Colonel William Grayson of Revolutionary fame who, with +Richard Henry Lee, first represented Virginia in the United States +Senate. + + [46] See Chapter VII post. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +SPECULATION AND DEVELOPMENT + + +In the Quarter century, between 1730 and the French and Indian War of +1755, the lands of the future Loudoun became progressively more +populous. Although Truro Parish had been created as recently as 1732, +this pressure of incoming settlers seemed to call for the division, in +its turn, of Truro and in 1748 the government of the Colony set off the +upper part of Truro, beyond Difficult Run, as a new parish which was +named Cameron in delicate compliment to the Lord Proprietor's Scotch +Barony. Most unfortunately, the first vestry book of the new parish, +which would be invaluable source material for the Loudoun student +seeking information for the period from 1748 until the Revolution, has +vanished or been destroyed. The first parson of Cameron was the Rev. +John Andrews, probably the hero of a convivial incident soon to be +related.[47] + + [47] See Mrs. Browne's narrative in next chapter. + +Increasing population meant rapidly rising land values, exercising an +irresistible lure to many of the more active speculators of the Northern +Neck. Such men of substance as Aubrey and Noland were developing the +lands they purchased; but in another class were Benjamin Grayson, +Catesby Cocke, George Eskridge, the wealthy Potomac trader John Colvil +of Cleesh, that turbulent though gifted son of Dublin John Mercer and +even William Fairfax himself, all of whom, so far as Loudoun was +concerned, were active in land ventures rather than development. The +Germans we have met coming over the Blue Ridge were more intent upon +subduing the wilderness than skilled in the niceties of land titles; +hence they, in common with many of the other pioneers, appear to have +frequently omitted to secure grants from the proprietor for their +holdings, giving Cocke, Grayson, Mercer and even Aubrey the opportunity, +knowingly or otherwise, to secure the legal title to the lands of which +they had taken possession. + +In 1740 John Colvil bought out Cocke and his colleagues and, writes +Fairfax Harrison "many lesser men and by pre-arrangement divided the +territory with William Fairfax. Keeping for himself the lands lying +between Catoctin Creek and the Catoctin Ridge and stretching from the +Potomac to Waterford, he conveyed to William Fairfax 46,466 acres, +constituting all the territory on the Potomac lying between Catoctin +Creek and the Shenandoah River, including the Blue Ridge from Gregory's +Gap to Harper's Ferry. The purchaser divided the property at the Short +Hills into two estates, naming the northern one 'Shannondale' and the +southern one 'Piedmont' and administered them as manors, on leases for +three lives. By his will he left these lands, with his mansion house, +Belvoir, to his eldest son, and the latter in turn, by his will of 1780, +entailed them, with the intention that they should constitute the +'plantation' of Belvoir House, always to be held with it. But soon after +this last will was written, the success of the American Revolution made +it necessary for George William Fairfax, by codicil, to change his +testamentary dispositions and his proposed entail was never made +effective."[48] + + [48] _Landmarks of Old Prince William_, 273. + +After Colvil had settled with William Fairfax, he still held 16,290 +acres along Catoctin Creek, to say nothing of 1,500 acres on Difficult +Run, his plantation on Great Hunting Creek known as Cleesh and other +lands in the Northern Neck. Born at Newcastle-on-Tyne, he was closely +related to the Earl of Tankerville, through the latter's mother being +his first cousin--a matter in which he took some pride and which was to +be of even more moment to the Earl; for when Colvil came to make his +will in 1755, he left his plantation Cleesh, then containing about 1,000 +acres, to his own brother, Thomas Colvil, for life with remainder over +"to the Right Honourable the present Earl of Tankerville and his heirs +forever" and also "in consideration of my relation and alliance to the +said Earl of Tankerville son of my father's brother's daughter," he left +to him outright his 16,000 acres of land on the Catoctin, his 1,500 +acres on Difficult and his interest in a certain nearby copper mine.[49] +Thenceforth these lands remained in the Earl's family until after the +Revolution. Thus originated the Earl of Tankerville's title to certain +Loudoun lands, reference to which occasionally yet is heard. + + [49] The will is on record in Fairfax County. + +About 1739 Josias Clapham, of an ancient family of Yorkshire (which long +has been associated with the Fairfaxes there) bought land near the Point +of Rocks and before his death owned much land in the Northern Neck. He +died sometime prior to the 27th December, 1749, when his will, dated the +29th October, 1744, was proven in Fairfax County. In that will he left + +"to my brother's son Josias Clapham two hundred fourty three Achres of +four hundred joyning to Madm. Mason commonly called the Flat Spring to +him and his heirs forever." + +A codicil added to the will reads + +"I leave my hole real Estate and Parsonable Estate to my brothers son +Josias Clapham and if he dont come in, it is my desire that his brother +Joseph should have it."[50] + + [50] _Landmarks_, 502; also Fairfax County Wills A1, 309 and B1, 26. + +Nicholas Cresswell, the journalist, as we shall see in Chapter XI, +states that the younger Josias lived in Wakefield in Yorkshire and was +much in debt. He decided to "come in" by emigrating to Virginia and soon +appeared on his lands in the upper country. He became a great leader in +Loudoun affairs. Toward the end of his long life he, in 1796, deeded to +his son Samuel the estate later known as Chestnut Hill and the latter, +soon thereafter, built the beautiful mansion which became another of +Loudoun's outstanding and stately family seats and which still stands, +in all its old-time charm, not far from the Point of Rocks, in one of +the most fertile and captivating regions of Loudoun. Through the +marriage of Betsy Price, a granddaughter of Josias Clapham, to Thomas F. +Mason of the Gunston Hall branch of that family (and therefore cousin to +that Thomson Mason of Raspberry Plain who we are about to meet) the +house and estate, until very recent years, continuously was occupied by +these Mason descendants of Clapham.[51] + + [51] C. O. Vandevantner in _Northern Virginian_, winter issue, 1932. + +A few years after the death, in 1741, of Francis Aubrey, much of his +great estate lying between the old Ridge Road (where it now passes +through Leesburg under the name of Loudoun Street) north to the +Limestone Branch and from the Potomac westerly to the Catoctin Hills, +came into the possession of Mrs. Ann Thomson Mason, widow of the third +George of that ilk; thus introducing to our frontier of that day another +of the most prominent of the Tidewater families and one which also was +to play a very notable rôle in Loudoun for at least a century. This +George Mason, at the age of forty-five, had been drowned while +attempting to cross the Potomac in a sailboat in the year 1735. In 1721 +he had married, as his second wife, Ann Thomson, daughter of Stevens +Thomson of Hollins Hall, Staffordshire, England, who had served as +Attorney-General of Virginia for some years during Queen Anne's reign. +He, in turn, was the son of Sir William Thomson of the Middle Temple, a +Sergeant at Law who, to his credit, in 1680 had had the courage to act +as counsel for the defendants Tasborough and Price in the malodorous +Popish Plot trials of disgraceful memory. By this second wife, Mason had +six or seven children, of whom only three were to survive him: George +his eldest son (for his first wife had been childless) who later was to +build Gunston Hall and become the author of the famous Bill of Rights; +Thomson, later to become at least a part-time resident of Loudoun and a +famous lawyer in his day; and Mary, who, on the 11th April, 1751, was to +marry Samuel Selden of Salvington in Stafford County, near +Fredericksburg. She died at her mother's plantation Chipawamsic, on the +5th day of January, 1758, leaving two children, Samuel and Mary Mason +Selden, the latter inheriting her Loudoun lands. + +When George Mason met his accidental death he left no will. Under the +Colonial law of primogeniture, his extensive holdings of land therefore +went to his eldest son. According to the family historian, his younger +children were left penniless. His widow thereupon bent all her energies +to create an estate for each of them. Saving what she could, through +every available economy and acting under the advice of her late +husband's friends, she acquired "ten thousand acres of what was then +called 'wild lands' in Loudoun County, for which she paid only a few +shillings per acre." She, during her lifetime, divided these lands +between her two younger children "for the reason assigned by her that +she did not wish her children to grow up with any sense of inequality +among them in regard to fortune. The investment turned out a most +fortunate one, and she thereby unwittingly made her younger children +wealthier than their elder brother."[52] + + [52] _Life of George Mason_, by Kate Mason Rowland. + +It is thus so many of the beautiful modern estates between Leesburg and +the Limestone Branch trace their title back to the Mason family. Mrs. +Ann Thomson Mason died on the 13th November, 1762, "leaving a reputation +among her connections and neighbours for great prudence and business +capacity, united to the charms of an amiable, womanly, character." Her +Rector, friend and relative, the Rev. John Moncure, described her as "a +good woman, a great woman, and a lovely woman."[53] + + [53] _Idem._, 79. + +Though she planted the Mason line in Loudoun, she herself does not +appear ever to have lived in that rough and for those days remote +frontier country. The actual seating of her line on her large purchase +was left to her son Thomson who, after going to England to acquire his +training in law and being admitted to the Middle Temple on the 14th +August, 1751, as its records show, returned to Virginia, practiced law +at Dumfries, became, perhaps, the most eminent lawyer of his time at the +Virginia Bar and vigourously aided the American Revolution. He either +had improved and extended the first Raspberry Plain home or, as +Lancaster says, built a new one for he deeded the existing structure +with the supporting land to his son Stevens Thomson Mason, confirming +the grant in his will, together with the plate and furniture then in the +dwelling; which indicates a more impressive home than the first +building. + +Thomson Mason died at Raspberry Plain on the 26th February, 1785, and +was there buried; but the first mansion and burial place were not where +the imposing modern house of the same name now stands but rather much to +the north, near the fine spring and branch for a long time included in +the present Selma lands, for the latter estate was, of course, at that +time and long afterward but another part of the extensive Mason +holdings. It is of interest to note that this original Raspberry Plain +holding was never acquired by Francis Aubrey nor was it part of Mrs. Ann +Thomson Mason's purchase. On the contrary, it comprised a small grant, +stated to be 322 acres, made by the Proprietor to one Joseph Dixon, a +blacksmith, by patent dated the 2nd July, 1731.[54] Dixon, in turn, sold +it to Aeneas Campbell by deed dated the 15th July, 1754, for a +consideration nominally stated as "five shillings"--the old-time +equivalent of our "One Dollar and other good and valuable +considerations"--and Campbell was living there when commissioned the +first sheriff of Loudoun in 1757. In the deed to him the plantation is +described as being "On the branches of Limestone run called and known by +the name of raspberry plain" and the grant goes on to give the exact +location by metes and bounds. It apparently had been more carefully +surveyed and found to have more area than first believed, for it is +further described as containing "393 acres as appears by a survey +thereof" and the grant specifically includes "all houses, buildings, +orchards, ways, waters, water-courses," etc. Therefore Dixon may be +credited with having built the first Raspberry Plain house, a matter +long in doubt locally.[55] The estate was subsequently sold by Campbell +and Lydia his wife to Thomson Mason, by deed dated the 15th day of May, +1760, for 500 pounds current money of Virginia. + + [54] Liber 3, Fol. 181, N. N. Grants. + + [55] Fairfax County Land Records Liber C1 p. 806. + +Around 1750 there came from Scotland to this same country, north of the +present Leesburg, that William Douglass who is to be so frequently +mentioned by Nicholas Cresswell in his journal at the time of the +Revolution. Colonel Douglass, as he afterward became, was the son of +Hugh Douglass of Garalland in Ayshire who, in turn, was sixth in descent +from the Earl of Douglas and also a descendant of the Campbell Barons of +Loudoun, thus making the Douglass family of Loudoun County kinsfolk to +the Earl of Loudoun for whom the county was to be named. Our William +Douglass owned the estates of Garalland and Montressor in Loudoun, +served as one of her justices (1770) and as sheriff in 1782. He died in +the latter year, leaving a will which was probated on the 24th September +1782.[56] + + [56] _Douglass Family_, by J. S. Wise. + +In the meanwhile the settlement of the Quakers was increasing rapidly in +population. As early as 1736, it is said, Hannah Janney, the wife of +Jacob Janney, held the services of her sect twice a week on a tree-stump +in the forest "and on that spot a log house was built in 1751 and a +meeting established" which was and still is known as the Goose Creek +meeting. This log hut in 1765 was superseded by a stone building and as +the congregation grew and the latter building was found too small, it +was replaced, in 1817, by a brick meeting-house; but the old stone +building of 1765 still stands and is owned by the Friends. Remodelled as +a dwelling house it is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Taylor. + +A monument today marks the place, now in the village of Lincoln, where +the good Hannah Janney worshipped. It stands in a grove of trees and +reads: + +"Here on a log in the unbroken forest Hannah Janney, wife of Jacob +Janney, worshipped twice weekly in 1736. In 1738 Friends meetings were +held in a private house once a month. Then a log meeting house. Then the +old stone house in 1765 and the brick house in 1817." + +By 1743 or 1744 the Friends had erected a church, known as the Fairfax +Meeting, at Waterford, where as we have seen in a prior chapter (V), +they soon had become very numerous and through their energy and thrift +had really established that little settlement's early character and +prosperity. This first meeting house of the Friends followed the fate +which appeared to hover over so many of Virginia's early structures; it +duly disappeared in flames and in its place in 1868 there was +constructed the present substantial and commodious edifice, now only too +seldom used because of the dwindling of the Quaker population there. + +Concurrently another religious organization had been growing rapidly in +the colonies. The Baptists had experienced the well-proved truth that +religious persecution is a most fertile soil for religious growth. +"Magistrates and mobs, priests and Sheriffs, courts and parsons all +vainly combined to divert them from their object," writes one of their +historians. The Baptists in Virginia are said to have originated from +three sources--emigrants in 1714, directly from England, settling in the +southeasterly part of the Colony, others from Maryland about 1743 going +to the northwesterly part, and still another group leaving New England +about 1754 and going to what is now Berkely County in West Virginia. +Between 1750 and 1755 John Gerrard, a Baptist preacher of Maryland, is +said to have gone to Berkely County and thence journeyed over the Blue +Ridge into the present Loudoun "where he found the people ready to +listen to the proclamation of the gospel." The first Baptist church in +Loudoun (and perhaps in Virginia as well) was built at Ketocton in 1756 +or 1757, according to tradition, to be followed by a stone building in +1815 and then, in 1856, by the present brick edifice. + +Until 1765 the Baptist congregations in Virginia were united to the +Philadelphia Association but in that year obtained their dismissal and +set about the task of building their own association in Virginia. Their +first convention was held "in Ketocton in Loudoun" the old church there +thus giving the first Baptist Association in Virginia its name. At that +time the Colony had only four Baptist churches but all of them were +represented at this first convention by the following delegates + + Ketocton: John Marks and John Loyd. + Smith and Lynsville Creek: John Alderson. + Mill Creek: John Garrard and Isaac Sutton. + Broad Run: David Thomas and Joseph Metcalf. + +A resolution was adopted to seek from the parent association in +Philadelphia instructions for the guidance of the new organization. As +their association grew in membership, it "was divided into two in 1789 +by a line running from the Potomac a south course." The westerly portion +retained the Ketocton name and that to the east was known as the +Chappawamsick. This division continued until 1792 when the districts +were again united.[57] + + [57] _Baptists in Virginia_, by R. B. Semple; also 3 Balch Library + Clippings, 64. + +It is believed that a congregation of the German Reformed Church at +Lovettsville was organized before 1747 and possibly at once on the +arrival of the first German settlers in the Lovettsville neighbourhood, +about 1731. Again we are faced with the loss or destruction of early +records; but the Rev. Michael Schlatter, one of the early founders of +the Reformed Church in America, kept a journal from which it appears +that he preached to a Reformed congregation in our German Settlement at +the home of Elder William Wenner in the month of May, 1747. It is +believed that there was, at a very early day, a building of logs used as +a church and as a schoolhouse as well and that this continued to serve +its congregation until 1810, when a larger brick building was erected +which gave way in 1901 to another structure.[58] + + [58] Balch Library Clippings, IV, 4. + +By patent dated the 7th day of December, 1731, Rawleigh Chinn of +Lancaster County acquired from Lord Fairfax 3,300 acres near Goose Creek +and adjacent to a huge patent of 13,879 acres lying along the east side +of Goose Creek which already had been granted to Colonel Charles +Burgess, also of Lancaster. This grant to Chinn was on the Proprietor's +usual terms, reserving to the latter "yearly and every year on the feast +day of Saint Michael the Archangel the fee rent of one shilling sterling +money for every fifty acres of Land hereby granted and so for a greater +or lesser quantity"; and also meticulously reciting, "Royal mines +excepted and a full third part of all lead, copper, tin, coals, iron +mines and iron ore that shall be found thereon." Raleigh Chinn had +married Esther, a daughter of Colonel Joseph Ball of Epping Forest, +Lancaster County, an older sister of Mary Ball who was to marry +Augustine Washington; and he, although never living on his purchase of +forest lands in the "upper country," appears to have been so well +pleased with his investment that he subsequently added heavily thereto; +so that at the time of his death in August, 1741, he left to his +children a large estate in what later became Loudoun and Fauquier +Counties. One of Raleigh Chinn's sons, Joseph, in January, 1763, sold to +Leven Powell 500 acres of his inheritance and on a part of this land +Colonel Powell later (1782) laid out the town of Middleburg. Thomas +Chinn, a brother of Joseph, lived on the land on Goose Creek he had +inherited from his father and according to family tradition, employed +his young cousin, George Washington, to survey it for him, Washington +occupying "an office on a beautiful hill," built for him by Chinn. +Another surveyor who had run out the Chinn lines was Colonel Thomas +Marshall who was the first county surveyor of Fauquier, subsequently +became its burgess and sheriff, played a most gallant part in the +Revolution and became the father of the famous Chief Justice.[59] + + [59] Depositions in Powell vs. Chinn, Loudoun Archives. + +Leven Powell, at the time of his purchase from Joseph Chinn, was no +stranger to Loudoun, for his father, William Powell, had acquired land +in the neighbourhood of the present Middleburg as early as 1741. +Although these lands had been repeatedly surveyed from the time of the +original patents to Raleigh Chinn, Charles Burgess and others, in a day +when forest surveys customarily ran to a red or white oak, an ash or a +walnut tree, it may be supposed that boundary lines, in spite of +"processioning," not infrequently became the subject of vigourous +dispute; so in the Middleburg neighbourhood the Chinn and Powell heirs +fell out, in 1811, over their dividing lines and the accuracy of the +survey made in 1731 by John Barber for Charles Burgess, William Stamp, +Thomas Thornton and Rawleigh Chinn the burgess. About 500 acres of +arable land and 500 acres of forest were involved and hot was the legal +warfare and very numerous the depositions from distant witnesses in +Virginia and Kentucky obtained and filed in Loudoun's Superior Court. At +the end, the litigation appears to have resolved itself into some sort +of compromise; for on the 7th April, 1814, we find the Superior Court +ordering "this Day came the Parties by their Attorneys and this suit is +discontinued being agreed between the Parties."[60] But the memory of +their warfare still ruffled the litigants' minds; for upon the +settlement being effected, "Sailor" Rawleigh Chinn, grandson and +namesake of the patentee, proceeded to build upon the land set off to +him "Mount Recovery" which, burned in the Civil War, was afterwards +rebuilt and became the home of Mr. Thomas Dudley, subsequently being +sold to Mr. Oliver Iselin; while Burr Powell, the other litigant, built +on the tract set off to him a house he called Mount Defiance which in +later years was owned by the Thatcher and Bishop families. + + [60] Loudoun Superior Court Orders C 38. + +In 1744 John Hough, according to family tradition, settled in these +Fairfax backwoods "and served for many years as surveyor for the vast +estate of Lord Fairfax." He became the progenitor of the family which +has become numerous in Loudoun and includes Emerson Hough, well known +American novelist, though the latter was born in Iowa.[61] His surveys +were much needed, for by 1750 the pressure of settlers for grants in +these uplands had so increased that "Lord Fairfax's land office was +crowded with applicants" we are told.[62] + + [61] Balch Library Clippings, II, 84. + + [62] _Virginia Land Grants_, 130. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR + +[Illustration: SIR PETER HALKETT, Bart. In command of that part of +Braddock's Army that marched through the present Loudoun in 1755.] + + +We have come to the outbreak of that great world conflict between +England and Prussia on the one side against France and Austria, Russia, +Sweden, and Saxony on the other which Fiske, writing before the +devastation of 1914, called the most memorable war of modern times and +which, involving three continents, ultimately passed the vast French +territories in Canada and India to the British crown. In European +history the contest is known, somewhat inadequately, as the Seven Years +War and gave Frederick the Great of Prussia the fateful opportunity to +demonstrate his extraordinary military genius; but in America it is +known as the French and Indian War from the terrible alliance that the +English colonists were forced there to face. + +The menace of the French control of Canada had never oppressed the +imagination of Virginia as it had that of New England and New York. +Distance and lack of colonial unity tended to build in the minds of the +Virginia Assembly the belief that it was a matter, to the Old Dominion +at least, of secondary interest; though her royal governors, and +especially Dinwiddie, recognized its true and pressing danger. Virginia +claimed jurisdiction over a vast and largely unknown western territory, +including much of what is now western Pennsylvania and that strategic +point marking the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, +now covered by the city of Pittsburgh. The French in Canada were well +aware of the huge military importance of this "gateway of the west" and, +although at the time peace was supposed to exist between England and +France, in 1753 sent a small expedition south to take possession of it. +News of these Frenchmen in Virginia territory came to Governor Dinwiddie +who, in turn, sent the twenty-one year old Washington, already a major +in the militia of Virginia, to remonstrate and protest to their +commander. On his journey Washington travelled the road to Vestal's Gap +and crossed the Blue Ridge at that point. Though he faithfully delivered +his message, the English protest was ignored, the French commander +asserting that all that domain belonged to his King and that the +English had no territorial rights west of the mountains. Thereupon the +energetic Dinwiddie decided that war or no war the French should be +dislodged. A regiment of 300 Virginians was organized under Colonel +Joshua Fry, with Major Washington as second in command, to take +possession of the disputed "gateway" and fortify it. + +This expedition, too, followed the road to Vestal's Gap and Washington, +as was his habit, kept a journal of his experience. By the mischance of +events this journal was to be captured later by the French at Fort +Necessity; but in 1756, to bolster their claim that this English +expedition was an unprovoked attack against a friendly power in time of +peace, they published in French so much of it as served their purpose. +Unfortunately the published portion did not include the march through +Piedmont; but in Washington's accounting with the Virginia government we +find these items: + + "1754 + "Apl. 6 To expences of the Regim^{t} at Edward + Thompson's in marching up 2´´16.0 + 8 To Bacon for D^{o} of John Vestal at + Shenandoah & Ferriges over 1.9"[63] + + [63] _Journal of Washington 1754._ Edited by J. M. Toner M. D. + +Edward Thompson was a Quaker who lived near the present Hillsboro and +who was to leave numerous descendants in Loudoun. + +From the Shenandoah the little force pressed on into Western Maryland +where at Will's Creek (the present Cumberland) then a trading station of +the Ohio Company, 140 miles west from their objective, Colonel Fry was +stricken with an illness which, a short time later, was to prove fatal. +Leaving their colonel behind, the Virginia militia, now under the +command of Major Washington, advanced very slowly cutting a narrow road +through the forest and sending a small force ahead to begin work on the +proposed fort at the confluence of the rivers. That work was hardly +begun, however, when a greatly superior force of French and Indians, +arriving suddenly on the scene from the north, drove the Virginians +away, took possession of the place and continued the fort's +construction naming it, on completion, Fort DuQuesne after Canada's +French Governor. + +The retreating Virginians fell back through the woods until they joined +Washington's main force, encamped at Great Meadows, and it was not long +before Washington learned from his Indian scouts that a small party of +enemy skirmishers was cautiously advancing to deliver a surprise attack. +Washington promptly determined on a counter-surprise with such complete +success that the Virginians killed Jumonville, the French leader, and +nine of his followers and captured the remaining twenty-two. But +Washington knew that a much larger force of French would soon attack him +and that his position was precarious. With earthworks and logs he caused +his men to hastily fortify their camp, grimly called by him Fort +Necessity. They had not long to wait for the enemy. There soon emerged +from the surrounding forest a force of six hundred French and Indians +from Fort DuQuesne who, apparently not finding that the appearance of +the fort or the reputation of its defenders invited an attack, settled +down to a siege. Washington, though in the meanwhile reinforced, had not +more than three hundred Virginians and about one hundred and fifty +Indian auxiliaries; but more serious than his inequality of numbers were +his rapidly dwindling supplies of food and ammunition. This was the +situation which resulted in Washington's first and last surrender during +his long military career. The French so little relished an attack on the +fort or a longer siege that the English were allowed to march out and +begin their retreat (4th of July, 1754) under arms and with full honors +of war. + +All of this began to look very much like a fresh outbreak of war between +England and France; but more and worse was to follow before a formal +declaration of war was made in 1756. The Duke of Cumberland, son of +George II, then Captain General of the British Armies, laid plans for a +great American campaign which, once for all, was to cripple the French +power in the west. Three expeditions were devised against French +strategic strongholds on the American continent: One was to proceed +against Crown Point on Lake George, a second against Fort Niagara and +the third to capture the newly erected Fort DuQuesne. Major-General +Edward Braddock, a veteran soldier thoroughly trained on Europe's +battlefields, of unquestioned personal courage but abysmally ignorant of +Indian warfare, was vested with the supreme command and with two British +regiments, the 44th and 48th, set sail for America. The expedition +landed at Alexandria where a general conference was immediately called +at which were present, in addition to Braddock, Governor Dinwiddie of +Virginia, Governor Delancey and Colonel William Johnson of New York, +Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, Governor Sharp of Maryland, Governor +Morris of Pennsylvania and other leaders. To these men Braddock revealed +his orders and plans and the governors received the King's instructions +as to the part they were to play in the campaign. + +Alexandria was a poor starting point for Fort DuQuesne. Far better would +have been Philadelphia, offering as it did not only a shorter route but +more abundant and easily available supplies. Maryland interests, seeking +the advantage of the highway to the west which the army would make, +brought pressure to bear to have the force go through that Colony. It +was finally decided to send a part of the troops through Maryland and a +part through Virginia, the divided army to come together again at Will's +Creek where, in the meanwhile, a large and strongly palisaded fort had +been built by Colonel James Innes under the instructions of Governor +Dinwiddie. A force of 1,400 Virginians and Marylanders was raised and +added to the English troops and "on the 8th and 9th of April the +provincials and six companies of the 44th under command of Sir Peter +Halkett set out for Winchester, Lieutenant Colonel Gage and four +companies remaining to escort the artillery. On the 18th of April the +48th, under Colonel Dunbar, set out for Frederick."[64] Although General +Braddock, with Major Washington on his staff, crossed over into Maryland +at Rock Creek and went to Will's Creek through that Colony, never +entering or even seeing the embryo Loudoun, the local stories are still +repeated, and with the utmost confidence, of the route he followed +through that County and even where he spent the night. It was, as it +still is, "Braddock's Army" in popular parlance and, as time passed, the +commander's presence with the march through Virginia became a part of +its story. + + [64] _History of an Expedition Against Fort DuQuesne in 1755_, by + Winthrop Sargent p. 193. + +Had the supreme command of the expedition been vested in Halkett, rather +than Braddock, one may reasonably believe that there would have been a +very different outcome. A trained and able soldier, no less courageous +than his chief, he was more cautious, more susceptible to new ideas and +methods and far less arbitrary than lay in Braddock's nature to be. He +learned to respect the dearly bought and superior knowledge of Indian +fighting traits possessed by the provincials and wished to follow their +recommendations that to Braddock, with his unbounded confidence in iron +discipline, simply savoured of colonial ignorance and lack of military +courage. Loudoun should remember Halkett not only as the commander of +the march through her domain but as a brave and devoted soldier as well. + +"Sir Peter Halkett of Pitferran, Fifeshire, a baronet of Nova Scotia," +writes Sargent, "was the son of Sir Peter Wedderburne of Gosford, who, +marrying the heiress of the ancient family of Halkett, assumed her +name."[65] Our Sir Peter had married Lady Amelia Stewart, second +daughter of Francis, 8th Earl of Moray, by whom he had three sons. Of +these, James, the youngest, was a subaltern in his father's regiment and +accompanied him on the expedition. + + [65] Idem, 294. + +Of the Virginia troops serving in this campaign an effort has been made +to identify such as came from the incipient Loudoun. All the Virginians +were directly under the command of Captain Waggoner. As Loudoun was then +a part of Fairfax her men were, of course, listed as from the latter +county. + +In March, 1756, the Virginia Legislature passed as its first act[66] an +emergency measure from which we learn the names of certain soldiers from +the then undivided Fairfax but from which side of Difficult Run each man +came does not appear, or as to whether they went on Braddock's +expedition or served nearer home, then or subsequently. The small amount +of compensation awarded to each indicates a period of active service too +short to have permitted them to be at the battle. Probably they were +used east of the Blue Ridge. + + [66] 7 Hening, 9. + +That not all of the Virginia soldiers of the expedition of 1755 were +enthusiastic volunteers is suggested by the passage of Chapter II of the +session of 1754 which states in its preamble that as the King had +instructed his lieutenant governor to raise soldiers for the expedition +against the French on the Ohio and that there were "in every county and +corporation within this Colony, able bodied persons, fit to serve his +majesty, and who follow no lawful calling or employment" the justices of +the peace, through the sheriffs, were ordered to forcibly enlist them, +provided they were not voters or indentured servants![67] To raise money +for the campaign an act was passed in May, 1755, instituting a public +lottery with a first prize of Ł2,000 "current money" and many other +prizes amounting altogether to Ł20,000 "current money."[68] + + [67] 6 Hening, 438. + + [68] 6 Hening, 453. + +The route to be followed by Halkett's command is given in Braddock's +Orderly Book as follows: + + "Alexandria 11th April 1755 + .... March Rout of Sir Peter Halkett's Regiment from the + Camp at Alexandria to Winchester miles + To Y^{e} old Court House 18 + To Mr. Colemans on Sugar Land Run + where there is Indian Corn &c 12 + To Mr. Miner's 15 + To Mr. Thompson ye Quaker wh is 3000 wt. corn 12 + To Mr. They's ye Ferry at Shanh 17 + From Mr. They's to Winchester 23 + -- + 97" + +Thus from the date of entry, only two days after the last of Halkett's +men had left the camp, we learn that the route given was the one ordered +followed, rather than a report of one that had been pursued; but as it +carefully describes the main northern road from Alexandria to Winchester +it is safe to assume that the troops held to the course laid down for +them. + +The "Old Court House" was the first courthouse of Fairfax County built +about 1742 and in use about ten years until another was built in +Alexandria. Thus at the time of the march it was no longer used for the +purpose for which it had been built. It stood near the present Tyson's +Corner and in recent years its site has been marked by an appropriate +inscription. + +The "Mr. Colemans on Sugar Land Run" was the house of Richard Coleman +who was thereafter in 1756 licensed by the Fairfax Court to keep an +Ordinary there. It stood where the road then crossed Sugarland Run at +the mouth of Colvin Run. + +The "Mr. Miners" was the plantation of Nicholas Minor who served as a +captain in this war and who soon was to lay out the town of Leesburg on +part of his estate. It was known as Fruitland and the residence was +situated on a knoll on the south side of the road about a mile east of +the present Leesburg where a later building but bearing the same name +now stands. There Miner in connection with his other activities, +operated a distillery, probably for making brandy from peaches, apples +and persimmons; according to General John Mason, a son of the famous +George of Gunston Hall "the art of distilling from grain was not then +among us" and he spoke of the time of his boyhood--a period well after +1755. A later writer comments: "The choice of such camping places as +this perhaps explains in some measure the frequent court-martials in the +army and the liberal rewards of from 600 to 1,000 lashes to recreant +soldiers for drunkenness and for giving liquor to the Indians who +accompanied the march or whom they met on the way."[69] There is much +evidence that the British regulars, who had been recently recruited, +frequently were disciplined for infraction of military rules and the +disciplinary measures employed in British armies of that day were not +gentle. + + [69] Newspaper clipping Balch Library, Leesburg, Vol. 1. Loudoun + County 70. + +The "Mr. Thompson ye Quaker" we have already met in the preceding year +when Washington, in Fry's expedition against the French at the +"Gateway," noted his "expences." He lived, it will be recalled, in the +locality which is now Hillsboro. + +The "Mr. They's ye Ferry at Shanh" was, it is believed, in error for +"Mr. Key's" and was at the Key's Gap Ferry. + +All of this gives very little local detail. Fortunately that is more +freely supplied from another and fortuitous source. There was attached +to Braddock's expedition, when it left England, a certain commissary who +had a widowed sister, one Mrs. Browne. She accompanied her brother from +London to Fort Cumberland and, following the valuable eighteenth century +habit, kept a journal which in 1924 was owned by Mr. S. A. Courtauld of +the Howe, Halstead, Essex, and a photostatic copy of which has been +acquired by the Library of Congress.[70] This journal or diary runs from +the 17th November, 1754, to the 19th January, 1757. When Braddock and +his men departed from Alexandria in April he had a number of soldiers +too ill to travel. These he left there temporarily in charge of a force +of "1 officer and 40 men" and the commissary (Mrs. Browne's brother), +and Mrs. Browne stayed with them to help nurse the invalids. By June the +sick men had so far recovered that they moved to join the main force, +following the old Ridge (Alexandria-Winchester) Road over which Halkett +and his men had marched before them. Here follows a full copy of Mrs. +Browne's journal entries from her entrance into present Loudoun until +she reached the Shenandoah: + + [70] _Virginia Magazine of History and Biography_, Vol. 38, p. 169. + +1755. "June the 2. At Break of Day the Drum beat. I was extreemly sleepy +but got up, and as soon as our Officer had eat 6 Eggs and drank a dram +or two and some Punch we march'd; but, my Waggon being in the Rear the +Day before, my Coachman insisted that it was not right that Madam Browne +should be behind, and if they did not give way they should feel the soft +end of his Whip. He gain'd his Point and got in Front. The Roads are so +Bad that I am almost disjointed. At 12 we halted at Mr. Coleman's, +pitched our markeys and dined on Salt Gammon,[71] nothing better to be +had. + + [71] i.e. Cured ham or even bacon. + +"June the 3. At 3 in the Morning was awak'd by the Drum, but was so +stiff that I was at a loss to tell whether I had any Limbs. I +breakfasted in my waggon and then sent of in front; at which all the +rest were very much enrag'd, but to no Purpose for my Coachman told them +that he had but one Officer to Obey and she was in his Waggon, and it +was not right she should be blinded with Dust. My Brother the Day before +left his Cloak behind, so sent his Man back for it on his Horse, and +march'd on Foot. On the Road met with Mr. Adams a Parson[72] who left +his Horse & padded with them on Foot. We halted at Mr. Minors. We +order'd some Fowls for Dinner but not one to be had, so was obliged to +set down to our old Dish Gammon & Greens. The Officer and the Parson +replenish'd their Bowl so often that they began to be very joyous, +untill their Servant told them that their Horses were lost, at which the +Parson was much inrag'd and pop'd out an Oath but Mr. Falkner said +'Never mind your Horse, Doctor, but have you a Sermon ready for next +Sunday?' I being the Doctor's country woman he mad me many Compts. and +told me he should be very happy if he could be better acquainted with +me, but hop'd when I came that way again I would do him the Honour to +spend some Time at his House. I chatted til 11 and then took my leave +and left them a full Bowl before them. + + [72] Fairfax Harrison suggests error; that Rev. John Andrews, then + Parson of Cameron Parish, was the man. No Parson named Adams then in + Virginia. + +"June the 4. At break of Day my Coachman came and tap'd my Chamber Door +and said Madam all is ready and it is right early. I went to my Waggon +and we moved on. Left Mr. Falkner behind in Pursuit of his Horse. +March'd 14 Miles and halted at an old sage Quaker's with silver Locks. +His Wife on my coming in accosted me in the following manner: 'Welcome +Friend set down, thou seem's full Bulky to travel, but thou art young +and that will enable thee. We were once so ourselves but we have been +married 44 Years & may say we have lived to see the Days that we have +no Pleasure therein.' We had recourse to our old Dish Gammon, nothing +else to be had; but they said they had some Liquor they called Whiskey +which was made of Peaches. My Friend Thompson being a Preacher, when the +soldiers came in as the Spirit mov'd him, held forth to them and told +them the great Virtue of Temperance. They all stared at him like Pigs, +but had not a word to say in their justification. + +"June the 5. My Lodgings not being very clean, I had so many close +Companions call'd Ticks that deprived me of my Night's Rest, but I +indulg'd till 7. We halted this Day all the Nurses Baking Bread and +Boiling Beef for the March to Morrow. A fine Regale 2 Chickens with Milk +and water to Drink, which my friend Thompson said was fine temperate +Liquor. Several things lost out of my Waggon, amongst the rest they took +2 of my Hams, which my Coachman said was an abomination to him, and if +he could find out who took them he would make them remember taking the +next. + +"June the 6. Took my leave of my Friend Thompson, who bid me farewell. A +great Gust of Thunder and Lightning and Rain, so that we were almost +drown'd. Extreem bad Roads. We pass'd over the Blue Ridge which was one +continual mountain for 3 miles. Forg'd through 2 Rivers. At 7 we halted +at Mr. Key's, a fine Plantation. Had for Dinner 2 Chickens. The Soldiers +desired my Brother to advance them some Whisky for they told him he had +better kill them at once than to let them dye by Inches, for without +they could not live. He complied with their Request and it soon began to +operate; they all went to dancing and bid defiance to the French. My +Friend Gore" (the coachman) "began to shake a Leg. I ask'd him if it was +consistent as a member of his Society to dance; he told me that he was +not at all united with them, and that there were some of his People who +call'd themselves Quakers and stood up for their Church but had no more +religion in them than his Mare. I told him I should set him down as a +Ranter." + +But to return to Halkett and the troops under his immediate command. +From Winchester they proceeded to the new fort at Will's Creek which +Braddock, upon his arrival, named Fort Cumberland in honour of his +captain general. Here the main detachments of the expedition came +together again in accordance with the plans made in Alexandria. The +troops were given a short rest after their long march, the final plans +were developed and on the 7th, 8th and 9th of June the army resumed its +march to the west, widening the path through the woods made by +Washington and his men the year before and hauling its artillery over +the mountains with the utmost difficulty. So slow was their progress +that Braddock decided to send on a large advance party, more lightly +equipped, leaving the others to bring on the greater part of the +supplies and baggage. + +[Illustration: THE FALL OF BRADDOCK. (From a painting by C. Schuessele, +published in 1859.)] + +In contrast to Braddock's unbounded assurance, Halkett seems to have had +a strong premonition of the impending disaster and his own tragic fate. +Lowdermilk, in his excellent _History of Cumberland_, describes his +dejection the night before the battle: + +"Sir Peter Halkett was low spirited and depressed; he comprehended the +importance of meeting the wily red skins with their own tactics, and +while he urged the General to beat the bushes over every foot of ground +from the camp to the Fort, he had little hope of seeing his advice put +into effect; when he wrapped his mantle about him that night as he lay +upon his soldier's bed his soul was filled with the darkest forebodings +for the morrow, which he felt would close his own career as well as that +of many another gallant soldier, a presentiment which was sadly +realized." + +Upon the following day, the 9th of July, the advance party of British, +now making better progress, pressed on to a point five or six miles from +Fort DuQuesne where they encountered the awaiting French and Indians. +Against such British strength of numbers and equipment the French had +one chance and well they knew it lay in meeting the attacking force in +the forest before it could bring its artillery to play on their +fortification. The mass of the scarlet-coated British troops were in +close formation in the open; the French and Indians hid themselves +behind the surrounding trees. As the first bullets poured into their +ranks the British could see no foe and Braddock, deaf to the entreaties +of the Virginians, insisted that his troops hold their ranks in the +unprotected and open clearing. The provincials scattered and fought the +foe in its own manner from behind every tree and mound they could find +to shelter them; but Braddock, wholly immune to fear or reason himself, +continued to hold his regulars together, in his anger beating back with +his sword into the ranks those seeking cover. Even so the situation, +impossible though it were rapidly becoming, might have been saved by the +desperate and determined efforts of the provincials who had found a +small ravine or ditch from which they were able to deliver an effective +flanking fire against the French; but as the latter began to waver and +the Americans left their protection to charge, the panic-stricken +regulars fired upon them, killing and wounding a great number. It was +the end. Braddock, who throughout the fighting had shewn the most +reckless and obstinate courage and had had his horses killed from under +him again and again, now received a mortal wound and the surviving +English broke into a wild and disorderly retreat. Had the French and +their allies pressed their advantage, hardly one of their foe would have +escaped death or capture; but the Indian allies of the French, when the +British fled, addressed themselves to killing the wounded and robbing +and scalping the dead, thus giving the English their chance of flight, +disorderly and panic-stricken, back over the road they had come. +Braddock, crushed with the completeness of his defeat, died on the +fourth day of the retreat and was buried in the roadway to protect his +body from the Indian savages. How overwhelming was the French victory is +shewn by the English record that of the 1,386 men who were under +Braddock in the fight, only 459 escaped. That the British regulars stood +their ground bravely in the face of most difficult conditions and stupid +leadership there seems no question. But the greater praise went to the +Americans who inflicted far more damage on the foe; and particularly to +their leader Washington who with cool courage was everywhere encouraging +his men in the fight and though his clothing was pierced repeatedly with +rifle balls, he escaped wholly unwounded. + +During the battle Halkett was shot and killed and his son James, seeing +him fall and rushing to his aid, at once met the same fate. Both bodies +were scalped and robbed and then left where they fell. Three years later +Halkett's eldest son, the then Sir Peter Halkett, a major in the 42nd +Regiment, joined General Forbes' new and successful expedition against +Fort DuQuesne, especially to seek some trace of the fate of his father +and brother. With friendly Indian help the bodies were found and +identified and given a military burial nearby. + +As the defeated English retreated to the east, the story of the calamity +spread terror and dismay among the more westerly settlers. In Virginia +the people in the valley were panic-stricken and in great numbers fled +over the Blue Ridge to the Piedmont counties, spreading their terror +among the people there. Washington wrote that he learned from Captain +Waggoner who, as we have seen, had had command of the Virginia troops +and had been wounded in the battle "that it was with difficulty he +passed the Ridge for crowds of people, who were flying as if every +moment was death." The fear and restlessness continued among the +colonists on both sides of the Blue Ridge until General Forbes, as +noted, in 1758 led his force to Fort DuQuesne and took possession of +what was left by the French who burned and abandoned it at his approach. +From then until after the Revolution this former outpost of France, +under its new name of Fort Pitt, remained in the hands of the English +government. + +On the 1st day of September, 1758,[73] an act was passed in Virginia to +pay arrears to "forces in the pay of this colony" and to raise money +therefor. Section 5 recites: + +"And whereas several companies of the militia were lately drawn out into +actual service, for the defense and protection of the frontiers of this +colony, whose names, and the time they respectively continued in the +said service, together with the charge of provisions found for the use +of the said militia are contained in the schedule to this act +annexed.... + + "Loudoun County + l s d + To captain Nicholas Minor 1 00 00 + Aeneas Campbell, lieutenant, 7 6 + Francis Wilks, 1 17 + James Willock, 1 15 + To John Owsley, and William Stephens, + 15 s. each 1 10 + Robert Thomas 10 + John Moss, Jun. 4 + John Thomas for provisions 5 + John Moss, do 2 8 + William Ross, do 2 " + + [73] 7 Hening, 171 and 222. + +On page 217 of the same act under the head of "Fairfax County" appear +the following items, the names suggesting that the list was prepared +prior to the time of the setting off of Loudoun from Fairfax and for +services prior to those above listed: + + l s d + "To Nicholas Minor, Captain 15 12 0 + Josias Clapham, lieutenant, 7 16 + William Trammell, ensign 5 4 + To Captain James Hamilton his pay and + guards subsistence carrying soldiers + to Winchester 10 4 1" + +The names of many other soldiers are given with the compensation awarded +each. It is quite possible that among them were men who resided in that +part of Fairfax which, at the time of the passage of the act, had been +set off as Loudoun. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ORGANIZATION OF LOUDOUN AND THE FOUNDING OF LEESBURG + + +In the Virginia of England's rule, the vestry of a Parish "divided with +the County Court the responsibility of local government, having as their +especial charge the maintenance of religion and the oversight of all +things pertaining thereto in the domain of charity and morals."[74] The +parish was a territorial subdivision with large civil as well as +ecclesiastical powers and duties and when, through increasing +population, a parish came to be divided, in those days of expanding +settlement, it usually was followed by the creation of a new county. As +has been noted in a prior chapter, Truro Parish, then coextensive with +Fairfax County, was divided in 1748 by the Assembly setting off the +upper part thereof, above Difficult Run, as Cameron Parish, thus +indicating the early organization of a new county. But the politicians +of Tidewater were beginning to look askance at the rapid increase of new +counties in the upper country, fearing a diminution of their influence +and control and perhaps there was some opposition in Fairfax itself. A +petition presented to the Assembly in 1754 by the people of Cameron that +they be formed into a new county resulted in a bill being passed to that +end which, however, was disapproved by the Council. Again a petition was +presented to the next Assembly with no better success; but on the 8th +day of June, 1757 a bill was passed creating the new county. It reads as +follows: + +"An Act for Dividing the County of Fairfax + +"I. Whereas many inconveniences attend the upper inhabitants of the +County of Fairfax by reason of the large extent of said county, and +their remote situation from the court house, and the said inhabitants +have petitioned this present general assembly that the said county be +divided: Be it, therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council +and Burgesses of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby +enacted, by the authority of the same, that from and after the 1st day +of July next ensuing the said county of Fairfax be divided into two +counties, that is to say: All that part thereof, lying above Difficult +run, which falls into the Patowmack river, and by a line to be run from +the head of the same run, a straight course, to the mouth of Rocky run, +shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of +Loudoun: And all that part below the said run and course, shall be +another distinct county, and retain the name of Fairfax. + +"II. And for the due administration of justice in the said county of +Loudoun, after the same shall take place: Be it further enacted by the +authority aforesaid, that after the first day of July a court for the +said county of Loudoun be constantly held by the justices thereof, upon +the second Tuesday in every month in such manner as by the laws of this +colony is provided, and shall be by their commission directed. + +"III. Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be +constructed to hinder the sheriff or collector of the said county of +Fairfax, as the same now stands entire and undivided, from collecting +and making distress for any public dues, or officers fees, which shall +remain unpaid by the inhabitants of said county of Loudoun at the time +of its taking place; but such sheriff or collector shall have the same +power to collect or distrain for such dues and fees, and shall be +answerable for them in the same manner as if this act had never been +made, any law, usage or custom to the contrary thereof in any wise +notwithstanding. + +"IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the +court of the said county of Fairfax shall have jurisdiction of all +actions and suits, both in law and equity, which shall be depending +before them at the time the said division shall take place; and shall +and may try and determine all such actions and suits, and issue process +and award execution in any such action or suit in the same manner as if +this act had never been made, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary +in any wise notwithstanding. + +"V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that out of +every hundred pounds of tobacco, paid in discharge of quit rents, +secretary's, clerk's, sheriff's, surveyor's, or other officers fees, +and so proportionately for a greater or lesser quantity, there shall be +made the following abatements or allowances to the payer, that is to +say: For tobacco due in the county of Fairfax ten pounds of tobacco, and +for tobacco due in the county of Loudoun twenty pounds of tobacco; and +that so much of the act of the assembly, intitled, An Act for amending +the staple of tobacco, and preventing frauds in his Majesty's customs, +as relates to anything within the purview of this act, shall be and is +hereby repealed and made void."[75] + + [74] _History of Truro Parish_, i. + + [75] Known as Chapter XXII. See 7 Hening, 148. + +The boundaries of the new county thus fixed have since that time been +changed but once, when in 1798, a part of the originally constituted +Loudoun was, by act of the Legislature, returned to Fairfax as later +will be noted.[76] + + [76] See Chapter XIII post. + +Thus, from the formation of Northumberland County in 1647, it had taken +110 years for a sufficient population to penetrate, settle and develop +in the backwoods to justify the organization of Loudoun. At first the +creation of new counties out of the early Northumberland had been rapid. +Lancaster along the Rappahannock was formed in 1651 and Westmoreland +along the Potomac in 1653. Out of Westmoreland came Stafford in 1664. +Then, so far as the line of descent of Loudoun is concerned, there is a +long wait. Indian warfare and Indian domination of the upper country +effectually held back settlement until Spotswood's epochal treaty of +1722. With the withdrawal of the Indians the pressure from Tidewater +rapidly had its effect. Out of the Stafford "backwoods" and those of +King George to the south was organized in 1731 Prince William with a +disputed western boundary, the Proprietor claiming much of the +Shenandoah Valley and the Virginia government holding to the Blue Ridge +but the act discretely leaving that question untouched. In 1742 the +territory above "Occoquan and Bull Run and from the head of the main +branch of Bull Run by a straight course" to Ashley's Gap became the +County of Fairfax of which, as shown, Loudoun in 1757 was born. Her +contiguous county Fauquier was, by contrast, taken directly from Prince +William in 1759. + +It would have been wholly appropriate to have named the new county Lee +or Carter, honoring families and individuals which had been so active in +its development but the Lees then loved the Carters not at all nor the +Carters the Lees and doubtlessly each would, and perhaps did, prevent +the honor going to the other. So it came about that the lusty infant +became the namesake of a man whose fame, so far as Virginia and the +other American Colonies were concerned, was highly ephemeral. On the +17th February, 1756, in the winter following Braddock's defeat, John +Campbell, fourth Earl of Loudoun, had been appointed Captain-General and +Governor-in-Chief of Virginia and, on the 20th of the month following, +Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in America. He seems to have +owed his selection to his own and his family's influence with Court and +ministry; certainly nothing in his earlier career had logically earned +the bestowal of a paramount command in such a critical period for +Britain. Loudoun, the only son of the third Earl of that ilk and his +wife the Lady Margaret Dalrymple (only daughter of John 1st Earl of +Stair) had been born in 1705 and succeeded his father in the title and +estates in 1731. From 1734, until his death in 1782, he was one of the +representative peers of Scotland. At the age of twenty-two he entered +the army and had been appointed Governor of Sterling Castle in 1741, +becoming aide-de-camp to the king in 1743. When the Jacobite rebellion +broke out in 1745 he had been a staunch supporter of the House of +Hanover, raising a regiment of Highlanders of which he became colonel +and which later was cut to pieces at the Battle of Preston. Loudoun was +one of the few who came out of the fight unscathed and, shewing that +upon occasion he was capable of energy as well as loyalty, promptly he +raised a force of more than two thousand new soldiers. + +When he arrived in New York on the 23rd July, 1756, he found affairs in +great confusion. After the care with which Braddock's campaign had been +planned for him and the disastrous outcome, the home authorities were +now slow to adopt measures to cope with the crisis. Not only Fort +DuQuesne but Forts Oswego and Ontario were held by the French, +aggressive and confident from their repeated successes. After spending +a year in surveying the situation, Loudoun headed an expedition against +Louisburg, going as far as Halifax and then, though a caution made to +appear the more excessive by inevitable comparison with the dash and +reckless courage of Pepperell's earlier and sensationally successful +expedition, returned to New York without striking a blow. He had +incurred great unpopularity earlier in New York and now in Halifax +although in the former, at least, his measures of quartering troops and +interference with commerce fairly could be defended on the ground of +military necessity. Of more unfortunate importance, the ineptitude and +dilatory inefficiency of his Louisburg campaign had drained its +defenders from the Hudson Valley, thus permitting a successful and +disastrous invasion of the Province of New York by the French and their +Indians and Loudoun was peremptorily recalled to England (1757), General +Jeffrey Amherst being sent over to take his place. Loudoun's indecision +inspired Benjamin Franklin's famous epigram which all down the years, to +the few who remember Loudoun, remains inseparably associated with his +name: that, "he was like King George upon the signposts, always on +horseback but never advancing." There was, however, at least one voice +publicly raised on his behalf; an effort was made in England to defend +his conduct in America through an anonymous pamphlet published in London +the following year entitled "The Conduct of a Noble Commander in America +Impartially Reviewed with the genuine Causes of the Discontents at New +York and Hallifax," one of the few surviving copies of which is now +lodged in the Library of Congress. And it was for this British general +with but a year of American experience (and that far from glorious) who +never, so far as it is known, set foot on Virginia's soil that the +fairest of Piedmont's counties was named during those brief months when +his ascendant star glowed with an all too temporary brilliance and hope +and expectation ran high. Had the county been organized when first +proposed or had its formation been further postponed, it is a fair +presumption that another name would have been chosen. + +Lord Loudoun's American record seemingly did not end his influence in +London. In 1762, when war broke out between England and Spain, he was +appointed second in command, under Lord Tyrawley, of the British troops +sent to Portugal. As he never married, his title upon his death at +Loudoun Castle on the 27th April, 1782, passed to his cousin, James Mure +Campbell, a grandson of the second Earl. + +Of the first officials of Loudoun County, the following men by +commission of the Virginia Council, dated the 24th May, 1757, became its +first court or governing body: Anthony Russell, Fielding Turner, James +Hamilton, Aeneas Campbell, Nicholas Minor, William West, of the Quorum, +Richard Coleman, Josias Clapham, George West, Charles Tyler, John Moss, +Francis Peyton and John Mucklehany. These men may be taken as +outstanding residents. + +We can learn from the early records something concerning the actual +procedure followed in organizing the new county. The first entry in the +volume of Court Orders is a record on the 12th day of July, 1757, that a +Commission of the Peace and Dedimus of the county directed to the last +mentioned "Gentlemen, justices of the said County was produced and +openly Read, and pursuant to the Dedimus" that they took the oaths +prescribed by law. + +The first county clerk was Charles Binns who served thirty-nine years in +that capacity, from 1757 to 1796; to be succeeded by his son Charles +Binns, Jr., who, in his turn, served forty-one years or from 1796 to +1837, a record indicating that Loudoun had been fortunate in the +selection for this office. It is traditional in the county that the +first clerk's office was at Rokeby, the present country seat of Mr. and +Mrs. B. Franklin Nalle. + +The first sheriff was Aeneas Campbell who came to the then Fairfax +County from Saint Mary's County, Maryland, just in time to become a +lieutenant in that Fairfax company in the French War captained by +Nicholas Minor and whose home was at Raspberry Plain as already has been +shown.[77] It is also locally related that the first jail was a small +brick building about twelve feet square, in his yard there. A +ducking-spring was also a part of the new sheriff's equipment at his +home and was used to temper the enthusiasm of females too greatly +addicted to mischievous talking. A woman duly convicted of idle gossip +and slandering her neighbours, was generally fined in tobacco; if the +fine were not paid by her husband or the dame herself, she was taken to +the ducking-spring, where a long pole had a chair with arms attached to +its end. The talkative lady was then tied in the chair, the pole lowered +and she was immersed in the pond a sufficient number of times to cause +her ruefully to remember her experience and, let us hope, amend her +conduct. Alas! Alas! _Tempora mutantur_. + + [77] See chapter VII ante. + +Campbell's bond as sheriff occupies the place of honor in the first Deed +Book of the county on page one. He and his two sureties, Anthony Russell +and James Hamilton, bind themselves "unto our Sovereign Lord King George +the second in the sum of one thousand pounds Current Money to be paid to +our said Lord the King his Heirs and Successors." Tobacco as money was +all well enough in Virginia but apparently was not appreciated by +Royalty across the sea. + +Both county clerk and sheriff qualified at this first session of the +Court. + +Aeneas Campbell was one of the leading spirits in the new county. Not +only was he its first sheriff but he built its first courthouse, as +later noted, and was an original trustee of Leesburg when that town was +"erected." In those days the outstanding men in a community were chosen +for public office and the frequency of his name on the records +unquestionably confirms his influential prominence. His later career was +interesting. After he sold Raspberry Plain to Thomson Mason in 1760, we +find him, in 1776, back in Maryland and busily engaged in the work of +the Revolution. He became captain of the First Maryland Battalion of the +Flying Camp in July of that year and on the 18th of the month in +Frederick County, is credited with presenting to that command thirty-two +men, including his son Aeneas Campbell, Jr., (who held the rank of +cadet) all of whom were then reviewed and passed (accepted?) by Major +John Fulford.[78] His descendants, including the Giddings family of +Leesburg, proudly retain the tradition that Campbell raised and +accoutred this force entirely at his own expense, setting an example of +patriotism which Loudoun should remember. + + [78] Archives of Maryland, Published by Maryland Historical Society + 1900. + +The county lieutenant, first officer in rank but, in the present +instance, the last to be chosen, was not commissioned until December, +1757, when Francis Lightfoot Lee, son of our old friend Thomas Lee, was +selected and settled himself on lands which he had inherited from his +father and which were within the boundaries of the new county. His +residence in Loudoun, however, did not prove to be permanent, for upon +his marriage in 1769, to Miss Rebecca Tayloe of Mount Airy, he removed +to Menokin on the Rappahannock where he continued to reside until his +death, without issue, in the winter of 1797; but as a result of his +frontier experience he was always thereafter called "Loudoun" by his +brothers.[79] In addition to his position as county lieutenant he and +James Hamilton served as the first Burgesses from Loudoun and +continuously so acted for a number of years. + + [79] _Landmarks_, I., 327 and 344. + +The first county surveyor was recognized at the court held on the 9th +August, 1757, when "George West, Gent. produced a Commission to be +Surveyor of this County and thereupon he took the Oath directed by the +Act of Assembly and entered into and acknowledged his Bond to the +President and Masters of the College of William & Mary in Virginia with +Charles Binns & Lee Massey his Sureties which is Ordered to be +recorded." + +The first attorneys to qualify to practice law before the Loudoun Court +were Hugh West, Benjamin Sebastian, William Elzey, and James Keith. + +Few institutions of the Northern Neck of those days of slow travel and +thin settlement were more important than the inns or as they are usually +designated "ordinaries;" and the keeper of an Ordinary was generally a +man of parts and consequence in his community. The matter of cost of +food, drink and lodging in the public inns was a subject close to the +heart of the eighteenth century colonial and Loudoun's Court lost no +time in taking control of the ordinaries within its boundaries. Already +several were in existence. As early as 1740 William West had acquired +land on the Carolina Road near the present Aldie and soon had +constructed a dwelling and was keeping an ordinary there. The Loudoun +Court on the 9th May, 1759, gave him a license to keep his ordinary for +a year--presumably to be annually renewed--but he had been acting as the +local Boniface for many years before that. The first Loudoun license for +an ordinary, however, was granted on the 10th August, 1757, "to James +Coleman to keep Ordinary at his House in this County (at the Sugar +Lands) for one Year he with Security having given Bond as the Law +directs;" but Coleman, too, had been conducting an ordinary at his +residence before then. + +On the 12th September, 1759, the court licensed John Moss to keep an +Ordinary at Leesburg. + +But on the 9th day of August, 1757, the day before it granted its first +license to keep ordinary to James Coleman, the court laid down its rules +and regulations for Loudoun inn keepers. That the gentlemen justices +gave far more detailed attention to the charges for alcoholic +refreshment than to the other matters regulated may or may not have been +mere coincidence. + +"The Court," so runs the record, "proceeded to rate the Liquor for this +County as follows: + + L S d + + For a gallon of rum and so in proportion 8 + Nantz Brandy Pr Gallon 10 + Peach or Apple Brandy Pr Gallon 6 + New England Rum Pr Gallon 2 6 + Virginia Brandy from Grain Pr Gallon 4 + Arrack the Quart made into Punch 8 + For a Quart of White, red or Madeira Wine 2 6 + For Royall and other low Wines Pr Quart 1 6 + English Strong Beer Pr Quart 1 3 + London Beer called Porter Pr Quart 1 + Virginia Strong Beer Pr Quart 7-1/2 + Cyder the quart Bottle 3-3/4 + English Cyder the Quart 1 3 + For a Gill of Rum made into Punch with loaf Sugar 6 + Ditto with fruit 7-1/2 + For ditto with Brown Sugar 3-3/4 + For a Hot Diet 9 + For a Cold Diet 6 + For a Gallon of Corn or Oats 4 + Stableage & Fodder for a horse 24 hours or one night 6 + Pasturage for a Horse 24 Hours or one night 4 + For lodging with clean Sheets 6d. Otherwise nothing + All soldiers and Expresses on his Majesty's service paying + ready money shall have 1/5 part deducted. + +"Ordered that the respective Ordinary keepers in this County do sell +according to the above rates in Money or Tobacco at the rate of 12s 6d +per hundred and that they do not presume to demand more of any Person +whatsoever." + +The first deed recorded in Loudoun but on page 2 of the first volume of +Deed Books, is dated the 6th day of August, 1757, from Andrew Hutchison +"of Loudoun County and Cameron Parish" and runs to his sons John and +Daniel, also of Loudoun; it conveys a piece of land "containing by +estimation seven hundred acres more or less whereon now lives the said +John Huchison and to be equally divided between them." Thus another old +and well-known Loudoun family is introduced. + +The first will recorded was that of "Evan Thomas of Virginia Coleney in +Loudoun County." It was proved at the court held on the 8th day of +November, 1757, and its record is followed by a long and interesting +inventory of his estate. + +For some time prior to the organization of the county there had been a +small backwoods settlement, perhaps only a few scattered log houses, +near the intersection of the Carolina and old Ridge Roads. This tiny +hamlet had dignified itself with the name of George Town in rugged +loyalty to King George the Second. Deck and Heaton say that in 1757 a +little fort was built there. Protection from attack by the French and +Indians was deemed necessary to every frontier settlement. Nicholas +Minor, who was a captain in the Virginia Militia and in active service +at this period, may have had a hand in the building of this fort and it +is probable that he was in military command there. He lived on his +nearby plantation of Fruitland and his estate included some sixty acres +or more at the intersection of the Carolina and Ridge Roads. In the year +1756, it is believed, he employed John Hough (who, as stated in the last +chapter, had in 1744 settled in these backwoods and was acting as a +surveyor for Lord Fairfax) to survey this land for a town site. Hough +thereupon made his survey and perhaps mapped his first rough draft in +1757, probably making a more carefully detailed copy in 1759, after the +establishment of the Town had been formally authorized by the +Legislature and Minor had sold off a number of the lots as plotted on +the plan. If so, this first rough draft is now lost or has been +destroyed and the copy of 1759 was destined for many years also to be +involved in mysterious disappearance. Though constantly in use for the +first forty years of its existence, through oversight or negligence +neither this 1759 "edition," nor the original draft, had been entered on +the county records. Then in the latter part of the eighteenth century, +the 1759 copy was used as an exhibit in the suit of Cavan vs. Murray, +involving land adjacent to the town and in 1798 folded up and filed with +the county clerk together with other exhibits in that litigation. The +story of its disappearance and recovery is attached to a photostatic +copy of the map now before me: + +"For generations the mystery of its disappearance has been a subject of +speculation and many believed that it had been withdrawn from the public +records into private lands, and there held or possibly lost. In November +1928, the bundle containing the papers in the above suit was opened by +Charles F. Cochran, and the old plat brought to light, just 130 years +after it had been placed there. The paper was worn through at many of +the creases, being completely in two through the middle, many minute +bits were turned under or hanging only by a shred, and in places there +has been shrinkage. Through the courtesy of Dr. Herbert Putnam, +Librarian of Congress, and Col. Lawrence Martin, Chief of the Division +of Maps, and in return for permission to file a photostat of the plat in +the Library of Congress, the plat was mounted by Mr. William F. Norbeck, +the Library's expert in the restoration of old maps. It was due to Mr. +Henry B. Rust of Rockland, near Leesburg that the extended search of the +Loudoun County records was made, in which the plat was brought to light, +and he has had it framed."[80] + + [80] I owe both the copy of the map and its history to Mr. Thomas M. + Fendall of Morrisworth and Leesburg. + +This framed map of 1759 was presented to the county, by delivery to Mr. +B. W. Franklin, then county clerk of Loudoun, on the 30th December, +1928, by Mr. E. Marshall Rust, the brother of Henry B. Rust. + +Upon the organization of the county, the matter of location and +establishment of a county seat had to be determined. It was not, +however, until the 15th June, 1758, that the Council of the Colony, by +deciding to locate the courthouse of Loudoun on the lands of Nicholas +Minor on the old Carolina Road near the crossing of the Alexandria-Keys +Gap Highway, fixed the importance of what was to be known as Leesburg. +The order of the Council reads: + +"The Council having this day taken under Consideration the most proper +Place for establishing the Court House of Loudoun County, it appearing +to them that the plantation of Captain Nicholas Minor was the most +convenient place and agreeable to the Generality of the People in that +County, it was their opinion, and accordingly Ordered, That the Court +House for the said County be fixed on the land of the said Minor." + +When this order of the Council was made on the 15th June, 1758, the +Loudoun Court, as we have seen, had been duly organized and from time to +time was meeting for the performance of its duties since the preceding +12th July. Where these early meetings were held does not appear on the +records, nor so far as I can learn, is now known. The record of the +court's sittings at the time generally begin "At a court held at the +courthouse" so that the presumption arises that, for the time being, the +residence of one of its members may have been used for that purpose. +Apparently the court was becoming impatient to have an official home and +weary of the Council's delay; for at the court's session of the 11th day +of July, 1758, or four days before the date of the Council's order, we +find that it is, by the Loudoun Court, + +"Ordered that the Sheriff of this County Advertise for Workmen to build +a Courthouse to meet here at the next Court to agree for the same." + +The proposed edifice was so carefully described that we can get a very +clear idea of its appearance from the specifications recorded at this +session of the 9th August, 1758. It was to be a brick building 28 x 40, +with a jury room added sixteen feet square, having "an outside chimney +and fireplace, eight feet in the clear from the foundation to the +surface, two feet from the surface to the water table four feet, from +thence to the joist ten feet." There significantly follows "and also a +Prison and Stocks of the same Dimensions as those in Fairfax County for +this County."[81] + + [81] Loudoun Orders A, 142. + +A month later, at the court's sitting of the 12th September, 1758, it +was + +"Ordered that the courthouse for this County be Built on a Lott of +Captain Nicholas Minor's No. 27 and 28 and that he convey the same to +William West and James Hamilton Gent. as Trustees in Fee for the use of +the County."[82] + + [82] Loudoun Orders A, 162. + +Nevertheless no deed from Minor actually was obtained until nearly three +years later, as will subsequently appear. That shrewd and careful +Founder of Leesburg well might have been unwilling to give to the county +two of the best lots in his new subdivision until he was abundantly +protected; so the deed was not given until the new courthouse was built +and any lingering doubt removed from his mind that the county's project +would be carried out. At the court's session of the 13th September, +1758, a contract to build the courthouse was confirmed to "Aeneas +Campbell Gent." for the sum of 365 pounds current money to be paid in +two equal payments, the first on the first day of August next ensuing +and the remaining half in the year 1760, Campbell having given a bond +for the due performance of his contract. At the same session the +contract to build the "Goal and stocks for this county" was confirmed to +"Daniel French Gent" for 83 pounds current money to be paid on or before +the 20th day of August then next; and it is noted that Campbell and +French were the lowest bidders. + +The building operations duly progressed. At the court held on the 15th +November, 1759, a levy was laid in tobacco for the compensation of +county officers and of 29,200 pounds of tobacco for the balance due +Campbell, referred to as being "late sheriff" and succeeded by "Nicholas +Minor Gt." + +Upon completion of the building in 1761 the cautious Captain Minor felt +assurance to execute his deed to the county. On the 17th day of June in +that year he conveyed to "Francis Lightfoot Lee Gentleman the first +Justice named and nominated in the Commission of the Peace for the said +County of Loudoun for and in behalf of him the said Francis Lightfoot +Lee and the rest of the Justices in the said Commission named and their +and his successors" for the nominal consideration of five shillings, +"Current Money of Virginia, the two Lots of Land situate lying and being +in the Town of Leesburg in the County and Colony aforesaid being the +same whereon the Courthouse and Prison now stand laid off and surveyed +by John Hough to contain each Lot half an Acre and numbered twenty seven +and twenty eight." There were some formal rites attending the transfer +of the land and the ancient "livery of seizin" ceremony was duly +enacted. Then, following the signature of Minor and his witnesses to the +deed: + +"Memorandum that on the Eleventh Day of June Anno Domini one Thousand +seven hundred and sixty one full peaceable and Quiet possession of the +within mentioned premises was given by Nicholas Minor Gent to Francis +Lightfoot Lee and the other Justices within named by delivery to him and +them Turf and Twig on the said premises in the presence of the +underwritten Persons then Present."[83] + + [83] Loudoun Deeds B, 149. + +And finally, at the court held on the 12th November, 1761, it was + +"Ordered that Nicholas Minor Gen't. and John Moss Junr. Agree with +Workmen to clear away the Bricks and Dirt about the Courthouse and +likewise for building a Necessary House and Posting and Railing in the +Courthouse Lott and bring in their Account at the Laying of the next +Levy."[84] + + [84] Loudoun Orders A, 544. + +And from that day to this the Loudoun courthouse, in its various and +successive reconstructions, has always stood on these lots of Captain +Nicholas Minor, thus granted by him to the county for that purpose. In +the process of time the prison, the stocks and the "Necessary House" +have been removed. + +In September, 1758, the Assembly passed an act "erecting" Leesburg as a +town, in the same measure "erecting" Stephensburg and enlarging +Winchester, which act reads, in part, as follows: + +"An Act for erecting a town on the land of Lewis Stephens, in the county +of Frederick: For enlarging the town of Winchester, and for erecting a +town on the land of Nicholas Minor, in the county of Loudoun.... + +"III And whereas Nicholas Minor of the county of Loudoun, gentleman, +hath laid off sixty acres of his land, adjoining to the court-house of +the said county into lots, with proper streets for a town, many of which +lots are sold, and improvements made thereon, and the inhabitants of the +said county have petitioned this general assembly that the same may be +erected into a town, Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, +that the land so laid off into lots and streets, for a town, by the said +Nicholas Minor, be and the same is hereby erected and established a +town, and shall be called by the name of Leesburg; and that the free +holders and inhabitants thereof shall for ever hereafter enjoy the same +privileges which the inhabitants of other towns, erected by act of +Assembly, now enjoy. + +"IV And whereas it is expedient that trustees should be appointed to +regulate the buildings in the said towns of Stephensburg, Winchester +and Leesburg: Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, ... +And that the honorable Philip Ludwell Lee, esquire, Thomas Mason, +esquire, Francis Lightfoot Lee, James Hamilton, Nicholas Minor, Josias +Clapham, Aeneas Campbell, John Hugh, Francis Hague, and William West, +gentlemen, be constituted and appointed trustees for the said town of +Leesburg; and that they, or any five or more of them, are hereby +authorized and empowered, from time to time, and all times hereafter, to +settle and establish such rules and orders for the more regular and +orderly building of the houses in the said town of Leesburg, as to them +shall seem best and most convenient. And in the case of death or +removal, or other legal disability of any one or more of the trustees +above mentioned, it shall and may be lawful for the surviving or +remaining trustees of the said towns of Stephensburg, Winchester, and +Leesburg, respectively, from time to time, to elect and choose so many +other persons in the room of those so dead, removed or disabled, as +shall make up the number of ten; which trustees, so chosen, shall by all +intents and purposes be vested with the same power as any other in this +Act particularly named."[85] + + [85] 7 Hening, 234. + +Of the members of the Lee family participating in the early affairs of +the town and county or owning land in Loudoun, it is generally held that +the new town was named in honour of Francis Lightfoot Lee, the first +county lieutenant. Thus the Lees are appropriately and locally +commemorated, though their river still remains Goose Creek and the +county of their large holdings goes by another and less congruous name. + +Now it must be remembered that in this year of 1758 which marked the +formal recognition and naming of Leesburg, the French and Indian menace +was a very real and terrible anxiety in the minds of the Loudoun +settlers and had been responsible for the erection of the small frontier +fort at this point which has been mentioned. The local tradition that +the little town, when first built, was surrounded by a timber stockade +seems not only plausible but highly probable.[86] It was a well +established custom of the English Colonists on the Indian frontier, +north and south, to protect their outlying villages in that manner. +Leesburg people always insist that the noticeable crowding together of +houses in the older part of the town and the pronounced local custom of +building immediately on the street line is a survival of this very early +need of concentration for protection. + + [86] Head, 72. + +Where the two main roads, to which the town owes its existence, passed +through its future site, they followed the old Virginia custom in being +decidedly indefinite in their bounds; and their condition was further +complicated by the ground at this point being marshy and fed by numerous +springs. Therefore even before Leesburg was laid out or Loudoun +organized, the people living in the neighborhood had petitioned the +Fairfax Court for the construction of a highway at that point in such +manner as would be most convenient for the travel from Noland's Ferry to +the Carolinas. When Loudoun was organized the petition was certified to +the court of the new county which, in its November term of 1757, ordered +that the roads leading from Alexandria to Winchester and from Noland's +Ferry to the Carolinas be opened to go through that neighbourhood "in +the most convenient manner;" and James Hamilton, John Moss and Thomas +Sorrell were ordered "to view the most convenient way for the same and +make report to the Court." These viewers proceeded to so efficiently +fulfill their duties that when they eventually reported to the court, on +the 12th April, 1758, that they had "viewed the most convenient way for +the Roads to pass through the Town and find them convenient and good +with proper clearing,"[87] a corduroy road had been constructed through +the marshy ground and Hough was thus able to have his King Street in +definite bounds when he mapped his survey for Minor. + + [87] Loudoun Orders A, 91. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ADOLESCENCE + + +Our upper country, at last, has graduated from being classified as +merely part of the backwoods of Lord Fairfax's Northern Neck and is now +enrolled in the rapidly growing roster of colonial Virginia's counties. +Unfortunately the conferring of that dignity did not alter the social +problems of the frontier nor change, to any great degree, the turbulence +and heterogeneous character of its population. The Irish element, +particularly, appears to have been pugnacious and lawless, if one may +judge from the frequency of proceedings before the Court for "battery" +wherein defendants carry distinctly Hibernian names. There was no dearth +of business, civil or criminal, awaiting the court's sessions. + +Those of the poorer class, however, were not alone in taking the law +into their own hands. Cameron Parish, as heretofore appears, was set up +in 1748. Whether its vestry was more arbitrary and tenacious of office +or merely less diplomatic than was the rule elsewhere is not clear; but +that there developed great dissatisfaction with its activities the +records show. The Parish vestry, it will be remembered, exercised many +powers of civil government. Originally the vestry of twelve gentlemen +and their successors were chosen by vote of the parishioners; but +gradually the practice developed in existing vestries, upon the death or +resignation of a member, for the survivors themselves arbitrarily to +appoint his successor. There never was unanimity of religious belief in +Cameron the Parish nor in Loudoun the county. From the very beginning, +as we have seen, the land was peopled by men and women of definitely +divergent religious views--the Churchmen from Tidewater with some +Baptists and Presbyterians, a large number of Quakers from Pennsylvania, +Germans from overseas and no small number whose religious convictions, +if existent, were of nebulous tenuity. Had the vestries stood annually +for election the populace might have felt more closely represented; but +with their membership exclusively taken from the landowning class which +had migrated from the lower country, the Quakers, the Scotch-Irish, the +Germans accepted a somewhat arbitrary rule less willingly than were they +all churchmen and meeting together in common worship. The friction was +not confined to Cameron. Similar troubles had developed elsewhere and +petitions had been sent to Williamsburg for relief. In 1759 the +Legislature decided to act. "Whereas" reads the preamble to Chapter XXI +of the Laws of 1758-59 + +"it has been represented to this present General Assembly, that the +Vestries of the parish of Antrim, in the County of Halifax; of the +parish of Cameron in the County of Loudoun; of the parish of Bath, in +the County of Dinwiddie; and of the parish of Saint-Patrick, in the +County of Prince Edward, have been guilty of arbitrary and illegal +practices to the great oppression of the inhabitants of said parishes +... and the inhabitants of said parishes have respectively petitioned +this Assembly that the said vestries may be dissolved;"[88] + + [88] 7 Hening, 301. + +the Legislature thereupon dissolved the vestries named, their future +acts were "declared utterly void to all intents and purposes whatsoever" +and the freeholders and housekeepers of the respective parishes +authorized to meet, on notice, and "elect twelve of the most able & +discreet persons of the said parishes respectively to be vestrymen of +the same." So far was the Legislature willing to go; but the orthodox +rulers of Virginia did not for a moment propose to turn over control of +the vestries in the dissatisfied parishes to a dissenting element; there +was a further provision that should any vestrymen dissent from the +communion of the Church of England and join "themselves to a dissenting +congregation, and yet continue to act as vestrymen" they should be +displaced. + +During the ensuing ten years Loudoun's population grew rapidly and a +parish extending from Difficult Run to the Blue Ridge covered so much +territory that it made it difficult for a vestry, chosen from different +parts of the parish, to assemble frequently for business. The project of +dividing Cameron was the subject of a petition to the Legislature in +1769 but because of opposition and disagreement the division was not +made until June, 1770, when an act was passed creating a new parish +beyond Goose Creek and running to the Blue Ridge.[89] It was given the +name of Shelburne in compliment to the British statesman William +Petty-FitzMaurice, Lord Shelburne. + + [89] 8 Hening, 425. + +This contemplated division of Cameron had repercussions in the relations +between that parish and its mother parish Truro. The new Shelburne would +take from Cameron many of its tithables or taxpayers and suggested +intensive study of its remaining economic resources. In November, 1766, +or twenty-eight years after the creation of Cameron, the Legislature +passed an act empowering Truro's vestry to sell its parish Glebe and +church plate and divide the proceeds between Truro and Cameron; while +three years later, in the act creating Shelburne, it was provided that +as the Cameron Glebe was then located inconveniently, the latter's +vestry was authorized to sell it and use the proceeds "toward purchasing +a more convenient glebe, and erecting buildings thereon, for the use and +benefit of the minister of the said parish of Cameron, for the time +being, forever."[90] + + [90] 8 Hening, 202. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM PETTY-FITZMAURICE. Earl of Shelburne, 1st Marquis +of Lansdowne, for whom Shelburne Parish was named.] + +The parish well may continue to take satisfaction in having been named +worthily. Shelburne came of an historical and noble family, being a +direct descendant of the very ancient Lords of Kerry. Born in Dublin on +the 20th May, 1737, his childhood is said to have been "spent in the +remotest parts of the south of Ireland and according to his own account +when he entered Christ Church, Oxford in 1755 he had both everything to +learn and everything to unlearn." Perhaps his friendship and +conciliatory attitude always shewn toward the American Colonies arose +from his naturally amiable and considerate disposition, perhaps from his +participation under Wolfe in campaigns against the French. However that +may be, he was well-liked and trusted in Virginia. He succeeded his +father as Earl of Shelburne in 1761. During the critical years of 1766 +and 1767 he was serving, under Pitt, as Secretary of State and sought, +as a friend of the Colonies, to avoid the crisis which was surely +developing. Unfortunately his efforts toward conciliation were +blocked by others of the ministry and the King and in 1768 Shelburne was +dismissed. In 1782 he reassumed office under Lord Rockingham, with the +express understanding that the independence of the American Colonies +should be recognized; an attitude requiring courage and strength to +maintain. When Rockingham died, Shelburne succeeded him as Premier but +through an alliance of Fox with Shelburne's old enemy North, he was +forced to resign that position in 1783. A year later, when Pitt returned +to power, he caused Shelburne to be created first Marquis of Landsdowne +with which his public career ended. He was succeeded in his titles and +estates, upon his death on the 7th May, 1805, by his eldest son.[91] + + [91] See biography in _Encyclopedia Britannica_ under name of + Landsdowne. + +More fortunate in its fate than the early vestry books of Cameron, which +have been destroyed or lost, the first vestry book of Shelburne, +covering the period from 1771 to 1805, has been preserved and after +being for many years in the library of the Episcopal Theological +Seminary at Alexandria was sent to the State Library in Richmond. A +photostatic copy has been made and is held in Loudoun.[92] + + [92] In Loudoun National Bank. + +By way of contrast to the first vestry books of Virginia's older +parishes, the earliest entries in that of Shelburne do not yield a great +amount of interesting material. Its pages are largely filled with +details of the levy of taxes and there is a protracted quarrel over the +sites to be chosen for new church buildings which, in the event, +prevented action until the Revolution and its aftermath deprived the +Vestries of much of their authority. A few entries in the Vestry book +have been abstracted: + +"30th November 1772 Ordered that the Church Wardens for the Present Year +do provide Benches to accomodate the persons who come to attend Divine +Service at the Court House in Leesburg." + +And then, to shew what a Church the Parish might have had but did not, +there is this entry on the 30th December 1774. (Page 30) "Ordered that +there be a Church built at or near the place where the Chapple now +stands at Stephen Rozels and that it be 50 feet long & 40 feet broad in +the clear. To be built either of brick or stone. To be of Sufficient +Pitch for two rows of Windows, if built of brick the wall to be 2-1/2 +brick thick if built of stone the walls to be 2 feet thick; the Pews & +all the Carpenter work to be of pine plank (framing excepted) The Base +to be of Stone 2-1/2 feet thick & to be finished off in such manner as +the person appointed shall direct." + +From the 10th day of June, 1776, no meeting of the vestry is recorded +until the 1st day of April 1779. + +At the meeting of the 4th November, 1795, Mr. Jones, the minister was +ordered to preach "one Sunday at the Church at Rozels & the rest at +Leesburg." + +Thus the county was divided into two parishes. A little later Cameron +secured the services, as Parson, of a member of another well-known +family of the Northern Neck when, in 1771, the Rev. Spence Grayson +returned from his theological studies and ordination in England and +assumed that position. He was the son of Benjamin Grayson and Susan +Monroe and had inherited from his father his home, Belle Air, in Prince +William County which he left to go to England to enter the church. He +married Mary Elizabeth Wagener, sister to Colonel Peter Wagener (clerk +of Fairfax County and subsequently an officer in the Revolution) and +became one of the original trustees in 1788 of the town of Carrborough +on the south side of the mouth of Quantico Creek, where now are situated +the Marine Corps Barracks. His nephew was the well-known Colonel William +Grayson who, after serving with distinction in the Revolution, became +one of the original two senators from Virginia. + +But Shelburne was not to be cast in the shade in this matter of Parsons. +In 1771 there was inducted there as minister the man who, of her long +line of clergy, has left in Church, State, and Nation the most prominent +name of all. The Rev. Dr. David Griffith had been born in the city of +New York in 1742. Like the Rev. Charles Green, early minister of Truro, +Dr. Griffith first became a physician, taking his medical degree in +London and then returning to New York and beginning his practice as a +physician there in 1763. Determining to enter the church ministry, he +returned to England and was ordained in London by Bishop Terrick on the +19th August, 1770. Again he returned to America and worked as a +missionary in New Jersey, whence he came to take charge of Shelburne +Parish in 1771. When the Revolution came on, he, in 1776, became +Chaplain of the 3rd Virginia Regiment and, in December of that year, he +"was acting as a surgeon in the Continental Army in Philadelphia." Long +a close and confidential friend of George Washington, he became the +Rector of Christ Church, Alexandria, in 1780, in which position he +continued until his death. He was a leader in building up the church in +Virginia from its depressed condition after the Revolution, was a member +of its first convention in Richmond in 1785 and was elected first Bishop +of Virginia at the second annual convention of the Diocese in May, 1786. +Unfortunately there were no funds available to pay his expenses to +England and thus he was never formally consecrated. He died at the house +of Bishop White in Philadelphia, while attending a church convention +there, in 1789. He has been described as "large and tall in person but +firm in manner. Without perhaps being brilliant, he was an able man of +sound judgment and consecrated life, who had the esteem and affection as +well as the confidence of his contemporaries. His memory ought to be +held by us in highest honour."[93] + + [93] _The Colonial Church in Virginia_, Rev. E. L. Goodwin, p. 116. Also + see _Colonel Leven Powell_, by Dr. R. C. Powell and Appleton's + _Encyclopedia American Biography_. + +In those days Loudoun shared, with other of Virginia's frontier +counties, a pest of numerous wolves which indeed penetrated into the +older counties as well. There was a broad demand that the bounty for +killing the animals be increased and in 1765 the Assembly passed an act +authorizing Loudoun and six other counties to pay larger bounties, +providing that a person killing a wolf within their respective +boundaries "shall have an additional reward of fifty pounds of neat +tobacco for every young wolf not exceeding the age of six months, and +for every wolf above that age one hundred pounds of neat tobacco, to be +levied and paid in the respective counties where the service shall be +performed."[94] The act was to continue in force, however, only three +years. + + [94] 8 Hening, 147. + +Five years later the hunting activities of Leesburg, at least, took on a +more domestic hue. The inhabitants of the little town were busy in +building up the reputation of a famous Virginia delicacy but apparently +were rather overdoing it. "It is represented" reads an act of 1772 "that +a great number of hogs are raised and suffered to go at large in the +town of Leesburg, in the county of Loudoun to the great prejudice of the +inhabitants thereof;" so the act forbade owners from allowing such +liberties to their porkers and permitted any person to "kill and destroy +such swine so running at large."[95] + + [95] 9 Hening, 586. + +That Francis Aubrey established the first ferry from Loudoun's shore +across the Potomac prior to 1741 has been noted in Chapter IV. It was at +the Point of Rocks and was inherited by Thomas Aubrey, son of its +founder, who obtained a license for its operation in 1769. By 1775 the +travel was very light at that point and complaint was made of inadequate +equipment. In 1834 it, with the surrounding land on the Loudoun side, +was in the possession of Rebecca Johnson and in 1837 in that of Margaret +Graham. The construction of the Point of Rocks bridge by the Potomac +Bridge Company in 1847 ended its usefulness. + +A second ferry, also across the Potomac and heretofore recorded, became +far more famous than that of the Aubreys. When Philip Noland acquired +land on that river where travel over the old Carolina Road had, from +time immemorial, crossed it, he had the most valuable and frequented +ferry-site in the neighborhood. He had sought, but unsuccessfully, a +ferry license as early as 1748; in 1756, with or without a license, he +was operating his ferry. Its operation was eventually authorized by the +Legislature in 1778 to the land of Arthur Nelson in the State of +Maryland. No other ferry from Loudoun's shores acquired the fame that +did Noland's. At the height of its activities the travel at that point +is said to have supported a country store, a blacksmith's shop, a wagon +shop, a tailor and a shoemaker. The coming of the railroads and the +construction of the Point of Rocks Bridge together were responsible for +its ultimate abandonment. We have a suggestive glimpse of conditions +there. In May, 1780, the Moravian emissary John Frederick Reichel, in +the course of his ministrations to those of his faith in America, +undertook a journey from Bethlehem in Pennsylvania down the Carolina +Road to the present Winston-Salem in North Carolina. One of his +companions kept a journal from which we learn that upon successfully +crossing into Virginia at Noland's Ferry, Bishop Reichel and his company +"made camp near Mr. Th. Noland's house close to the road which turns to +the right from the Foart road towards Noland's Ferry which crosses the +Patomoak two miles from here. So far our journey had been very pleasant. +Now, however, the Virginia air brought storms." While the weary +travelers were resting that night from their journey, some of Noland's +negroes left their "Quarters" and proceeded to lay their hands on the +strangers' equipment. The diarist on the next day indignantly records +the following "Note. Mr. Th. Noland and his father and father in law +have 200 negroes in this neighbourhood on both sides of the Potomoack +and this neighbourhood is far-famed for robbery and theft." On their +return the travellers found that Mr. Noland had busied himself in +recapturing much of the loot and duly returned the articles to their +rightful owners.[96] + + [96] _Landmarks_, 504. + +Between Noland and Josias Clapham there was a controversy for many years +over which of the two should control the very profitable ferry business +over the nearby stretches of the Potomac. Both had powerful associations +and friends and both were, through their own activities and characters, +outstanding figures in the Loudoun of their day. Noland as the +son-in-law of the most prominent of Loudoun's earliest settlers, Francis +Aubrey, and through his wife in possession of part of Aubrey's great +land-grants, could well have entertained a conviction that he was +Aubrey's representative and as such entitled to especial consideration +as well as for his own accomplishments; while, on the other hand, +Clapham's inherited friendship with Lord Fairfax and his own recent +military services as a lieutenant in the troublous times following +Braddock's defeat and death, his early and continued ownership of +extensive tracts of land, his sound personal qualities and the high +esteem in which he was held by his neighbours, made him a formidable +opponent and rival. He successfully fought Noland's application to the +Legislature for a ferry license in 1756 and in 1757 obtained one himself +for the operation of a ferry below that of Noland, "from the lands of +Josias Clapham, in the County of Fairfax, over Potowmack river, to the +land on either side of Monochisey creek, in the province of Maryland; +the price for a man four pence & for a horse the same."[97] Though this +license was afterwards suspended, Clapham appears to have operated his +ferry until 1778 when the Legislature ordered it discontinued as +inconvenient. As Clapham at that time was himself a member of that body, +it is probable that the old rivalry between the neighbours had ended. + + [97] 7 Hening, 126. + +We learn something of yet another ferry from this same act of the +Legislature passed in the war year of 1778. Therein it was also provided +"that publick ferries be constantly kept at the following places and the +rates for passing the same be as follows, that is to say: From the land +of the earl of Tankerville, in the County of Loudoun (at present in the +tenure of Christian Shimmer) across Potowmack river to the opposite +shore in the state of Maryland, the price for a man eight pence, and for +a horse the same: ..." The act authorized Noland to collect the same +tolls at his ferry, thus permitting the doubling of the ferry charges by +the act of 1757.[98] + + [98] In this ferry situation, _Landmarks of Old Prince William_ is an + invaluable guide. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +REVOLUTION + + +When the American Colonies joined issue with Great Britain in the +controversy which was to result in American independence, Loudoun's +population, beginning with a thin trickle of adventurers, had been +growing for over fifty years, during which time, save for the short +period before and after Braddock's defeat, her sure but steady +development and increase of people had received no serious reversal. The +exact number of her inhabitants in 1775 is unknown; but fifteen years +later she was credited with 14,747 whites and 4,030 slaves or a total of +18,777 individuals. One writer goes so far as to assert that the county +was one of the most densely populated in the Colony at that period.[99] +Toward the close of the conflict, in 1780 and 1781, her militia numbered +no less than 1746 men, which is claimed by Head to have been "far in +excess of that reported by any other Virginia County." When it is +remembered that her present population does not greatly exceed 20,000 +inhabitants and that, in the years which have intervened, the towns have +substantially increased in number and size, it is probable that the +country districts were quite as populous in 1775 as they are today. + + [99] Goodheart's _Loudoun Rangers_, 6. + +With her early diversity of population, it might well be expected that +the county's inhabitants would be divided in their attitude as to the +wisdom of war with England. There seems, however, to have been +practically a solid front, save for the Quakers who, because of their +oppugnance to all war, opposed the Revolution in Loudoun as elsewhere +and suffered bitterly in consequence as later will be related. + +As it was, Loudoun lost no time in placing herself on record, as the +following amply demonstrates: + +"At a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants of the County of +Loudoun, in the Colony of Virginia, held at the Courthouse in Leesburg, +the 14th June 1774--F. Peyton, Esq., in the chair--to consider the most +effective method to preserve the rights and liberties of N. America, +and relieve our brethren of Boston, suffering under the most oppressive +and tyranical Act of the British Parliament, made in the 14th year of +his present Majesty's reign, whereby their Harber is blocked up, their +commerce totally obstructed, their property rendered useless + +"_Resolved_, That we will always cheerfully submit to such prerogatives +as his Majesty has a right, by law, to exercise, as Sovereign of the +British Dominions, and to no others. + +"_Resolved_, That it is beneath the dignity of freemen to submit to any +tax not imposed on them in the usual manner, by representatives of their +own choosing. + +"_Resolved_, That the Act of the British Parliament above mentioned, is +utterly repugnant to the fundamental laws of justice, in punishing +persons without even the form of a trial; but a despotic exertion of +unconstitutional power designedly calculated to enslave a free and loyal +people. + +"_Resolved_, That the enforcing the execution of the said Act of +Parliament by a military power, must have a necessary tendency to raise +a civil war, and that we will, with our lives and fortunes, assist our +suffering brethren of Boston, and every part of North America that may +fall under the immediate hand of oppression, until a release of all our +grievances shall be procurred; and our common liberties established on a +permanent foundation. + +"_Resolved_, That the East India Company, by exporting their tea from +England to America, whilst subject to a tax imposed thereon by the +British Parliament, have evidently designed to fix on the Americans +those chains forged for them by a venal ministry, and have thereby +rendered themselves odious and detestable throughout all America. It is, +therefore, the unanimous opinion of this meeting not to purchase any tea +or other East India commodity whatever, imported after the first of this +Month. + +"_Resolved_, That we will have no Commercial intercourse with Great +Britain until the above mentioned Act of Parliament shall be totally +repealed, and the right of regulating the internal policy of N. America +by a British Parliament shall be absolutely and positively given up. + +_"Resolved,_ That Thompson Mason and Francis Peyton, Esqs., be appointed +to represent the County at a general meeting to be held at Williamsburg +on the 1st day of August next, to take the sense of this Colony on the +subject of the preceeding resolves, and that they, together with Leven +Powell, William Ellzey, John Thornton, George Johnston and Samuel Levi, +or any three of them, be a committee to correspond with the several +Committees appointed for this purpose + +"Signed by + +John Morton Thomas Williams +Thomas Ray James Noland +Thomas Drake Samuel Peugh +William Booram William Nornail +Benj. Isaac Humphrey Thomas Luttrell +Samuel Mills James Brair +Joshua Singleton Poins Awsley +Jonathan Drake John Kendrick +Matthew Rust Edward O'Neal +Barney Sims Francil Triplitt +John Sims Joseph Combs +Samuel Butler John Peyton Harrison +Thomas Chinn Robert Combs +Appollos Cooper Stephen Combs +Lina Hancock Samuel Henderson +John McVicker Benjamin Overfield +Simon Triplett Adam Sangster +Thomas Awsley Bazzell Roads +Isaac Sanders John Wildey +Thomas Williams James Graydey +Henry Awsley Joseph Bayley +Wm. Finnekin John Reardon +Richard Hanson Edward Miller +John Dinker Richard Hirst +Jasper Grant James Davis"[100] + + [100] Copy found among papers of Colonel Leven Powell. See 12 William + and Mary Quarterly (1) 231. + +The names of the following men, composing the Committee for Loudoun, are +taken from the record of its meeting on the 26th May, 1775: + +Francis Peyton, Esq. James Lane +Josias Clapham Jacob Reed +Thomas Lewis Leven Powell +Anthony Russell William Smith +John Thomas Robert Johnson +George Johnson Hardage Lane +Thomas Shore John Lewis + +with one of the members, George Johnson, acting as clerk. + +When war began, the gentlemen justices of the county's court recommended +certain of her men to the governor from time to time as worthy of +commissions in the military forces being raised by the Colony. Many an +old and familiar Loudoun name appears on the list and for the interest +of their descendants and relatives it is here appended as abstracted +from the county records by James W. Head in his very useful _History of +Loudoun_:[101] + + [101] Loudoun "Orders" G 517-522. Head, 134. + +"March 1778: James Whaley Jr., second lieutenant; William Carnan, +ensign; Daniel Lewis, second lieutenant; Josiah Miles and Thomas King, +lieutenants; Hugh Douglass, ensign; Isaac Vandevanter, lieutenant; John +Dodd, ensign. + +"May 1778. George Summers and Charles G. Eskridge, colonels; William +McClellan, Robert McClain and John Henry, captains; Samuel Cox, Major; +Frans Russell, James Beavers, Scarlet Burkley, Moses Thomas, Henry +Farnsworth, John Russell, Gustavus Elgin, John Miller, Samuel Butcher, +Joshua Botts, John Williams, George Tyler, Nathaniel Adams and George +Mason, lieutenants; Isaac Grant, John Thatcher, William Elliott, Richard +Shore, and Peter Benham, ensigns. + +"August, 1778 Thomas Marks, William Robison, Joseph Butler and John +Linton, lieutenants; Joseph Wildman and George Asbury, ensigns. + +"September 1778 Francis Russell, lieutenant, and George Shrieve, ensign. + +"May 1779 Joseph Wildman, lieutenant, and Francis Elgin Jr., ensign. + +"June 14, 1779 George Kilgour, lieutenant and Jacob Caton, ensign. + +"July 12, 1779 John Debell, lieutenant and William Huchison, ensign. + +"October 11, 1779 Francis Russell, captain. + +"November 8, 1779 James Cleveland, captain; Thomas Millan, ensign. + +"February 14, 1780 Thomas Williams, ensign. + +"March, 1780 John Benham, ensign. + +"June, 1780 Wethers Smith and William Debell, second lieutenants, +Francis Adams and Joel White, ensigns. + +"August, 1780 Robert Russell, ensign. + +"October, 1780. John Spitzfathem, first lieutenant; Thomas Thomas and +Matthew Rust, second lieutenants; Nicholas Minor Jr., David Hopkins, +William McGeath and Samuel Oliphant ensigns; Charles Bennett, captain. + +"November, 1780. James Coleman, Esq., Colonel, George West, +lieutenant-colonel; James McLlaney, Major. + +"February, 1781. Simon Triplett, Colonel; John Alexander, +lieutenant-colonel; Jacob Reed, Major; John Linton, captain; William +Debell and Joel White, lieutenants; Thomas Minor, ensign; Thomas Shores, +captain; John Tayler and Thomas Beatty, lieutenants; John McClain, +ensign. + +"March 1781. John McGeath, captain; Ignatius Burns, captain; Hugh +Douglass, first lieutenant; John Cornelison, second lieutenant; Joseph +Butler and Conn Oneale, lieutenants; John Jones, Jr., ensign; William +Tayler, Major first battalion; James Coleman, Colonel; George West, +lieutenant-colonel; Josiah Maffett, captain; John Binns, first +lieutenant; Charles Binns, Jr., second lieutenant and Joseph Hough, +ensign. + +"April 1781. Samson Trammell, captain; Spence Wigginton and Smith King, +lieutenants. + +"May 1781. Thomas Respass, Esq., Major; Hugh Douglass, Gent. captain; +Thomas King, lieutenant; William T. Mason, ensign; Samuel Noland, +captain; Abraham Dehaven and Enock Thomas, lieutenants; Isaac Dehaven +and Thomas Vince, ensigns; James McLlaney, captain; Thomas Kennan, +captain; John Bagley, first lieutenant. + +"June 1781. Enoch Furr and George Rust, lieutenants; Withers Berry and +William Hutchison (son of Benjamin), ensign. + +"September 1781. Gustavus Elgin, captain; John Littleton, ensign. + +"January 1782. William McClellan, captain. + +"February 1782. William George, Timothy Hixon and Joseph Butler, +captains. + +"March 1782. James McLlaney, captain; George West, colonel, Thomas +Respass, lieutenant-colonel. + +"July 1782. Samuel Noland, Major; James Lewin Gibbs, second lieutenant +and Giles Turley, ensign. + +"August 1782. Enoch Thomas, captain; Samuel Smith, lieutenant; Matthias +Smitley, first lieutenant; Charles Tyler and David Beaty, ensigns. + +"December 1782. Thomas King, captain; William Mason, first lieutenant +and Silas Gilbert, ensign." + +By a stroke of good fortune, there has been brought to light and +published in recent years a journal kept by one Nicholas Cresswell, a +young Englishman of gentle birth who, in 1774, at the age of 24 years +obeyed a keen impulse to emigrate to Virginia with the expectation of +buying a plantation and becoming a Virginia farmer.[102] His home in +England was the estate of his father, known as Crowden-le-Booth, in the +parish of Edale in the Peak of Derbyshire. The father seems to have +been a somewhat stern disciplinarian, against the rigidity of whose rule +and unhappy home conditions young Cresswell fretted; and that and an +ambition to make his own way in the world, coupled with an appetite for +adventure common to his age and race, induced Nicholas to his course. +After many difficulties, he sailed from England in the ship _Molly_ on +the 9th of April, 1774, and thus began a series of adventures, his +excellent record of which has been characterized as "a valuable addition +to Revolutionary Americana" and, it may be added, is nothing less than +treasure trove to the student of Loudoun's past. In the course of his +ensuing experiences he met, among a multitude of others, Jefferson, Lord +Howe, Patrick Henry, Francis Lightfoot Lee; was upon occasion +Washington's guest at Mount Vernon and paints and proves Thomson Mason +to have been one of the kindliest and most hospitable of men. His +wanderings took him through many parts of Virginia and particularly +Leesburg and its neighborhood, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York; on a +voyage to Barbados to recoup his health and on an expedition as a viewer +and surveyor of new lands, down the Ohio River into Indiana country, in +an unsuccessful effort to recoup his fortune. An educated young +Englishman, loyal to his King and country, arriving in the Colonies as +the storm of the Revolution was about to break, he soon was suspected of +being an English spy, was bullied and persecuted by some, befriended by +others and, withal, records his experiences in a narrative of such +fascination that one reads it from end to end with unabated interest. Of +the Leesburg and Loudoun of the period he gives the best contemporary, +if not always complimentary, account known to the present writer. +Through the courtesy of the Dial Press, the publishers of his Journal in +the United States, the following abstract of Loudoun material is +permitted: + +[Illustration: NICHOLAS CRESSWELL, the Journalist. (From a portrait now +owned by Samuel Thorneley, Esquire.)] + +Cresswell first passed through Loudoun in November, 1774, in the course +of a journey to the Valley. He arrived in Leesburg on Sunday the 27th +and records: + +"The land begins to grow better. A Gravelly soil and produces good +Wheat, but the roads are very bad, cut to pieces with the wagons, +number of them we met today. Their method of mending the roads is with +poles about 10 foot long laid across the road close together; they stick +fast in the mud and make an excellent causeway. Very thinly peopled +along the road, almost all Woods. Only one public House between this +place and Alexandria." + + [102] _The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell_, The Dial Press, New York. + +On the next day he inspected Leesburg. "Viewing the town. It is +regularly laid off in squares, but very indifferently built and few +inhabitants and little trade, tho' very advantageously situated, for it +is at the conjunction of the great Roads from the North part of the +Continent to the South and the East and the West. Lodged at Mr. +Moffit's, Mr. Kirk's partner in a store which he has here." + +On the following Sunday, "Went to a Methodist meeting. This Sect is +scattered in every place and have got considerable footing here, owing +to the great negligence of the Church Parsons." + +The next day he continued his journey to the West, returning to Leesburg +on the 14th December, 1774. On the following day, being Sunday, he +simply notes "but no prayers." On Monday, "Court day. A great number of +litigious suits. The people seem to be fond of Law. Nothing uncommon for +them to bring suit against a person for a Book debt and trade with him +on an open account at the same time. To be arrested for debt is no +scandal here." And on the next day he "Saw the Independence Company +exercise. A ragged crew." In January he amuses himself "with shooting +wild Geese and Ducks. Here is incredible numbers in the River likewise +Swans. It is said they come from the Lakes." + +Again on his way to the West, this time to the Indian country, he +arrived in Leesburg on Sunday the 26th March, 1775. On the following +Wednesday he "went to look at a silver mine. Saw some appearance of +metal but don't know what it is." On the 31st: "At Leesburg waiting for +my gun and goods coming from Alexandria. The Peach Orchards are in full +blossom and make a beautiful appearance." On the following Sunday, the +2nd April, he notes "But no Parson. It is a shame to suffer these people +to neglect their duty in the manner they do." + +After his journey in the "Illinois Country" we find him again in +Leesburg in the employment of one Kirk, a merchant of Alexandria who, +son of a blacksmith in Cresswell's home parish, had gone to Virginia and +prospered there. On Sunday, the 19th November, 1775, Nicholas records +that he "went to Church or Courthouse which you please in the forenoon" +thus further confirming that the established church services were, at +that time, held in the courthouse at Leesburg. Cresswell meets and is +much in the company of George Johnston, Captain McCabe, George Ancram, +and Captain Douglas. As a sidelight on Leesburg's evening diversions of +the period, he writes under date of the 28th November that he "dined at +Captn. McCabe's in Company with Captn. Douglas and Cavan. Spent the +evening at the store in company with Captn. McCabe and Captn. Speake and +all of us got drunk." + +On the 4th December he made a short visit to "Frederick Town in +Maryland," and, both going and some days later on his return, dined at +Noland's Ferry, suggesting some accommodation for travellers there. On +Sunday the 10th December, he "went to Church, spent the evening at Mr. +Johnson's with the Rev. Mr. David Griffiths and several gentlemen." + +He was a guest at "Garalland, seat of Captn. William Douglas. A great +deal of agreeable Company and very merry." On the next day there was +"Dancing and playing at Cards. In the evening several of the company +went in quest of a poor Englishman, who they supposed had made songs on +the Committee, but did not find him." This week was one of celebration; +on the following Friday, (5th January, 1776) "This being my birthday, +invited Captn. McCabe, H. Neilson, W. Johnston, Matthews, Booker and my +particular Friend P. Cavan to spend the evening with me. We have kept it +up all night and I am at this time very merry." On Saturday: "Spent the +evening at Mr. Johnston's with our last night's company. He is going to +camp. All of us got most feloniously drunk. Captn. McCabe, Hugh Neilson +and I kept it up all night." On Sunday: "went to bed about two o'clock +in the afternoon, stupidly drunk. Not been in bed or asleep for two +nights." + +A party was a party in the Leesburg of 1776. + +Virginia was heading toward independence, with war if need be. Popular +sentiment is shown by such entries as "Nothing but Independence will go +down. The Devil is in the people." "All in confusion. The Committee met +to choose Officers for the new Company that are to be raised. They are +21 in number, the first men in the County and had two bowls of toddy," +(he carefully explains elsewhere that "toddy" means punch) "but could +not find cash to pay for it." On the 12th February, "Court day. Great +Confusion, no business done. The populace deters the Magistrates and +they in turn are courting the rebels' favour. Enlisting men for the +Rebel Army upon credit. Their paper money is not yet arrived from the +Mine." On the 22nd March he "went to see the general musters of the +Militia in town, about 700 men but few arms." On Sunday the 17th May he +says: "This day is appointed by the Great Sanhedrim to be kept an Holy +Fast throughout the continent, but we have no prayers in Leesburg. The +Parson (Rev. David Griffiths) is gone into the Army." + +He has this to say about a Quaker meeting in February, probably at +Waterford, to which he went with his friends Cavan and Thomas Matthews. +"This is one of the most comfortable places of worship I was ever in, +they had two large fires and a Dutch stove. After a long silence and +many groans a Man got up and gave us a short Lecture with great +deliberation. Dined at Mr. Jos. Janney's one of the Friends." + +It was not until the 24th April, 1776, that Thomson Mason, who was to +prove so consistently a friend to him, is introduced, when Cresswell +notes that he was a dinner guest at his home--presumably Raspberry +Plain. By that time Cresswell had made a host of acquaintances and +friends. He enjoyed popularity with his new companions, frequently was +entertained or was a host himself. To add to his scanty resources, he +made lye, nitre and saltpetre on shares and his process and progress he +records in detail. His work was interrupted by frequent illness, due +doubtless to the heavy drinking indulged in by him and his associates. + +On the 9th July, 1776, he learns, to his dismay, of the _Declaration of +Independence_. + +From time to time he dined with Thomson Mason who on the 26th July +"proffers to give me a letter of recommendation to the Governor Henry +for liberty to go on board the Fleet in the Bay. I have no other choice +to go home but this;" and on the next day, "a general muster of the +Militia. Great confusion among them. Recruiting parties offer 10 Dollars +advance and 40 S per month." + +But Cresswell realized the increasing danger to him, loyal Briton that +he was, of a continued stay in America. In August he determined to go to +New York for he was convinced that he "must either escape that way or go +to jail for Toryism." He did not tell Mr. Mason of his design to leave +the county, but only that he contemplated a northern journey; and from +him obtained a "letter to Messrs. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Thos. Stone, +Thos. Jefferson and John Rogers Esq., all members of the Congress." On +the 23rd August "in company with Mr. Alexander Cooper, a Storekeeper in +town" he left Leesburg for the north. + +He duly arrived in Philadelphia which greatly pleased him in its size +and cleanliness. + +He calls on Lee and Jefferson, presents his letters, is kindly received +and through the latter obtains "a pass written by Mr. John Hancock, +Pres. of the Congress." Thence to New York, where he sees the British +Army and ships in the distance but cannot reach them and begins to feel +that to do so would be a dishonourable return for Thomson Mason's +kindness. So back again to Leesburg he journeys, bewailing his situation +but to his credit determining "to rot in a Jail rather than take up Arms +against my native country." + +On the 10th October, 1776, the 6th Regiment of Virginians, encamped at +Leesburg on their way to the North, are described as "a set of dirty, +ragged people, badly clothed, badly disciplined and badly armed." Salt +was selling there at "Forty shillings, Currency, per Bushel. This +article usually sold for four shillings. If no salt comes in there will +be an insurrection in the Colony." In Alexandria a few days later, he +learns that the committee "will not permit me to depart this Colony as +they look upon me to be a Spy and that I must be obliged to give +security or go to jail." Then to Leesburg again, which he seems to +regard as his American home and on the 28th October sees a "General +Muster of the County Militia in town, about 600 men appeared +under-armed, with Tobacco sticks in general much rioting and confusion. +Recruiting Officers for the _Sleber_ Army offer Twelve Pounds bounty and +200 acres of land when the War is over, but get very few men." In spite +of repeatedly admonishing himself in his journal to avoid political +arguments he was unable to do so, particularly when in his cups, and so +on the 28th November his criticism of the Revolution and its adherents +caused him to be waited upon by three members of the Committee of Safety +who obliged him to pledge himself not to leave the Colony for three +months. + +At this time there was an ordinary at Leesburg known as the Crooked +Billet.[103] It was a favourite place for the heavy drinking parties in +which Cresswell and his friends indulged. He records, after a night of +debauchery, he had sent all his companions "to bed drunk and I am now +going to bed myself at 9 in the morning as drunk as an honest man could +wish." The next day the carouse continued. The Leesburg of the +eighteenth century was as little noted for sobriety as were other parts +of the English-speaking world. + + [103] The name persists in England. In July, 1937, on leaving the Tower + of London, I found myself facing another "Crooked Billet," a public + house at 32 Minories. + +After spending much of the winter of 1776-'7 in and around Leesburg and +recording the great encouragement the Americans obtained from +Washington's successes at Princeton and elsewhere, he, on the 1st March, +1777, "went with Captn. Douglas and Mr. Flemming Patterson to see Mr. +Josiah Clapham. He is an Assembly Man, Colonel of the county and Justice +of the Peace on the present establishment. He is an Englishman from +Wakefield in Yorkshire, much in debt at home, and in course a violent +Sleber here. Has made himself very popular by erecting a Manufactory of +Guns, but it is poorly carried on. His wife is the most notable woman in +the County for Housew'fery, but I should like her much better if she +would keep a cleaner house. He has got a very good plantation, takes +every mean art to render himself popular amongst a set of ignorant +Dutchmen that are settled in his neighbourhood. Dirty in person and +principle." + +Though much embarrassed by his poverty Cresswell refuses a commission as +a captain of Engineers at $3 per day offered to him by Colonel Green and +Colonel Grayson. He told them he "could not bear the thoughts of taking +up arms against my native country" and they "were pleased to make me +some genteel compliment about my steadiness and resolution." His +despondency returns and Mason invites him to dinner and offers him "a +letter of introduction and recommendations to the Governor of Virginia +by his permission to go on board the man of war in the Bay." He resolves +to accept the letter and make an attempt to return to England in April. +The Rev. David Griffith returns to Leesburg and preaches "a political +discourse." He speaks of meeting Mr. Griffith and his wife at Mr. +Neilson's. Griffith, writes Cresswell "is a most violent Sleber. He is +Doctor and Chaplain to one of their Regmt." On the 22nd March, 1777, he +records "Great tumults and murmurings among the people caused by them +pressing the young men into the Army. The people now begin to feel the +effects of an Independent Government and groan under it, but cannot help +themselves, as they are almost in general disarmed." + +On the 6th April, 1777, he left Leesburg and eventually succeeded in +getting to the British man-of-war _Phoenix_ off the mouth of the +Chesapeake. After another visit to New York he finally reached England +in safety. In spite of all his tribulations and the very real dangers he +incurred in his American sojourn, he records that "Virginia is the very +finest country I ever was in"--no small concession.[104] + + [104] The book itself should be read. The above abstractions necessarily + omit much of fascinating interest. + +The people of Loudoun's German Settlement may have been "a set of +ignorant Dutchmen" to the irritated Cresswell but they proved loyal and +effective fighters in the American cause. They seem to have been +whole-heartedly with their Tidewater and Scotch-Irish neighbors in the +controversy and are reputed to have largely joined Armand's Legion under +Charles Trefin Armand, Marquis de la Rouaire (1751-1793) who, after +service in the Garde de Corps in Paris, had volunteered in the American +Army on the 10th May, 1777, under the name of Charles Armand, had been +commissioned a colonel by the Congress, saw much service and was greatly +beloved by his men, few of whom were able to speak English. + +Cresswell is confirmed in his statement regarding Clapham's gun factory +by the record of a session of the Committee of Safety of Virginia, held +on the 27th March, 1776, at Williamsburg: + +"Ordered that a letter be written to Colonel Clapham in answer to his of +Feby 23rd and March 24th informing him that we have sent him Ł360 to pay +for the rifles mentioned by Chro. Perfect, that the Comm'ee agree to +take all the good musquets that shall be made by the 5 or 6 hands he +mentions by the 1st December next, and desire him to contract for the 12 +large rifles also mentioned."[105] + + [105] 8 Calendar of Virginia State Papers, 139. + +Two other men in Loudoun must again be cited for their activities in the +cause of independence--one as a statesman, the other as a soldier. +Thomson Mason, from his ownership of Raspberry Plain, was identified +closely with the county although not a continuous resident there. We +find him constantly devoting his time and abilities to the American +cause. Even as early as 1774 he wrote + +"You must draw your swords in a just cause, and rely upon that God, who +assists the righteous, to support your endeavours to preserve the +liberty he gave, and the love of which he hath implanted in your hearts +as essential to your nature." + +Less eloquent but more active was Leven Powell. He with Mason, in that +same year of 1774, was urging his neighbors to resistance. In 1775 he +received a commission as major in a battalion of Minute Men from +Loudoun, in 1777 was made by General Washington a lieutenant colonel of +the 16th Regiment of Virginia Continentals, spent the greater part of +that year in raising and equipping his command and saw much active +service until invalided home from the vigours of the following terrible +winter at Valley Forge. His impaired health forced him to resign his +commission in the autumn of 1778. + +By way of sharp contrast to the other people of Loudoun, the Quakers +refused to aid or abet the Revolution in any way. Through their industry +and frugality they had, by that time, acquired some influence in the +County but when they refused to aid their fellow-Virginians in the great +struggle, all that was changed. Non-resistance was a cardinal principle +of their faith and come weal or woe they stuck to it. They refused to +serve in the army. They refused to pay muster-fines. "Not even the +scourge" writes Kercheval of the Quakers of the Valley, "would compel +them to submit to discipline. The practice of coercion was therefore +abandoned and the legislature enacted a law to levy a tax upon their +property to hire substitutes to perform militia duty in their +stead."[106] Refusing to pay these taxes their property was sold and +many were reduced to great distress. Others, taking advantage of these +tax sales, bought up their properties and profited largely by their +shrewdness. + + [106] _History of Shenandoah Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval, + 149. + +As the war continued, Virginia faced difficulties in raising her quota +of Continental troops. We have read Cresswell's record of these troubles +in Loudoun as early as October, 1776. In 1778 the Assembly passed an act +recognizing as inadequate prior laws on the subject, calling for 2,216 +men, rank and file, and offering for eighteen months enlistment $300; +while to those who enlisted for three years, or the duration of the war, +$400 was to be given "together with the continental bounty of land and +shall be entitled to receive the pay and rations which are allowed to +soldiers in the continental army from the day of their enlistment and +shall be furnished annually, at the public expense with the following +articles, a coat, waistcoat and breeches, two shirts, one hat, two pairs +of stockings, one pair of shoes and a blanket...."[107] In the same year +the Legislature was obliged to pass an act against "forestallers and +engrossers"--in other words what we today call war profiteers, +authorizing the governor to seize grain and flour for the army in the +hands of those gentry.[108] + + [107] 9 Hening, 586. + + [108] 9 Hening, 584. + +The objection to enlistment seems to have been directed against the +longer term rather than to military service itself. Also there was +confusion and lack of that complete authority necessary in such a +crisis. We find Colonel Josias Clapham writing to the Council of +Virginia on the 11th September, 1778, asking to be permitted to send a +company of volunteers, which had been raised in Loudoun, to the +assistance of General McIntosh's Brigade, but his request was declined +on the ground that the "Executive power" had no right to send volunteers +to join any corps whatsoever.[109] + + [109] 23 Virginia Magazine History and Biography, 261. + +The lot of the Loyalist or "Tories" as they were popularly termed, was +not a happy one. There was one James White who indiscreetly "spoke many +disrespectful words of his Excellency G. Washington and that he was not +fit to be the son of a Stewart dog." White appears to have been indicted +in Loudoun as a Tory and thereupon to have fled the county. There is the +suggestion that he was a man of some property and that to avoid its +confiscation he later saw the error of his ways, returned to Loudoun, +apologized to the court for his behavior, took the oath of allegiance to +the new State of Virginia and so succeeded in having his indictment +dismissed.[110] + + [110] 2 Balch Library Clippings, 18. + +At the other end of the social scale were the white convicts of which, +as we have seen, Loudoun had long had her share or more. There has been +preserved an advertisement of 1777 by Sam Love, a justice of the peace: + +"Ran away from the subscriber, in Loudoun County, two convict servants, +David Hinds, an Irishman, about 35 years of age, 5 feet, 6 or 8 inches +high, pitted with small pox, hath a wart or pear on his chin, hath +short, black, curled hair, had on when he went away a country cloth +jacket and breeches, yarn stockings, country linen shirt, old shoes and +felt hat almost new,--George Dorman, born in England, about 20 years of +age, 5 feet, 6 or 7 inches hight, had on when he went away nearly the +same clothing as Hinds, they both had iron collars on when they went +away, its expected they will change their clothing and have forged +passes. Whoever brings the said servants home shall have Two Dollars +reward for each if taken ten miles from home, and in proportion for a +greater or less distance, as far as 50 miles, including what the law +allows. + + "Paid by Gm. Sam Love." + +[Illustration: From the Loudoun-Fauquier Magazine + +NOLAND MANSION. Built about 1775.] + +But negroes and convicts were not the only class in Loudoun deprived of +liberty. Early in 1776 the unfortunate prisoners of war began to arrive. +Of a number of "Highland Prisoners taken by Captain James and Richard +Barren in the Ship Oxford," the following were sent to Loudoun by the +Committee of Safety at its session on the 24th June 1776: + +Donald McLeod John Gunn +Donald Keith Murdock Morison +John McLeod Hugh McKay +William Kelly John Forbas +Alexander McIntosh William Robinson +John McLeod, Jr. John McKay[111] +Peter Robinson + + [111] See Tyler's Quarterly V-61. + +The next year a much larger contingent made its appearance. The Hessian +prisoners taken at the Battle of Saratoga were divided into parties +which were sent to different parts of the Colonies. A numerous band was +sent to Noland's Ferry where a camp for them was established and, it is +said, some of their number were employed in building the Noland mansion +there, thus fixing the long disputed date of its construction. Briscoe +Goodhart says that few of these prisoners were returned to Europe after +the war but that, for the most part, they settled in Loudoun and in +Frederick and Montgomery counties, Maryland, in all of which were many +of German descent and that the former Hessian prisoners became useful +and industrious citizens in their new homes.[112] + + [112] Balch Library Clippings II, 48 and IV, 1. + +As the war drew to its close in 1781, there appears to have been a large +accumulation of war supplies in Loudoun. Lafayette wrote to Washington +on the 1st July of that year: + +"There must be a great quantity of accoutrements in the country. By a +letter from the Board of War, I find that 100 Saddles, 100 Swords, 100 +pairs of pistols may be soon expected at Leesburg, supposing that the +same number be got in the country...."[113] + + [113] 5 Virginia Magazine History and Biography, 377. + +On the 26th of the same month Colonel William Davis, in covering the +situation in the Northern Neck, wrote + +"At Noland's there are 920 muskets and 486 bayonets. Those added to the +275 at Fredericksburg are too many by 195...."[114] + + [114] 2 Virginia Colonial State Papers, 258. + +And on the 9th August in the same year, Captain A. Bohannan wrote from +Fauquier Court House to Colonel Wm. Davis: + +"I have this moment returned from Leesburg--the stores that were there & +at Noland's Ferry are now on their way to this place; it was with the +greatest difficulty that I could procure waggons in the neighbourhood of +Leesburg for the Transportation of them; in short I cou'd not have done +it had I not promised to pay them when they arrived at this place & +discharge them. It is useless to pretend to impress waggons in this part +of the Country, as you will seldom see a waggon on any plantation but +what wants either a wheel or Geer. the Inhabitants say they are willing +to work for the public, provided that they cou'd get paid for their +services. They are willing to take what the Q. M. Genl: allows, tho' it +shu'd be less than they could get from private persons." + +It was estimated that it would cost "Fifteen or Twenty Thousand Pounds" +(presumably tobacco) to move the stores, and the writer "desires some +pay for himself, being without a shilling and not having received any +money for eighteen months."[115] + + [115] 2 Virginia Colonial State Papers, 308. + +And now, a final glimpse of Loudoun and Leesburg in the Revolution, +afforded in the diary of Captain John Davis of the Pennsylvania line who +passed through the county with General Anthony Wayne's Brigade on its +way to Yorktown and victory; the entries to be quoted begin on the 31st +day of May, 1781, when the command was on its way from "York Town" in +Pennsylvania: + +"Took up the line of march at sunrise, passed through Frederick Town, +Maryland and reached Powtomack, which, in crossing in Squows, one +unfortunately sunk, loaded with artillery & Q. M. stores and men in +which our Sergeant & three men were drowned; encamped on the S. W. side +of the river. Night being very wet, our baggage not crossed, Officers of +the Reg. took Quarters in Col. Clapham's Negro Quarter, where we +agreeably passed the night. + +"June 1st. Continued on our ground till four o'clock in the afternoon, +when we mov'd five miles on the way to Leesburg. + +"June 2d. Very wet day ... & continued till evening. + +"3rd (Loudoun Co.) Took up the line of March at 10 o'clock, passed +through Leesburg--the appearance of which I was much disappointed in; +encamped at Goose Creek, 15 miles. + +"4th. (Prince Wm. Co.) Marched from Goose Creek at six o'clock at which +place left our baggage & sick, and proceeded through the low country. +Roads bad in consequence of the rains; encamped at Red house 18 miles." + +All writers of the period who describe the town agree that Leesburg, +after twenty years or more of existence, was still a shabby little +place, "of few and insignificant wooden houses" as one traveller records +his impressions. The day of permanent buildings in the town had not yet +arrived. Hardly an edifice standing in Leesburg today was then in +existence. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE STORY OF JOHN CHAMPE + + +While the Powells and the Masons, the Lees, the Claphams, the Nolands +and the Rusts, the Chinns, the Peytons, the Mercers, the Ellzeys and +others of her natural leaders and large landowning families of the time, +had abetted and supported, in one capacity or another, the Revolutionary +cause, it was, in the end, the simple, homespun, backwoodsman class that +bred Loudoun's most romantic figure in the Revolution. Sergeant Major +John Champe of Lee's Partisan Legion, mighty of bone and sinew, +stout-hearted, resourceful and of such boundless devotion and loyalty to +his country and his commander-in-chief in its hour of travail that he +consented to incur the scorn and hatred of his fellow-soldiers when +along that hard path lay his duty, deserves to have his fidelity, his +courage and his exploits commemorated at length in every story of his +native county. + +John Champe was born in what was soon to become Loudoun in the year +1752. Little or nothing is known of his boyhood. His family was too +humble and his early life too obscure to have challenged the pen of his +scattered neighbors. When the American Colonies revolted against the +mother country, he at once enlisted in Virginia's forces and in 1780 was +serving as a dragoon in Light Horse Harry Lee's cavalry Legion in which +he had by sheer merit attained the rank of sergeant major and, through +the esteem he had earned, was in line for promotion to a commission. The +morale of the American Army had been profoundly shaken by Arnold's +recent treason and escape; the courageous but unfortunate young British +officer Andrč was a prisoner in Washington's hands as a result of his +part in the affair and Washington was deeply troubled lest the treason +which had corrupted Arnold had spread its vicious poison elsewhere among +his soldiers. Henry Lee of Virginia, famous enough in his own right but +also destined to be known as the father of General Robert E. Lee as +well, was afterward, in the War of 1812, commissioned a major general; +but then, as a cavalry major of twenty-three in command of an +independent partisan corps of Dragoons, had already achieved his +magnificent capture of the British-held fort at Paulus Hook and for that +and many another daring exploit enjoyed no small military distinction. +At the time our story opens, Lee and his corps were with Washington +along the Hudson River. Many years later he was to write his famous +_Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United +States_,[116] an important source-book of American history. It is to +this work that we are principally indebted for our knowledge of Champe's +exploit and from it I shall quote largely the story, condensing but the +less essential parts. Only thus can be taken the true measure of +Champe's heroism, now too generally forgotten in Loudoun. + + [116] Quotations are from the 2nd edition published in 1827 in + Washington by Peter Force. + +There had fallen into Washington's hands certain anonymous papers which +appeared to involve other of his soldiers in treason, and particularly +one of his generals.[117] He had sent for Lee and handed him the papers. +Lee studied them carefully and when asked his counsel, said he thought +they represented a contrivance of Sir Henry Clinton, the British +commander-in-chief, to destroy confidence between Washington and his men +and purposely had been permitted by the British to fall into +Washington's hands. Washington rejoined that the idea was plausible and +had already occurred to him; but the danger involved in the possible +defection of one of his highest officers was so great that the truth +must be ascertained at once. + + [117] Supposed to have been General Gates. + +"'I have sent for you'" Lee quotes Washington as saying, "'in the +expectation that you have in your corps individuals capable and willing +to undertake an indispensable, delicate and hazardous project. Whoever +comes forward upon this occasion, will lay me under great obligations +personally, and in behalf of the United States I will reward him amply. +No time is to be lost: he must proceed if possible this night. My object +is to probe to the bottom the afflicting intelligence contained in the +papers you have just read; to seize Arnold, and by getting him, to save +Andrč. They are all connected. While my emissary is engaged in preparing +means for the seizure of Arnold, the guilt of others can be traced; and +the timely delivery of Arnold to me, will possibly put it into my power +to restore the amiable and unfortunate Andrč to his friends. My +instructions are ready, in which you will find my express orders that +Arnold is not to be hurt; but that he be permitted to escape if to be +prevented only by killing him, as his public punishment is the sole +object in view. That you cannot too forcibly press upon whomsoever may +engage in the enterprise; and this fail not to do. With my instructions +are two letters to be delivered as ordered and here are some guineas for +expenses.' + +"Major Lee, replying, said that he had little or no doubt but that his +legion contained many individuals daring enough for any operation, +however perilous; but that the one in view required a combination of +qualities not easily to be found, unless in a commissioned officer to +whom he could not venture to propose an enterprise the first step in +which was desertion. That though the sergeant-major of the cavalry was +in all respects qualified for the delicate and adventurous project, and +to him it might be proposed without indelicacy, as his station did not +interpose an obstacle before stated; yet it was very probable that the +same difficulty would occur in his breast, to remove which would not be +easy, if practicable." + +Washington became at once interested in this hitherto unknown sergeant +major and asked his name, his country, his age, size, length of service +and character. + +"Being told his name," continues Lee "that he was a native of Loudoun +County in Virginia; about twenty-three or twenty-four years of age--that +he had enlisted in 1776--rather above the medium size--full of bone and +muscle; with a saturnine countenance, grave, thoughtful and taciturn--of +tried courage and inflexible perseverance, and as likely to regret an +adventure coupled with ignominy as any officer in the corps; a +commission being the goal of his long and anxious exertions, and certain +on the first vacancy--the general exclaimed that he was the very man for +the business; and that going to the enemy by the instigation and at the +request of his officer, was not desertion though it appeared to be so. +And he enjoined that this explanation, as coming from him, should be +pressed on Champe." + +Leaving Washington, Lee hastened to the camp of his cavalry corps where, +arriving about 8:00 o'clock at night, he sent for Champe and placed the +matter before him, stressing "the very great obligation he would confer +on the commander-in-chief" and all else Lee could think of to insure his +acceptance of the assignment; concluding with an explanation of the +details of the plan, so far as they had been developed, and an +expression of his personal wish that he would enter upon its execution +instantly. + +"Champe listened with deep attention, and with a highly excited +countenance; the perturbations of his breast not being hid even by his +dark visage. He briefly and modestly replied, that no soldier exceeded +him in respect and affection for the commander-in-chief, to serve whom +he would willingly lay down his life; and that he was sensible of the +honour conferred by the choice of him for the execution of a project all +over arduous; nor could he be at a loss to know to whom was to be +ascribed the preference bestowed, which he took pleasure in +acknowledging, although increasing obligations, before great and many." + +As for the plan itself, Champe thought it excellent and understood at +once how great might be the benefits resulting from its success. "He was +not deterred by the danger and difficulty which was evidently to be +encountered but he was deterred by the ignominy of desertion, to be +followed by the hypocrisy of enlisting with the enemy; neither of which +comported with his feelings, and either placed an insuperable bar in his +way to promotion. He concluded by observing, that if any mode could be +contrived free from disgrace, he would cordially embark in the +enterprise. As it was he prayed to be excused." + +Thus Champe's reaction to the project justified Lee's prior opinion +expressed to his general and shewed his knowledge and understanding of +the man. But the plan, with the tremendous results involved, pressed for +immediate action and Lee exerted his utmost power of persuasion. He +pointed out that Washington himself had declared that, in this case, the +desertion was not a crime; adding that if Champe accepted, Lee would +consider the whole corps highly honored by the General's call but that +if it failed, at such a critical moment, to furnish a competent man it +would reduce Lee to "a mortifying condition." + +It was a long and arduous task to overcome Champe's repugnance to become +involved, even seemingly, in a situation repellant to his every standard +of honor to which his soldier's life had been trained; but slowly Lee +overcame his scruples and obtained his consent. Then the detailed +instructions, already prepared, were read to him, covering not only his +behaviour and procedure when once safely away but also the very +difficult matter of the desertion itself which must be so managed as to +leave no doubt in his companions' minds as to his treachery but also to +insure, so far as possible, his safety from their inevitable wrath. +Obviously very little help could be given by Major Lee at this point +"lest it might induce a belief that he was privy to the desertion, which +opinion getting to the enemy would involve the life of Champe." So that +part of the matter was left to the young sergeant, Lee promising, +however, that if his escape were discovered before morning, he would +seek to delay the pursuit "as long as practical." + +Giving Champe three guineas as initial expense money, Lee urged him to +start without delay and to let him hear from him, as promptly as +possible, after he had arrived in New York. Champe, again urging Lee to +delay pursuit, returned to his camp "and taking his cloak, valise and +orderly book, he drew his horse from the picket and mounting him, put +himself upon fortune." + +His anticipation of rapid discovery and pursuit proved only too well +founded. None knew better than he the alertness and efficiency of his +fellow-dragoons and the effective discipline maintained in Lee's +command. Less than half an hour had passed since he escaped the camp, +before his absence, under what appeared highly suspicious circumstances, +was discovered and promptly reported. "Captain Carnes, Officer of the +day, waited upon the Major[118] and with considerable emotion told him +that one of the patrol had fallen in with a dragoon, who being +challenged, put spur to his horse and escaped, though instantly +pursued." + + [118] Lee, the narrator. + +Lee, mindful of the value to Champe of every minute of delay which his +ingenuity could devise, simulated a lack of understanding of his report, +and when that had been repeated and clarified, appeared to doubt Carnes' +deduction and sought to persuade him that he was mistaken. The latter, +however, was a competent officer and moreover his suspicions had been +thoroughly aroused. Arnold's treason had raised mistrust of loyalty +which, perhaps, normally would not have been entertained. Therefore on +leaving Lee, Carnes at once returned to his men and ordered them to +assemble, thus quickly learning that Champe, "his horse, baggage, arms +and orderly book" were missing. His worst fears thus confirmed and, +greatly affected by the supposed desertion in his own command, he +hurriedly arranged a party for pursuit and returned to Lee for written +orders. Again Lee played for delay. While appearing to approve of +Carnes' zeal, he told him that he had already planned certain other and +particular service for him that night and that another officer would +have to lead the pursuit. For that purpose, after apparent deep and +protracted consideration, he chose a younger officer, Cornet Middleton, +being moved to do so, writes Lee by "his knowledge of the tenderness of +Middleton's disposition, which he hoped would lead to the protection of +Champe, should he be taken;" but he was, at the end, obliged to issue +orders in the customary form upon such occasions and those delivered to +Middleton, duly signed by Lee, read ominously enough: "Pursue as far as +you can with safety Sergeant Champe, who is suspected of deserting to +the enemy, and has taken the road leading to Paulus Hook. Bring him +alive that he may suffer in the presence of the army; but kill him if he +resists or escapes after being taken." + +And still Lee procrastinated. With one device or another he contrived to +hold Middleton, giving him instructions in such detail that they +bordered on the trivial. Yet rake his imagination as he would, he at +length was obliged to dismiss the youthful Cornet, with an expressed +wish, however insincere, for his success. + +In the meanwhile, and soon after Champe's departure, rain had begun to +fall, almost wrecking the carefully contrived plan; for Champe's horse +was shod in a manner peculiar to the Legion and Middleton's party was +thus better able to follow Champe's course than otherwise would have +been possible on a dark night through the deserted country. Middleton +and his men had finally succeeded in leaving the American camp soon +after midnight, something over an hour after Champe had made his escape; +but to examine the ground for shoeprints and the prints themselves, on a +rainy night, meant the frequent dismounting of troopers, the striking of +a light and thus an ever-growing delay. With the break of day, however, +the shoeprints were clear enough and better time could be made--and then +on a rise before reaching Three Pigeons, some miles north of the Village +of Bergen, Middleton's men caught sight of the fugitive, not more than +half a mile ahead, Champe seeing his pursuers at the same time. + +The pursuit was now so grimly close that Champe knew a mistake by him or +taking any but the most essential risks meant quick capture and no +gentle treatment, if, indeed, he should survive that unpleasant event. +Therefore he quickly abandoned his first plan to reach Paulus Hook (now +part of Jersey City) and instead, with all possible speed and by +changing his course, sought immediate refuge in the British galleys +which he knew lay a few miles to the west of Bergen "in accordance with +British custom." Again, on the new course, he was sighted, his +determined pursuers coming within two or three hundred yards of their +quarry; but Champe, coming abreast of the galleys "dismounted and +running through the marsh to the river, plunged into it, calling upon +the galleys for help." This was readily given; "they fired upon our +horse" writes Lee "and sent a boat to meet Champe, who was taken in and +carried on board, and conveyed to New York with a letter from the +captain of the galley, stating the circumstances he had seen." Escape +had been achieved by the narrowest of margins and in the gravest danger; +but it had created a realistic background for Champe's introduction to +the British, difficult indeed to have bettered. Not the slightest doubt +was entertained by either group that it had witnessed a daring desertion +most narrowly achieved. + +Greatly chagrined as were the Americans, they were not obliged to return +entirely empty-handed. The fleeing Sergeant's horse with its equipment, +his cloak and scabbard fell into their hands and were carried back by +them; but Champe held onto his sword until he plunged into the river and +the British made it too hot at that point for prolonged search. +Dejectedly the dragoons returned to their camp to report their failure; +giving Lee, quite unknowingly, a very bad moment when he saw Champe's +riderless horse being led back, until he was apprised of what had really +happened; thereupon he lost no time in presenting himself to General +Washington and reporting the complete success of the first part of the +hazardous adventure. + +Four days slowly passed, and then an unsigned letter, in a disguised +hand, was received by Lee from his sergeant, telling of his further +adventures. He had, it seems, been kindly received on the galley and +taken at once to the British Commandant in New York who was deeply +interested in his story of his escape. The keen-witted Champe did not +fail to take full advantage of his sympathetic audience and the good +impression he was making. He assured the British officers "that such was +the spirit of defection which prevailed among the American troops in +consequence of Arnold's example, that he had no doubt, if the temper was +properly cherished, Washington's ranks would not only be greatly +thinned, but that some of his best corps would leave him." This did not +seem, to a reflective mind, wholly consistent with the fire and spirit +of the pursuit which the sergeant had so narrowly eluded, but his +circumstantial narrative gave such welcome news to the British that they +appear happily to have succumbed to the very human inclination to +believe what they most wished were true. Their enthusiasm, however, did +not cause them to forego recording a very careful description of their +new ally: "his size, place of birth, form, countenance, hair, the corps +in which he had served, with other remarks in conformity with the +British usage." Delighted as were his new friends with the sergeant and +his story and inclined to accept both as offered, they apparently had +not wholly failed to profit from their long contact at home with their +canny northern neighbors. + +And now Champe was taken before His Majesty's Commander-in-Chief, Sir +Henry Clinton himself. Nothing was wanting to shew the importance +attached by the British to this latest deserter and the causes believed +by them to have impelled him to his course. Clinton closely +cross-examined the fugitive as to the possibility of the encouragement +of further desertions from the American forces, the effect of Arnold's +treason on Washington and the treatment being given Andrč. Although +there were moments when Champe's ingenuity and presence of mind appear +to have been sadly taxed, yet on the whole he succeeded in so well and +convincingly deporting himself that Sir Henry, at the close of his +examination, gave him a couple of guineas and assigned him to the +service of General Arnold, with a letter telling the latter who and what +he was. Arnold also received Champe cordially, expressed much +satisfaction on hearing from him the manner of his escape and the +fabulous effect of Arnold's example; and concluded his numerous +enquiries by assigning to him similar quarters to those occupied by his +own recruiting sergeants. + +Nothing could have developed more favorably to the American's plot. Of a +surety, fickle fortune appeared at last to be broadly smiling on him. + +Arnold's next move was to seek to persuade Champe to join his legion; +but that was a step so repugnant to the sergeant's spirit that even +devotion to Washington failed, in his mind, to justify it; so he told +Arnold, with some surliness, that for his part, he had had enough of war +and knew that if he ever were captured by the rebels he would be hung +out-of-hand which for him made further military service doubly +hazardous.[119] Arnold had reason to appreciate the sergeant's point and +permitted him to retire to his quarters where at once he devoted himself +to the consideration of how and when he could make contact with the +American friends within the British lines who were to get for him the +information sought by Washington as to the loyalty of certain of his +officers. This contact, with fortune's aid, he was able to establish the +next night and his new friend not only pledged himself to procure the +information he sought but engaged to send out Champe's reports to Major +Lee as well. + + [119] Thus Lee's account, but Champe apparently afterwards found it + expedient to enlist with the British, as will appear later. + +Thus was communication established between Champe and Lee and promptly +word came from the latter urging expedition; for Andrč's situation had +become desperate and further delay by Washington increasingly difficult. +And then Andrč himself destroyed his own last chance and ruined the +hopes and efforts of his well-wishers. Disdaining pretense or defense, +he freely acknowledged the truth of the charges against him and sealed +his own doom. By his acknowledgment Washington's hands were tied and +Andrč was promptly condemned as a spy and duly executed. + +Andrč's tragic fate did not diminish Washington's desire to lay his +hands on Arnold. Champe was duly informed by Lee of the fatal event and +again urged to bring the plot in which he was engaged to a successful +outcome. + +But Champe needed no urging. With such alacrity had he and his +confederates been working, that soon he was able to send a report to Lee +completely vindicating the American general officer toward whom +Washington's doubts had been directed, which report Lee duly transmitted +to his chief; with the result that "the distrust heretofore entertained +of the accused was forever dismissed." + +And now Champe had but to secure the person of Arnold to crown his task +with success and to wholly justify the confidence reposed in him by Lee +and Washington. On the 19th October, 1780, Major Lee received from him a +full report of his progress toward that end and the plan he had made. +Again Lee laid his communication before his general, from whom he +received the following letter in Washington's own handwriting, shewing +how carefully the latter sought to guard the secret and protect his +emissary: + + "Headquarters October 20, 1780 + +"Dear Sir: The plan proposed for taking A----d (the outlines of which +are communicated in your letter, which was this moment put into my hands +without date) has every mark of a good one. I therefore agree to the +promised rewards; and have such entire confidence in your management of +the business, as to give it my fullest approbation; and leave the whole +to the guidance of your judgment, with this express stipulation and +pointed injunction, that he (A----d) is to be brought to me alive. + +"No circumstance whatever shall obtain my consent to his being put to +death. The idea which would accompany such an event, would be that +ruffians had been hired to assassinate him. My aim is to make a public +example of him; and this should be strongly impressed upon those who are +employed to bring him off. The Sergeant must be very circumspect--too +much zeal may create suspicion, and too much precipitency may defeat the +project. The most inviolable secrecy must be observed on all hands. I +send you five guineas; but I am not satisfied of the propriety of the +Sergeant's appearing with much specie. This circumstance may also lead +to suspicion, as it is but too well known to the enemy that we do not +abound in this article. + +"The interviews between the party in and out of the city, should be +managed with much caution and seeming indifference; or else the +frequency of their meetings, etc., may betray the design, and involve +bad consequences; but I am persuaded that you will place every matter in +a proper point of view to the conductors of this interesting business, +and therefore I shall only add that + + "I am, dear sir, etc., etc. + "G. WASHINGTON." + +Written communications between Champe and Lee continued. In ten days +Champe had added the final touches to his plan for the abduction and so +informed Lee, asking that on the third subsequent night a party of +dragoons meet him at Hoboken to whom he hoped to deliver Arnold. + +Our sergeant was by this time familiar with Arnold's habits and +movements. He knew that it was Arnold's custom to return to his home +about midnight and to visit the garden before retiring. It was at that +time that Champe and the allies he, through Lee's letters, had obtained, +planned to seize and gag the renegade and remove him by way of an +adjoining alley to a boat, manned by other trusted conspirators, at one +of the wharves on the nearby Hudson. + +When the appointed day arrived, Washington directed Lee to himself take +command of the small detachment of dragoons who were to meet Champe and +his prisoner. "The day arrived," quoting Lee again "and Lee with a party +of dragoons left camp late in the evening, with three led horses; one +for Arnold, one for the sergeant and the third for his associate; never +doubting the success of the enterprise from the tenor of the last +received communication. The party reached Hoboken about midnight, where +they were concealed in the adjoining wood--Lee with three dragoons +stationing himself near the river shore. Hour after hour passed--no boat +approached. At length the day broke and the major retired to his party +and with his led horses returned to camp, where he proceeded to +headquarters to inform the general of the disappointment as mortifying +as inexplicable." + +Deeply concerned as were both Washington and Lee over the failure of the +plan, they were also very apprehensive as to Champe's fate, but in a few +days one of the sergeant's associates succeeded in getting through to +them an anonymous letter explaining the failure of their plans. On the +day preceding that fixed for the abduction, Arnold most unexpectedly +removed his quarters to another part of the town to facilitate the +supervision by him of the embarkation of troops on a special mission to +be commanded by him and wholly unforeseen by the conspirators--an +expeditionary force made up largely of American deserters. "Thus it +happened" Lee explains "that John Champe, instead of crossing the Hudson +that night, was safely deposited on board one of the fleet of +transports, from whence he never departed until Arnold landed in +Virginia! Nor was he able to escape from the British Army until after +the junction of Lord Cornwallis at Petersburg, when he deserted; and +proceeding high up into Virginia, he passed into North Carolina near the +Saura towns, and keeping in the friendly districts of that State, +safely joined the army soon after it had passed the Congaree in pursuit +of Lord Rawdon. + +"His appearance excited extreme surprise among his former comrades, +which was not a little increased when they saw the cordial reception he +met with from Lieutenant Colonel Lee. His whole story soon became known +to the corps, which reproduced the love and respect of officer and +soldier, heightened by universal admiration of his daring and arduous +attempt. + +"Champe was introduced to General Green, who cheerfully complied with +the promises made by the commander-in-chief, so far as in his power; and +having provided the sergeant with a good horse and money for his +journey, sent him to General Washington, who munificently anticipated +every desire of the sergeant, and presented him with a discharge from +further service lest he might in the vicissitudes of war, fall into the +enemy's hands, when if recognized, he was sure to die on a gibbet." + +Here ends Lee's account, apparently as first written; but subsequently +he seems to have acquired some further information of his sergeant's +later life which he appends in a note, as will appear later. + +When Champe was with the British in New York, he, according to Lee and +as appears above, refused to enlist in the enemy's forces; but there is +another account which says that when he arrived in New York "he was +placed in the company of Captain Cameron." In the Champe family is the +tradition that he wrote to Lee of this: + +"I was yesterday compelled to a most affecting step, but one +indispensable the success of my plan. It was necessary for me to accept +a commission in the traitor's legion that I might have uninterrupted +access to his house." + +This Captain Cameron, after the termination of the war, married in +Virginia and fortunately kept a diary, a part of which was published in +_The British United Service Journal_. From it we learn, through +Howe,[120] that Cameron had occasion to traverse the forests of Loudoun +with a single servant and--familiar touch--was caught in one of those +violent thunderstorms so characteristic of upper Piedmont. Night came +on, no habitation or shelter of any kind was discernible to our +travellers in that wilderness and, believing themselves in grave peril, +they were becoming really alarmed when they saw through the woods a +faint light. Riding toward it, they discovered it came from one of the +typical log-houses of a frontier clearing and they lost no time in +seeking shelter. The owner of the little home received them with true +backwoods hospitality. And now quoting from Captain Cameron's journal: + + [120] _Historic Collections of Virginia_, by Henry Howe, 1849. + +"He would not permit either master or man to think of their horses, but +insisted that we should enter the house, where fire and changes of +apparel awaited us, he himself led the jaded animals to a shed, rubbed +them down and provided them with forage. It would have been affectation +of the worst kind to dispute his pleasure in this instance, so I readily +sought the shelter of his roof, to which a comely dame bade me welcome, +and busied herself in preventing my wishes. My drenched uniform was +exchanged for a suit of my host's apparel; my servant was accomodated in +the same manner, and we soon afterwards found ourselves seated before a +blazing fire of wood, by the light of which our hostess assiduously laid +out a well-stocked supper table. I need not say that all this was in the +highest degree comfortable. Yet I was not destined to sit down to supper +without discovering still greater cause for wonder. In due time our host +returned and the first glance which I cast towards him satisfied me that +he was no stranger. The second set everything like doubt at rest. +Sergeant Champe stood before me; the same in complexion, in feature, +though somewhat less thoughtful in the expression of his eye, as when he +first joined my company in New York. + +"I cannot say my sensations on recognizing my ci-devant sergeant were +altogether agreeable. The mysterious manner in which he both came and +went, the success with which he had thrown a veil over his own +movements, and the recollection that I was the guest of a man who +probably entertained no sense of honour, either public or private, +excited in me a vague and indefinite alarm, which I found it impossible +on the instant to conceal. I started, and the movement was not lost upon +Champe. He examined my face closely; and a light appearing to burst all +at once upon his memory, he ran forward toward the spot where I sat. + +"'Welcome, welcome, Captain Cameron' said he 'a thousand times welcome +to my roof; you behaved well to me when I was under your command, and +deserve more of hospitality than I possess the power to offer; but what +I do possess is very much at your service, and heartily glad am I that +accident should have thus brought us together again. You have doubtless +looked upon me as a twofold traitor, and I cannot blame you if you have. +Yet I should wish to stand well in your estimation too; and therefore I +will, if you please, give a faithful narrative of the causes which led +both to my arrival in New York, and to my abandonment of the British +Army on the shores of the Chesapeake. You are tired with your day's +travel; you stand in need of food and rest. Eat and drink, I pray you, +and sleep soundly; and tomorrow, if you are so disposed, I will try to +put my character straight in the estimation of the only British officer +of whose good opinion I am covetous.' + +"There was so much frankness and apparent sincerity in this, that I +could not resist it, so I sat down to supper with a mind perfectly at +ease and having eaten heartily I soon afterwards retired to rest, on a +clean pallet which was spread for me on the floor. Sleep was not slow in +visiting my eyelids; nor did I awake until long after the sun had risen +on the morrow, and the hardy and active settlers, to whose kindness I +was indebted, had gone through a considerable portion of their day's +labour. + +"I found my host next morning the same open, candid and hospitable man +that he had shewn himself on first recognizing me. He made no allusion, +indeed, during breakfast, to what had fallen from him over night; but +when he heard me talk of getting my horses ready, he begged to have a +few minutes' conversation with me. His wife, for such my hostess was, +immediately withdrew, under the pretext of attending to her household +affairs, upon which he took a seat beside me and began his story." + + + +After the war and, it is said, on the personal recommendation of General +Washington, Sergeant Champe was appointed to the position of doorkeeper +or sergeant-at-arms of the Continental Congress, then meeting at +Philadelphia, but obliged, on account of rioting, to remove to Trenton. +His name appears on a roll of the 25th August, 1783, as holding that +position. Soon afterwards he returned to Loudoun, married and acquired a +small holding near what is now Dover, between the later towns of Aldie +and Middleburg, close by the present Little River Turnpike. The State of +Virginia has erected one of its excellent road markers adjacent to the +spot, bearing the following words: + + "A Revolutionary Hero + +"Here stood the home of John Champ, Continental soldier. Champ deserted +and enlisted in Benedict Arnold's British Command for the purpose of +capturing the traitor, 1780. Failing in this attempt Champ rejoined the +American Army." + +Nearby there is a pool of water still known locally as "Champe's +Spring." + +According to local tradition, he later lived in a log cabin on the old +Military Road near the old Ketoctin Baptist Church and on lands +afterward owned by Robert Braden. Thence he in turn moved to Kentucky +where, it is believed he died in or about the year 1797. + +And now we may return to General Lee's narrative for the note he +appended thereto: + +"When General Washington was called by President Adams to the command of +the Army prepared to defend the country from French hostility, he sent +to Lieutenant-Colonel Lee to inquire for Champe, being determined to +bring him into the field at the head of a company of infantry. Lee sent +to Loudoun County, where Champe settled after his discharge from the +Army, and learned that the gallant soldier had removed to Kentucky, and +had soon after died." + +Of the sergeant's children, one son, Nathaniel, was born in Virginia on +the 22nd December, 1792, and in 1812 enlisted in Colonel Duncan +McArthur's regiment at Dayton, Ohio, that command comprising a part of +Hull's Army sent for the relief of Detroit. He was in the battle of +Monguagon, was among those captured at Detroit and subsequently, in the +regular army, saw further fighting and was with General Arthur's +advance-guard when Detroit was reoccupied. After the war he engaged in +business in Detroit, was a buyer and seller of real estate and built +Detroit's first "Temperance Hotel" of which he acted as landlord and in +which he was succeeded by his son William. Later he moved to Onondago, +Ohio, where he died on the 13th February, 1870.[121] + + [121] Vol. 3, Balch Library Clippings, p. 30. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +EARLY FEDERAL PERIOD + + +From the close of the Revolution to the War of 1812, there were at least +four outstanding movements in Loudoun: the restoration of the fertility +of her soil, the disestablishment of the church, the loss of a +substantial part of her area which returned to Fairfax and the erection +of large country mansions. The great project of Washington's Potomac +Company, involving the extensive improvement of that river for +navigation, was not, of course a Loudoun enterprise, although the +welfare of her people was greatly affected and such Loudoun men as +Joseph Janney, Benjamin Shreve, John Hough, Benjamin Dulaney, William +Brown, John Harper, William Ellzey, and Leven Powell were at one time or +another, as directors or stockholders, interested in the undertaking. + +In the settlement of county, the Virginians from Tidewater had brought +with them their improvident methods of farming. From the earliest days, +when land was more available than labor, scant attention had been given +by the Virginia planter or farmer to the conservation or restoration of +the fertility of his soil. A field was planted and replanted to +heavy-feeding crops, with perhaps an occasional fallow year intervening; +and when the inevitable result registered itself in the falling off of +production to a point where the planting of that field became +unprofitable, it was abandoned and new ground broken up to be put +through the same disastrous course. Rotation of crops and the manuring +of the land were seldom, if ever, practiced outside perhaps the Quaker +and German Settlements. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, so far +had this reckless agriculture gone, that even the fertile lands of the +Piedmont were recording the result in no uncertain manner. The yield of +corn and wheat to the acre had been steadily declining, followed by an +emigration of many of the Loudoun people to Kentucky and elsewhere. It +was then that there arose in the county a farmer and leader who, +measured by the results of his work, may be considered as the most +valuable man to her own interests that Loudoun has thus far produced. +John Alexander Binns was the son of Charles Binns, the first clerk of +Loudoun and of his wife, Ann Alexander, a daughter of "John Alexander +the Eldest of Stafford County. Gent." as he is described in a deed to +his daughter in 1760. The son was born probably about 1761, although the +exact date seems uncertain. In March, 1781, he was, as we have seen, +recommended by the County Court of Loudoun to the governor for +appointment as a first lieutenant in the Virginia forces and at the same +time his brother, Charles Binns, Jr., later to succeed his father as +county clerk, was recommended for a commission as second lieutenant. +After the war, John Binns turned his attention to farming and grappled +with the problem of restoring the fertility of the soil. He had learned +of the use of land plaster (gypsum) and clover for that purpose in the +Philadelphia neighborhood, whence it is said the system had been brought +from Leipsic in Saxony. As early as 1780 he began his experiments, using +not only the land plaster and clover but practicing deeper ploughing and +rotating crops. At first he was, of course, ridiculed by his farmer +neighbors, for the reluctance of the husbandman to change his methods is +an old, old story. But Binns persisted. As he improved one farm and his +profits rose, he purchased other worn-out lands from their discouraged +owners and in time was profiting handsomely from his intelligence and +industry. At length, in 1803, his labors crowned with success and the +agricultural wealth of his home county rapidly rising as a result of his +long and patient work, he sat himself down to write the story of what he +had accomplished. His little book was printed in a very small edition, +due probably to the high price and scarcity of paper, and was offered +for sale at fifty cents, under the comprehensive title "_A Treatise on +Practical Farming, embracing particularly the following subjects, viz. +The Use of Plaster of Paris, with Directions for Using it; and General +Observations on the Use of Other Manures. On Deep Ploughing; thick +Sowing of Grain; Method of Preventing Fruit Trees from Decaying and +Farming in General._ By John A. Binns Of Loudoun County, Virginia, +Farmer." It was published at "Frederick-Town, Maryland," and "Printed by +John B. Colvin, Editor of the _Republican Advocate_, 1803." "The little +book" writes Rodney H. True "is now hard to find and the first edition, +but for the copy preserved by Jefferson and now treasured among the +great man's books in the Library of Congress, would well-nigh be lost." + +Thomas Jefferson, with his restless intelligence, was one of the first +to acquire the book. Having studied it and being impressed with Binns' +success, he wrote to Sir John Sinclair, the head of the English Board of +Agriculture, a letter dated the 30th June, 1803, sending with it + +"the enclosed pamphlet on the use of gypsum by a Mr. Binns, a plain +farmer, who understands handling his plough better than his pen. he is +certainly something of an enthusiast in the use of this manure; but he +has a right to be so. the result of his husbandry prooves his confidence +in it well found for from being poor, it has made him rich. the county +of Loudoun in which he live(s) exhausted & wasted by bad husbandry, has, +from his example, become the most productive one in Virginia: and its +lands, from being the lowest, sell at the highest prices. these facts +speak more strongly for his pamphlet than a better arrangement & more +polished phrases would have done. were I now a farmer I should surely +adopt the gypsum...." + +On the same day, in a letter to Mr. William Strictland, another member +of the English Board of Agriculture, Jefferson wrote + +"You will discover that Mr. Binns is an enthusiast for the use of +gypsum, but there are two facts which prove that he has a right to be so +1. he began poor and has made himself tollerably rich by his farming +alone. 2. the county of Loudoun, in which he lives, had been so +exhausted & wasted by bad husbandry, that it began to depopulate, the +inhabitants going Southwardly in quest of better lands. Binns' success +has stopped that immigration. it is now becoming on(e) of the most +productive counties of the state of Virginia, and the price given for +the lands is multiplied manifold." + +Sir John Sinclair in his reply to Mr. Jefferson, whom he addresses as +"His Highness, Thomas Jefferson" wrote from Edinburgh under date of the +1st January 1804: + +"On various accounts I received with much pleasure, your obliging letter +of the 30th June last, which only reached me, at the place, on the 19th +November. I certainly feel highly indebted to Mr. Binns, both for the +information contained in the pamphlet he has drawn up; and also, for his +having been the means of inducing you to recommence our correspondence +together, for the purpose of transmitting a paper which does credit to +the practical farmers of America. + +"As to the Plaster of Paris, which Mr. Binns so strongly recommends, it +is singularly, that whilst it proves such a source of fertility to you, +it is of little avail in any part of the British Islands, Kent alone +excepted. I am thence inclined to conjecture, that its great advantage +must arise from its attracting moisture from the atmosphere, of which we +have in great abundance in these Kingdoms...." + +But it is time to turn to Binns' own record of his work. How desperately +poor the yield of grain had become in Loudoun is shown by his statement +that some of his unplastered land yielded but five bushels of wheat to +the acre and not more than three bushels of corn on a place so worn out, +when he took it over in 1793, that his friends thought he "must starve +on it." By 1798 he was getting from that farm 15-1/2 bushels of corn to +the acre and the next year, on that corn land, had 27 bushels of heavy +wheat per acre. In another place he notes: "I put a parcel of it" +(plaster) "on some corn in the hill which produced about 22 bushels, the +other part of the field yielding about 12 bushels to the acre." + +As an interesting sidelight he indicates that tobacco was being grown +around Leesburg at that time. In 1803, as he wrote his book, he expected +a crop of 40 bushels of wheat per acre on his farms. And by way of +summarizing his work + +"There are several places on the Catocton Mountain, that some few years +past the corn stalks, when the tops were taken off, were not above three +feet high, and which would not produce more than two or three barrels of +corn to the acre, and from 5 to 6 bushels of wheat; and perhaps not +yield grass enough to the acre to feed a horse for two weeks after the +harvest was taken off; but from the use of plaster will now produce from +six to eight barrels of corn, and from twenty to twenty-five bushels of +wheat per acre; the luxuriant growth of the white and red clover after +harvest gives the fields which once looked like a barren waste of +country, the appearance of a beautiful meadow." + +And upon sanitation he has this to say: + +"... These circumstances made me anxious to cleanse my stables, +stockyards, cow-pens, hog-pens, wood-yards and ash-heaps by the first +June. This rule I have always followed ever since I began to farm for +myself, and can say that my family have never experienced an +intermittent or remittent" (fever) "unless attacked with them from home +first, and upon their return they have immediately left them. In my +travels where ever I have discovered those kind of fevers, I have always +observed either dirty, filthy stables, hog-pens or water standing in +their cellars or ponds of water not far off; I have also observed those +places most liable to dysentaries...." + +In contrast to present-day views, he was wholly opposed to growing rye +on Loudoun lands, believing that it impoverished the soil and that wheat +yielded more in bushels; that rye destroyed grass and clover and injured +orchards. He approved the growing of wheat and oats in orchards to +maturity and strongly recommended the use of plaster in them. + +The result of Binns' work was acclaimed throughout Virginia. His methods +became known as the "Loudoun system" and the term became as significant +and popularly familiar as the "Norfolk system" of farming in England. Of +his work and his book True says: + +"In spite of the fact that 'it is not written in a scholastic style,' +few books have been written in which more sound practical agriculture is +crowded into so small a space. Binns' chapter on the life history of the +Hessian fly stands as a piece of careful observation that might have +done credit to Dr. Thomas Say himself. The three fundamental supports on +which agriculture prosperity in Loudoun County rests were never more +clearly or soundly appreciated: gypsum, clover and deep plowing. This +was the background of the famous 'Loudoun System' which came to be +recognized as the progressive practice for that part of the country a +hundred years ago."[122] + + [122] See article on Binns by Rodney H. True in 2 William and Mary +Quarterly (2) 20. + +Binns died in 1813. His will, dated the 11th January in that year, was +offered for probate on the 1st November following. In it he makes +provision for freeing his slaves after a certain period. As he left his +estate to his wife and nieces, it is surmised that no children survived +him. The family, however, is still represented in Loudoun. Captain John +A. Tebbs, U.S.M.C., is a descendant of Charles Binns, Jr., the younger +brother of our agronomist. + +It is difficult to escape the conclusion that religious thought and +observance were at a low ebb in Virginia in the latter part of the +eighteenth century. It was an age of transition, in some respects not +unlike that of today. Old ties were being broken, tradition and old-time +loyalties no longer received their former adherence. No small +responsibility attaches to that negligent and selfish minority of the +clergy of the colonial church and to an equally reprehensible element in +the early Federal days for remissness in their duties; and their +culpable behavior tends to attract more attention than the loyal +devotion of the majority of their brethren. It was inevitable that the +established church should be regarded as a part of the repudiated +British government and when its civil powers and ecclesiastical +predominance were taken from it and much of its property ruthlessly +confiscated, there ensued a period of confusion in religious matters, +with an unfortunate colouring of vindictive animosity on the part of +other communions. Concurrently the spread of Methodism took from the +older church many of its erstwhile adherents. Indeed, for a +disconcertingly long period after its "erection" in 1758, Leesburg +appears to have had no building devoted to religious purposes, services, +when held, having been at the courthouse. Cresswell, in his journal, +confirms this as does the first Shelburne Vestry book and also an +advertisement in Leesburg's '_True American_' of the 30th December, +1800: "The Reverend Mr. Allen" it reads "intends to perform divine +service in the Court House, on the 4th January, at half past eleven +o'clock; he also proposes preaching every fortnight from that date." +This situation was repaired between 1780 and 1785, when the Methodists, +organized as a separate denomination in 1784, erected their stone church +on Cornwall Street with galleries around three of its sides and with +its interesting old-fashioned sounding board, which church came to be +endowed with many associations until its needless destruction about +1901. Then, in 1804, the "Presbyterian Society of Leesburg," which had +probably existed since 1782, was more formally organized as a church by +the Rev. James Hall, D.D., of Concord, North Carolina, at that time the +Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly. The erection of the +present quaint old brick church on Market Street, the oldest church +building now standing in Leesburg, had already been begun in 1802 and +was completed in 1804. It was dedicated in May, 1804, by Dr. Hall. Its +first pastor was the Rev. John Mines, who served until 1822 and the +first Elders were Peter Carr, Obadiah Clifford, and John MacCormack. +Through the courtesy of the Presbyterians, their neighbors of the +Episcopal faith held their services from time to time in this old church +until the erection of the first Saint James Church on Church Street in +1812, long delayed because of conflicting views as to whether the new +building should be in town or country. + +This first Saint James Church "was built of brick and quite small, the +windows not arched and there was a yard in front. This church was torn +down in 1836 and a new one, much wider and larger built, the foundation +brought more to the front. It was enlarged in 1848, the vestibule built +over the remainder of the yard, bringing the front of the church even +with the street."[123] This building continued to be used until the +present Saint James Church of gray stone on the corner of Cornwall and +Wirt Streets was completed in 1897. + + [123] _Old Saint James Episcopal Church_, by Miss Lizzie Worsley. + +To the diversity in origin of the county's population frequent reference +has been made. The inhabitants of the southern part were far more in +sympathy in political philosophy, in manner of living, in agricultural +practices and in traditional background with the people of Fairfax than +were they with, perhaps, the majority of the heterogeneous population of +upper Loudoun. Also their leaders belonged to the class which has ruled +in Tidewater Virginia since its English beginnings and they none too +willingly faced the prospect, after the Revolution, of dividing their +authority with and perhaps losing their dominance to the upper-country +people. In 1782 they sought to create a new county coextensive with +Cameron Parish; failing in that, a compromise was reached in 1798 by +which the erstwhile area of Loudoun, south of Sugar Land Run, was +returned to Fairfax--"All that part of the County of Loudoun" reads the +act of division "lying between the lower boundary thereof and a line to +be drawn from the mouth of Sugar Land Run, to Carter's Mill on Bull Run, +shall be and is hereby added to and made a part of the County of +Fairfax."[124] This action had the immediate result of greatly +strengthening the political power of the Quakers, Germans and +Scotch-Irish in the remaining part of the county and correspondingly +diminishing the influence of the descendants of the old Tidewater +aristocracy there. + + [124] 2 Shepherd, 107. + +In the year 1787 Colonel Leven Powell laid out the town of Middleburg on +the road running to Ashley's Gap, for his purpose devoting fifty acres +on the southerly edge of the 500 acre tract of land he had purchased +from Joseph Chinn in 1763;[125] the town, of course, obtaining its name +from the position it occupied approximately halfway between the major +towns of Alexandria and Winchester as well as halfway between the +courthouses of Loudoun and Fauquier. The first trustees were Francis +Peyton, William Bronaugh, William Heale, John Peyton Harrison, Burr +Powell, Josias Clapham, and Richard Bland Lee.[126] + + [125] See Chapter VII ante. + + [126] 12 Hening, 605. + +The much older town of Waterford did not receive formal legislative +sanction until 1801. Then by the fifth section of an act of the +Legislature, the place is recognized as already in existence: "the lots +and streets as the same are already laid off at the place known by the +name of Waterford." The first trustees were James Moore, James Griffith, +John Williams, and Abner Williams. Section 7 of the act further provided +"that as soon as Mahlon Janey and William Hough, shall lay off into lots +with convenient streets, so much of their lands not exceeding ten acres +adjoining the said town of Waterford, the same shall thence-forth +constitute and be deemed and taken as a part of the said town."[127] + + [127] 2 Shepherd, 270. + +The next year another old settlement was, in its turn, given legislative +acknowledgment. Hillsborough, somewhat belatedly, was "established" on +twenty-five acres already divided between a score or more of owners: +Mahlon Hough, Thomas Purcell, the representatives of John Jenny (sic), +deceased, Thomas Leslie, Thomas Hepburn, Joseph Tribby, Josiah White, +John Foundling, Edward Conrod, Mahlon Roach, Thomas Stevens, Thomas +Hough, Samuel Purcell, John Wolfcaile, Richard Matthews, James Prior, +John Stevens, Richard Copeland, and Mahlon Morris. The first trustees +were Mahlon Hough, Thomas Purcell, Thomas Leslie, Josiah White, Edward +Conrod, Mahlon Roach, and Thomas Stevens.[128] + + [128] 2 Shepherd, 549. + +In 1810 Aldie makes its appearance. It was laid out by Charles Fenton +Mercer, a great Loudoun figure in his day,[129] on a part of his +plantation to which he had given the name of Aldie in tribute to Aldie +Castle in Scotland, the seat of that Mercer family from which he +believed himself descended. The act of establishment describes the +town's location as "thirty acres of land lying on the westerly extremity +of the Little River Turnpike road, in the county of Loudoun, the +property of Charles F. Mercer, as soon as the same shall be laid off +into lots with convenient streets." The Little River Turnpike road had +been extended to that point but a few years before. The town's first +trustees were named as Israel Lacey, William Cook, Matthew Adams, John +Sinclair, James Hexon, David Gibson, Charles F. Mercer, and William +Noland.[130] + + [129] See Chapter XIV post. + + [130] Acts 1810, p. 37. + +Bluemont, under its earlier name of Snickersville which it bore until +the year 1900, was established in 1824. As early as 1769 Edward Snickers +had obtained a grant from John Augustine Washington of 624 acres at this +point and before and after that time had acquired other lands in the +neighbourhood. He it was who, according to our local tradition, conveyed +the first bushel of wheat easterly across the Blue Ridge and gave his +name not only to the village but to the gap through the Blue Ridge and, +on the other side, to the historic ferry across the Shenandoah which he +owned for many years. He was born about 1735, married Elizabeth +Toliaferro about 1755 and died in 1790. In 1806 a postoffice had been +established at the little village with Lewis Stevens acting as +postmaster. When the town came to be formally "established" in 1824, its +location was described as being upon "ten acres at the entrance of +Snickers Gap, of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the county of Loudoun, +property of Amos Clayton, Martha Clayton, William Woodford and others, +as soon as the same shall be laid off into lots with convenient streets +and alleys." The first trustees were James Cochran senior, Craven +Osburn, Mordecai Throckmorton, Stephen Janney, Doctor E. B. Brady, Amos +Clayton, and Timothy Carrington.[131] + + [131] Acts 1824-5, p. 86. For historical sketch of village see 2 Balch + Library Clippings, 1. For Snickers also see 2 Landmarks, 509. + +The above list, with Leesburg, is the roll of earlier incorporated towns +of the county. Hamilton (1875), Lovettsville (1876), Purcellville +(1908), and Round Hill (1900), as the dates indicate, were not formally +organized until much later. The pleasant little village of Lincoln +remains unincorporated. + +As the eighteenth century neared its end, an increasing number of +representatives of the Tidewater gentry came to Loudoun and with their +neighbours already living there, built far more pretentious homes than +the county had theretofore known. As has been stated in the preface, to +tell something of the stories of these old estates was the original +incentive to the writing of this book; but those stories, involving as +they do their share of romance, tragedy and drama, must in their more +extensive narration, be left for a later volume. It is appropriate +however, in this place, to very briefly comment on a few of these old +plantations. + + + SPRINGWOOD + +Among the newcomers, in this post-revolution period, was Colonel Burgess +Ball, a great-grandson of that dignified old aristocrat Colonel William +Ball of Millenbeck on the Rappahannock, in Lancaster County, who had +come to Virginia in 1657. During the Revolution Burgess Ball had served +on the staff of General Washington, his first cousin, then as a captain +in the Continental Line and later had raised and equipped a Virginia +regiment at his own expense and served with it as lieutenant colonel. +After the war, his health broken and his generous fortune seriously +impaired by his expenditures for military purposes and by his +extravagant hospitality at his home, Travellers Rest in Spotsylvania +County, he in 1795, was obliged to seek refuge in what was still known +in Tidewater as the Loudoun wilderness. On the 4th November, 1795, he +purchased for Ł1741 (the proceeds of his back pay for military services +it is said) from Abraham Barnes Thomson Mason, only acting executor and +trustee under the will of Thomson Mason, a tract of 247 acres including +the Great Spring and running to the Potomac. Here Colonel Ball either +built a rustic lodge for his home or, as has been surmised, occupied and +improved the old home of Francis Aubrey, calling his estate Springwood. +On that same 4th November, 1795, there was purchased in trust for +Colonel Ball from Stevens Thomson Mason by William Fitzhugh, Mann Page, +and Alexander Spotswood "three of the trustees appointed by an Act of +General Assembly to sell certain lands devised by James Ball deceased to +his grandson Burgess Ball for his life," another tract of 147 acres +about two miles north of the Great Spring for Ł441, current money of +Virginia. Other adjacent tracts were purchased by Colonel Ball or by his +trustees until he controlled a very large estate from the Great Spring +to the Limestone Run of the most fertile land in the county.[132] Far +from his old military companions, he kept up a correspondence with them +in his distant abode and many of them visited him there from time to +time; for whether surrounded by the refinements of Travellers Rest or +the wilderness of Springwood, Colonel Ball's lavish hospitality was a +part of the very man himself. He died on the 7th March, 1800, and was +buried just outside the graveyard surrounding the old chapel above Goose +Creek on the hill above the Great Spring. This first Springwood dwelling +was not on the site of the present mansion but is believed to have been +on the south side of the present road on what is now a part of the Big +Spring estate, in recent years known as Mayfield. The existing +Springwood residence was built by George Washington Ball, later Captain +C.S.A., grandson of Colonel Burgess Ball, between 1840 and 1850. Louis +Philippe is said to have been an overnight guest there and, during the +Civil War, General Lee, a cousin of Captain Ball who had served on his +staff, held a military conference in the present dining room. The estate +was acquired in 1869 by the late Francis Asbury Lutz of Washington who +substantially remodelled the mansion very soon thereafter. Since then it +has been in the possession of the Lutz family, its present occupants +being Mrs. Samuel S. Lutz, her son-in-law and daughter, Judge and Mrs. +J. R. H. Alexander and the latter's two sons. + + [132] See Loudoun Deeds W271, W263, Y132, etc. + + + RASPBERRY PLAIN + +The genesis of Raspberry Plain, just north of Springwood, has already +been given. As shewn in Chapter VII, the property had been originally +acquired from Lord Fairfax by Joseph Dixon in 1731 and he had sold the +farm which he had improved with a dwelling, orchard, etc., to Aeneas +Campbell in 1754. Campbell, as we have seen, was Loudoun's first +sheriff. He maintained the county jail and the ducking-stool at his home +while he held that office. He sold the place in 1760 to Thomson Mason. +So far the residence, long since vanished, was near the large spring, +now a part of Selma. Mason is said by T. A. Lancaster, Jr., to have +built a new house about 1771 (on the site of the present beautiful +home). He then conveyed it to his son Stevens Thomson Mason, +subsequently confirming his action in his will. Later, according to +local tradition, another Mason descendant, Colonel John Mason McCarty +was living there when he killed his cousin, General A. T. Mason in the +famous duel in 1819, perhaps as a tenant, for the county records show +that in 1830 the estate, then of about 250 acres, was conveyed by the +executors of General Mason's will to George, John, Peter and Samuel +Hoffman of Baltimore for $8,500. It remained in the Hoffman family for +over eighty-five years and until sold by the Hoffman heirs on the +29th April, 1916, to Mr. John G. Hopkins who built the present imposing +brick edifice of colonial architecture. The estate was purchased by Mr. +and Mrs. William H. Lipscomb of Washington in 1931 and, until Mrs. +Lipscomb's death, was the scene of many a gay and picturesque hunt +breakfast given in honour of the Loudoun Hunt of which Mr. Lipscomb was +Master. + +[Illustration: OATLANDS. Built by George Carter from 1800 to 1802. Now +the home of Mrs. W. C. Eustis.] + + + BELMONT + +Ludwell Lee, a son of Richard Henry Lee, built Belmont in 1800 and lived +there until his death in 1836. He rests in its garden. Soon after he +died the estate was acquired by Miss Margaret Mercer who, born in 1791, +was the daughter of Governor John Francis Mercer of Cedar Park, +Maryland. Miss Mercer conducted a school for young ladies at Belmont +until her death in 1846. She was a woman of broad education with +pronounced views on the abolition of negro slavery and she it was who +built the nearby Belmont Chapel on a part of her estate. After passing +through the hands of many owners the property was purchased in 1931 by +Colonel Patrick J. Hurley, Secretary of War under President Hoover, and +since then he and Mrs. Hurley have made it their country home. For +several years he has invited the Loudoun Hunt to hold its annual horse +show there. + + + COTON + +Across the highway Thomas Ludwell Lee, cousin to Ludwell Lee, about the +same time built his home Coton, naming it after an English home of the +earlier Lees. On Lafayette's visit to America in 1825, he was a guest of +Ludwell Lee and a great festival, in honor of his visit, was staged at +both Belmont and Coton. It is said that after nightfall a double line of +slaves, each holding aloft a flaming torch, was stationed between the +two mansions to light the way of the celebrants as they passed from one +house to the other. The original mansion has long since disappeared save +for parts of its foundations. A second mansion was later erected on +another part of the estate and in turn was destroyed by fire. The +present stone dwelling, the third to bear the name, was erected by Mr. +and Mrs. Warner Snider, the present owners of the estate, in 1931. + + + OATLANDS + +George Carter, great-grandson of Robert Carter, the "King Carter" of +early Colonial days, received in 1800 from his father, Councillor Robert +Carter of Naomi Hall, a tract of 6,000 acres south of Leesburg, a small +part of the vast Carter holdings. Upon this land during the ensuing two +years he built Oatlands, the most pretentious and elaborate of the +Loudoun homes of that day. George Carter did not marry until attaining +the discreet age of sixty years when he took as his bride Mrs. Betty +Lewis, a widow, who had been a Miss Grayson. Both George Carter and his +wife are buried in the gardens of Oatlands. The estate was acquired in +1903 by the late William Corcoran Eustis of Washington and is now the +country home of his widow under whose care both residence and extensive +gardens retain their justly celebrated charm and beauty. Mrs. Eustis, a +daughter of the late Levi P. Morton, at one time Governor of New York +and later Vice-President of the United States, has long been the Lady +Bountiful of Loudoun. None of the county's residents has ever equalled +her benefactions to its poor and to its public institutions of every +kind. + + + ROKEBY + +Rokeby, on the old Carolina Road south of Leesburg, so long the home of +the Bentley family, also belongs to this period. It acquired its claim +to fame during the War of 1812 when, in 1814, President Madison, in +expectation of the capture of Washington, sent many of the more valuable +Federal archives, including the _Declaration of Independence_ and, it is +said, the Constitution of the United States, to Leesburg for safekeeping +whence they were removed to Rokeby and stored for two weeks in its +vaults. It is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Nalle who, upon its +purchase by them many years ago, made great changes in the old building. + + + FOXCROFT + +When, in the year 1914, Miss Charlotte Noland purchased the lovely old +estate of Foxcroft, four miles north of Middleburg, there began a new +era both in its interesting story and in the educational standards of +Loudoun. No modern institution of the county has spread more generally +knowledge of its charms than the famous school which Miss Noland then +founded; and it is particularly appropriate that the institution should +owe its inception and development to one who in singular degree is a +representative of Loudoun's founders. Those Loudoun citizens of today +who trace their descent to one of the earlier Nabobs of the county feel +a complacent satisfaction therein; but Miss Noland unites lineal descent +not only from Francis Aubrey and Philip Noland but from Colonel Leven +Powell and Burr Harrison, the earliest explorer, as well, thus +inheriting an early Loudoun background believed to be unique. + +[Illustration: Photograph by Miss Frances B. Johnston + +FOXCROFT, Garden Front.] + +As is the case with so many of the older houses of the county, the age +of Foxcroft and the identity of its builder are uncertain; but the local +tradition is that it is one of the earliest of the many old brick houses +to be found in that part of the county and that its builder was one Kyle +who had married a daughter of the Balls. The story goes on that Mrs. +Kyle lost her mind after the birth of one of her children and that for a +long time thereafter she was enchained in the garret of the old house +until, during the absence of her husband on a journey, she freed herself +and fell to her death down the stairs. Another local story is that the +building of the house was under the supervision of William Benton, the +land-steward and friend of President Monroe who, it is said learned +brick-making in his native England, discovered good brick-clay in the +Middleburg neighborhood and made the brick for most of the early brick +houses in that part of the County. + +With these local stories as a guide, an examination of the county +records show a John Kile to have been a purchaser of land as early as +1797 and also a deed to John Kile from William Shrieves, then of +Kentucky, on the 8th February, 1814, of 189 acres "on the waters of +Goose Creek" for Ł320. The description, running as it does from one +marked tree in the forest to another, requires a long search and careful +plotting to definitely place the property, but it suggests the Foxcroft +estate. That these Kiles or Kyles were quite certainly people of +standing is indicated by their marriages. John Kile, Jr., presumably +the son of the first John Kile, married Winney Powell, a daughter of +Elisha Powell and her sister Mary became the wife of Pierce Noland.[133] +It all goes to suggest that the old Foxcroft mansion was built by John +Kile from brick made under the supervision of William Benton sometime +during the 1820's. + + [133] Loudoun Deeds Y20, 2 R287 and 2 W208. + +Foxcroft School has become so much a part of Loudoun that it is as +difficult to picture the Middleburg neighbourhood without it as it would +be to think of Middleburg without its famous fox-hunting. The school has +eighty-five students, representative of the most prominent families in +the United States from coast to coast, with students from abroad as well +and there is always a long waiting list of applicants for admission. A +healthy outdoor life is combined with carefully planned study. The young +ladies are all expert riders, follow the Middleburg Hunt at its numerous +meets and every year, since 1915, have their own horse show in May at +Foxcroft which is always a brilliant affair. + + + LLANGOLLAN + +Llangollan was built about 1810 by Cuthbert Powell, (1775-1849) a son of +Colonel Leven Powell from whom he had inherited the land upon the +latter's death at Fort Bedford, Pennsylvania, on the 6th August, 1810. +Few families in Virginia are more deeply rooted in her history than the +Powells. Captain William Powell, who, as a gentleman adventurer, +accompanied Captain John Smith to Virginia in 1607 is claimed in the +family chronicles to be one of the clan. Whether he was kinsman to that +Nathaniel Powell who was with Smith in his brush with the Manahoacs on +the Rappahannock in the summer of 1608 does not appear. After spending +some years in business pursuits in Alexandria, Cuthbert Powell returned +to Loudoun where he served as a justice, represented the county in the +Virginia Legislature as a Whig and was a member of Congress from 1841 to +1843. Chief Justice Marshall once described him as "the most talented +man of that talented family." In 1930 Llangollan was acquired by Mr. and +Mrs. John Hay Whitney of New York who have greatly enlarged the old +stone mansion and made the estate the home of one of the most famous +racing establishments in America. They organized in 1932 and hold there +each year the Llangollan Gold Cup races. + +[Illustration: THE FRONT PORCH AT ROCKLAND, Home of the Rusts. Built in +1822 by General George Rust and still owned by his family.] + + + MORRISWORTH + +The 750 acres which originally composed Morrisworth were given by +William Ellzey to his daughter Catherine who married Mathew Harrison of +Dumfries. After his death his widow, with her children, took possession +of her patrimony and in 1811 built thereon the main part of the stone +mansion. There she resided for the remainder of her life and reared her +large family. Her children continued to own the estate until they sold +it about 1870 to their kinsman Dr. Thomas Miller of Washington who, +dying about two years later, never resided there. He left the property +to his daughters, the mansion and about 550 acres going to Miss Virginia +Miller and Mrs. Arthur Fendall. In turn these ladies deeded the estate +in 1900 to Mrs. Fendall's son Thomas M. Fendall, the present owner, who, +in 1915, added the south wing to the house. Mr. and Mrs. Fendall have +greatly enlarged and developed the gardens, specializing in iris to such +an extent that Morrisworth has become widely known not only for the +beautiful scene when the five thousand plants are in bloom but for the +many new varieties of iris originated there. + + + CHESTNUT HILL + +Chestnut Hill near the Point of Rocks, so long identified with the Mason +Family, is another of the mansions built about 1800. Samuel Clapham, the +son of the second Josias Clapham, was the builder on land he had +acquired in 1796 from his father. It came to Thomas F. Mason through his +marriage to Betsey Price, a granddaughter of the second Josias as +related in Chapter VII. It is now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. +Coleman Gore. + + + ROCKLAND + +Rockland, four miles north of Leesburg, was built by General George Rust +in 1822 on land acquired by him in 1817 from the heirs of Colonel +Burgess Ball and is unique among the county's old estates in that today +it still is owned by a descendant of its builder, Mrs. Stanley M. Brown, +who before her marriage was Miss Elizabeth Fitzhugh Rust, the only child +of the late owner, Mr. Henry B. Rust. Mr. and Mrs. Brown, with their +children, spend each summer at Rockland. The 419 acres of the present +estate border for a long distance on the Potomac and are regarded as +equalling in fertility any land in the county. During the War Between +the States the old house witnessed the alternate passing and repassing +of the armies of the North and South in front of it along the old +Carolina Road. Hospitality and gracious living have long been synonymous +in Loudoun with the very name of Rockland. + +[Illustration: GENERAL GEORGE RUST (1788-1857). The builder of +Rockland.] + + + EXETER + +The plantation that became Exeter was inherited by Mary Mason Seldon; a +sister of Thomson Mason, from their mother Ann Thompson Mason. This Mary +Mason Seldon married, first, Mann Page and upon his death took as her +second husband her first cousin Dr. Wilson Cary Seldon who, born in +1761, had served as surgeon in a Virginia artillery regiment during the +Revolution. Though she had children by Page and none by Seldon, the +latter secured this land and between 1796 and 1800 built the main frame +dwelling with its pleasing design and interesting detail. The large +brick extension in the rear was added by General George Rust about 1854 +during his ownership of the estate. By his second wife, Dr. Seldon had a +daughter, Eleanor, and it was at Exeter on the 16th February 1843, that +she married John Augustine Washington, the last of his family to own and +occupy Mount Vernon. When the War Between the States broke out, he at +once volunteered for service, became an aide on the staff of General Lee +with the rank of lieutenant colonel and was killed in a small +engagement, which otherwise would have been unimportant, at Cheat +Mountain, now West Virginia, on the 13th September, 1861. In 1857 Exeter +was purchased by the late Horatio Trundle. It was inherited by his son +Mr. Hartley H. Trundle who with his family resides there. + + + SELMA + +Selma, another part of Mrs. Ann Thomson Mason's great purchase of "wild +lands," saw its first mansion built between 1800 and 1810 by General +Armistead Thomson Mason, United States Senator from Virginia +(affectionately known as "the Chief of Selma") when he was killed by his +cousin, John Mason McCarty, in the famous duel at Bladensburg on the 6th +February, 1819. He had inherited the land from his father Stevens +Thomson Mason of Raspberry Plain. The property was purchased in 1896 by +the late Colonel Elijah B. White, who afterward represented the Loudoun +district in the Virginia Senate and was for many years a prominent +Leesburg banker. He was a son of the much-loved leader of White's +Battalion in the War of 1861. Upon his purchase of the estate, Colonel +White built the present stately mansion, so famed for its hospitality, +in which he incorporated parts of the older house, burned some years +before. Selma is now owned by Colonel White's widow (who before her +marriage was Miss Lalla Harrison) and his daughter, Miss Elizabeth +White. It long has had the reputation of being one of the most fertile +and successfully managed farming estates in the East. + + + ALDIE MANOR + +Aldie Manor, in the present town of Aldie, was built by Charles Fenton +Mercer and named for Aldie Castle in Scotland, the home of the Mercer +family. The town in turn was named for the estate and the Magisterial +District in which both lie is named for Mercer. The mansion has long +been owned and occupied by the diZerega family. + + + MORVEN PARK + +Morven Park was acquired by Governor Thomas Swann of Maryland who, about +1825, built the imposing mansion there. It was inherited by his daughter +who became the wife of Dr. Shirley Carter and for many years much of the +neighbourhood's social life centered about it. In 1903 this estate of +over 1,000 acres was purchased by Mr. Westmoreland Davis, later Governor +of Virginia, who now resides there and carefully supervises the many and +varied agricultural activities of his domain. + +[Illustration: OAK HILL, NORTH FRONT. Built by President James Monroe in +1820. Now the home of Messrs. Littleton.] + + + OAK HILL + +But to the nation the best known of all the old homes of Loudoun has +always been Oak Hill. When James Monroe, after long years of service to +his country, came to look forward to his retirement, he owned a large +tract of land on the Carolina Road nine miles south of Leesburg, long in +the possession of his family, which had occupied a dormer-windowed +cottage there. On a gentle elevation on the plantation, President +Monroe, in the year 1820, erected the great brick house, three stories +in height with its porticos and Doric columns which he named Oak Hill. +It was designed by Monroe's friend Thomas Jefferson and the plans were +completed by James Hoban the designer and builder of the White House and +the supervising architect of the Capitol. President Monroe employed +William Benton, an Englishman (who is said to have "served him in the +triple capacity of steward, counsellor and friend") to superintend the +construction of the mansion under Hoban's supervision and to manage the +extensive farming operations of the estate which he did most +successfully. It was here that President Monroe wrote his famous message +to Congress, delivered in December 1823, embodying what since has been +known throughout the world as the "Monroe Doctrine" and it was here also +that he entertained Lafayette in 1825. Mrs. Monroe died at Oak Hill in +1830. On Mr. Monroe's death in 1831, the property went to his daughter +Mrs. Gouveneur of New York by whom it was sold in 1852 to Colonel John +M. Fairfax, who set out the large orchard of Albemarle Pippins some of +the fruit from which, sent to Queen Victoria gave her such pleasure that +thereafter it enjoyed her preference over all other apples. Later when +his son, the much-loved State Senator Henry Fairfax, owned the estate he +became known throughout the nation for the Hackney horses he raised +there. In 1920 the property was acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Frank C. +Littleton who greatly enlarged the old building by the extension of both +wings. When Mr. Littleton was quarrying sandstone on the place in 1923 +there were found numerous imprints of prehistoric dinosaurs--the first +known evidence that these monsters had inhabited this portion of the +eastern part of the present United States. + +The estate took its name from a group of oaks planted on the lawn by +President Monroe, one from each of the then existing States, each tree +presented to him for that purpose by a congressman from the State +represented. + +Mrs. Littleton died in 1924. Mr. Littleton and his son Frank C. +Littleton, Jr., continue to make the historic old place their home, +carrying on extensive farming operations on its broad acres. + +On the 20th March, 1793, the first postoffice was established in +Leesburg. The first postmaster was Thomas Lewis, who was succeeded on +the 1st April, 1794, by John Schooley, who in turn gave way to John Shaw +on the 1st April, 1801. Then came Thomas Wilkinson on the 1st April, +1803; William Woody on the 1st January, 1804, and Presley Saunders on +the 12th February, 1823. + +At the end of the eighteenth century Loudoun was, in politics, a Federal +stronghold. Colonel Leven Powell has long been credited with being the +founder of that party in the county. The momentous election for members +of the Convention of 1788 was bitterly fought. Stevens Thomson Mason and +William Ellzey, both lawyers, were opposed to the adoption of the +Federal Constitution. For its adoption stood Colonel Powell and Colonel +Josias Clapham. Both of the latter, as we have seen, were old soldiers +but no match as orators to their opponents and thus were at a great +disadvantage in the contest. Powell's great personal popularity alone is +said to have secured his election. Mason also won but the county +remained so strongly Federal that its vote dominated its Congressional +District. + +When war with Great Britain was forced upon us in 1812, a cavalry +regiment was raised in Loudoun of which Armistead Thomson Mason of Selma +became colonel. But the incident in that war which most prominently +stands out in Loudoun's memory came in 1814. + +[Illustration: OAK HILL. EAST DRAWING ROOM, showing mantel presented to +Monroe by Lafayette, and other historical furniture.] + +After the American forces under General William H. Winder had been +defeated by the British at Bladensburg in August of that year, it was +apparent that the capture of Washington was highly probable. Madison's +Secretary of State, James Monroe, had been in the camp of General +Winder, closely studying with him the enemy's movements and seeking to +appraise the ability of the Americans to successfully defend the +Capital. That he was not reassured by what he thus learned is shewn by +the letter he sent to President Madison wherein he advised him to remove +from Washington the government's more important records. The President +recognized, none too soon, the imminence of the danger. The more +valuable of the government archives were ordered to be taken from +Washington and Stephen Pleasanton, then a clerk in the State Department, +was placed in charge of their removal. He caused to be made a large +number of linen bags in which were placed the government's books and +documents, including the _Declaration of Independence_ and the +Constitution. It is said that the painting of Mrs. Dolly Madison, +hanging in the White House, was cut from its frame and accompanied the +government's records. Some accounts aver that, so numerous were the +archives, twenty-two two-horse wagons were used in their transportation +from Washington; others who have written of the incident say that four +four-horse wagons only were used, while still others claim the method of +transportation to have been by ox-teams. However they were carried, they +left Washington across the old Chain Bridge and sought their first +safety in the grist mill of Edward Patterson on the Virginia side of the +Potomac two miles above Georgetown. So threatening was the British +advance, however, that it was deemed prudent to carry the precious cargo +further up-country; the wagons were duly reloaded and the caravan +continued to Leesburg, where the sacks were placed for one night in the +courthouse according to some writers or, on the authority of others, in +a vacant building in the town, the key of which was given to a certain +Rev. Mr. Littlejohn, a young clergyman then recently ordained. The next +day the sacks were again placed in the wagons and driven to the nearby +plantation of Rokeby where in its vaults they were stored for two weeks +until it was safe to return them to Washington. + +During those two weeks President Madison was a guest of Ludwell Lee at +Belmont, whence he directed National affairs; and ever since that time +it has been a primary and essential asseveration in the credo of +every true Leesburger that the town was, during that stirring fortnight, +the de facto Capital of the United States. + +Proud as that memory may be today, the event itself is said to have +caused great anxiety to the more substantial citizens of the town and +nearby country for fear lest their sudden prominence in the affairs of +the nation would invite a swift and disastrous foray upon them by the +temporarily triumphant Britons; a denouement which, happily, did not +ensue. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +MATURITY + + +When Patrick McIntyre published the one hundred and tenth number of _The +True American_ in Leesburg on Tuesday the 30th December, 1800, he, +following the tradition of his craft, probably left his office with a +lively sense of anticipation of the town's forthcoming celebration of +the advent of a new century; that he could have foreseen that a single +copy of that issue would be the sole available survivor of his journal +in 1937 is not to be presumed. Yet in the Library of Congress that +single copy begins its collection of Leesburg's newspapers and no copy +of the paper is known to survive today in Loudoun. Its four pages devote +themselves to the proceedings of Congress, to European affairs, to the +activities of the Virginia House of Delegates and to the new treaty with +France. The local news must be gleaned from the advertisements. The Rev. +Mr. Allen advertises religious services to be held in the +courthouse;[134] one W. C. Celden, a slavedealer, informs the public +that he "has some likely young NEGROES which he will dispose of +reasonably for cash;" and on the 4th page is found an item, obviously +inserted by a private individual protecting himself with a cloak of +anonymity, "For Sale. A likely NEGRO GIRL who has to serve for the term +of nineteen or twenty years. She is now about twelve years of age, and +very well grown, and will have to serve one year for every child which +she may have during the term of her servitude. The terms of sale may be +known by application to the Printer." The widow of Colonel Burgess Ball +asks that those having claims against his estate will send them to her +as the Administrators were anxious to make provision for their immediate +payment. + + [134] See Chapter XIII ante. + +The ultimate fate of _The True American_ is unknown. In 1808 there was +established in the town the _Washingtonian_ which became the recognized +organ of the Democratic party in Northern Virginia for many years. No +surviving copy of any issue of the first year of this paper has been +found by the present writer. Until 1841 it divided the Loudoun field +with Whig competitors; after that date its journalistic rivals appear +to have been of its own political faith, notably the _Loudoun Mirror_, +established in 1855. In its early years the _Washingtonian_ had a sturdy +competitor in the Whig _Genius of Liberty_, copies of which are now +rarely to be found. The most numerous available are in a broken file in +the Library of Congress, beginning with numbers issued in 1817 and owing +their conservation to the fact that they had been sent by the editor to +the Secretary of State. As with the earlier _True American_ these +newspapers contain much foreign news and correspondence with lengthy +reports of legislative activities in Richmond and Washington; and, in +addition, an acrimonious and undignified exchange of long-winded and +abusive letters in the Mason-McCarty-Mercer controversies. But that a +county paper should find its first duty in presenting local news was not +within the philosophy of the editor. Only here and there may one find a +paragraph recording some local incident--but patient search is +occasionally rewarded. A branch of the Bank of the Valley had been +opened in Leesburg in 1818 with local subscribers to its stock and T. R. +Mott acting as cashier. Then in the issue of the 31st March, 1818, we +read: + +"Specie. Arrived on Wednesday last at this port after a pleasant passage +of two days from Alexandria, the waggon Perseverance--Grub, Master, +laden with SIXTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS IN SPECIE for the Branch Bank of +the Valley in this place. The Specie is deposited in the 'Strong box' +thus laying a foundation for the emission of a paper currency predicated +upon Specie Capital, which is the chief corner stone in all monied +institutions; without it they must eventually fail." + +That Leesburg was provided with its first street pavements through the +proceeds of a public lottery has long been town gossip. By way of +confirmation, there is an advertisement in the 12th May, 1818, issue of +the _Genius of Liberty_: "By authority. Scheme of Lottery to raise $8000 +for the purpose of paving the streets of the town of Leesburg, Va." +providing a first prize of $4000 and 2011 other prizes running from +$1000 down to $6 each, totalling $30,000. Against these 2012 prizes were +to be 3988 blanks, to be represented by 6000 tickets to be offered at +$5 each; but the astute managers stipulated that many of the larger +prizes were to be paid in part by other tickets and that each of the +prizes were to be "subject to a deduction of $15 to $100." To inspire +the confidence of the public, the notice was signed by the following +representative citizens as Commissioners: Prestley Cardell, C. F. +Mercer, George Rust, Joseph Beard, Richd H. Henderson, Samuel Clapham, +John Humphreys, John I. Harding, Sampson Blincoe, Fleet Smith, Samuel +Carr, and John Gray. So successful was the lottery, avers tradition, +that with its profits not only was the town able to pave its principal +streets but also brought in, through wooden pipes, a much needed supply +of water from Rock Spring, the present home of Mrs. H. T. Harrison. To +the community that system of finance exerted an appeal so strong that +once again it was used in 1844, to raise the necessary money to build an +office for the County Clerk. The present County Office Building was +purchased from the trustees of the Leesburg Academy in 1879.[135] + + [135] 6 Ns Deeds 272, Loudoun County records. + +Always has Loudoun been a horse-loving country; but it may surprise some +of her people of today to know that in 1817 the county seat possessed a +"Jockey Club" which was sufficiently strong and well supported to +conduct a four day racing meet with more generous prizes than are now +offered. In the _Genius of Liberty_ of the 14th October 1817 there is +this advertisement: + +"Leesburg Jockey Club. RACES will be run for on Wednesday the 15th +October, over a handsome course near the town. A Purse of 200 Dollars +three miles and repeat, and on Thursday the 16th day, two miles and +repeat a Purse of $100 Dollars, and on Friday the 17th and repeat, a +Towne's Purse of at least $150 and on Saturday the 18th an elegant +SADDLE, BRIDDLE and MARTINGALE, worth at least FIFTY DOLLARS. P. +SAUNDERS, sec'y & treas'r." + +Thus, although the local reporting was definitely remiss in those days, +the advertising columns yield much treasure. The times were hard, land +sales forced by worried creditors were frequent and often in the sales +advertisements a note is made of log-houses on the land, shewing how +numerous that form of habitation still must have been in the Loudoun of +that time. With the land sales are many offerings of negroes, not +infrequently with a humanitarian undertone pleasant to read, for in +Loudoun then there was much anti-slavery sentiment not only among +Quakers and Germans but, more significantly, among the wealthy planters +and educated town folk. Thus in the issue of the 26th October 1818: + +"Negroes for Sale. For Sale, a family of Negroes, consisting of a woman +and children. To a good master they will be sold a great bargain. They +will not be sold to a southern trader." + +The financial stress of the day then, as later, bred much discontent if +we may judge from the frequent notices of runaway white apprentices and +negro slaves, the latter of both sexes; but while in the case of the +slaves rewards are offered for their return of varying amounts from $5 +to $200, the masters of the white apprentices, apparently appraising +their services somewhat dubiously, offered but from one to six cents for +their apprehension and return! + +Though times were hard and money scarce there was, in the community, a +healthy appreciation of the cultural side of life. George Carter of +Oatlands advertises the services of a professor of music, seemingly +brought into the county by him, who "now offers to teach the fundamental +rules of this science in 8 lessons so as to enable those who are taught +by him, to pursue their studies by themselves until they may obtain a +perfect practical knowledge of musick."[136] Music seemed to have been +in the air. Eighteen months later, there is notice given by Henry Krebs +that he has commenced teaching the piano and German flute and the French +language. He could be found at Mrs. Peers' boarding house.[137] Lectures +on English grammar are announced by E. Hazen at the house of Mrs. +McCabe[138] and Charles Weineder, a miniature painter, came to Leesburg +for two weeks to take orders in his art.[139] + + [136] Issue of 12th October, 1818. + + [137] 2nd Nov., 1819. + + [138] 9th Nov., 1819. + + [139] 26th Oct., 1818. + +The profession of the law was followed in Leesburg by Richard Henderson, +Burr William Harrison, L. P. W. Balch (who was also secretary of the +school board) and John K. Mines. Dr. J. Clapper practiced medicine at +Hillsboro "where he may be found at Mr. Hough's tavern," we trust not +indicating undue conviviality of the gentleman's disposition. There was +ample accomodation for travellers, their servants and horses. Enos +Wildman announced that he had lately acquired the Eagle Tavern, formerly +run by W. Austen;[140] while Samuel M. Edwards presided at the "Leesburg +Hotel & Coffee House" which he had recently purchased from Mr. H. Peers +and which was "situated on the main street leading from Winchester to +Alexandria, George Town and the City of Washington." Yet another tavern +was operated by one "Mr. Foley" and, as we have seen, there were +boarding-houses as well. Their bars were stocked without difficulty, for +Lewis Mix & Co. had a distillery near the mouth of Sugar Land Run and +called for rye, corn and oats. + + [140] 20th Jan., 1818. + +But perhaps the most impressive picture painted by these old +advertisements is that of the teeming industrial and commercial life of +the town. It was still, happily, the age of the handicraftsman; the +machinery age was yet to come. Transportation was uncertain and slow, +and country towns largely produced the furniture, tools, clothing and +other needed articles for their own inhabitants and those of their +surrounding communities. The variety of the activities of the artisans +and merchants of the Leesburg of that day paralleled those of other +similar towns throughout the nation. John Carney had a "Boot & Shoe +manufactory" which was conveniently located "on King street, next door +to Messrs. Humphreys and Conrad and immediately opposite the Court +House." In advertising his wares, he added that he wished to take on two +or three apprentices of from thirteen to fifteen years of age. He had a +business rival in William King, who conducted a similar activity and +confidently announced that he had "some of the first rate workmen in the +State." + +Hats were made and sold by Jacob Martin "at his shop opposite the +market house" who duly proclaimed "a very large assortment of hats on +hand from the first quality to those of lowest prices; including a large +assortment of Good Wool Hats, likewise some Morocco Caps." + +If the Loudoun citizen of President Monroe's day needed the services of +a tailor, they were made available by Thomas Russel whose business +apparently flourished; for he advertised for "one or two journeymen +taylors to whom constant employ and the best wages will be given." He +also sought one or two apprentices to learn his craft. + +Jonathan C. May was opening a dry goods and clothing shop under charge +of D. Carter, next to the drug store of Robert R. Hough. As a competitor +he had Joseph Beard with his "General and Seasonable assortment of Dry +Goods" and Daniel P. Conrad who, "at the Stone House opposite the Court +House" offered "a seasonable supply of Fall Goods"; he and George +Richards meanwhile publishing notice of the dissolution of their former +partnership. In nearby Waterford, B. Williamson and C. Shawen also +dissolve their partnership in a general store, on account of Williamson +moving to Baltimore and Shawen carries on under the name of C. Shawen & +Co. + +Samuel Tustin was engaged in a coachmaking business in Leesburg and +sought "good tough white ash plant and timber--also a quantity of poplar +half inch plank." He, too, wanted an apprentice, seeking one who was +fifteen to seventeen years old. There was no lack of opportunity to earn +a living offered to a steady lad with an inclination to work and a taste +for trade. To the more mature, Aaron Burson offered to rent his fulling +mill and dwelling house near Union, describing them as being in "an +elegant neighbourhood for the fulling business."[141] John B. Bell, +occupying a part of William Drish's house on King Street, was a +bookbinder. Not daunted by the slump in business, James G. Jones and +Company notify the Loudoun public that they have commenced the brush +making business "at Mr. Wetherby's stone house, King Street, nearly +opposite Mr. Murrays and that they want a large quantity of hog's +bristles" for which a liberal price will be given "IN CASH." + + [141] i.e. the thickening and cleansing of woollen cloth. + +S. B. T. Caldwell advertised for sale writing paper, wrapping paper and +medium printing paper. + +The present day collectors of old furniture will note that David Ogden +had removed his business to the southeast corner of King and Cornwall +Streets where he had on hand and offered "some fashionable sideboards, +Eliptic Dining Tables, Secretary, Bureaus etc., etc., which I will +dispose of on moderate terms. Orders from the adjacent country will be +thankfully received." In the same year of 1818, Jacob and Isaac Thomas +of Waterford announced that they had on hand a general assortment of +Windsor and fancy chairs and were also prepared to do "house, sign and +fancy painting with neatness and dispatch." + +The political dispute between Mason and McCarthy, mirrored in the pages +of _The Genius of Liberty_, was fated to resolve itself into a tragedy +that shook county and Commonwealth to their roots and caused no small +sensation throughout the youthful Republic. General Armistead Thomson +Mason of Selma,[142] a grandson of Thomson Mason, was a graduate of +William and Mary College, a veteran of the War of 1812 and a Senator of +the United States from Virginia as well as the leader of the Democratic +party in Loudoun. Opposed to him as a Federalist was his cousin, Colonel +John Mason McCarty, a grandson of George Mason of Gunston Hall, a +descendant of old Daniel McCarthy of Westmoreland[143] and who then +occupied Raspberry Plain. For a long time there had been political +rivalry and bickering between the two men and when Mason introduced a +bill in the Senate to permit Loudoun Quakers, when drafted for military +services in war-time, to furnish substitutes by the payment of $500 +apiece, McCarthy seized upon its political possibilities and promptly +accused him of cowardice. The issue flared in the political campaign +then on and, to add to the fire, Mason challenged McCarty's vote at the +polls. Some accounts say that this so incensed McCarthy, described as +being generally a good-natured individual with a strong sense of humour +but also with a temper that upon occasion would break out beyond bounds, +that he thereupon, at the polling place, defied Mason to personal +combat, in his anger naming the weapons, contrary to a universally +recognized rule of the code. Mason decided to ignore the matter, +McCarthy taunted him in the public prints and although Mason's side had +been defeated at the election, the affair gradually might have blown +over and been forgotten had not Mason, returning from a journey to +Richmond, by evil chance found himself a fellow stagecoach passenger +with his old friend and superior officer, General Andrew Jackson. The +matter of the quarrel with McCarthy, in due course, came up for +discussion and Jackson, ever a fire-eater himself, is said to have told +Mason with some brusqueness that he should not let the matter drop. On +his return, therefore, Mason sent his cousin a letter in which he said +he has resigned his commission for the sole purpose of fighting McCarthy +and "I am now free to accept or send a challenge or to fight a duel. The +public mind has become tranquil, and all suspicion of the further +prosecution of our quarrel having subsided, we can now terminate it +without being arrested by the civil authority and without exciting alarm +among our friends." He informed his opponent that he had arranged his +family affairs and was "extreemly anxious to terminate once and forever +this quarrel." How recklessly eager was his wish was shewn by his +instructions to his seconds to agree to any terms at any distance--to +pistols, muskets or rifles "to three feet--his pretended favourite +distance, or to three inches, should his impetuous courage prefer it." + + [142] See Chapter XIII ante. + + [143] Chapter IV ante. + +McCarthy, in the meanwhile, had cooled down and was inclined to turn +aside this new challenge in a humorous vein. He suggested to Mason's +seconds that the antagonists jump from the dome of the capitol; but the +matter had gone too far for joking and he was told his suggestion did +not comply with the code. Again and yet again he offered similar absurd +solutions and being rebuffed and in an effort to frighten Mason, +suggested shotguns loaded with buckshot at ten paces, suicidal terms +which were modified by the seconds to charging the weapons with a +single ball and the distance to twelve feet. + +After the fatal outcome of the Hamilton-Burr duel in 1804, a wave of +hostility to the whole institution of duelling had swept the country. In +January, 1810, Virginia had passed an act making the death of a duellist +within three months of the encounter, murder, and providing that the +survivor should be hung. Moreover, it was provided that the mere act of +sending or accepting a challenge should make the offender incapable of +holding public office. Therefore it was expedient that the meeting +should not be held in Virginia and a field, along the side of which ran +a little brook, near Bladensburg in Maryland, was selected for the +affair. Principals, seconds and referee arrived at a nearby inn on the +night of the 5th February, 1819, and at 8:00 o'clock the next morning, +in the bitter cold and snow, the cousins confronted each other on the +field, standing so close to one another that their "barrels almost +touched." As the signal was given both fired and then fell to the +ground--Mason dying and McCarthy dangerously wounded. Mason's body was +brought back to Leesburg where it rested for a while in the old stone +house on Loudoun Street now owned by Mr. T. M. Fendall, before burial in +the St. James graveyard in Church Street with religious and Masonic +rites. There the grave is still to be seen. It is said that Mrs. Mason +locked the main entrance of Selma after the funeral and that no one +again used it until her only son came of age--a son destined to meet his +death, many years later, as an American officer, in the battle of Cerro +Gordo in our war with Mexico. Tradition has it that ever after the duel, +McCarthy was a morose and haunted man. A gruesome detail is added that +long after his death his marble gravestone was removed to the Purcell +drug store in Leesburg and there used for many years as a slab on which +prescriptions were compounded. + +From such a sombre picture we may turn with relief to the spectacle of +Loudoun in gala attire indulging in the greatest and gayest county-wide +celebration her history affords. + +Of all those who, from abroad, came to help the American Colonies in +their revolt, none so wholly captured the affections of her people as +the French Marquis de Lafayette and as the years after the war passed +by, that affection remained steadfast. In January, 1824, the American +Congress entertained the happy idea of authorizing the President to +officially invite the old general again to visit our shores, this time +as the guest of the whole nation. Lafayette sailed from France on an +American war ship in July, 1824, arriving in New York on the 14th +August. Then began the national welcome which, continuing for over a +year, stands by itself in our history. + +In August, 1825, Lafayette, being in Washington, informed his hosts that +he wished, once again, to see his old friend James Monroe, then living +in retirement on his estate, Oak Hill. Arrangements were made +accordingly and on the 6th August the Marquis, accompanied by President +John Quincy Adams, left Washington in the latter's carriage for the long +drive to Oak Hill. On their arrival they were greeted by Monroe and a +number of his friends who had gathered to pay honour to the nation's +guest. For three days Lafayette tarried at Oak Hill, walking over the +farm with his host and reminiscing over the heroic days of nearly fifty +years before. Leesburg, determining to show its love and respect for the +general, sent a delegation to invite him to a celebration in his honour +in that town, to which Lafayette readily assented. On the morning of the +9th August, 1825, "Mr. Ball a member of the Committee of arrangements +and Mr. Henderson of the Town Council"[144] went to Oak Hill to escort +their guest to Leesburg. With them were two troops of cavalry commanded +by Captains Chichester and Bradfield. General Lafayette, President +Adams, former President Monroe and Mr. Henderson took their seats in the +carriage drawn by splendid bay horses which had been provided for the +occasion and the procession set out for the county seat. As it neared +the town, salvos of artillery greeted it and the roads and town itself +were so lined and filled with people that it was estimated that at least +10,000 (almost half of the county's population) were present. And now, +to quote the historian of the occasion: + +"The guest of the nation, with his honoured friends, alighted in the +field of William M. McCarty, where in the shade of an oak, he was +introduced to Cuthbert Powell, Esq., chairman of the committee of +arrangements; who welcomed him in terms of respect and affection apt to +the occasion, and in a manner at once feeling and grateful; to which +General LaFayette replied, with the felicity which seems never to +forsake him. He was then introduced to the committee of arrangements and +to General Rust, the marshall of the day, and his aids. The General then +received the military, assembled to honour him, consisting of the +volunteer troops of cavalry, commanded by Captains Chichester and +Bradfield; the two rifle companies, commanded by Captains Henry and +Humphries; and the companies of light infantry, commanded by Captains +Moore and Cockerill, who, by their equipments and discipline did credit +to themselves and the county."[145] + + [144] Presumably Fayette Ball of Springwood and Richard Henderson, a + prominent lawyer of Leesburg. + + [145] _General Lafayette's Visit to Virginia_, by Robert D. Ward. + +After being introduced to a few surviving soldiers of the Revolution, +the distinguished party was driven to Colonel Osburn's Hotel (the +present home of Mr. T. M. Fendall on Loudoun Street) the street in front +of which was filled with a great crowd of orderly and well-behaved +citizens. Here Lafayette was received by the Mayor of Leesburg, Dr. John +H. McCabe and the common council. The mayor made an address of welcome +and again Lafayette spoke in reply. + +After a few minutes for rest and refreshment in the hotel, the carriages +were resumed and + +"the procession moved through Loudoun, Market, Back, Cornwall and King +Street. Between the gate of the Court house square and the portico of +the court-house an avenue had formed, by a line on the right, of the +young ladies of the Leesburg Female Academy under the care of Miss Helen +McCormick and Mrs. Lawrence ... dressed in white, with blue sashes, and +their heads were tastefully adorned with evergreens. They held sprigs of +laurel in their hands, which they strewed in the way as the General +passed them." + +Another account discloses that the other side of the "avenue," facing +the evergreen-crowned girls, was formed by a line of boys from the +Leesburg Institute, whose costumes were embellished with red sashes and +white and black cockades. As Lafayette, smiling and bowing, mounted the +portico steps, he was greeted by Ludwell Lee on behalf of the people of +Loudoun with a patriotic speech and once again the cheerful Marquis +managed to make yet another appropriate response. After a full year of +the young Republic's exuberant enthusiasm, the delivery of a mere +half-dozen or so of speeches of grateful acknowledgment in a single day +has lost its earlier terrors. At 4:00 o'clock a great banquet was spread +on the tables set up in the courthouse square, the guests' table being +protected by an awning. Toasts were enthusiastically given and drunk to +Adams, Lafayette and Monroe, each in turn replying. With that auspicious +start and the stimulus of the potent beverages, it is recorded that as +the time passed, the "volunteer toasts" waxed in number and ecstacy. +Afterward, the distinguished guests visited the home of Mr. W. T. T. +Mason for the baptism of his two infant daughters, Lafayette acting as +godfather for one and Adams and Monroe in similar capacity for the +other. More gayety in Leesburg, then a drive through the summer night to +Belmont and participation in the merry-making there, before the +illustrious visitors sought their rooms for the night in that gracious +mansion.[146] As they returned to Washington the next day, it must have +been with a profound, if weary, appreciation of the county's enthusiasm, +affection and hospitality. + + [146] See Chapter XIII. + +In this second quarter of the nineteenth century, to which we have now +come, the name of Charles Fenton Mercer, soldier, statesman and +philanthropist, is writ large in Loudoun's records. Already we have read +of him in his country home and of his founding the town of Aldie in +1810;[147] but the brief reference there made is wholly inadequate to +the man and his accomplishments. Born in Fredericksburg on the 6th June, +1778, he was the son of James Mercer and grandson of that John Mercer of +Marlboro whom we have already met.[148] His father, after a +distinguished career, left at his death an estate so much involved that +the son had some difficulty in securing his education. He, however, was +able to graduate at Princeton in 1797 and the next year, at the time of +friction with France, was given a commission by Washington as a captain +of cavalry. When the danger of war passed, he studied law and, admitted +to the Bar, practiced his profession with great success. He served as +brigadier general in command of the defense of Norfolk in the War of +1812, removed to Loudoun, was a member of the Virginia Legislature from +1810 to 1817 and, as a Federalist, was elected a member of Congress, in +1816, over General A. T. Mason, the election being so close, however, +that it had to be decided by the House of Representatives. In Congress +he served until 1840, a longer continuous service "than that of any of +his contemporaries." Always deeply interested in the project of the +Chesapeake and Potomac Canal, he introduced the first successful bill +for its construction and it was in tribute to him that those interested +in the plan met in Leesburg on the 25th August, 1823. When the canal +company was organized taking over, in effect, much of the plant of +General Washington's cherished project the Potomac Company, Mercer +became its first president and continued in that position during the +period of Federal encouragement. Then came the Jackson administration +and its opposition and, as a final blow, the organization of the +Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. The day of the canals gave place to +that of the railroads; but that section of the canal in Maryland, across +the river from Loudoun, was completed and placed in successful +operation, affording to her people better and cheaper transportation to +Washington and Alexandria for their products than they before had known. + + [147] See Chapter XIII. + + [148] See Chapter VII. + +Mercer was an ardent protectionist, intensely opposed to slavery and an +advocate of the settlement of freed slaves in Liberia. He died near +Alexandria on the 4th May, 1858, and was buried in the Leesburg +Cemetery. On his headstone it is justly reaffirmed that he was "A +Patriot, Statesman, Philanthropist and Christian."[149] + + [149] _Charles Fenton Mercer_, by James M. Garnett. + +Mercer's day well may be cited as the most active and, perhaps, the most +ambitiously progressive in business affairs in the county's history. +Space precludes enumeration and extensive description of all the +enterprises then undertaken but passing mention may be made of a few. +The improvement of transportation was a dominant motive. Canals, +railroads, turnpikes all were instruments to that end. An early railroad +was projected by the men of Waterford and incorporated in 1831 as the +Loudoun Railroad Company to run from the mouth of Ketoctin Creek on the +Potomac "passing Ketoctin mountain to the waters of Goose creek so as to +intercept the Ashby's Gap turnpike road"; a curious and impractical +route it may seem to us in the light of present conditions and that it +was just as well that the project died in birth. In 1832 another +railroad but sponsored in Leesburg, to be known as the Leesburg Railroad +and to run from that town to the Potomac, also came to naught. At length +in 1849 the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad was incorporated +and built, and under various names has been since continuously operated, +thus giving the county its only railroad communication within its +boundaries. + +In 1832 there was incorporated the Goose Creek and Little River +Navigation Company to make those streams available as highways of +traffic. Locks, dams, ponds, feeders, and other appurtenant works were +ambitiously undertaken. With assistance from the State and the proceeds +of the company's sales of stock much construction was accomplished; but +during the Civil War the works were destroyed by the Federal armies and +they never have been restored. + +The Catoctin Furnace Company was another ambitious project. Iron ore was +mined in Furnace Mountain, opposite the Point of Rocks, and for a time +shipped away for smelting. In 1838 a furnace for treatment of the ore +was completed on the property and the ore smelted at first with +charcoal made at the plant and later, as operations increased, with coke +brought from a distance. The business was highly successful and +profitable until ruined by the Civil War. It was this activity that +caused the construction, in 1850, of the original Point of Rocks bridge +across the Potomac.[150] + + [150] See Briscoe Goodheart in 4 Balch Clippings 33. + +Reference to some of the many turnpike companies of the period already +has been made. Undertaken for the profit of the shareholders as well as +the convenience of the people they, for the first time in her history, +gave the county roads fit to bear heavy traffic and were another +exemplification of the energy of the time. + +When the church was disestablished after the Revolution it was agreed +that it would be left in possession of her property. As time went on +there arose a clamour among those of other beliefs that her property and +particularly her glebe lands should be sold by the Overseers of the +Poor, to whom the proceeds should go, their argument being that having +been acquired by taxes laid on the whole community, the taxpayers as a +body should benefit therefrom. Bishop Mead describes what took place in +Loudoun concerning Shelburne's glebe: + +"About the year 1772, a tract of land containing 465 acres, on the North +Fork of Goose Creek was purchased and soon after, a house put upon it. +When Mr. Dunn became minister in 1801 an effort was made by the +overseers of the poor to sell it, but it was effectually resisted at +law. At the death of Mr. Dunn, in 1827, the overseers of the poor again +proceeded to sell it. The vestry was divided in opinion as to the course +to be pursued. Four of them--Dr. W. C. Selden, Dr. Henry Claggett, Mr. +Fayette Ball and George M. Chichester--were in favour of resisting it; +the other eight thought it best to let it share the fate of all the +others. It was accordingly sold. The purchaser lived in Maryland; and, +of course the matter might be brought before the Supreme Court as a last +resort, should the courts of Virginia decide against the church's claim. +The minority of four, encouraged by the decision in the case of the +Fairfax Glebe, determined to engage in a lawsuit for it. It was first +brought in Winchester and decided against the Church. It was then +carried to the Court of Appeals in Richmond, and during its lingering +progress there, three of four of the vestrymen who engaged in it died, +and the fourth was persuaded to withdraw it."[151] + + [151] Bishop Mead's _Old Churches of Virginia_, II, 274. Also see + _Landmarks_ 306 and Selden vs. Overseers, XI Leigh 127. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CIVIL WAR + + +It was a happy, prosperous, and contented Loudoun that the sun shone +down upon in 1850. In politics the county was predominantly Whig and in +the growing national issues of States' rights, slavery and secession, +her sentiment clung to the preservation of the Union; but the seeds of +dissension had been sown. The repercussions of John Brown's insane raid +on the nearby Harper's Ferry arsenal on the 16th October, 1859, were +particularly severe in Loudoun. The madness of it all profoundly shocked +the community and seemed to strike at the foundations of existing +society, law, and order. Yet a dogged adherence to that Union, which +Virginia had been so instrumental in building, persisted. Little doubt +was felt concerning the _right_ of a sovereign State to withdraw from +what had been a wholly voluntary confederation, but sentiment and a deep +feeling of expediency strongly opposed such action. Elsewhere in the +State the tendency toward secession was stronger. As the fateful days +passed, Virginia was torn between conflicting views. It is probable that +the ranting of the extreme abolitionists in the North drove more +Virginians toward secession, and that against their will, than the most +persuasive arguments of its fieriest advocates. + +The Legislature of 1861 recognized the peril of decision in favor of +either side, and the gravity of attendant consequences to be so great, +that it wisely decided to refer the issue to the people themselves. On +the 16th January of that year it therefore authorized that a convention +be called, to be made up of delegates elected from every county, for the +express purpose of deciding upon Virginia's course. Thereupon such +delegates, having been duly elected, the convention met in Richmond on +the 13th February, 1861, Loudoun being represented by John Janney, at +that time and until his death in 1872, a leader of her Bar, and John A. +Carter. Both opposed secession and voted against it in a convention in +which it was apparent that its proponents held a majority. Nevertheless, +Mr. Janney was elected permanent chairman by a majority of the +delegates--a great personal tribute to the man and evidence of the +respect in which he was held. Both those who favoured and those who +condemned withdrawal from the Union were given ample opportunity to +expound and urge their views. When the ominous vote was cast in secret +session on the 17th April, 1861, eighty-five of the delegates favoured +and fifty-five opposed an ordinance of secession; but their action was +conditioned upon the majority decision being referred back to the people +of Virginia for approval or rejection. Both Janney and Carter voted +against the measure but even while the convention was in session a mass +meeting, convened in Leesburg, passed resolutions advocating the +proposed ordinance. How great a change had taken place in the sentiment +of the county, during those early and fateful months of 1861, is shone +in the following table of the results in Loudoun of the election of the +23rd May in which the ordinance of secession was overwhelmingly ratified +there: + + Precincts For Secession Against + Aldie 54 5 + Goresville 117 19 + Gum Spring 135 5 + Hillsboro 84 38 + Leesburg 400 22 + Lovettsville 46 325 + Middleburg 115 0 + Mt. Gilead 102 19 + Powells Shop 62 0 + Purcellville 82 31 + Snickersville 114 3 + Union 150 0 + Waterford 31 220 + Waters 26 39 + Whaleys 108 0 + --- --- + Total 1626 726 + +The great mass of the American people, North and South, neither +expected nor wanted war. The overwhelming tragedy of it all lay in the +nation being caught and carried on in a flood of events beyond its +imagination or control and these, with sinister assistance from fanatics +and trouble-makers on both sides, brought on the devastating deluge. + +With Lincoln's call for volunteers, Virginia rallied to resist what she +believed to be a threat of hostile armed invasion. The die was cast. + +It is not the purpose of this book to attempt a detailed account of the +war-epoch in Loudoun. Much of her story during those dreary years +already has been recorded by other writers. The full narrative deserves, +and sometime undoubtedly will have, a volume to itself. + +Inasmuch as fate had made it a border county, it was inevitable that +intense factional bitterness should exist and that much fighting should +take place within its boundaries; but no major engagements occurred +there. Loudoun at least was spared the terrible slaughter that destiny +staged in Tidewater, the Valley and north of the Potomac. + +It required but little imagination on the part of the county government +to foresee the probability of fighting in the county and the subversion +of the civil authority, with the confusion and lawlessness that would +consequently ensue. Therefore the Loudoun Court, headed by its then +presiding Justice Asa Rogers, ordered the county clerk, George K. Fox, +Jr., to remove the county records to a place of safety and to use his +discretion for their preservation. Pursuant to these instructions, Mr. +Fox loaded the records into a large wagon and with them drove south to +Campbell County. For the next four years he moved his precious charge +about from place to place, as danger threatened each refuge in turn, and +in 1865 was able to bring back to Leesburg every record intact as will +appear in the following chapter. Thus to Mr. Fox's faithful performance +of his duty, Loudoun owes the preservation of her records in happy +contrast to the loss, damage and destruction which came upon the +archives of her sister counties during the ensuing conflict. From a +subsequent entry in the court's records, we also learn that no court +was held in the county from February, 1862, until July, 1865.[152] + + [152] Loudoun Minute Book 1861-65, p. 69. Also statements to author by + Mr. Fox's daughter, Mrs. John Mason of Leesburg. + +With the inception of actual warfare the county divided along the lines +forecast by the election in May, 1861. Those sections in which the +Quakers and Germans predominated, continued strong in their adherence to +the Union; the remaining people of the county, with comparatively few +exceptions, were so deeply and unswervingly attached to the Southern +cause as to suggest the burning conviction of religious zeal. To add to +the intensity of hostile feeling, there were, nevertheless, in all parts +of the county, as was inevitable in a border community, individuals who +passionately disagreed with the convictions of their neighbors and these +as occasion offered and to the detriment of their former friends, +reported surreptitiously upon local matters to the side with which their +sympathies lay. + +The recruiting of soldiers began among the Confederates, to be followed +in due course by the Union men. "The 56th Virginia Militia" writes +Goodhart "commanded by Col. William Giddings, was called out and about +60 percent of the regiment that lived east of the Catoctin Mountain +responded."[153] Many of those who thus reported for duty were put to +work, it is said, building the fortifications around Leesburg, while a +number of their former comrades abruptly left Loudoun for the quieter +atmosphere of Maryland.[154] But the demand for men far surpassed the +resources of the organized militia. For the Confederates, new commands +sprang into being throughout Virginia. The 8th Virginia Regiment, +Company C (Loudoun Guard) of the 17th Virginia Regiment and White's +(35th Virginia) Battalion, known as the "Comanches," were largely made +up of Loudoun men and many of the county's sons also were to be later in +Mosby's famous Partisan Rangers as well as in many other commands. How +far flung in the forces of the Confederacy were Loudoun's soldiers is +suggested by a copy of the "Roster of Clinton Hatcher Camp, Confederate +Veterans," (organized in Loudoun County on the 13th February, 1888) +which, framed for preservation, hangs on the wall in the County Clerk's +Office. It gives the names and pictures of the original members and the +military organization in which each man served. Each of the following +commands are there represented by one or more former members: + + 1st Virginia Cavalry Stribbling's Artillery + 2nd Virginia Cavalry Letcher's Artillery + 4th Virginia Cavalry Gillmore's Battalion + 6th Virginia Cavalry 34th Va. Artillery + 7th Virginia Cavalry Loudoun Artillery + 35th Va. (White's) Battalion 8th Virginia Infantry + 43rd Va. Battalion (Mosby's Rangers) + 1st Maryland Cavalry 17th Virginia Infantry + 1st Richmond Howitzers 40th Virginia Infantry + Stuart's Horse Artillery 1st Georgia Infantry + Chew's Battery + 7th Georgia Infantry + +while, in addition, were many who served with staff rank or otherwise, +such as Dr. C. Shirley Carter, Surgeon on General Staff; John W. +Fairfax, Colonel, Adjutant and Inspector General's Department; J. R. +Huchison, Captain on Staffs of Generals Hunton and B. Johnson; A. H. +Rogers, First Lieutenant and Aide-de-Campe; William H. Rogers, +Lieutenant on Staff; Colonel Charles M. Fauntleroy, Inspector General on +Staff of General Joseph C. Johnston; H. O. Claggett, Captain and +Assistant Quartermaster; Arthur M. Chichester, Captain and Assistant +Military Engineer; L. C. Helm, scout for Generals Beauregard and Lee; B. +W. Lynn, First Lieutenant Ordnance Department; William H. Payne, +Brigadier General of Cavalry, A. N. V.; John Y. Bassell, staff of +General W. L. Jackson and midshipman C. S. Navy. + + [153] _Loudoun Rangers_, by Briscoe Goodhart, p. 19. + + [154] _The Comanches_, by F. M. Myers, p. 19. + +In the northern part of the county, Union men joined two companies of +cavalry which were known as the Loudoun Rangers, an independent command +raised by Captain Samuel C. Means of Waterford, under a special order of +E. M. Stanton, the Secretary of War and later merged in the 8th U. S. +Corps. Between the troopers of this organization on the one side and +those of White and Mosby on the other, some of them former friends and +schoolmates, even brothers, there were frequent and vicious engagements +and mutual animosity ran high, as presently we shall see.[155] + + [155] To get the full flavor of the bitterness engendered, read F. M. + Myers' _Comanches_, and Goodhart's _Loudoun Rangers_. + +[Illustration: THE OLD VALLEY BANK, LEESBURG.] + +With the intensity of recruiting, the county was soon drained of many of +its most vigorous and ablebodied men. At that time there was but one +bank in Leesburg--the old Valley Bank, concerning the founding of which +in 1818 we have read in the last chapter. One day, so runs the story, +there suddenly appeared in the town three bandits who, making their way +to the bank, then located in what has since been known as the "Club +House" on the northwest corner of Market and Church Streets, proceeded +to loot it. Tradition says that they found and seized over $60,000 in +gold and, placing it in sacks they had provided, fled with it south +along the Carolina Road. The greatly excited citizens hurriedly formed a +posse, made up largely of men who were too old for military service +together with a number of boys, which pursued the robbers so hotly that +the latter left the highway where it passes the woods on Greenway, south +of the mansion, and sought to hide themselves there. Here they were +surrounded in the woods and either made their escape or were killed, the +narrative at this point becoming somewhat vague. Be that as it may, they +disappear from the story and the pursuers turned to recovering their +booty. A diligent search, continued long after nightfall, failed to +reveal the hiding-place of the plunder. With daylight the search was +renewed and, although carried on for many days, during which much ground +was dug over, not a dollar ever was recovered; but for years the story +of the hidden treasure was repeated and even after the late John H. +Alexander purchased Greenway, long after the war, his children were +regaled by the negro servants with the story of the believed-to-be +buried gold. + +Meanwhile the work of building fortifications of earthworks, begun by +Colonel Giddings' 56th Regiment of Militia, had so far progressed that +there were three forts on elevated ground on different sides of +Leesburg. One, known as Fort Evans, named in honour of Brigadier General +Nathan G. Evans, in command of the Leesburg neighborhood, was on the +heights on the part of the original Exeter between the Alexandria Pike +and the Edwards' Ferry roads, recently purchased by Mr. H. B. Harris of +Chicago from Mrs. William Rogers and Mr. Wallace George; another, known +as Fort Johnston, in honour of General Joseph E. Johnston, commander of +a portion of the Confederate troops at the first battle of Manassas, +(Bull Run), crowned the hill now covered by the extensive orchards of +Mr. Lawrence R. Lee, about one and one-half miles west of Leesburg on +the Alexandria Road; and the third, known as Fort Beauregard, was +constructed south of Tuscarora in the triangle formed by the old road +leading to Morrisworth, the road to Lawson's old mill and Tuscarora. The +property is now owned by the heirs of the late Mahlon Myers. + +All of these fortifications were, at the time, considered of great +potential importance but in the course of events none, save for a +long-distance bombardment of Fort Evans on the 19th October, 1861, were +destined ever to be attacked nor, therefore, defended. The remains of +all remain largely in place, useful only as local monuments to Loudoun's +most tragic era. + +The principal engagement in the county between the hostile armies took +place in the first year of the war. Soon after the first battle of +Manassas (Bull Run) the Leesburg neighborhood was held for the +Confederates by Brigadier General Nathan G. Evans and his 7th Brigade +made up of the 8th Virginia Infantry under Colonel Eppa Hunton; the 13th +Mississippi, under Colonel William Barksdale; the 17th Mississippi, +under Colonel W. S. Featherstone, together with a battery and four +companies of cavalry under Colonel W. H. Jenifer, all sent there by +General Beauregard to protect his left flank from attacks by General +McClellan, whose forces lay across the Potomac, and to keep open +communications with the Confederate troops in the Valley. + +On the 19th October, 1861 Dranesville, a hamlet on the Alexandria +Road, fifteen miles southeast of Leesburg, was occupied by Federal +troops under General McCall. That evening his advance guard opened +artillery fire on Fort Evans, just east of Leesburg, and another +bombardment began at nearby Edwards' Ferry. Evans thereupon ordered +certain of his troops to leave the town and occupy trenches he had dug +along the line of Goose Creek, to meet the expected general attack. On +the following day, a Sunday, word came to McClellan that the +Confederates were evacuating Leesburg, whereupon that General sought to +make a "slight demonstration," as he termed it, that is an increased +firing by the pickets on the north side of the Potomac, with, perhaps, a +small force of skirmishers thrown across, to confirm the Confederates in +their belief that a general attack was impending and thus to hasten +their complete evacuation of the town. It was no part of McClellan's +plan, apparently, that troops should cross in force from the Maryland +side or that a major engagement should be precipitated. Brigadier +General C. P. Stone, in immediate command of the Federal forces along +the river, nevertheless ordered a considerable force to cross to the +Virginia side, both at Edwards' Ferry and also at Ball's Bluff, some +four miles up the Potomac. Apparently in ignorance of Stone's actions, +McCall, at about the same time, was retiring his men to their camp at +Prospect Hill, four miles west of the old Chain Bridge. Evans was in the +fort bearing his name. Early in the morning of the 21st, he learned that +the Federals had crossed the river at Ball's Bluff, driving back Captain +Duffy and a small force of Confederates. Thereupon Evans sent Colonel +Jenifer with four companies of Mississippi infantry and two of cavalry +to engage Stone. As a result, Stone's men were pressed back to the river +around Ball's Bluff. + +[Illustration: BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF. (From an engraving published in +1862 by Virtus and Company. New York.)] + +In his official report Gen. Evans wrote: + +"At about 2 o'clock p.m. on the 21st a message was sent to Brigadier +General R. L. White to bring his militia force to my assistance at Fort +Evans. He reported to me, in person, that he was unable to get his men +to turn out, though there were a great number in town, and arms and +ammunition were offered them." + +The Federal force which first had crossed to Ball's Bluff, was composed +of 300 men of the 15th Massachusetts under Colonel Devens. Later it was +augmented by a company from the 20th Massachusetts. No adequate +transportation across the river for a large force had been provided, so +that later it was difficult to send over needed Federal support. When +Evans became convinced that the main fight would be at Ball's Bluff, he +sent forward Colonel Hunton and his 8th Virginia Regiment of which +several of the companies had been recruited in Loudoun. To these forces +there were added, later in the day, the 17th and 18th Mississippi. Sharp +fighting, with advantage first to one side and then to the other, +culminated in a Confederate bayonet charge and the resulting route of +the Federals, many of whom were killed and wounded, others driven into +the river and drowned and by 8:00 o'clock the survivors surrendered and +were marched as prisoners to Leesburg. It is estimated that about 1,700 +men were engaged on each side. The Confederate loss was reported as 36 +killed, 118 wounded and 2 missing. The Federals reported losses of 49 +killed, 158 wounded and 714 missing. The Confederate dead were interred +in the Union Cemetery at Leesburg; the Federal slain are buried at +Ball's Bluff where their lonely resting place long has been cared for by +the Federal Government.[156] + + [156] Condensed from Hotchkiss' _Virginia Military History_ as quoted by + Head, p. 138. Also White's _Battle of Ball's Bluff_. For Gen. Evans' + report see "Official Reports, Sept. to Dec. 1861," published in Richmond + in 1862. + +Among the killed were Colonel Baker of the Massachusetts troops and +Colonel Burt of the 18th Mississippi. Among the very dangerously wounded +was a young Massachusetts first lieutenant who, miraculously recovering, +later crowned a long judicial career as a venerated member of the +Supreme Court of the United States and conferred additional lustre upon +the name of Oliver Wendell Holmes. + +The Confederates were led in the fighting by Colonel Eppa Hunton of the +8th Virginia. It was he who rallied that regiment when a part of it was +in retreat and turned threatened disaster into victory. Colonel Hunton +had been born in Fauquier on the 2nd September, 1822, of a family long +settled in that County. At the outbreak of the war he was practicing law +in Prince William and held a commission as brigadier general in the +Militia. After the Ordinance of Secession was adopted, he was +commissioned a colonel by Governor Letcher and ordered to raise the 8th +Virginia Infantry. For that purpose he proceeded to Leesburg and +recruited his command. Chas. B. Tebbs became Lieut. Colonel and Norborne +Berkeley, Major. Both were of Loudoun and Berkeley eventually succeeded +Hunton in command of the Regiment. Of the ten companies in the regiment, +six originally were made up of Loudoun men under Captains William N. +Berkeley, Nathaniel Heaton, Alexander Grayson, William Simpson, Wampter, +and John R. Carter. Of the remaining four companies, one was from Prince +William, one from Fairfax and two from Fauquier. During the war the +regiment covered itself with glory by its splendid fighting qualities +from the first Manassas to Pickett's charge at Gettysburg and suffered +frightful losses. It became known from these losses, as the "Bloody +Eighth." Hunton, shot through the leg at Gettysburg, was promoted for +his valour there to brigadier general. After the war he lived in +Warrenton, practicing his profession with marked ability in Fauquier, +Loudoun, and Prince William where juries, frequently including members +of his former regiment, seldom failed to give him their verdict. He +served as a member of the House of Representatives and later as United +States Senator from Virginia, holding in his professional and political +life the esteem and affection he had won on many a field of battle. + +Acting as a volunteer scout for Colonel Hunton, that day of the Ball's +Bluff Battle was a young trooper of Ashby's Cavalry who, migrating from +Maryland to Loudoun in 1857, purchased a farm on the shore of the +Potomac and became very much of a Virginian. Elijah Viers White was born +in Poolesville, Maryland, in 1832, attended Lima Seminary in Livingston +County, New York, and later spent two years at Granville College in +Licking County, Ohio. With the restlessness of his age he went to Kansas +in 1855 and, as a member of a Missouri company, had some part in the +factional fighting then distracting that territory. At the time of John +Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry he served as a corporal in the Loudoun +Cavalry and soon after the outbreak of the war was transferred to +Ashby's Legion. By December, 1861, he was a captain, reporting to +General Hill, and in charge of a line of couriers between Leesburg and +Winchester. During the winter of 1861-'62 this force was quartered in +Waterford and, somewhat augmented in numbers, was assigned to scouting +and guarding the Potomac shore. Thus originated the unit which became so +famous in Loudoun's history--the 35th Virginia Cavalry[157] or, as it +was more generally known, "White's Battalion"--the "Comanches" +affectionately held in local memory. Although having but about +twenty-five men when wintering in Waterford, the organization increased +with such rapidity that before the war's end its rolls, according to +Captain Frank M. Myers, its historian, bore nearly 700 names. On the +28th October, 1862, it was formally mustered into the Confederate +service by Colonel Bradley T. Johnson of General J. E. B. Stuart's +staff. In its inception formed for scouting, raiding and other local +duty, and regarded as an independent organization, it was fated in +January, 1863, to become a part of Brigadier General William E. Jones' +Brigade and thenceforward continued a part of the regular military +establishment of the Confederacy. + + [157] Myers' _Comanches_, p. 314. + +As the fame and exploits of the command and its leader grew, the latter +was promoted major in October, 1862, and lieutenant colonel in February, +1863. That he was not made a brigadier-general in accordance with the +recommendation of the military committee of the Confederate Congress was +due chiefly to General Lee's personal disapproval of Colonel White's +lack of severity as a disciplinarian. Undoubtedly his men took advantage +of his protective attitude toward them and incidents of insubordination, +desertion, and even mutiny were not infrequent;[158] but as enthusiastic +and fearless fighters they won and held the respect of both sides alike. +How well and dearly this reputation as warriors was earned is shown by +their participation in no less than thirty-one battles, including Cold +Harbor, Sharpsburg (Antietam), Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania +and Appomattox and in fifty-nine recorded minor engagements as +well.[159] Colonel White himself was severely wounded on no less than +seven occasions. Such was the esteem in which he continued to be held in +Loudoun after the war, that he was elected sheriff of the county and +also its treasurer. He was a principal founder and the first president +of the Peoples National Bank of Leesburg which position he continued to +occupy until his death in 1907. General Eppa Hunton in his autobiography +has this to say of him: "No man in the Confederate Army stood higher for +bravery, dash and patriotic devotion than Colonel 'Lige' White." + + [158] Same, pp. 148, 154, 242, 315, 342, 353, etc. + + [159] See manuscript memorandum prepared by Mrs. Magnus Thompson and now + in possession of Colonel White's granddaughter, Miss Elizabeth White, of + Selma. + +In the meanwhile, as we have seen, the Loudoun Rangers had been +organized on the territory west and north of the Catoctin Mountain by +Union men and had been taken into the Federal service. In August, 1862, +this command, then numbering about fifty, was making its headquarters in +the small brick Baptist Meeting House which still stands in Waterford, +whence it had been participating in raids on the Confederate portion of +the county. About 3:00 o'clock in the morning of the 27th of August, +while a certain number of the Rangers were away from the church on raids +or picket duty, Captain E. V. White, with forty or fifty men, made a +carefully planned attack on the building and after some sharp fighting, +in which one of the Rangers was killed and ten wounded, the men in the +church surrendered and were taken prisoners and paroled. + +On the 1st September the Rangers were involved in another fight, this +time with Colonel Munford's 2nd Virginia Cavalry sent forward by General +Stuart for that purpose, the encounter taking place between the top of +Mile Hill and the Big Spring on the Carolina Road. The Rangers were at +the time reinforced by about 125 men of Cole's Maryland Cavalry but the +Confederates, by getting in their rear and completely surrounding them, +put them to route in a hot sabre fight. Goodhart, the Rangers' +historian, comments that these two defeats, coming so closely together, +almost broke up that organization and "did to a very large extent +interfere with the future usefulness of the command."[160] It continued +in service, however, until the end of the war, participating in the +battle of Antietam, in the Gettysburg campaign, and in the Shenandoah +Valley campaign in September, 1864. + + [160] _The Loudoun Rangers_, by Briscoe Goodhart, 44. + +It was in the same September of 1862, it will be remembered, that Lee +undertook his first invasion of Maryland. He and General Stonewall +Jackson spent the night at the residence of the late Henry T. Harrison +on the west side of King Street, now occupied by Mr. Harrison's +grandchildren, Mr. Cuthbert Conrad and his two sisters. "The triumphant +army of Lee," writes Head "on the eve of the first Maryland campaign, +was halted at Leesburg and stripped of all superfluous transportation, +broken-down horses and wagons and batteries not supplied with good +horses being left behind."[161] It is said that Jackson rose early in +the morning from his bed in the Harrison house to examine the several +suggested points for the Southern Army to cross the Potomac. He is +locally credited with the decision that the place known as White's Ford +was best for the purpose and it was there, on the 5th September, that +much of the Army crossed. With such a vast number to put across the +river, it is probable that all the ferries and fords in the Leesburg +neighborhood were used. It is well to note that White's Ford and the +present White's Ferry (then known as Conrad's Ferry) are two very +different places. The Ferry is at the end of the road now marked by the +State, running along the south side of Rockland; the Ford is to the +north thereof at the head of Mason's Island. Obviously the depth of the +water at White's Ferry would preclude its use as a ford. Goodhart says +Edwards' and Noland's Ferries were used,[162] while the report of the +Federal Signal Officer (Major A. J. Myers) made to Brigadier General S. +Williams, dated the 6th October, 1862, records the Confederates +"crossing the Potomac near the Monocacy, and the commencement of their +movement into Maryland."[163] Nevertheless the Confederate official +reports definitely shew that a great number, probably the major part of +the vast host, crossed at White's Ford, including Stonewall Jackson's +own men, General Early's Division (which had passed through Leesburg +the day before and camped that night "near a large spring"--whether Big +Spring or the old Ducking Pond of Raspberry Plain does not definitely +appear); General Hood's Division, Colonel B. T. Johnson's 2nd Virginia +Brigade, McGowan's Brigade, etc.[164] Never were the hopes of the +Confederates more rosy; it is recorded that, as the Army crossed the +river, the men sang and cheered with joy and that every band played +"Maryland, my Maryland." Twelve days later there was fought the battle +of Antietam, the bloodiest day's conflict of the whole war, and on the +night of the 18th September the Confederates, in retreat but in good +order, recrossed the Potomac. + + [161] Head, 150. + + [162] _Loudoun Rangers_, 44. + + [163] _War of the Rebellion; Official Records_, Vol. 27, p. 118. + + [164] "Reports Army of Northern Virginia," from June 1862 to Dec. 1862. + Vol. II, pp. 99, 187, 211, 246, 282, etc. + +While the battle of Antietam was being so hotly fought in nearby +Maryland, Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General) Hugh Judson +Kilpatrick, advancing from Washington with ten companies of Federal +cavalry, reached Leesburg where there still remained a small Confederate +force made up of Company A of the 6th Virginia Cavalry and about forty +Mississippi infantrymen under Captain Gibson, then acting as Provost +Marshal of the town. Being largely outnumbered, the Confederates were +about to retire when they were joined by Captain E. V. White and thirty +of his men. Persuading the soldiers already there to make an effort to +hold the town, White and his men exchanged shots with the Federal +advance guard; but finding that Kilpatrick was bringing a battery +forward, the Confederates retreated through the town's streets. +Kilpatrick, however, had already trained his cannon upon Leesburg, +thereby subjecting it to its first and only artillery bombardment and +greatly terrifying the civilian population. Myers records that +"shrieking shells came crashing through walls and roofs" of Leesburg's +buildings. The Federal report avers that but a few shells were fired +"over the town."[165] After this brief artillery fire, Kilpatrick sent a +detachment of his 10th New York Cavalry through Leesburg's streets who +came in touch with the Confederates on the town's outskirts. Here +Captain White, about to lead his cavalry in a charge, was severely +wounded by the fire of the Confederate Infantry and as his men, in +retreat, carried him to Hamilton, the Confederate Infantry also fell +back, leaving the town to Kilpatrick. By way of souvenir of this little +engagement, there still remains a bullet-hole in the front door of the +house on the south side of East Market street then occupied by the late +Burr W. Harrison but now the residence of his grandson, the Hon. Charles +F. Harrison, Commonwealth's Attorney of Loudoun. According to the +official Federal report, already quoted, the Confederate "force at +Leesburg was principally comprised of convalescents and cavalry sent to +escort them. The whole country from Warrenton to Leesburg is filled with +sick soldiers abandoned on the wayside by the enemy." + + [165] Myers' _Comanches_, 111; also report of Colonel J. M. Davis, _War + of the Rebellion: Official Records_, Vol. 27, p. 1091. + +At the outbreak of the war Loudoun was, as it now again has come to be, +one of the most fertile, prosperous and best farmed counties in all +Virginia. When the fighting was fairly under way, it, from its position +as border territory, was dominated by one side after the other but at +almost all times was overrun by scouts and raiding parties from both +armies. Her farms and their abundant livestock and produce offered +constant, if unwilling, invitation to these soldiers to replenish their +need of horses, cattle, hogs, grain and forage; and every account of the +period refers again and again to instances of seizure of these supplies, +involving the greatest hardships, as they came to do, to the rightful +owners. It seems to have made little difference as to which side was +temporarily in control, so far as these levies were concerned, for both +Federals and Confederates appropriated supplies from the farms of foes +and friends alike, sometimes, it is true, giving receipts or +certificates covering what they had taken, with a cheerful promise of +ultimate compensation, and sometimes wholly waiving that formality. +Also, as the armies passed and repassed, there were roving deserters +from both sides and "the mountains were infested with horse-thieves and +desperadoes who were ready to prey upon the inhabitants, regardless as +to whether their sympathies were with the North or South."[166] +"Numerous raids" quoting Deck and Heaton, "made by both armies drained +the abundant food resources of the county. The women and the children +were hard pressed for food, but they met the privations of war bravely +and loyally."[167] Head, writing prior to 1908, when there still lived +many whose knowledge of war conditions in Loudoun was based on personal +experience and observation and who, on every hand, were available for +consultation, says that the people of the county + + [166] Williamson, 105. + + [167] _Economic and Social Survey of Loudoun County_, 22. + +"probably suffered more real hardships and deprivations than any other +community of like size in the Southland.... Both armies, prompted either +by fancied military necessity or malice, burned or confiscated valuable +forage crops and other stores, and nearly every locality, at one time or +another, witnessed depredation, robbery, murder, arson and rapine. +Several towns were shelled, sacked and burned but the worse damage was +done the country districts by raiding parties of Federals."[168] Col. +Mosby, of the famous Partisan Rangers, adds his testimony, writing +particularly of the upper part of Fauquier and Loudoun: + +"Although that region was the Flanders of the war, and harried worse +than any of which history furnishes an example since the desolation of +the Palatinates by Louis XIV, yet the stubborn faith of the people never +wavered. Amid fire and sword they remained true to the last, and +supported me through all the trials of the war."[169] + + [168] _History of Loudoun County_, 149. + + [169] Mosby's _War Reminiscences_, 41. + +This last quotation brings to our story one of the most picturesque +figures in either army and one whose numerous exploits in Loudoun and +her adjoining counties were truly of that inherent nature from which +popular legend and folklore evolve. John Singleton Mosby was born at +Edgemont in Powhattan County, Virginia, on the 6th December, 1833. He +was educated at the University of Virginia, was admitted to the Bar and +when the war broke out was practicing his profession in Bristol. +Promptly volunteering for service, he became a cavalry private in the +Washington Mounted Rifles and when that became a part of the 1st +Virginia Cavalry, Mosby was promoted to be its adjutant. Subsequently he +served as an independent scout for General J. E. B. Stuart until +captured by the Federals and imprisoned in Washington. After his +exchange he was made a captain in the Provisional Army of the +Confederate States by General Lee,[170] later a major and then colonel, +serving on detached service under General Lee's orders. During the +winter of 1862-'63 he built up his command known as Mosby's Partisan +Rangers (which had more formal status as the 43rd Battalion, Virginia +Cavalry) in the territory between the Rappahannock and the Potomac, +where, for the remainder of the war, he continued to operate; but the +heart of his domain was thus described + +"From Snickersville along the Blue Ridge Mountains to Linden; thence to +Salem (now called Marshall); to the Plains; thence along the Bull Run +Mountains to Aldie and from thence along the turnpike to the place of +beginning, Snickersville."[171] + + [170] _Mosby's Rangers_, by J. J. Williamson, 15. + + [171] Same, 175. + +This was the true "Mosby's Confederacy," as it became known, and Mosby's +Confederacy in very fact it was, albeit a precarious and but loosely +held realm. By Mosby's orders, no member of his command was to leave +these bounds without permission. + +Mosby's purpose, always governing his operations, is thus described by +him: + +"To weaken the armies invading Virginia by harassing their rear--to +destroy supply trains, to break up the means of conveying intelligence, +and thus isolating an army from its base, as well as its different corps +from each other, to confuse their plans by capturing despatches, are the +objects of partisan war. I endeavoured, so far as I was able, to +diminish this aggressive power of the army of the Potomac, by compelling +it to keep a large force on the defensive."[172] + + [172] Mosby's _War Reminiscences_, 44. + +He was amazingly successful. His men had no camps. To have had definite +headquarters would have been to invite certain destruction or capture. +When too hotly pursued, they scattered over the friendly countryside, +hiding in the hills, the woods, farmhouses or barns and often, if +discovered, appearing as working farmers. "They would scatter for +safety" says Mosby, "and gather at my call, like the Children of the +Mist." Their attacks frequently were made at night; but whether by day +or night so unexpectedly as always to utterly confuse their foes and +keep them in such nervous anticipation of attack at unknown and +unpredictable points that Mosby became to them a major scourge. Branded +as "guerilla," "bushwhacker," and "freebooter," Mosby stoutly and +logically maintained that his method of fighting was wholly within the +rules of war and when General Custer took some of his men prisoners and +hanged them as thieves and murderers, Mosby, acting on Lee's +instructions, promptly retaliated by hanging an equal number of Custer's +men as soon as he was able to capture them. That appears to have ended +the execution of captured Mosby men, save for rare individual and +heinous offences. + +One of the most spectacular and, upon the local imagination, lastingly +impressive forays made by him was the so-called "Greenback Raid" in +which, on the 14th October, 1864, his men wrecked a Baltimore and Ohio +train near Brown's Crossing. Among the passengers were two Federal +paymasters, carrying $168,000 in United States currency. This was seized +by Mosby's men, carried to Bloomfield in Loudoun, and divided among the +raiders, each receiving about $2,000. It is related that thenceforth, +until the end of the war, there was ample Federal currency circulating +in Loudoun. + +His men were volunteers, many having served in other Confederate +commands and thence attracted to Mosby by his romantic reputation and +his greater freedom of operation. Numerous Loudoun men were in the +organization[173] but they made up a much smaller proportion than in +White's Battalion or in the 8th Virginia Regiment. Many of his men were +very young. One of these youths who survived the constant perils which +surrounded the band was John H. Alexander, born in Clarke County. After +peace was declared, he completed his interrupted education, was admitted +to the Bar and, eventually taking up his permanent residence in Loudoun, +very successfully practiced his profession there until his death in +February, 1909. He wrote an interesting book, _Mosby's Men_, covering +his experience with that leader, which was published in 1907. His only +son, the Hon. John H. R. Alexander, one of the most esteemed and +efficient judges Loudoun has contributed to the Virginia Bench, now +presides over the Circuit Court for Loudoun and adjacent counties. Two +more of Mosby's youths, these both of Loudoun, were Henry C. Gibson and +J. West Aldridge. After the war Mr. Gibson married Mr. Aldridge's +sister. Dr. John Aldridge Gibson and Dr. Harry P. Gibson, prominent +Leesburg physicians, are the sons of this marriage. Did space permit +many others Loudoun members of the command could be mentioned. The +instances given go to show how the sons of Mosby's Rangers still carry +on in Loudoun. + + [173] See rosters in Williamson, pp. 475 and 487. + +On the 17th June, 1863, Lee's Army was on its way north for its second +invasion of Maryland and toward the fateful field of Gettysburg. General +J. E. B. Stuart, in command of the Confederate Cavalry, had established +his temporary headquarters at Middleburg. Early that morning Colonel +Munford, with the 2nd and 3rd Virginia Cavalry, acting as advance guard +of General Fitzhugh Lee, was foraging in the neighborhood of Aldie with +Colonel Williams C. Wickham, who had with him the 1st, 4th, and 5th +Virginia Cavalry. While Colonel Thomas L. Rosser was carrying out +Colonel Wickham's orders to select a camp near Aldie, he came in contact +with General G. M. Griggs' 2nd Cavalry Division of Federals made up of +General Kilpatrick's Brigade (2nd and 4th New York, 1st Massachusetts +and 6th Ohio Regiments) the 1st Maine Cavalry and Randol's Battery. +These forces attacked each other with the greatest determination and +courage. Charges were followed by counter-charges and desperately +contending every foot of ground the adversaries surged up and down the +Little River Turnpike and the Snickerville Road, where two squadrons of +sharpshooters from the 2nd and 3rd Virginia Cavalry were holding back +Kilpatrick's men. Says Colonel Munford in his report of the fight: + +"As the enemy came up again the sharpshooters opened upon him with +terrible effect from the stone wall, which they had regained, and +checked him completely. I do not hesitate to say that I have never seen +so many Yankees killed in the same space of ground in any fight I have +seen on any battle field in Virginia that I have been over. We held our +ground until ordered by the major-general commanding to retire, and the +Yankees had been so severely punished that they did not follow. The +sharpshooters of the 5th were mostly captured, this regiment suffering +more than any other."[174] + + [174] _Life and Campaigns of General J. E. B. Stuart_, by H. B. + McClellan, 301. + +In truth the Federal soldiers had paid dearly for their victory. Dr. +James Moore, who was acting as surgeon with Kilpatrick and afterward +wrote a life of that General, calls this engagement "by far the most +bloody cavalry battle of the war."[175] + + [175] Moore's _Kilpatrick and Our Cavalry_, 71. + +While all this desperate fighting was going on around Aldie, Colonel A. +N. Duffie, with the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, was on a scouting +expedition, having crossed the Bull Run Mountain at Thoroughfare Gap and +being headed for Noland's Ferry. His orders were to camp on the night of +the 17th at Middleburg. Approaching that town about 4:00 o'clock in the +afternoon, he drove in Stuart's pickets "so quickly that Stuart and his +staff were compelled to make a retreat more rapid than was consistent +with dignity and comfort."[176] The Confederate forces at Aldie were +notified of the situation and ordered to Middleburg but Duffie +apparently was not aware of the heavy fighting that had taken place at +Aldie. When he at length succeeded in getting a message through to +Aldie, asking reinforcements, Kilpatrick replied that his brigade was +too exhausted to respond, though he would report the situation at once +to General Pleasanton, in command of the Federals. "Thus" writes H. B. +McClellan, "Col. Duffie was left to meet his fate.... His men fought +bravely and repelled more than one charge before they were driven from +the town, retiring by the same road upon which they had advanced." But +during the night Duffie was surrounded by Chambliss's Brigade and +although Duffie himself, with four of his officers and twenty-seven men, +eluded their foes and reached Centreville the next afternoon, he was +obliged to report a loss of twenty officers and 248 men. Some of these, +at first thought killed or captured, also succeeded in getting back to +the Federal lines but the defeat had been crushing. + + [176] _Life and Campaigns of Maj.-Gen. J. E. B. Stuart_, 303. + +After Gettysburg, General Lee's Army passed through Loudoun, followed by +General Meade. Again, on the 14th July, 1864, General Early, after the +battle of Monocacy, crossed with his Army from Maryland to Virginia at +White's Ford. After resting his men in and around Leesburg he proceeded +by way of Purcellville and Snickers Gap to the Valley. + +All this time Mosby had been active in his "Confederacy" and attacks on +the Federal communications also had been made by White's Battalion when +in and around Loudoun. These attacks, frequently successful and always +without warning, had caused great losses to the Federals and forced them +to keep a large number of men engaged in their rear who badly were +needed elsewhere. On the 16th August, 1864, General Grant, determining +to end the menace, sent the following order to Major General Sheridan: + +"If you can possibly spare a division of Cavalry, send them through +Loudoun County to destroy and carry off the crops, animals, negroes and +all men under fifty years of age capable of bearing arms. In this way +you will get many of Mosby's men. All male citizens under fifty can +fairly be held as prisoners of war, and not as citizen prisoners. If not +already soldiers, they will be made so the moment the rebel army gets +hold of them." + +But Sheridan at that time was far too busy with his campaign in the +Valley immediately to comply. It was not until after his decisive +victory over Early at Cedar Creek on the 19th October, that he felt he +could act. On the 27th November he issued the following orders to Major +General Merritt in command of the 1st Cavalry Division: + +"You are hereby directed to proceed, tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock, with +two brigades of your division now in camp, to the east side of the Blue +Ridge, via Ashby's Gap, and operate against the guerillas in the +district of country bounded on the south by the line of the Manassas Gap +Railroad, as far east as White Plains; on the east by the Bull Run +Range; on the west by the Shenandoah River; and on the north by the +Potomac. + +"This section has been the hot-bed of lawless bands who have from time +to time depredated upon small parties on the line of the army +communications, on safeguards left at houses, and on small parties of +our troops. Their real object is plunder and highway robbery. + +"To clear the country of these parties that are bringing destruction +upon the innocent as well as their guilty supporters by their cowardly +acts, you will consume and destroy all forage and subsistence, burn all +barns and mills and their contents and drive off all stock in the +region, the boundaries of which are above described. This order must be +literally executed, bearing in mind, however that no dwellings are to be +burned and that no personal violence be offered the citizens. + +"The ultimate results of the guerilla system of warfare is the total +destruction of all private rights in the country occupied by such +parties. The destruction may as well commence at once and the +responsibility of it must rest upon the authorities at Richmond, who +have acknowledged the legitimacy of guerilla bands. + +"The injury done to them by this army is very slight, the injury they +have indirectly inflicted upon the people and upon the rebel army may be +counted by millions. + +"The reserve brigade of your division will move to Snickersville on the +29th. Snickersville should be your point of concentration, and the point +from which you should operate in destroying toward the Potomac. + +"Four days' subsistence will be taken by your command. Forage can be +gathered from the country through which you pass. + +"You will return to your present camp, via Snickersville, on the fifth +day. + + "By command of Major-General Sheridan. + + James W. Forsyth, + Lieutenant-Colonel and Chief of Staff. + + "Brevet Major-General Merritt + Commanding First Cavalry Division." + +In pursuance of these orders Federal soldiers in three bodies entered +the county on their devastating work. Williamson, himself a member of +Mosby's band and an eyewitness of what followed, writes: + +"The Federals separated into three parties, one of which went along the +Bloomfield road and down Loudoun, in the direction of the Potomac; +another passed along the Piedmont pike to Rectortown, Salem and around +to Middleburg; while the main body kept along the turnpike to Aldie, +where they struck the Snickersville pike. Thus they scoured the country +completely from the Blue Ridge to the Bull Run Mountains. From Monday +afternoon, November 28th, until Friday morning December 2nd, they ranged +through the beautiful valley of Loudoun and a portion of Fauquier +County, burning and laying waste. They robbed the people of everything +they could destroy or carry off--horses, cows, cattle, sheep, hogs etc; +killing poultry, insulting women, pillaging houses and in many cases +robbing even the poor negroes. They burned all the mills and factories +as well as hay, wheat, corn, straw and every description of forage. +Barns and stables, whether full or empty, were burned--Colonel Mosby did +not call the command together, therefore there was no organized +resistance, but Rangers managed to save a great deal of livestock for +the farmers by driving it off to places of safety. In many instances, +after the first day of burning, we would run off stock from the path of +the raiders into the limits of the district already burned over, and +there it was kept undisturbed or in a situation where it could be more +easily driven off and concealed...."[177] + + [177] Williamson, 317. + +The loss to the county was enormous. Although many old and well-built +mills, and barns of brick or stone were not destroyed, as is +conclusively proven by their survival to this day, and the devastation +did not equal that in the Valley,[178] yet how great was the aggregate +damage is suggested by a report submitted to the second session of the +Fifty-first Congress (1890-91) in which sworn claims of adherents to the +Union alone amounted to $199,228.24 for property burned and to an +additional $61,821.13 for live stock taken; the report adding that +there had been no estimate of the losses sustained by those whose +sympathies were with the Confederates.[179] That the total loss to the +people of the County, as a result of Sheridan's order, was over a +million dollars well may be believed--and this in a community which had +been raided and robbed and levied upon by both armies, as well as many +outlaw bands for over three years of warfare! The privations and +suffering of the following winter and spring can but be imagined. It may +be noted that a Federal Brigade, under General Deven, established its +headquarters at Lovettsville about Christmas time and that, although his +soldiers patrolled all parts of Loudoun during that winter, yet in spite +of all the war-time strain and hatreds, their relations with the people +of the county were far better than usually prevailed. + + [178] _Comanches_, 356. + + [179] House Report No. 3859. + +"The year 1864 closed with a gloomy outlook for the Confederacy" writes +Williamson and adds that "the winter in Virginia was very severe and the +ground was covered with snow and sleet for the better part of the +season." About all the comfort Loudoun had was in the repeated rumours +of peace to which the people eagerly listened and repeated one to +another. + +And so the bitter winter passed and in the spring came Appomattox. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +RECOVERY + + +From east to west, from north to south, her farm lands ravaged, +plundered and made desolate, many of her sons dead or incapacitated by +wounds or sickness, her barns, outbuildings and fences burned, her +horses, cattle and other livestock stolen, confiscated or wantonly +driven away, Loudoun presented, in that summer of 1865, a sad and +dispiriting contrast to the fruitful abundance of five years before. By +the terms of the surrender at Appomattox the Southern cavalryman had +been allowed to retain the horse or horses owned by him; but as the +infantry started on their long trudge homeward, they carried with them +little beyond the ragged clothes they wore and their determination to +begin life anew. How slowly and with what unremitting toil and +self-denial the ruined farms were restored, the fields again made to +yield their corn and wheat and clover, rails split to rebuild the +vanished fences, makeshifts at first and then better structures erected +to replace those burned, only the people who lived through those years +of poverty could tell; and on that slow path upward from ruin and +desolation the part borne by the women equalled, perhaps surpassed, that +enacted by the men. The County still reverently relates the +uncomplaining toil and sacrifices of mothers, wives and daughters during +that grievous time. + +Bad as conditions were for the majority, they were even worse for the +large landowners, the former wealthier class. Gentlefolk, wholly unused +to manual labor, perforce turned to tasks theretofore the work of their +slaves. The men ploughed and hoed, their women cooked, performed every +household task and somehow kept up their homes. One of the few bright +spots in the drab picture was that dwelling-houses seldom had been +destroyed; thus at least there was human shelter. Also the small towns +and hamlets, having escaped the devastation of the farm lands, were to a +certain extent nuclei from which the new life could be built. + +County government had well-nigh ceased to function during the war. All +those who had borne arms against the United States or otherwise aided +and abetted the Confederacy--that is, a very definite majority of the +men of the county--now found themselves disfranchised; the minority of +Union men, Quakers, Germans or others who had discreetly avoided acting +with one side or the other, controlled the first local election after +the peace. It was held on the 1st day of June, 1865. The court record, +after a long silence and copied into its books later, begins again on +the 10th of the following month: + +"At a County Court held for Loudoun County on Monday the 10th day of +July, 1865, present: George Abel, R. M. Bentley, Francis M. Carter, John +Compher, Thomas J. Cost, John P. Derry, Enoch Fenton, Herod Frasier, +Fenton Furr, Henry Gaver, John Grubb, William H. Gray, Eli J. Hoge, +Joseph Janney, Alexander L. Lee, Charles L. Mankin, Asbury M. Nixon, +Rufus Smith, Basil W. Shoemaker, Jno. L. Stout, Mahlon Thomas, Lott +Tavenner, Henry S. Taylor, Michael Wiard, Jno. Wolford, Thomas Burr +Williams and James M. Wallace. Gentlemen Justices elected who were on +the 1st day of June 1865 duly elected Justices of the peace for the +County of Loudoun, and who have been commissioned by the Governor, were +duly qualified as such Justices by William F. Mercer, one of the +Commissioners of Election for said County, appointed by the Governor by +taking the several oaths prescribed by law."[180] + + [180] 17 Loudoun Minute Books, 70. + +The new county officers were William H. Gray, presiding justice of the +court; Charles P. Janney, clerk of the county; Samuel C. Luckett, +sheriff; William B. Downey, commonwealth's attorney; Samuel Ball, +commissioner of revenue. + +On the 11th July, 1865, there appears the following: + +"George K. Fox Jr., as Clerk of this Court having removed from the +County the records of this Court, under an order of Court heretofore +made, he is now ordered to return the said records to the Clerks office +as soon as possible."[181] + + [181] Idem, 2. + +These instructions were carried out by Mr. Fox. For over three years he +had guarded his trust, without opportunity to return to Leesburg or see +a member of his family during that time. He now found himself +disfranchised; but between him and Charles P. Janney the new county +clerk, who before the war had worked in his office, there was a strong +friendship so that Mr. Janney appointed Mr. Fox his assistant, in which +position he served until his reëlection as county clerk, which occurred +as soon as the civil disabilities of the former Confederates were +removed. He continued as county clerk until his death on the 14th of +December, 1872, at the early age of forty years. How truly valued was he +in Loudoun was shown at his funeral which is said to have been the +largest the county had known to that time. + +On the 2nd March, 1867, the Congress passed that indefensible +Reconstruction Act which was to leave more bitterness in the South than +the war itself, but, in all that followed, Virginia suffered less than +other States of the old Confederacy. Under that act Virginia became +Military District Number One and General John M. Schofield, formerly the +head of the Potomac Division of the Federal Army, was given command. His +choice was a most fortunate one for Virginia. Of him Richard L. Morton +writes: + +"He was conservative, just and wise; and it was due to his moral courage +that Virginia was spared the reign of terror that existed in most of the +Southern States during the Reconstruction period. His policy was to gain +the confidence and support of the people of the State and to interfere +as little as possible with civil authorities."[182] + + [182] _The Negro in Virginia Politics_, 27. + +General Eppa Hunton came to know him well and between the two men there +developed mutual respect and friendship. Hunton, in his biography, has +this to say of conditions under Schofield's rule: + +"Fortunately for us the commanders in this district were good men--not +disposed to oppress us--and we had for several years a fairly good +military government in Virginia--our judges were military appointees; +our Sheriff and all the officers in this State owed their appointment to +the military Governor of Virginia. Our military judge was Lysander Hill. +We had great apprehensions of him as our circuit judge when he took the +place of Judge Henry W. Thomas, of Fairfax, but Hill turned out to be a +first rate man and a fine judge. He was the best listener I ever +addressed on the bench. His decisions were able and generally +satisfactory. He certainly was not influenced in the slightest degree by +politics on the bench--(Schofield) tried in every way to mitigate the +hardships of our situation and gave us the best government that was +possible under the circumstances."[183] + + [183] _Autobiography of Eppa Hunton_, pp. 147, 148. + +But even Schofield could not protect Virginia from the more vicious +legislation of the unscrupulous radicals then in control in Washington. +At the close of the war the necessities of the situation were working +out, in Virginia at least, a reasonable and moderate readjustment of +relations between the white people and the former slaves. The negroes +looked to their old masters for employment and the whites, in their own +great poverty, gave to them what they could; and while wages were very +low, the negro was assured of shelter and food. The enfranchisement of +the negroes in March, 1865, the establishment of the Freedman's Bureau +in the following June but more particularly the organization of the +Union League late in 1866 broke down the friendly relations between the +races. The representatives of those politically begotten organizations +taught the ignorant and always credulous negroes that the whites were +their enemies and oppressors, discouraged them from working and +persuaded them to ally themselves with the disreputable "carpetbaggers" +and "scalawags" who were perniciously active in their efforts to foment +trouble, for their own profit, between white and black. The worst +results were registered in the eastern and southern parts of the State +where the more extensive of the old plantations and consequently the +densest negro population existed; in Loudoun, most fortunately, there +was little or no racial animosity and the negroes appear to have been +more content and appreciative, as well as dependable in their work, than +in many of the other counties. + +To meet the confusion and turmoil in the State and the threatened +complete overthrow of white supremacy, the best and most representative +men in Virginia formed, in December, 1867, the Conservative Party, +drawing its membership from former Whigs and Democrats alike. In the +election of 1869, to accept or reject a new Constitution, the +Conservatives were successful, the proposed Constitution adopted and the +State rescued from fast developing chaos. It is remembered that in this +election John Janney made what was practically his last public +appearance. He had been an outstanding leader of the Whigs in Virginia, +had opposed secession but, at the end, stood with Lee and many other +Virginians in the belief that coercion of the States by the Federal +Government was the worse evil of the two. Before this decisive election +of 1869, he had suffered a stroke of paralysis; but to set an example to +his former Whig associates, he had himself driven in his carriage to the +polls to vote the Conservative ticket. It was a last and effective act +of patriotism. He died in January, 1872.[184] + + [184] _Loudoun Mirror_ of the 10th January, 1872. + +By the Act of Congress of the 26th January, 1870, the civil disabilities +of the former Confederates were removed, Virginia was enabled to take +her rightful place again as a sovereign State in the Union and a +cleaning up of the carpetbaggers and scalawags was begun; but it is said +to have taken nearly another ten years to rid the people of the last of +them in those counties with the greater negro population.[185] + + [185] R. L. Morton's _The Negro in Virginia Politics_ and H. J. + Eckenrode's _Political Reconstruction in Virginia_. + +[Illustration: THE OLD JOHN JANNEY HOUSE, East Cornwall Street, +Leesburg.] + +In this period of confusion there came to Shelburne parish in 1869, as +its Rector, the Rev. Richard Terrell Davis of Albemarle who had served +as a Chaplain in the Confederate Army and whose sympathetic +ministrations to his new neighbours were of county-wide solace. About +that time the late Charles Paxton of Pennsylvania came to Loudoun, +purchased that part of Exeter which lies near the northerly boundary of +Leesburg and began the building of the great house which he named +Carlheim and which many years later was to become the Paxton Memorial +Home for ailing children, established and endowed by his widow in her +will in memory of their daughter. Dr. Davis and Mr. Paxton became firm +friends and through that friendship and Dr. Davis' knowledge of those +most needing help, many a poor man in Loudoun was able to earn a sadly +needed living wage during the long construction of Carlheim. It is +remembered that on Dr. Davis' greatly lamented death in 1892, so deeply +had he engaged the affections of his adopted county, the negroes, upon +learning of a project of his white friends to erect in his memory a +suitable tombstone, begged that they too might contribute to its cost. +It was during the rectorship of Dr. Davis, and largely through his +influence, that the building of the present large gray stone church +edifice of Saint James in Leesburg was undertaken. + +Slowly, very slowly, the people doggedly fought their way up the long +and often discouraging hill of recovery. The Spanish-American War, petty +in itself, was in its foreign and, particularly, in its domestic +implications, of major importance; for it showed that, with a new +generation of Americans taking its place, the old sectional tears and +rents were growing together and that the national fabric once again was +becoming truly restored. In the last decade of the nineteenth century +there was a notable inflow of new residents, new money, new +determination, which continued with the succeeding years and of which +the most significant result was the vigorous growth of the horse and +sport-loving community in and around Middleburg, resulting in the +development of one of the great, perhaps the greatest, centers of +fox-hunting and horse-showing in America. It should be here recorded +that to the purchase by Mr. Daniel C. Sands of an estate near Middleburg +in 1907 and to his love of horses and country life, as well as his +tireless energy in spreading among his many Northern friends knowledge +of the charm of his new neighbourhood and building on the Loudoun +horse-loving traditions, existing since early settlement, may be +ascribed the great prosperity and international repute of the Middleburg +environment of today. But the county at large, as well as Middleburg, +has reason to be grateful to Mr. Sands. During his more than thirty +years of residence here he, consistently and continuously, has been not +only one of the county's most constructive citizens but one of the most +generous and public-spirited as well. + +Again we are reminded of the extraordinary part horses and the various +sports connected with them play in Loudoun's life. And all that is no +matter of present day chance but the legitimate flowering of very old +and greatly cherished traditions. Archdeacon Burnaby, in writing of his +travels in Virginia in 1759-1760, was moved to remark that Lord +Fairfax's "chief if not sole amusement was hunting; and in pursuit of +this exercise he frequently carried his hounds to distant parts of the +country; and entertained any gentleman of good character and decent +appearance, who attended him in the field, at the inn or ordinary, where +he took up his residence for the hunting season."[186] One of the +ordinaries thus frequented by Lord Fairfax was West's on the old +Carolina Road, just south of the present Lee-Jackson Highway, and in the +territory now hunted by the Middleburg pack. + + [186] _Travels through the middle settlements in North America_ by Rev. + (afterward Archdeacon) Andrew Burnaby, DD. 3rd Edition. 1798. Appendix + p. 163. The first and second editions do not include the interesting + little biography of Lord Fairfax. + +The county supports two hunts--the great Middleburg Hunt, turning out +upon occasion a field of over three hundred riders, under the joint +mastership of Miss Charlotte Noland and Mr. Sands and hunting the +territory around that town; and the smaller but hard-riding Loudoun +Hunt, covering the Leesburg neighborhood and of which Judge J. R. H. +Alexander is Master. In legitimate succession to those of long ago, +annual horse shows are held at Middleburg, Foxcroft, Leesburg, and +Unison-Bloomfield, the great Llangollan races are run annually on that +beautiful and historic estate, while just over the Fauquier boundary is +Upperville with its annual horse show, the oldest in America. In short +Loudoun is and always has been a horse-loving county and thus very +naturally it is widely known as the Leicestershire of America. Today the +raising and training of fine horses, together with the maintenance of +numerous herds of dairy cattle (especially of the Guernsey breed) the +fattening of great numbers of beef cattle, the raising of hogs, sheep +and poultry, the growth and development on her many hillsides of +extensive and well cared-for apple orchards, all augment the +agricultural revenue Loudoun derives from her ever smiling fields of +corn and wheat, grass and clover. + +In the year 1900 the Southern Railway Company, then in control of the +old Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad, extended it to +Snickersville, encouraged by many people from Washington and elsewhere +who had built summer homes at and around Snickers' Gap. The railroad +company named its new station near the village Bluemont and the +postoffice authorities were persuaded also to adopt the new name. +Thereafter the old but not very euphonic appellation disappears, save in +history and memory of the inhabitants, and the village became known by +its new and present designation. + +In the World War the county played its part in a manner worthy of its +heritage. Her sons to the number of nearly six hundred joined the +military and naval forces and during that period the local Red Cross +Chapters and other civilian organizations were active and efficient. The +list of those Loudoun patriots who responded to their country's call at +that time is too long and their services too varied to be fully +recounted here; but no narrative, however greatly curtailed, should fail +to name those who then laid down their lives for their country. A +dignified monument, now standing in the grounds surrounding Loudoun's +courthouse in Leesburg, bears these words in letters of bronze: + + "Our Glorious Dead + 'Their Bodies are buried in peace + but their names liveth for evermore.' + 1917-1918. + + Russell T. Beatty, Corp. Frank Hough, Lt. + Charles A. Ball, Pvt. Alexander Pope Humphrey, Pvt. + Charles E. Clyburn, Pvt. Robert Martz, Pvt. + Thubert H. Conklin, Sgt. Harry Milstead, Pvt. + Nealy M. Cooper, Pvt. Judge McGolerick, Pvt. + Mathew Curtin, Pvt. John O. McGuinn, Pvt. + Leonard Darnes, Wag. Edward Lester Nalle, Pvt. + Franklin L. Dawson, Pvt. Ernest H. Nichols, Pvt. + John Flemming, Pvt. Linwood Payne, Pvt. + Edward C. Fuller, Captain Charles Carter Riticor, Capt. + Gilbert H. Gough, Pvt. Ashton H. Shumaker, Pvt. + Grover Cleveland Gray, Corp. Henry Grafton Smallwood, Pvt. + Leonard H. Hardy, Sgt. John Edward Smith, Corp. + Bolling Walker Haxall Jr., Maj. Valentine B. Johnson, Pvt. + Ernest Gilbert, Pvt. Samuel C. Thornton, Pvt. + + Erected By + The people of Loudoun County + in memory of + Her Sons who made the Supreme Sacrifice + In the Great War."[187] + + [187] On every anniversary of the Armistice commemorative services are + held before it. + +Memory also should be kept afresh of the names of eleven Loudoun men who +between them, for their services in the war, received no less than +nineteen American and foreign decorations: Colonel Arthur H. Carter, +Captain Edward C. Fuller, Major William Hanson Gill, William R. Grimes, +Samuel C. Hirst, First Lieutenant William P. Hulbert, First Lieutenant +James F. Manning, Jr., Colonel Thomas Bentley Mott, Bryant Rust, Captain +Edward H. Tebbs, Jr., and Lieutenant Colonel Harry Aubrey Toulmin. This +list is incomplete; as given it is copied from the publications of the +Virginia War History Commission, Source Volume I, 1923. + +During the war, as Federal Food Administrator of Virginia, there also +served Colonel Elijah B. White of Selma so effectively that among the +recognitions of his work that he received was the Agricultural Order of +Merit bestowed by the Republic of France. + +In 1918, in the midst of the war, a new State Administration assumed the +reins of government under the leadership of Westmoreland Davis of +Loudoun who became Governor of Virginia in that year and whose +administration was accepted by the people as efficient, sound and well +balanced. + +In culture the county is recovering the position it proudly held one +hundred years ago before ground down by war and poverty. Its public +schools, then nonexistent, now under the supervision of Superintendent +O. L. Emerick, grow and improve and are supplemented by several +excellent private institutions of which Foxcroft, near Middleburg, has +been described and the very successful Llangollan School for younger +children, opened in 1937 near Leesburg by Mrs. Frances L. Patton (Miss +Louise D. Harrison) also may be mentioned. Loudoun has produced a naval +architect of international reputation in Lewis Nixon (1861- ), two well +known artists in Hugh A. Breckenridge (1870-1937) and the late Lucian +Powell and a number of writers upon her history whose works have been +referred to frequently in the foregoing pages. Supplementing her schools +and extending their educational work the county has two large libraries, +the older founded in Leesburg in 1907 as the Leesburg Library largely +through the efforts of the late Mrs. Levi P. Morton and her daughter, +Loudoun's benefactress, Mrs. William C. Eustis of Oatlands. In the year +1918 the Thomas Balch Library was incorporated and at once, on land +bought for that purpose through public subscription, the late Edwin +Swift Balch and Thomas Willing Balch of Philadelphia, sons of Thomas +Balch of international arbitration fame (who was born in Leesburg in +1821) began the construction for it of the beautiful library building on +West Market Street, Leesburg, which so enhances the charm of the town. +Mr. Waddy B. Wood, a Washington architect of recognized authority on the +early Federal period of American architecture, drew the plans and in +1922 the building was completed and dedicated and the collection of +books of the old Leesburg Library was presented and moved to the new +institution. That collection, since then much enlarged, now numbers well +over 10,000 volumes and is of a very definite value to town and +county.[188] + + [188] For a history of the Library see article in _The Northern + Virginian_, Vol. 4, No. 1, p. 22, by the present author who is deeply + interested in the institution of which he has been President and a + Director since 1925. Of its fine collection of historical material on + Loudoun free use has been made in the present work. + +There had been a small library at Purcellville for a number of years +when in 1919 it was reorganized as the Blue Ridge Library and continued +its activities until about 1926. There followed a period in which the +library was closed. Then in 1934, largely through the leadership of Mrs. +Clarence Robey, a Federal grant was obtained which, with about twice its +amount in many smaller private subscriptions, made possible the +completion in 1937 of the present imposing Purcellville Library building +at a cost of nearly $30,000. It is rapidly augmenting its collection of +books and to its primary function of library is adding that of civic +centre, where lectures, concerts and other entertainments are frequently +given and enthusiastically attended by the people of the neighbourhood. +The new building is expected to be dedicated during the summer of 1938. + +St. John's Roman Catholic Church, the first of its faith in Loudoun, was +erected in Leesburg in 1878 and was dedicated on the 13th October of +that year by the Right Rev. John J. Keane who was an orator of wide +reputation and who later became the Archbishop of Dubuque. Among those +most active in raising the necessary funds for its construction was Miss +Lizzie C. Lee of Leesburg. Until 1894 mass was said but once a month by +priests who came from Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. In the latter year +it became a mission of St. James' Catholic Church at West Falls. Later, +through the untiring efforts of Father A. J. Van Ingelgem, masses were +said each Sunday. Father Van Ingelgem continued to guide the +congregation and church until Father Govaert was appointed the first +regular pastor in July, 1926. Soon thereafter the frame church was +greatly enlarged and beautified, largely through the generosity of the +late Mrs. Henry Harrison (Miss Anne Lee) of Leesburg, and was opened +with services conducted by the Right Rev. Andrew J. Brennan of Richmond. +At that same time the attractive rectory, adjoining the church, was also +opened. The Leesburg parish of this church covers a territory of 2,000 +square miles, extends from the West Virginia line to that of Maryland +and operates two missions, one of which is at Herndon and the other at +Purcellville. The Rev. Father John S. Igoe, a native Virginian who +enjoys the affectionate esteem of the whole community, is the present +pastor.[189] + + [189] I am indebted to Father Igoe and to Mr. John T. Hourihane of + Leesburg for the facts concerning St. John's. + +As throughout Virginia, hospitality is inherent in the people of +Loudoun. Especially is this so at Christmas time when, from early days, +the old English custom of stopping all farm work (save only necessitous +care of the live stock) from Christmas Eve to the second day of January +still obtains. Then scattered Loudoun folk seek to return, if but for a +day, to their native soil bringing back with them friends and +acquaintances that they may show their birthright; then open house +prevails, time-honoured eggnogg and appletoddy greet all guests and the +Leesburg Assembly, following its custom handed down through the +generations, holds its eagerly awaited Christmas Ball. + +With an unusually healthy climate the county is fortunate in the rarely +efficient and devoted corps of physicians, both general practitioners +and specialists, who faithfully guard the physical condition of its +people. Of their number the Virginia State Medical Society has honored +itself and Loudoun by electing as its President Dr. G. F. Simpson of +Purcellville. And to the marked ability of her physicians is added the +Loudoun Hospital, founded in 1912, first occupying a building on Market +Street, Leesburg, and later erecting and in 1917 moving into the fine +modern hospital building it now occupies. "To Mr. P. Howard Lightfoot's +interest and untiring efforts" wrote the hospital's historian "is due +the actual bringing together of those factors and conditions which +developed into the Leesburg Hospital." Now called the Loudoun County +Hospital, it has a large nurses' home, beautiful grounds, fruitful +gardens and withal has so splendidly grasped its opportunities for +service that it has become essential to the county's welfare. To the +physicians of the county, many very generous contributors and to the +selfless and untiring work of Loudoun's women may all this great success +be ascribed. To add to this full measure, Mrs. Eustis supports in memory +of her mother Mrs. Morton, a visiting nursing service in and around +Leesburg through which the kindly professional care of a registered +nurse (now Mrs. Louise King) is at all times at the disposal of the +people for cases of an emergency nature or those not needing continuous +attention, entirely without cost to the patient, irrespective of the +desire and ability of its beneficiaries to pay therefor.[190] + + [190] For a history of the hospital see article by Mrs. Arthur M. + Chichester in _The Northern Virginian_, Vol. 4, No. 1, p. 25. + +In this all too brief summary of her present day institutions at least a +word should be said of the county's banks. The Peoples National Bank, +the Loudoun National Bank, both in Leesburg; the Middleburg National +Bank, the Purcellville National Bank, the Hamilton National Bank and the +Round Hill National Bank, each in its community, serves the local +interest and all unite in this enviable record: that not one bank in the +County failed during the great financial depression of recent and +unhappy memory. + +The exceptionally healthy climate, the rich and well watered lands of +Loudoun, together with the fine sport for horse lovers carried on +through its long hunting season, have proved a potent magnet to draw new +residents to the county. Country homes are constantly being created or +restored and surrounding farms are, for the most part, self-sustaining +and well handled. With Virginia's assumption of the rôle of a leader in +good roads, the old reproach of impassable highways has vanished. + +And Loudoun is proud of her people. It is an American community, its +roots very deep in soil and tradition. It believes that it occupies that +part of the Commonwealth and Nation most conducive to a sane and healthy +life. Its sons and daughters sometimes, in following the beckoning +finger of fortune, wander far afield; but are prone to return equally +convinced with those who seldom leave the county that all in all no +better homeland anywhere can be found--devoutly believing that though +God might have made a fairer land, yet remaining strong in their +reasonable conviction that God never did. + + + + +INDEX + + + Abel, George, 223 + + Acquia Creek, 20 + + Adams, Francis, 127 + + Adams, George, 70 + + Adams, John, Pres't, 157 + + Adams, John Q., Pres't, 191, 193 + + Adams, Matthew, 167 + + Adams, Nathaniel, 126 + + Akernatatzy, 9 + + Alden, John, 42 + + Anderson, John, 79 + + Aldie, Battle of, 216 + + Aldie Castle, 167, 177 + + Aldie Manor, 177 + + Aldie Town, 62, 105, 167, 193, 214, 216, 217, 220 + + Aldridge, J. West, 216 + + Alexander, Ann, 160 + + Alexander, John, 127, 160 + + Alexander, John H., 203, 215 + + Alexander, John R. H., Judge and Mrs., x, 170, 216, 228 + + Alexandria, Christ Church, 119 + + Alexandria City, 86, 106, 119, 133, 166, 194 + + Alexandria, Loudoun and Hamp. R. R., 195, 229 + + Alexandria Pike, 21, 64, 66, 68, 74, 88, 90, 205 + + Alleghany River, 83 + + Algonquins, 2, 4, 16, 18, 20 + + Allen, Rev., 164 + + Alsop (Quoted), 15 + + Amidas, Philip, 10 + + Ameroleck, 7, 8 + + Anacostans, 20 + + Ancram, George, 131 + + Andrč, Major, 143 et seq. + + Andrews, John, Rev., 72, 91 + + Anne, Queen, 45 + + Antietam Battle, 211 + + Appomattox, 221 + + Apprentices, 185, 186, 187 + + Arlington, Earl of, 14 + + Armand, Charles, 136 + + Armand's Legion, 136 + + Arnold, Benedict, 142 et seq. + + Asbury, George, 127 + + Ashby's Gap, 39, 70, 99, 168, 218 + + Aubrey, Elizabeth, 42 + + Aubrey, Francis, 38, 39, 40, 42, 62, 72, 74, 120, 169, 173 + + Aubrey, Thomas, 120 + + Aubrey's Ferry, 120, 121 + + Austen, W., 186 + + Awsley, Henry, 125 + + Awsley, Poins, 125 + + Awsley, Thomas, 125 + + + Bacon, Nathaniel, 16, 18 + + Bacon's Rebellion, 9, 15, 18 + + Bagley, John, 128 + + Bagnall, Anthony, 5 + + Baker, Col., 206 + + Balch, Edwin S., 231 + + Balch, L. P. W., 186 + + Balch, Thomas, 231 + + Balch, Thomas, Library, vii, ix, 231 + + Balch, Thomas W., 231 + + Ball, Burgess, Col., 168, 176, 182 + + Ball, Charles A., 229 + + Ball, Esther, 80 + + Ball, Fayette, 191, 196 + + Ball, George W., Capt., 170 + + Ball, James, 169 + + Ball, Mary, 38, 80 + + Ball, Samuel, 223 + + Ball, Sarah, 38 + + Ball, William, Col., 80, 168 + + Ball's Bluff, Battle of, 204 + + Baltimore, Lord, 43 + + Baltimore and Ohio R. R. Co., 194, 215 + + Bank of County, xii, 183, 203, 234 + + Baptists, 78 etc., 114 + + Barber, John, 81 + + Barksdale, Wm., Col., 204 + + Barlow, Arthur, 10 + + Bassell, John Y., 202 + + Bayley, Joseph, 125 + + Beard, Joseph, 184, 187 + + Beatty, Russell T., 229 + + Beatty, Thos., 127 + + Beaty, David, 128 + + Beaver, 2, 18 + + Beaver Dam, 70 + + Beavers, James, 126 + + Bell, John B., 187 + + Belle Air, 118 + + Belmont, 36, 171, 180, 193 + + Belmont Chapel, 171 + + Belvoir, viii, 73 + + Benham, Samuel, 125 + + Benham, Peter, 126 + + Bennett, Chas., 127 + + Bentley family, 172 + + Bentley, R. M., 223 + + Benton, Wm., 173, 174, 178 + + Berkeley, John, Sir, 12, 13 + + Berkeley, William, Sir, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 + + Berkeley, William N., 207 + + Berry, Withers, 128 + + Beauregard, Gen'l, 204 + + Beverley, Robert, 32, 55, 57 + + Big Spring, 38, 62, 63, 169, 211 + + Binns, Charles 102, 104, 159 + + Binns, Charles, Jr., 102, 128, 160, 164 + + Binns, John A., ix, 128, 159, et seq. + + Bishop family, 82 + + Bladensburg, 179, 190 + + Blincoe, Sampson, 184 + + Bloomfield, 215, 228 + + Bloomfield Road, 220 + + Bluemont (see Snickersville), 70, 167, 229 + + Blue Ridge, 1, 29, 37, 39, 46, 49, 66, 72, 73, 79, 83, 92, 95, 115, + 168, 214, 218 + + Blue Ridge Library, 232 + + Bohannan, A., Capt., 140 + + Booker, 131 + + Booram, Wm., 125 + + Boston, 124 + + Botts, Joshua, 126 + + Boundaries, 1, 23, 26, 65, 69, 159, 166 + + Boyne, Battle of, 52, 57 + + Braddock, Edward, Gen'l, 86 + + Braddock's Army, xi, 66, 86, 87 + + Braden, Robert, 157 + + Bradfield, Capt., 191 + + Brair, James, 125 + + Brady, E. B., Dr., 168 + + Breckenridge, Hugh A., 231 + + Brennan, Andrew J., Bishop, 232 + + Brent, Giles, 20 + + Brent Town, 53, 60 + + Bridges, 68 + + Broad Run, 38, 66, 69, 70 + + Broad Run Bridge, 66, 68 + + Broad Run Church (Baptist), 79 + + Bronaugh, William, 166 + + Brown, Mrs. (Journalist), 90 + + Brown, John's raid, 197 + + Brown, Stanley M., Mr. and Mrs., 176 + + Brown, William, 159 + + Brown's Crossing, 215 + + Buffalo, 1, 65 + + Bull Run, 39, 67, 99, 166, 204 + + Bull Run Battle (See Manassas), 29 + + Bull Run Mountains, 1, 214, 217, 219 + + Burgess, Chas., Col., 80, 81 + + Burkley, Scarlet, 126 + + Burnaby, Archdeacon, 228 + + Burns, Ignatius, 127 + + Burson, Aaron, 187 + + Butcher, Sam'l, 126 + + Butler, Joseph, 127, 128 + + Butler, Sam'l, 125 + + + Caldwell, S. B. T., 188 + + Cameron, Barony, 34, 72 + + Cameron, Captain, 154 + + Cameron, Glebe, 116 + + Cameron Parish, 40, 72, 97, 114, 166 + + Campbell, Aeneas, 77, 96, 102, 103, 110, 170 + + Campbell County, 200 + + Campbell, John, Earl of Loudoun, x. (See Loudoun.) + + Canals, 194, 195 + + Canavest. (See Conoy.) + + Cardell, Presley, 184 + + Carlheim, 226, 227 + + Carnan, Wm., 126 + + Carnes, Capt., 146 + + Carney, John, 186 + + Carolina Road, 38, 42, 49, 60, 67, 105, 106, 120, 121, 172, 176, + 178, 228 + + Carpetbaggers, 225, 226 + + Carr, Peter, 165 + + Carr, Sam'l, 184 + + Carrington, Timothy, 168 + + Carroll, Charles, 43 + + Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, 43 + + Carter, Arthur H., Col., 230 + + Carter, Charles, 67 + + Carter, D., 187 + + Carter family, 35, 100 + + Carter, Francis M., 223 + + Carter, George of Eglesfeld, x + + Carter, George of Oatlands, 36, 172, 185 + + Carter, John A., 197, 198 + + Carter, John R., Capt., 207 + + Carter, Robert, Councillor, 172 + + Carter, Robert, "King," 34, 35, 53, 67, 172 + + Carter, Robin, 67 + + Carter, Shirley, Dr. and Mrs., 177, 202 + + Carter's Mill, 166 + + Carthagena, 30, 59 + + Catawbas, 63, 64 + + Catoctin Church, 79 + + Catoctin Furnace Co., 195 + + Catoctin Hills, 1, 32, 46, 49, 65, 71, 73, 162, 201 + + Catoctin Run, 47, 69, 70, 73, 195 + + Caton, Jacob, 127 + + Cattle, 228 + + Cattle thieves, 61 + + Cavaliers, 12, 13, 18 + + Cavan, P., 131, 132 + + Cavan vs. Murray, 107 + + Cedar Creek, 218 + + Celden, W. C., 182 + + Centreville, 217 + + Champ, John, Sgt. Major, 142, et seq. + + Champ, John, Mrs., 155, 156 + + Champ, Nathaniel, 157 + + Champ, William, 158 + + Champ's Spring, 157 + + Chancellor, Ashby, Mrs., x + + Chapawamsic, Baptists, 80 + + Chapel above Goose Creek, 39, 62, 169 + + Charles I, 11, 51 + + Charles II, 12, 13, 14, 17 + + Cherokees, 2 + + Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 194 + + Chesapeake Bay, 5 + + Cheat Mountain, 176 + + Chestnut Hill, 74, 175 + + Chicheley, Henry, Sir, 17 + + Chichester, Arthur M., Sr., Capt., 202 + + Chichester, Arthur M., Jr., Mrs., 234 + + Chichester, George M., Capt., 191, 196 + + Chinn family, 142 + + Chinn, Joseph, 81, 166 + + Chinn, Raleigh, I, 80, 81 + + Chinn, Raleigh, II, 82 + + Chinn, Thomas, 81, 125 + + Christmas, 233 + + Churches, Christ at Lucketts, 62, 164 + + Churches, (See separate names or locations.) + + Church Disestablishment, 159, 196 + + Civil War, viii, 50, 170, 176, 195, 197, etc. + + Claggett, Henry, Dr., 196 + + Claggett, H. O., Capt., 202 + + Clapham family, 74, 142 + + Clapham, Josias, Sr., 74 + + Clapham, Josias, Jr., Col., 74, 96, 102, 112, 121, 122, 126, 134, + 136, 138, 141, 166, 175, 179 + + Clapham, Josias, Jr., Mrs., 134 + + Clapham, Samuel, 74, 175, 184 + + Clapham's Ferry, 121 + + Clapper, J., Dr., 186 + + Clark's Gap, 65 + + Clayton, Amos, 168 + + Clergy, Established Church, 130 + + Cleveland, James, 127 + + Clifford, Obadiah, 165 + + Climate, 1 + + Clinton, Henry, Sir., 143, et seq. + + Clyburn, Charles E., 229 + + Clover, 160, 162, 229 + + Cochran, Chas F., 107 + + Cochran, James, 168 + + Cocke, Catesby, 47, 70, 72 + + Cocke, William, Dr., 71 + + Cockerell, Capt., 192 + + Cole, Josiah, 49 + + Colechester Road, 65, 67 + + Coleman, James, 105, 127 + + Coleman, Richard, 89, 91, 102 + + Colepeper, 1st Lord, 12 + + Colepeper, 2nd Lord, 14, 17, 32 + + Colepeper, Alexander, 17, 33 + + Colepeper, Catharine, Lady Fairfax, 32, 34 + + Colepeper, Margaret, Lady, 32, 33 + + Colepeper, Thomas, 12 + + Colvil, Thomas, 40, 73 + + Colvin, John, 71, 72, 73 + + Colvin, John B., 160 + + Combs, Joseph, 125 + + Combs, Robert, 125 + + Combs, Stephen, 125 + + Committee of Correspondence, 125 + + Committee of Safety, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 139 + + Compher, John, 223 + + Confederate sentiment, 201 + + Conklin, Thubert H., 229 + + Conoy Island, 21, et seq., 24, 25, 26, 65 + + Conrad, 186 + + Conrad, Daniel P., 187 + + Conrad family, 210 + + Conrad's Ferry, 210 + + Conrod, Edward, 167 + + Conscription, 88 + + Conservation Commission, vii + + Conservative Party, 225 + + Convicts, 44, 56, 138, 139 + + Cook, William, 167 + + Cooper, Alexander, 133 + + Cooper, Appollos, 125 + + Cooper, Neally M., 134 + + Copeland, Richard, 167 + + Copper, 67, 73 + + Corn, 53, 54, 162, 229 + + Cornelison, John, 127 + + Cornwallis, Lord, 30, 153 + + Cost, Thos. J., 223 + + Coton, 35, 36, 171 + + Country homes, vii, 168, 234 + + County Clerk's Office, 184 + + County Officers, First, 102, etc. + + County records, 200, 223 + + Courthouse, First, 108 + + Courthouse Church services, 164 + + Courtald, S. A., 90 + + Covenanters, 51 + + Cox, Samuel, 126 + + Craighill, G. P., Rev., x + + Cresswell, Joseph, x + + Cresswell, Nicholas, xii, 74, 77, 128, et seq., 136, 164 + + Cromwell, Oliver, 13, 34, 57 + + Cromwell, Richard, 13 + + Crooked Billet, 134 + + Crown Point, 85 + + Cub Run, 70 + + Culpeper. (See Colepeper.) + + Culture, 185 + + Cumberland, Duke of, 85 + + Cumberland, Maryland, 84 + + Curtin, Mathew, 229 + + Custer, Gen'l, 215 + + + Dairy Cattle, 228 + + Darnes, Leonard, 229 + + Davis, James, 126 + + Davis, John, Capt., 140 + + Davis, Richard T., Rev. Dr., 226, 227 + + Davis, Westmoreland, Governor, 177, 230 + + Davis, William, Col., 140 + + Dawson, Franklin L., 230 + + Debell, John, 127 + + Debell, William, 127 + + DeButts, Lawrence, Rev., 39 + + Deck, Patrick A., iii, 212 + + Declaration of Independence, 43, 133, 172, 180 + + Deer, 2 + + Dehaven, Abraham, 128 + + Dehaven, Isaac, 128 + + Delancey, Governor of New York, 86 + + Delawares, 64 + + Democrats, 182, 188, 226 + + Derry, John P., 223 + + Deserters, 212 + + Detroit, 157, 158 + + Deven, Gen'l, 221 + + Devens, Col., 206 + + Difficult Run, 40, 68, 69, 72, 73, 87, 97, 98, 115 + + Dinker, John, 126 + + Dinosaurs, 178 + + Dinwiddie, Governor, 83, 84, 86 + + Disfranchisement, 222 + + Diskin, Daniel, 70 + + Distilleries, 89, 186 + + Dixon, Joseph, 77, 170 + + Dizerega family, 179 + + Doctors, 186 + + Dodd, John, 126 + + Doeg, 9, 16 + + Dogi, 9 + + Dongan, Governor, 18 + + Dorman, George, 138 + + Douglas, Earl of, 77 + + Douglas, George H., 27 + + Douglass, Hugh, 77, 126, 127, 128 + + Douglass, William, 77, 131, 134 + + Downey, Wm. B., 223 + + Drake, Jonathan, 125 + + Drake, Thomas, 125 + + Dranesville, 204 + + Drish, W., 187 + + Drunkenness, 131 + + Dry Mill Road, 65 + + Ducking-spring, 102, 211 + + Ducks, Wild, 26, 130 + + Dudley, Thos., 82 + + Duelling, 190 + + Duffy, A. N., Col., 217 + + Duffy, Capt., 205 + + Dulaney, Benj., 159 + + Dunbar, Col., 86 + + Dunn, Rev., 196 + + Dutch, 15, 60 + + + Eagle Tavern, 186 + + Early, Gen'l, 218 + + East India Co., 104 + + Edwards, Samuel W., 186 + + Edwards, Thomas W., Mr. and Mrs., vi + + Edwards Ferry, 205 + + Elgin, Francis, Jr., 127 + + Elgin, Gustavus, 126, 128 + + Elizabeth, Queen, 10, 11, 51 + + Elk Lick, 67 + + Elk Marsh, 53 + + Elliott, William, 126 + + Ellzey, Catharine, 175 + + Ellzey family, 25, 40, 142 + + Ellzey, William, 104, 125, 159, 175, 179 + + Ely's Corner, 65 + + Emerick, Oscar L., x, xii, 231 + + Enfranchisement of Confederates, 226 + + English Board of Agriculture, 161 + + Episcopal Theological Seminary Library, 117 + + Eskridge, Chas. G., 126 + + Eskridge, George, 72 + + Eustis, William C., Mr. and Mrs., 172, 231, 233 + + Evans, Nathaniel G., Gen'l, 204, et seq. + + Evans, Thomas, 42 + + Exeter, 176, 204 + + + Fairfax, Calharme, Lady, 32, 34 + + Fairfax Family, Sketch, 33 + + Fairfax, Ferdinando, 2nd Lord, 34 + + Fairfax, 5th Lord, 33, 34 + + Fairfax, George W., 67, 73 + + Fairfax, Henry, Col., 178 + + Fairfax, John M., Col., 178, 202 + + Fairfax, Richard, 33 + + Fairfax, Thomas, 1st Lord, 33 + + Fairfax, Thomas, 3rd Lord, 34 + + Fairfax, Thomas, 6th Lord, 18, 33, 35, 107, 122, 228 + + Fairfax, William, 35, 72, 73 + + Fairfax County, 40, 69, 71, 87, 89, 96, 97, 102, 113, 159, 166, 207 + + Fairfax County Court, 69, 113 + + Fairfax Courthouse, 67, 89 + + Fairfax, Glebe, 196 + + Fairfax Meeting, 78 + + Falkner, 91 + + Farnesworth, Henry, 126 + + Fauna, 1, 2 + + Fauntleroy, Chas. M., Col., 202 + + Fauquier County, 99, 207, 220 + + Featherstone, W. S., Col., 204 + + Federalists, 179, 188 + + Fendall, Arthur, Mrs., 175 + + Fendall, Thomas M., x, 25, 190 + + Fendall, Thomas M., Mrs., 25 + + Fenton, Enoch, 223 + + Ferries, 68, 120, et seq., 168 + + Ferries, Clapham's, 121 + + Ferries, Edwards, 205 + + Ferries, Noland's, 113, 120, et seq., 131, 139, 140, 217 + + Ferries, Point of Rocks, 120 + + Ferries, Snickers, 168 + + Ferries, Vestal's, 66 + + Fevers, 163 + + Finnekin, William, 125 + + First Colony, 11 + + Fitzhugh, William, 169 + + Flat Spring, 74 + + Flemming, John, 230 + + Foley, Mr., 186 + + Forbas, John, 139 + + Forbes, Gen'l, 94 + + Fords, 68, 210 + + Forests, 1, 154 + + Forests Burned, 6, 9, 13 + + Forsyth, Jas. W., Lieut. Col., 219 + + Fort Beauregard, 204 + + Fort Cumberland, 93 + + Fort Du Quesne, xi, 85, 86, 93, 100 + + Fort Evans, 204, 205 + + Fort Johnston, 204 + + Fort Necessity, 66, 84, 85 + + Fort Niagara, 85 + + Fort Ontario, 100 + + Fort Oswego, 100 + + Foundling, John, 167 + + Fox, George, 48 + + Fox, George K., Jr., 200, 223 et seq. + + Foxcroft, xii, 172, 228, 231 + + Foxes, 2 + + Fox-hunting, 59, 227, 228 + + Franklin, B. W., 108 + + Frasier, Herod, 223 + + Frederick, 160 + + Freedman's Bureau, 225 + + French, Mr., 40 + + French and Indian War, 72, 83 + + French and Indians, 46 + + Fruitland, 88, 89, 91, 107 + + Fulford, John, Major, 103 + + Fuller, Edward C., Capt., 230 + + Furr, Enoch, 128 + + Furr, Fenton, 223 + + Fry, Joshua, Col., 66, 84 + + Fry, Major, 90 + + Fry-Jefferson Map, 66 + + Frying Pan Run, 67 + + + Gage, Lieut. Col., 86 + + Garalland, 77, 131 + + Garden Club of Virginia, vii + + Garver, Henry, 223 + + Gates, General, 143 + + Geese, Wild, 26, 130 + + "Genius of Liberty," 183, 188 + + George II, King, 107 + + George III, King, xi + + George, Wallace, 204 + + George, William, 128 + + Georgetown, D. C., 66, 180 + + Georgetown, Virginia, 68, 106 + + German Reformed Church, 80 + + German Settlement, 46, 80 + + Germans, 45, 72, 80, 114, 135, 159, 166, 185, 201, 223 + + Gerrard, John, Rev., 79 + + Gettysburg, Battle of, 207, 216, 218 + + Gibbs, James L., 128 + + Gibson, Capt., 211 + + Gibson, David, 167 + + Gibson, Harry P., Dr., 216 + + Gibson, Henry C., 216 + + Gibson, John A., Dr., 216 + + Giddings family, 104 + + Giddings, William, Col., 201 + + Gilbert, Ernest, 230 + + Gilbert, Humphrey, Sir, 10 + + Gilbert, Silas, 128 + + Gill, Wm. H., Major, 230 + + Gold, 13 + + Goodhart, Briscoe, ix, 139, 201, 209 + + Gore (Coachman), 92 + + Gore, Coleman, Mr. and Mrs., 175 + + Goose Creek, 1, 25, 37, 62, 63, 69, 70, 80, 112, 141 + + Goose Creek and Little River Navigation Company, 195 + + Goose Creek Meeting, 78 + + Gough, Gilbert H., 230 + + Gouveneur, Mrs., 178 + + Govaert, Rev. Fr., 232 + + Graffenreid, Christopher, Baron de, 25 + + Graham, Margaret, 120 + + Grant of 1649, 12 + + Grant of 1669, 14, 15 + + Grant of 1673, 14, 15 + + Grant, Isaac, 126 + + Grant, Jasper, 126 + + Grant, U. S., Gen'l, 218 + + Grass, 1, 229 + + Gray, Grover C., 230 + + Gray, John, 184 + + Gray, William H., 223 + + Graydey, James, 125 + + Grayson, Alex., Capt., 207 + + Grayson, Benjamin, 71, 72, 118 + + Grayson, Spence, Rev., 118 + + Grayson, William, Col., 71, 118, 135 + + Great Hunting Creek, 73 + + Great Meadows, 85 + + Great Spring. (See Big Spring.) + + Green, Charles, Rev. Dr., 40, 118 + + Green, Colonel, 135 + + Green, Nathaniel, Gen'l, 154 + + Greenback raid, 215 + + Greenway, 63, 203 + + Gregory's Gap, 73 + + Griffin, Walter's Rolling Road, 67 + + Griffith, David, Rev. Dr., 118, 132 + + Griggs, G. M., Gen'l, 216 + + Grimes, William R., 230 + + Grubb, John, 223 + + Guerillas, 219 + + Gun factory, 136 + + Gunn, John, 139 + + Gypsum. See Plaster(land) + + + Habeas Corpus in Virginia, 27 + + Hague, Francis, 112 + + Hale, Horatio, x + + Halkett, James, 94 + + Halkett, Peter, Sir., xi, 66, 86, 87, 92, etc. + + Halkett, Peter, Sir, (Jr.), 95 + + Halifax, 101 + + Hall, James, Rev. Dr., 165 + + Hall, Wilbur C., vii, x + + Hall, William, Jr., 70 + + Hamilton, James, 96, 102, 104, 109, 112, 113 + + Hamilton Parish, 39 + + Hamilton Town, 168, 212 + + Hammerley, Nellie, Miss, x + + Hampton, Anthony, 69 + + Hancock, John, 133 + + Hancock, Lina, 125 + + Hanson, Richard, 125 + + Harding, John I., 184 + + Hardy, Leonard H., 230 + + Harper, Capt., 61 + + Harper, John, 159 + + Harper's Ferry, xi, 73, 197, 207, 232 + + Harris, H. B., 204 + + Harrison, Burr, 21, 24, 65 + + Harrison, Burr (2nd), 173 + + Harrison, Burr W., 186, 212 + + Harrison, Catharine, Mrs., 175 + + Harrison, Charles F., x, 212 + + Harrison, Cuthbert, 25 + + Harrison, Fairfax, viii, ix, 12, 67, 72 + + Harrison, Harry T., 184 + + Harrison, Henry, Mrs., 232 + + Harrison, Henry T., 210 + + Harrison, John Peyton, 125, 166 + + Harrison, Lalla, Miss (Mrs. White), 177 + + Harrison, Louise D., Miss (Patton), 231 + + Harrison, Mathew, 25, 175 + + Harrison, Rebecca, Miss, vii + + Harte, John, 69 + + Hassininga, 6 + + Hawling, William, 69 + + Haxall, Bolling W., Major, 230 + + Hazen, E., 185 + + Head, James W., viii, 13, 32, 123, 126, 213 + + Heale, William, 166 + + Helm, L. C., 202 + + Heaton, Henry, ix, 212 + + Heaton, Nathaniel, Capt., 207 + + Henderson, Richard H., 184, 186, 191 + + Henderson, Samuel, 125 + + Henry, Capt., 192 + + Henry, John, 126 + + Henry, Patrick, 129 + + Hepburn, Thos., 167 + + Hessian Fly, 163 + + Hessian Prisoners, 139 + + Hews, Edward, 70 + + Hexon, James, 167 + + Highwaymen, 61 + + Highways, vii, 60, et seq. + + Hill, Lysander, Judge, 224 + + Hillsborough, 65, 167, 186 + + Hinds, David, 138 + + Hirst, Richard, 126 + + Hirst, Samuel C., 230 + + Hixon, Timothy, 128 + + Hoban, James, 178 + + Hoboken, 153 + + Hoffman family, 170 + + Hoge, Ei J., 123 + + Hogs, 120, 228 + + Holmes, John, Rev., 40 + + Holmes, Oliver W., Justice, 206 + + Hopkins, David, 127 + + Hopkins, John G., 171 + + Hopton, Ralph, Lord, 12 + + Horses, 59, 184, 227, 228 + + Horse Racing, 184 + + Horse Shows, 227, 228 + + Horse thieves, 61, 212 + + Hough, Emerson, 82 + + Hough, Frank, Lieut., 229 + + Hough, John, 82, 107, 113, 159, 167 + + Hough, Joseph, 128 + + Hough, Mahlon, 167 + + Hough, Robert H., 187 + + Hough, Thomas, 167 + + Hough, William, 166 + + Hough's Tavern, 186 + + Hourihane, John T., 233 + + Howard of Effingham, Lord, 18, 28 + + Howe, Lord, 129, 154 + + Huchison, Andrew, 106 + + Huchison, Daniel, 106 + + Huchison family, 106 + + Huchison, J. R., Capt., 202 + + Huchison, John, 106 + + Huchison, William, 127, 128 + + Hugh, John, 112 + + Hull, Samuel, 40, 42 + + Hull's Army, 157 + + Humphrey, 186 + + Humphrey, Alexander P., 229 + + Humphrey, Benj. I., 125 + + Humphreys, John, 184 + + Humphries, Capt., 192 + + Hulbert, Wm. P., Lieut., 230 + + Hunting Creek, 65 + + Hunton, Eppa, Gen'l, 204, 206, 207, 209, 224 + + Hurley, Patrick J., Col. and Mrs., 171 + + + Igoe, John S., Rev., 233 + + Indentured servants, 53, 88 + + Indians, 1, 12, 15, 18, 20, 85, 89, 99 + + Indian Mounds, 63 + + Indian Tribes, Akernatatzy, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Algonquins, 2, 3, 4, 16, 18, 20 + + Indian Tribes, Anacostans, 20 + + Indian Tribes, Catawbas, 63 + + Indian Tribes, Cherokees, 2 + + Indian Tribes, Delawares, 64 + + Indian Tribes, Doegs, 9, 16 + + Indian Tribes, Dogi, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Hassininga, 6, 7 + + Indian Tribes, Iroquois, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 60 + + Indian Tribes, Mahocs, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Managogs, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Manahoacks, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 15, 18, 32, 60 + + Indian Tribes, Mangoacks, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Massawomecks (See Iroquois) + + Indian Tribes, Monacans, 6, 8, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Nacothtanks, 20 + + Indian Tribes, Nahyssans, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Nantaughtacunds, 6 + + Indian Tribes, Nanticokes, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Nottoways, 2 + + Indian Tribes, Nuntaneuck, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Nuntally, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Piscataways, 20, 21 + + Indian Tribes, Potomacs, 7 + + Indian Tribes, Powhatans, 3, 6 + + Indian Tribes, Sapon, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Senecas, 16, 21, 24 + + Indian Tribes, Shakahonea, 6 + + Indian Tribes, Sioux, 3 + + Indian Tribes, Stegarake, 4 + + Indian Tribes, Stegora, 6 + + Indian Tribes, Susquehannocks, 2, 9, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 28, 60 + + Indian Tribes, Tacci, 9 + + Indian Tribes, Tauxuntania, 6 + + Indian Tribes, Tuskaroras, 2 + + Innes, James, Col., 86 + + Intermarriage, 37 + + Irish, 43, 114, 138 + + Iroquois, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 60 + + Iselin, Oliver, 82 + + + Jackson, Andrew, Gen'l, xi, 189 + + Jackson, Level, 70 + + Jackson, Stonewall, Gen'l, 210 + + Jail, County, 102, 110 + + James I, 11, 51 + + James II, 44, 58 + + James River, 12 + + Janney, Amos, 47, 69 + + Janney, Charles P., 223, 224 + + Janney, Hannah, Mrs., 78 + + Janney, Jacob, 78 + + Janney, John, xii, 167, 197, 198, 226 + + Janney, Joseph, 132, 159, 223 + + Janney, Lilias, Miss, x + + Janney, Mahlon, 166 + + Janney, Samuel, 167 + + Janney, Stephen, 168 + + Jefferson, Thomas, President, 129, 133, 161, et seq., 178 + + Jeffries, Herbert, Sir, 17 + + Jenifer, W. H., Col., 204, 205 + + Jenings, Edmund, 34 + + Jermyn, Lord, 12, 13 + + Johnson, Bradley T., Col., 208 + + Johnson, George, 126, 131 + + Johnson, Joseph, 39, 42 + + Johnson, Rebecca, 120 + + Johnson, Robert, 126 + + Johnson, W., 131 + + Johnson, William, Col., 86 + + Johnson, Valentine B., 230 + + Johnston, Frances B., Miss, xii + + Johnston, Joseph E., Gen'l, 204 + + Jones, Rev., 118 + + Jones, James G., 187 + + Jones, John, Jr., 127 + + Jones, William E., Gen'l, 208 + + Jumonville, 85 + + Keane, John J., Bishop, 232 + + Keith, Donald, 139 + + Keith, James, 104 + + Kelly, William, 139 + + Kendrick, John, 125 + + Kennan, Thos., 128 + + Kentucky, 81, 157, 159 + + Kercheval, Sam'l, 137 + + Ketocton. (See Catoctin.) + + Key's, Gap, 66 + + Key's Gap Ferry, 88, 90 + + Keys, Gersham, 66 + + Key's plantation, 92 + + Kile (See Kyle), John, 173, 174 + + Kile, John, Jr., 173, 174 + + Kilgour, George, 127 + + Kilpatrick, Hugh J., Gen'l, 211, 216, 217 + + King George County, 99 + + King, Louise, Mrs., 234 + + King, Smith, 128 + + King, Thomas, 126, 128 + + King, William, 186 + + Kirk, Mr., 130, 131 + + Krebs, Henry, 185 + + Kyle family, 173. (See Kile) + + + Labour supplies, 54 + + Lacey, Israel, 167 + + Lacey's Ordinary, (See West's) + + Lafayette, de Marquis, 140, 171, 178, 191, et seq. + + Lancaster County, 99 + + Lancaster, T. A., Jr., 170 + + Lane, Hardage, 126 + + Lane, James, 126 + + Lasswell, Jacob, 70 + + Lasswell, John, 69 + + Lawrence, Mrs., 192 + + Lawyers, 186 + + Lederer, John, 8 + + Lee, Alexander L., 223 + + Lee, Anne, Miss, 232 + + Lee family, 35, 100, 142 + + Lee, Fitzhugh, Gen'l, 216 + + Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 104, 110, 112, 129, 133 + + Lee, Henry, Gen'l, ix, 142 + + Lee, Lawrence R., 204 + + Lee, Lizzie A., Miss, 232 + + Lee, Ludwell, 36, 171, 180, 193 + + Lee, Philip Ludwell, 111 + + Lee, Richard Bland, 166 + + Lee, Richard Henry, 71, 171 + + Lee, Robert E., Gen'l, 142, 170, 176, 208, 210, 214, 216, 218 + + Lee, Thomas, 34, 35, 42, 104 + + Lee, Thomas Ludwell, 36, 171 + + Lee-Jackson Highway, 62, 228 + + Leesburg, vii, 62, 65, 68, 75, 105, 107, 111 et seq., 119, 129, 134, + 140, 141, 164, 165, 172, 179, 180, 190, 191 et seq., 195, 198, + 203, 205, 206, 211, 228, 232 + + Leesburg Academy, 184, 192 + + Leesburg Assembly, 233 + + Leesburg, Battle of, 211 + + Leesburg Industries, 186 + + Leesburg Institute, 193 + + Leesburg, King Street, 62, 113 + + Leesburg Library, 231 + + Leesburg, Loudoun Street, 65, 75 + + Leesburg, nursing service, 233 + + Leesburg, pavements, 183 + + Leesburg, Postmasters, 179 + + Leesburg Railroad Company, 195 + + Leesburg, stockade, 112 + + Leesburg, taverns, 43 + + Leesburg, and Snickers Gap Turnpike Co., 66 + + Leslie, Thomas, 167 + + Letcher, Governor, 207 + + Lewis, Betty, Mrs., 172 + + Lewis, Daniel, 126 + + Lewis, Thomas, 126, 179 + + Liberia, 194 + + Library of Congress, ix, x, xii, 90, 101, 108, 161, 182, 183 + + Lightfoot, P. Howard, 233 + + Little River, 67, 69, 70 + + Little River Turnpike, 62, 67, 167, 216 + + Little Rocky Run, 67 + + Littlejohn, Rev., 180 + + Littleton, Frank C., Mr. and Mrs., x, xi, 178, 179 + + Littleton, Frank C., Jr., 179 + + Littleton, John, 128 + + Limestone Run, 69, 75, 77, 169 + + Lincoln, Town of, 168 + + Linden, 214 + + Lintner, J. Ross, x + + Linton, John, 127 + + Lipscomb, Wm. H., Mr. and Mrs., 171 + + Llangollan, 174 + + Llangollan Races, 175, 228 + + Llangollan School, 231 + + Log houses, 31, 185 + + London Company, 11 + + London Magazine, v + + Loomis, John T., iv + + Lotteries, 183 + + Loudermilk & Company, iv + + Loudoun County Hospital, 233 + + Loudoun, Earl of, x, 77, 100 + + Loudoun Hunt, 171, 228 + + Loudoun, Mirror, 183 + + Loudoun, Railroad Company, 77 + + Loudoun, Rangers, 202, 209 + + Loudoun, System, 163 + + Loudoun, Valley, 49 + + Louis Philippe, 170 + + Louisburg, 101 + + Love, Sam, 138 + + Lovettsville, Town, 168, 221 + + Loyalists, 138 + + Loyd, John, 79 + + Luckett, Sam'l C., 223 + + Lucketts, 62 + + Luttrell, Thos., 125 + + Lutz, Francis A., 170 + + Lutz, Samuel S., Mrs., 170 + + Lynn, B. W., Lieut., 202 + + Lynsville Creek, 79 + + + MacCormack, John, 165 + + Madison, Dolly, Mrs., 180 + + Madison, James, President, 179, 180 + + Maffet, Josias, 127 + + Magisterial Districts, 69 + + Mahoc, 9 + + Managog, 9 + + Manahoacks, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 15, 18, 32, 60, 174 + + Manassas, Battle, 204 + + Manassas Gap R. R. Co., 218 + + Mangoack, 9 + + Mankin, Chas. L., 223 + + Manning, James F., Jr., 230 + + Manors, 36 + + Mansions, County, Erection of, 159 et seq. + + Maps, Emerick, x + + Maps, Fry and Jefferson, 66 + + Maps, Graffenreid, 25 + + Maps, Leesburg, First, 107 + + Maps, Taylor, viii + + Marks, John, 79 + + Marks, Thomas, 127 + + Marshall, John, Ch. J., 81, 174 + + Marshall, Thomas, Col., 81 + + Marshall, Town of, 214 + + Martin, Jacob, 186 + + Martin, Lawrence, Col., 108 + + Martin, W. H., Mr. and Mrs., 63 + + Martz, Robert, 229 + + Maryland boundary, 26 + + Maryland, Invasion of, 210, 216 + + Mason, Abraham B. T., 169 + + Mason, Ann Thomson, Mrs., 74, 75, 76, 77, 177 + + Mason, Armistead T., Gen'l, 170, 177, 179, 188 et seq. + + Mason, Armistead T., Mrs., 190 + + Mason family, 75, 76, 142 + + Mason, George, 126, 188 + + Mason, George III, 75 + + Mason, George IV, of Gunston, 75, 188 + + Mason, John, Mrs., x + + Mason, Mary, 75 + + Mason, Stevens T., 169, 170, 177, 179 + + Mason, Thomas F., 174, 175 + + Mason, Thomson, 74, 75, 76, 77, 129, 132, 133, 135, 136, 169, 170, 176 + + Mason, Thomson S., 76, 103, 111, 125 + + Mason, William T., 128 + + Mason, W. T. T., 193 + + Mason-McCarty Duel, 38, 177, 183, 188 et seq. + + Massawomecks. (See Iroquois) + + Massey, Lee, 104 + + Mathews, Governor, 13 + + Mathews, Thos., 131, 132 + + Matthews, Richard, 167 + + May, Jonathan C., 187 + + Mayfield, 170 + + McArdell, P., xi + + McCabe, Capt., 131 + + McCabe, Mrs., 185 + + McCall, Gen'l, 205 + + McCarty, Daniel, 37, 44, 188 + + McCarty, Dennis, Col., 38 + + McCarty family, 37 + + McCarty, John M., Col., 170, 177, 188 et seq. + + McCarty, William M., 192 + + McCarty-Mason Duel, 38, 177, 183 et seq. + + McClain, Robt., 126 + + McClellan, Geo. B., Gen'l, 204 + + McClellan, H. B., 217 + + McClellan, William, 126, 128 + + McCormick, Helen, Miss, 192 + + McGeath, John, 127 + + McGeath, William, 127 + + McGolerick, Judge, 229 + + McGuinn, John O., 229 + + McIntosh, Alex., 139 + + McIntyre, Patrick, 182 + + McKay, Hugh, 139 + + McLeod, Dan'l, 139 + + McLeod, John, 139 + + McLeod, John, Jr., 139 + + McLlaney, James, 127, 128 + + McVicker, John, 125 + + Mead family, 64 + + Mead, Bishop, 196 + + Meade, Gen'l, 281 + + Means, Sam'l C., Capt., 202 + + Mercer, Chas. F., 167, 177, 184, 193 + + Mercer family, 142, 167 + + Mercer, James, 194 + + Mercer, John, 72, 194 + + Mercer, John F., Gov'r, 171 + + Mercer, Margaret, Miss, 171 + + Mercer, William F., 223 + + Merritt, Gen'l, 218, 219 + + Metcalf, Joseph, 79 + + Methodists, 130, 164, 165 + + Methuen, Paul, 28 + + Metzger, W. A., Justice, iv + + Middleburg, 81, 166, 172, 173, 216, 220, 227, 228 + + Middleburg, Battle of, 216, 217 + + Middleburg Hunt, xi, 174, 216, 228 + + Middleton, Cornet, 147 + + Middleton, John, 70 + + Miles, Josiah, 126 + + Milhollen, Hirst, x + + Military Organizations, Civil War, 201 et seq. + + Military Organizations, Colonial Rangers, 23 + + Military Organizations, French and Indian War, 84, 86 + + Military Organizations, Revolution, 126, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, + 138, 141, etc., 169 + + Military Organizations, War of 1812, 157, 179, 194 + + Military Organizations, World War, 229 + + Militia, 123, 132 etc., 201 et seq. + + Mill Creek, 79 + + Millan, Thos., 127 + + Miller, Edward, 125 + + Miller, John, 126 + + Miller, Thomas, Dr., 175 + + Miller, Virginia, Miss, 175 + + Mills, Samuel, 125 + + Milstead, Harry, 229 + + Mines, John, Rev., 165 + + Mines, John K., 186 + + Minor, Nicholas, 89, 95, 96, 102, 107, 108, 109, 112, 127 + + Minor, Thomas, 127 + + Mix, Lewis & Co., 186 + + Moffet, Mr., 130 + + Mohascahod, 6 + + Monacans, 6, 8, 9 + + Monakin, 9 + + Moncure, John, Rev., 76 + + Monguagon, Battle of, 158 + + Monocacy, 43, 62, 210, 218 + + Monongahela River, 83 + + Monroe, James, Pres't, x, 178, 179 191 et seq., 193 + + Monroe, Susan, 118 + + Monroe Doctrine, 178 + + Monroe Highway, 134 + + Morton, John, 125 + + Morton, Levi P., Mrs., 231, 233 + + Morton, Richard L., 224 + + Morton, William, Sir, 12 + + Montgomery, J. S., Rev., 4 + + Montressor, 77 + + Mooney, Jas., 3, 4, 9 + + Moore, Asa, 45 + + Moore, Captain, 192 + + Moore, James, Dr., 217 + + Moore, John D., Mrs., x + + Moore, M. Bernhard, 30 + + Moore, William, 69 + + Moraughtacund, 8 + + Morison, Murdock, 139 + + Morris, Governor, Pa., 86 + + Morris, Mahlon, 167 + + Morrisonville, 46 + + Morrisworth, 175, 204 + + Morven Park, 62, 177 + + Moryson, Francis, 14 + + Mosby, John S., Col., ix, 203, 213 et seq. + + Mosby's Confederacy, 214, 218 + + Mosby's Rangers, 203, 214 et seq., 220 + + Mosco, 5, 6 + + Moss, John, 96, 102, 105, 113 + + Moss, John, Jr., 86, 111 + + Moss, William, 96 + + Mott, T. R., 183 + + Mott, Thos. B., Col., 230 + + Mount Defiance, 82 + + Mount Pleasant, 35 + + Mount Recovery, 82 + + Mount Vernon, 129 + + Moxley, John, 42 + + Mucklehany, John, 102 + + Munford, Col., 209 + + Murray, Mr., 188 + + Myers, Albert J., Major, 210 + + Myers, F. M., Capt., ix, 208 + + Myers, Mahlon, 204 + + + Nahyssan, 9 + + Nalle, B. F., Mr. and Mrs., 102, 172 + + Nalle, Edward N., 229 + + Nantaughtacund, 6 + + Nanticoke, 9 + + National Portrait Gallery, xi + + Necessary house, 111 + + Negroes, 12, 56, 59, 139, 141, 182, 185, 194, 203, 225 + + Neilson, Hugh, 131, 135 + + Nelson, Arthur, 120 + + Newport, Christopher, Sir, 11 + + Newspapers, 182 + + Nichols, Edw. H., 230 + + Nicholson, Governor, 21 + + Nixon, Asbury M., 223 + + Nixon, Lewis, 231 + + Noland, Charlotte H., Miss, 172, 173, 228 + + Noland family, 142 + + Noland House, 42, 62, 139 + + Noland, James, 125 + + Noland, Phillip, 42, 69, 72, 120, 173 + + Noland, Pierce, 178 + + Noland, Samuel, 128 + + Noland, Thomas, 121 + + Noland, William, 167 + + Noland's Ferry, 113, 120 et seq., 131, 139, 140, 217 + + Norbeck, Wm. F., 108 + + Norfolk System, 163 + + Nornail, Wm., 125 + + Norris, Samuel, 65 + + Northern Neck, (See also Proprietary), 9, 13, 14, 15, 32, 53, 65, + 72, 73, 104, 114, 140 + + Northumberland County, 12, 99 + + Nottoways, 2 + + Numtaneuck, 9 + + Nuntally, 9 + + + Oak Hill, x, xi, xii, 62, 178, etc., 191 + + Oatlands, 36, 62, 172, 231 + + Ockoquan River, 39, 67, 99 + + Ogden, David, 187 + + Ohio Company, 84 + + Oliphant, Sam'l, 127 + + O'Neal, Edward, 125 + + Oneale, Conn., 127 + + Opossum, 2 + + Orchards, Apple, 163, 228 + + Orchards, Peach, 130 + + Ordinaries, 62, 67, 104 et seq., 134, 228 + + Organization of County, 97 + + Orkney, Earl of, 27 + + Osburn, Craven, 168 + + Osburn family, 70 + + Osburn, Richard, 70 + + Otter, 2, 18 + + Overfield, Benj., 125 + + Owsley, John, 96 + + Ox Road, 67 + + + Paeonian Springs, 65 + + Page, Frederick, Mrs., x + + Page, Mann, 169, 176 + + Palatinate, 45 + + Palma, Valta, x + + Parishes, 97 + + Parliament, (See Puritans), 12, 13, 57 + + Patterson, Flemming, 134 + + Patton, Francis, Mrs., 231 + + Paulus Hook, 143, 147, 148 + + Paxton, Chas., Mr. and Mrs., 226, 227 + + Paxton Memorial Home, 226, 227 + + Payne, Linwood, 230 + + Payne, Wm. H., Gen'l, 202 + + Payne's Church, 67 + + Peach Orchards, 130 + + Peers, H., 186 + + Peers, Mrs., 185 + + Penn, William, 49 + + Pepperell, Wm., Sir, 101 + + Perfect, Chro., 136 + + Perry, Micajah, 35 + + Petersburg, 153 + + Peugh, Sam'l, 125 + + Peyton, Francis, 102, 123, 125, 126, 166 + + Peyton family, 142 + + Pickett's Charge, 207 + + Piedmont Manor, 73 + + Pioneers, 31, 43 + + Piscataway Creek, 20 + + Piscataways, 20, 21, 24 + + Pittsburg, 83 + + Plantations, 1, 168 + + Plains, The, 20, 214 + + Plaster, (Land), 160 et seq. + + Pleasanton, Gen'l, 217 + + Pleasanton, Stephen, 180 + + Plymouth Company, 11 + + Point of Rocks, 21, 42, 43, 74, 120, 175, 195 + + Point of Rocks Bridge, 120, 121, 196 + + Pope's Head, 70 + + Population, 72, 123 + + Postmasters, 179 + + Potomac Company, 159, 194 + + Potomac Islands, 26 + + Potomac River, 1, 20 etc., 25, 26, 29, 43, 65, 98, 120, 141, 159, + 169, 195, 204, 208, 210, 219 + + Potomacs, 7 + + Potts, David, 47 + + Poultry, 228 + + Powell, Burr, 82, 166 + + Powell, Cuthbert, 174, 192 + + Powell, Elisha, 174 + + Powell family, 142, 174 + + Powell, Leven, Col., 81, 125, 126, 136, 159 166, 173, 174, 179 + + Powell, Lucian, 231 + + Powell, Mary, 174 + + Powell, Nathaniel, 5, 174 + + Powell, William, 81, 174 + + Powell, Winney, Miss, 174 + + Powell vs. Chinn, 81 + + Powhatans, 3, 6 + + Presbyterians, 51, 52, 114, 165 + + Price, Betsy, 74, 175 + + Prince William County, ix, 21, 39, 42, 71, 99, 141, 207 + + Primogeniture, 75 + + Prior, James, 167 + + Profiteers, War, 137 + + Proprietary, (also see Northern Neck), ix, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, + 18, 32, 34 + + Purcell, Thos., 167 + + Purcell, Samuel, 167 + + Purcellville, 168, 218 + + Purcellville Library, 232 + + Puritans, 12, 13, 18 + + Putman, Herbert, Dr. 108 + + + Quakers, ii, 32, 45, 47, 48, 78, 91, 92, 114, 123, 132, 166, 188, + 201, 223 + + Quaker Settlement, 32, 49, 50, 70, 159, 185 + + Quantico, 71 + + + Racoons, 2 + + Raiding parties, 212 + + Railroads, 195 + + Raleigh, Walter, Sir, 10, 11 + + Ramsay, Allan, xi + + Rappahannock, 4, 5, 8, 9, 60, 99, 174 + + Raspberry Plain, 62, 74, 76, 77, 102, 103, 132, 170, 177, 188, 211 + + Ray, Thomas, 125 + + Reardon, John, 125 + + Reconstruction, 224 et seq. + + Records, Colonial, ix + + Records, County, ix, 102, 103, 106, 223 + + Records, U. S. to Leesburg, 180 + + Rectortown, 220 + + Red Cross, 229 + + Reed, Jacob, 126, 127 + + Reichel, John F., Bishop, 121 + + Religion, 114, 164 + + Respas, Thos., 128 + + Revolution, 30, 52, 59, 73, 76, 81, 103, 117, 119, 123 etc., 169 + + Reynolds, Joshua, Sir, xi + + Richards, George, 187 + + Richardson, John, 42 + + Ridge Road, (See Alexandria Pike). + + Riticor, Chas. C., Capt. 230 + + Roach, Mahlon, 167 + + Roads, Early condition of, 67 + + Roads, Bazzell, 125 + + Robey, Clarence, Mrs., 232 + + Robinson, Peter, 139 + + Robinson, William, 127, 139 + + Rock Spring, 184 + + Rockefeller, John D., Jr., i + + Rockland, xi, 62, 175, 210 + + Rogers, A. H., Lieut., 202 + + Rogers, Asa, Justice, 200 + + Rogers, John, 133 + + Rogers, William, Mrs., 204 + + Rogers, William H., Lieut., 202 + + Rogues Road, 61 + + Rokeby, 102, 172, 180 + + Rolling roads, 67 + + Roman Catholics, 43, 52, 232 + + Rosser, Thos. L., Col., 216 + + Round Hill, 168 + + Roundheads, See Puritans. + + Roxbury Hall, 65 + + Rozell, Stephen, 117 + + Ruin of Loudoun, 220, 222 + + Russell, Anthony, 102, 126 + + Russell, Edward O., xii + + Russell, Francis, 126, 127 + + Russell, John, 126 + + Russell, Robert, 127 + + Russell, Thomas, 187 + + Rust, Bryan, 230 + + Rust, E. Marshall, x, xii, 108 + + Rust, Elizabeth F., Miss, 176 + + Rust family, 142 + + Rust, George, 128 + + Rust, George, Gen'l, xi, 175, 176, 184, 192 + + Rust, Henry B., 108, 176 + + Rust, John Y., xi + + Rust, Matthew, 124, 127 + + Rye, 163 + + Ryswick, Treaty of, 45 + + + Saint James' Church, Leesburg, 165, 190, 227 + + Saint John's Church, Leesburg, 232 + + Salem, 214, 220 + + Salt, 133 + + Sanders, Isaac, 125 + + Sands, Daniel C., 227, 228 + + Sanitation, 163 + + Sangster, Adam, 125 + + Sapon, 9 + + Saratoga, Battle of, 139 + + Saunders, Presley, 179 + + Scalawags, 225, 226 + + Schlatter, Michael, Rev., 80 + + Schofield, John M., Gen'l, 224, 225 + + Schools, 171, 172, 173, 184, 192, 193, 231 + + Schooley, John, 179 + + Scotch, 44 + + Scotch, Irish, 45, 50, 114, 135, 166 + + Scotch Prisoners, 139 + + Sebastian, Benj., 104 + + Secession, 197 + + Secession Convention, 197 + + Secession Ordinance, 198 + + Second Colony, 2 + + Selden, Ann T., 176 + + Selden, Eleanor, 176 + + Selden, Mary M., 176 + + Selden, Mary T., 75 + + Selden, Samuel, 75 + + Selden, Wilson C., Dr., 176, 196 + + Selma, x, 62, 76, 170, 177, 188, 190, 230 + + Senecas, 16, 21, 24 + + Settlement, 31 + + Settlers, 95 + + Shakahonea, 6 + + Shannondale, 73 + + Sharp, Governor, Maryland, 86 + + Shaw, John, 179 + + Shawen, 187 + + Sheep, 228 + + Shelburne, Earl of, xi, 116 + + Shelburne, Glebe, 177, 196 + + Shelburne, Parish, x, xi, 116, 118, 196, 226 + + Shelburne Vestry, 196 + + Shelburne Vestry books, 164 + + Shenandoah Hunting Path, 60 + + Shenandoah River, 66, 84, 168, 219 + + Shenandoah Valley, 25, 37, 46, 99, 218 + + Sheridan, Philip, Gen'l, 218 + + Shimmer, Christian, 122 + + Shirley, Governor, Massachusetts, 86 + + Shoemaker, Basil W., 227 + + Shore, Richard, 126 + + Shore, Thos., 126 + + Short Hills, 1, 32, 46, 73 + + Shreve, Benj., 159 + + Shrieve, George, 127 + + Shrieves, William, 173 + + Shumaker, Ashton H., 230 + + Silver, 13, 130 + + Simpson, Geo. F., Dr., 233 + + Simpson, William, Capt., 207 + + Sims, Barney, 125 + + Sinclair, John, Sir, 161, 162, 167 + + Singleton, Joshua, 125 + + Sioux, 3 + + Slaves, 56, 59, 182, 185, 194 + + Smallwood, Henry G., 230 + + Smith, Fleet, 184 + + Smith, John, Capt., 2, 4, 5, 11, 15, 20, 174 + + Smith, John E., 230 + + Smith, Rufus, 223 + + Smith, Samuel, 128 + + Smith, Wethers, 127 + + Smith, William, 126 + + Smithsonian Institution, ix + + Smitley, Matthias, 128 + + Snickers, Edward, 167 + + Snickers Ferry, 167 + + Snickers Gap, 168, 218, 229 + + Snickersville, 167, 214, 219, 229 + + Snickersville Road, 216, 220 + + Snider, Warner, Mr. and Mrs., 171 + + Soil improvement, 159 et seq. + + Sorrell, Thos., 113 + + Southern Railway Company, 229 + + Spain, 10, 11 + + Spanish-American War, 227 + + Spanish Succession, War of, 45 + + Speake, Capt., 131 + + Spitzfathen, John, 127 + + Spooner, Chas., xi + + Spotswood, Alex., Sir, 27 et seq. + + Spotswood, Alex., Jr., 169 + + Spotswood, Catharine, 30 + + Spotswood Treaty, 24, 29, 99 + + Springwood, 62, 168 + + Stafford County, 21, 42, 71, 99 + + Stamp, William, 81 + + Stanton, E. M., 102 + + Stegarake, 4 + + Stegora, 6 + + Stephens, Wm., 96 + + Stephensburg, 111 + + Stevens, Lewis, 168 + + Stevens, Thos., 167 + + Stocks, 110 + + Stone, C. P., Gen'l, 205 + + Stone, Thos, 133 + + Stout, John L., 223 + + Stover, 46 + + Strahane, David, 23 + + Straughan, David, 24 + + Strictland, William, 161 + + Stuart, J. E. B., Gen'l, 208, 209, 214, 216, 217 + + Sugarland Run, 23, 25, 166 + + Sugarlands, 23, 37, 105 + + Summers, George, 126 + + Susquehannocks, 2, 9, 15, 16, 20, 24, 60 + + Sutton, Isaac, 79 + + Swann, Thos., Governor, 117 + + Swans, Wild, 26, 130 + + Swem, E. G., Dr., ix + + + Tacci, 9 + + Talbot, William, Sir, 8 + + Taliaferro, Elizabeth, 168 + + Tankerville, Earl of, 73, 122 + + Tavenner, Lott, 223 + + Taxuntania, 6 + + Tayler, John, 127 + + Tayloe, Rebecca, Miss, 104 + + Taylor, Henry S., 223 + + Taylor, Lawrence, 78 + + Taylor, William, 127 + + Taylor, Yardley, viii, 32, 47 + + Tebbs, Charles B., Col., 207 + + Tebbs, Edward H., Jr., Capt., 230 + + Tebbs, John A., Capt., 164 + + Temple Farm, 30 + + Terrick, Bishop, 119 + + Thatcher family, 82 + + Thatcher, John, 126 + + Thomas, David, 79 + + Thomas, Enoch, 128 + + Thomas, Evan, 106 + + Thomas, Henry W., Judge, 224 + + Thomas, Isaac, 188 + + Thomas, Jacob, 188 + + Thomas, John, 126 + + Thomas, Mahlon, 223 + + Thomas, Moses, 126 + + Thomas, Robert, 96 + + Thomas, Thomas, 129 + + Thompson, Edward, 84, 88, 90, 91 + + Thomson, Stevens, 75 + + Thomson, William, Sir, 75 + + Thorneley, Sam'l, xii + + Thornton, John, 125 + + Thornton, Samuel C., 230 + + Thornton, Thomas, 81 + + Thoroughfare Gap, 217 + + Throckmorton, Mordecai, 168 + + Thurston, Thos., 49 + + Ticks, 92 + + Tidewater Virginians, 28, 43, 59, 65, 97, 114, 135, 159, 165, + 166, 168 + + Tillett, Giles, 24 + + Tobacco as Money, 39, 98, 106, 110, 140 + + Tobacco planting, 53, 54, 162 + + Todhill, Anas, 5 + + Toleration Acts, 49, 52 + + Toulmin, Harry A., Lt. Col., 230 + + Towns, 166 + + Trammell, John, 69 + + Trammell, Samson, 128 + + Trammell, William, 96 + + Tribley, Joseph, 167 + + Triplett, Francil, 125 + + Triplett, Simon, 125, 127 + + True, Rodney H., 160 + + "True American," (newspaper), 164, 182 + + Trundle, Hartley H., 176 + + Trundle, Horatio, 176 + + Truro Glebe, 116 + + Truro Parish, 39, 68 etc., 72, 97, 116 + + Tuckahoes, (See Tidewater Virginians). 28 + + Turley, Giles, 128 + + Turner, Fielding, 102 + + Tuscaroras, 2 + + Tuscarora Creek, 63, 204 + + Tustin, Samuel, 187 + + Tyler, Charles, 102, 128 + + Tyler, George, 126 + + Tyson's Corner, 89 + + + Ulster, Province of, 51 + + Union League, 225 + + Union men, 223 + + Union sentiment, 201 + + Union, Town of, 187 + + Unison, 228 + + Upperville Horse Show, 228 + + + Valley Bank, xii, 183, 203 + + Valley Forge, 137 + + Vandercastel, Giles, 21, 24, 65 + + Vandevanter, Chas. O., 65 + + Vandevanter, Isaac, 126 + + Van Ingelgen, A. J., Rev., 232 + + Vernon, Admiral, 30 + + Vert's Corner, 62 + + Vestal family, 66 + + Vestal, G., 66 + + Vestal, John, 84 + + Vestal's Ferry, 66 + + Vestal's Gap, 66, 83, 84 + + Vestries, 68, 114 + + Vestry Books, 72, 117 et seq., 164 + + Victoria, Queen, 178 + + Vince, Thomas, 128 + + Virginia Historical Index, ix + + Virginia Historical Society, ix + + Virginia State Library, 117 + + Virginia, troops in French and Indian War, 87 etc., 96 + + + Wagener, Mary E., 118 + + Wagener, Peter, Col., 118 + + Waggoner, Capt., 87, 95 + + Wallace, James M., 223 + + Walnut Cabin Branch, 70 + + Wampter, Capt., 207 + + War of 1812, 172, 179 et seq. + + Warner's Crossroads, 65 + + Warrenton, 212 + + Washington, Augustine, 38, 80 + + Washington, City of, 20, 62, 172, 179, 194, 229 + + Washington, George, Gen'l, 30, 33, 38, 54, 66, 67, 81, 83, 84, + 85, 86, 93, 119, 129, 136, 138, 142 etc., 159, 169 + + Washington, John A., 167, 176 + + Washington's Journal, 84 + + Washingtonian (Newspaper), 182 + + Waterford 45, 47, 73, 78, 132, 137, 166 et seq., 187, 195, 202, 208 + + Wayne, Anthony, Gen'l, 141 + + Weidener, Chas., 185 + + Wenner, William, 80 + + West, George, 102, 104, 127, 128 + + West, Hugh, 104 + + West, John, 40 + + West, William, 70, 102, 105, 109, 112 + + West's Ordinary, 62, 67, 228 + + Westmoreland County, 99 + + Wetherby, 187 + + Whaley, James, Jr., 126 + + Wheat, 162, 167, 229 + + Wheatland, 65 + + Whig Party, 182, 197, 226 + + White, Bishop, 119 + + White, Elijah B., Col., 170, 230 + + White, Elijah B., Mrs., x, 177 + + White, Elijah V., Col., ix, 177, 203, 207 et seq., 211, 212 + + White, Elizabeth, Miss, x, 177 + + White, James, 138 + + White, Joel, 127 + + White, Josiah, 167 + + White, R. L., Gen'l, 205 + + White Plains, 218 + + White's Battalion, 208 etc., 215, 218 + + White's Ferry, 210 + + White's Ford, 210, 218 + + Whitney, John H., Mr. and Mrs., 174 + + Wiard, Michael, 223 + + Wickham, Williams C., Col., 216 + + Wigginton, Spence, 128 + + Wildey, John, 125 + + Wildman, Enos, 186 + + Wildman, Joseph, 127 + + Wilkinson, Thos., 179 + + Wilks, Francis, 96 + + William, III, 44, 58 + + William and Mary College, 104 + + William and Mary College Quarterly, ix + + Williams, Abner, 166 + + Williams, John, 126, 166 + + Williams, Thomas, 125, 127 + + Williams, Thomas Burr, 223 + + Williamsburg, vii, 21, 29, 30, 125 + + Williams' Gap, 67, 70 + + Williamson, B., 187 + + Williamson, J. J., Rev., ix, 220, 221 + + Willock, James, 96 + + Wills Creek, 84, 86, 92 + + Winchester, 86, 92, 112, 166 + + Winder, Wm. H., Gen'l, 179 + + Wolfcaile, John, 167 + + Wolford, John, 223 + + Wolves, 2, 119 + + Wood, Waddy B., 231 + + Woody, William, 179 + + World War, 229 + + World War Monument, 229 + + Worsley, Lizzie, Miss, 63 + + Wyatt, Dudley, Sir, 12 + + + York River, 8, 12 + + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber's note: Research indicates the copyright on this book was +not renewed. + +There are many inconsistencies in the spelling of names, such as McCarty +and McCarthy. + +Obvious printer errors have been silently normalised, except for the +following: + +On page 25: "In the 1712 another courageous adventurer" ... A missing +word was added: "In the 'year' 1712" ... + +Regarding the ad on page 184: The original ad in the _Genius of Liberty_ +of the 14th October 1817 reads as follows: + +"LEESBURG JOCKEY CLUB. RACES will be run for on Wednesday the 15th +October, over a handsome course near the town, A Purse of 200 Dollars, +three miles and repeat, and on Thursday the 16th day, two miles and repeat +A Purse of 100 Dollars, and on Friday the 17th one mile and repeat, a +Town's Purse of at least $150, and on Saturday the 18th an elegant SADDLE, +BRIDLE and MARTINGALE, worth at least FIFTY DOLLARS, P. SAUNDERS, sec'y & +treas'r." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Legends of Loudoun, by Harrison Williams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEGENDS OF LOUDOUN *** + +***** This file should be named 38130-8.txt or 38130-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/1/3/38130/ + +Produced by Mark C. 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