USA > Washington DC > Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia in the nineteenth century. With a concise historical sketch of Virginia > Part 37
USA > Virginia > Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia in the nineteenth century. With a concise historical sketch of Virginia > Part 37
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
The marriage of Henry Taylor Wright took place June 2, 1887, to Julia Speir, daughter of Judge Gilbert Speir, of New York.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF
THE STATE OF VIRGINIA.
BY WILLIAM WIRT HENRY.
I N the year 1569 a youth of seventeen, who had already given promise of a brilliant future, left his studies at Ox- ford (Eng.), and volunteered under his cousin, Henry Champernon, who led a gal- lant band of Englishmen to the aid of the French protestants, engaged in a desper- ate struggle for religious liberty, under the Prince of Condé and Admiral Col- igny.
This youth, destined to leave his mark upon the history of his country and of America, was Walter Raleigh. He re- mained six years in France, during which time the cruel massacre of St. Bar- tholomew occurred. He afterward served in the Netherlands with Sir John Norris, under William of Orange in his struggle with the Spaniards.
America to wrest from Spain the posses- sion of that part of the western continent. In 1578 he sailed with the distinguished navigator, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, his half- brother, who, with a fleet of seven ships and under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth, designed to plant an English colony in North America. The enter- prise met with disaster at sea, and was abandoned by an order of the privy coun- cil. Afterward Raleigh distinguished himself in the wars in Ireland, and be- came a favorite of the queen, who en- dowed him with great wealth. Raleigh was now able to attempt the realization of what seemed to have been the great desire of his life. He obtained, in 1584, a very liberal charter from the queen, and sent out two ships, with a colony, which, landing at Roanoke island, and taking possession of the country, named it Vir- ginia, in honor of the Virgin Queen. This colony perished from a want of re- cruits and provisions, which Raleigh was
This experience made the youthful Englishmen not only an accomplished soldier, but a bitter foe to Roman Cathol- icism and to Spain. Finding that the power of Spain was due to the wealth de- rived from her American possessions, he prevented from sending them by the determined if possible to secure for Eng- land the same source of power, and by planting an English colony in North
appearance of the Spanish armada in the British channel. Unfortunately Raleigh incurred the displeasure of his jealous
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SKETCH OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA.
queen, in 1592, by his marriage with her beautiful maid of honor, Elizabeth Throg- morton, and he was thrown into the Tower.
Unable to follow up his designs, he as- signed his patent to a company of merchants, but they did not further his object. On the accession of James I to the throne of England, Raleigh was tried and convicted of treason by a packed court. The king did not for years exe- ecute the sentence which had been pro- nounced upon him, but finally, at the instance of the Spanish king, he put him to death. This trial and execution are among the darkest blots upon the page of English history. Fortunately the great idea which Raleigh had instilled into the minds of his countrymen did not perish with him; and in 1606 King James was induced to charter the London company of Virginia, and to bestow upon it the southern portion of the vast territory known as Virginia. This company sent out three vessels,-The Susan Constant Captain Christopher Newport com- mander, The Godspeed, Captain Bar- tholomew Goswold commander, and The Discovery, Captain John Ratcliffe com- mander, having aboard 105 colonists. Entering the waters of the Chesapeake bay on the 26th of April, 1607, and sailing up the river Powhatan, which they called "The James," they found a peninsula about fifty miles above the mouth of the river, upon which they landed on the 13th of May, 1607, and commenced to build a town, to which they gave the name of Jamestown. The colony thus planted had a varied experience and became by turns the prey of war, pestilence and famine; but, owing to the fresh supplies of men and provisions sent out from England, it survived, and soon commenced a vigor-
ous growth; so that before the death of Raleigh, he saw from his prison the pre- diction verified which he had made in 1602, when, writing to Sir Robert Cecil, he said of Virginia -" I shall yet live to see it an English nation." The colony thus planted has had an incalculable effect upon the history of the world. It was the beginning of the English system of coloni- zation which has made Great Britain the great power that she is, and its own development, and the encouragement it gave to other English settlements in America, have resulted in the almost ex- clusive possession by an English-speaking people of North America, with all the great results which have followed from this fact. The history of Virginia, there- fore, must always be of the deepest in- terest to those who would study the history of the Anglo-Saxon race in America. One of the greatest blessings which followed from the settlement at Jamestown, was the opportunity afforded the colonists for the full development in a new world of the English institutions which they brought with them. These institutions were then the freest enjoyed by any nation of the earth, and the charter granted the London company guaran- teed the rights of Englishmen to the col- onists. After the colony had been firmly planted, the king, in 1624, procured a judgment of forfeiture of its charter in his court, and thereafter he appointed the governor and council, who were to repre- sent him in the government, but he did not interfere with the other essential priv- ileges which had been previously given. As early as the 30th of July, 1619, Gov- ernor Yeardley convened at Jamestown a house of burgesses, elected by the inhab- itants of the several plantations. This was the first representative legislative as-
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SKETCH OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA.
sembly ever held in America, and wasthe ties or shires were first established in first introduction upon this continent of the great principle of civil government which so thoroughly pervades American institutions, namely: that the people are the fountain of all lawful authority. This most important event was followed a month afterward by one which proved to be also of great importance, and which was recorded by John Rolfe, the husband of the Indian princess, Pocahontas, in these words: "About the last of August, 1619, came in a Dutch man of Warre that sold us twenty negars."
1634, and they were not restricted to any fixed number of burgesses. This was changed from time to time until 1660, when the number was limited to two for each county and one for Jamestown. Afterward Norfolk, Williamsburg and the college of William and Mary were allowed delegates. In 1677 the king instructed the government that the bur- gesses should be elected by freehold- ers only, and this continued until the period of the Revolution. The gov- ernor and his council, which was selected from the colony, sat as the upper house of the assembly, and thus, in the royal
The early Virginia colonists were mostly from England -a few coming from Ireland and Scotland. Among governor and his council and in the house them were many of gentle blood. The of burgesses, there was established a gov- charge that Virginia was made some- ernment corresponding to the king, lords and commons of England. The laws en- acted by the Virginia assembly required the approval not only of the royal gover- nor, but of the king also, and this was the source of much irritation, as the king often neglected the affairs of the colony, and often disapproved of most beneficial laws. The house of burgesses, at a very early period, began to develop a spirit of independence. In 1624 they declared, "the governor shall not lay any taxes or impositions on the colony, their lands or commodities, otherwise than by authority of the general assembly, to be levied and employed as said assembly shall appoint." This spirit of independence grew with the colony, and there were many evi- dences of it in its history; among the most notable the following may be men- tioned: In 1651 Cromwell, then fully established in power, sent, as commission- ers, Richard Bennett, William Claiborne and Edmund Curtis, that they might bring Virginia into subjection to the com-
what of a Botany Bay for the crim- inals of England does great injustice to the mother country as well as to Virginia. The act of parliament which authorized the transportation of criminals to America embraced the New England colonies as well as Virginia, and the dis- tribution of the convicts was doubtless equitable among the several English colonies; but as hanging was then the English penalty for many trivial offenses, it could not be that men convicted of the highest crimes were allowed to be trans- ported. At any rate, there was not enough of such a population brought to Virginia to interfere with her steady prog- ress of development into an intellectual and moral people. The house of bur- gesses played a most important part in the history of the civil government of Virginia. At first the right of suffrage was exercised by all the male inhabitants twenty-one years of age, thus giving, as nothing else could, to every man a per- sonal interest in the government. Coun- monwealth. Up to that time Virginia had
35
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SKETCH OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA.
been loyal to the unfortunate Charles, according to the laws of the common- and after his death to his fugitive son. wealth. The colony made preparation to resist the commissioners, and the fleet which Eighthly- That Virginia shall be free from all taxes, customs and impositions whatsoever, and none to be imposed on them without consent of the grand as- sembly. And soe that neither ffortes nor castles bee erected or garrisons main- tained without their consent. they brought with them to enforce their commands. A negotiation was had, how- ever, which ended in articles of agreement, signed March 12, 1651. These articles Ninthly - That noe charge shall be re- quired from this country in respect of this present ffleet. are so remarkable that they may be well given in full. They are as follows:
Tenthly - That for the future settle- ment of the country, in their due obedi- ence, the engagement shall be tendered to all the inhabitants according to the act of parliament made to that purpose; that all persons who shall refuse to subscribe the said engagement, shall have a yeare's time, if they please, to remove themselves and their estates out of Virginia, and in the meantime during the said yeares to have equal justice as formerly.
Eleventhly - That the use of the booke of common prayer shall be permitted for one yeare ensueinge with reference to the consent of the major part of the parishes. Provided that those things which relate to kingships or that government be not used publiquely; and the continuance of ministers in their places, they not misde- meaning themselves; and the payment of their accustomed dues and agreements made with them respectively, shall be left as they now stand dureing this en- sueing yeare.
Twelvthly - That no man's cattell shall be questioned as the companies unless such as have entrusted with them or have disposed of them without order.
Thirteenthly - That all amunition, powder and arms, other than for private use, shall be delivered up, securitie being given to make satisfaction for it.
Fourteenthly - That all goods allreadie brought hither by the Dutch or others which are now on shoar shall be free from surprizall.
Fifteenthly - That the quittrents granted unto us by the late kinge for seven yeares bee confirmed.
Sixteenthly - That the commissioners for the parliament -subscribing these arti- cles, engage themselves and the honour of
Seventhly -That the people of Virginia have free trade as the people of England the parliament for the full performance do enjoy to all places and into all nations thereof: And that the present governour
First- It is agreed and consented that the plantation of Virginia, and all the in- habitants thereof, shall be and remain in due obedience and subjection to the com- monwealth of England, according to the laws there established; and this submis- sion and subscription bee acknowledged a voluntary act, not forced nor constrained by a conquest upon the country; and that they shall have and enjoy such freedomes and privileges as belong to the free borne people of England, and that the former government by the commissions and in- structions be void and null.
Secondly -That the grand assembly as formerly shall convene and transact the affairs of Virginia, wherein nothing is to be acted or done contrarie to the govern- ment of the commonwealth of England and the laws there established.
Thirdly - That there shall be a full and totall remission and indempnitie of all acts, words or writings done or spoken against the parliament of England in re- lation to the same.
Fourthly -That Virginia shall have and enjoy the antient bounds and lymites granted by the charters of the former king's. And that we shall seek a new charter from the parliament to that pur- pose against any that have intrencht upon the rights thereof.
Fifthly - That all the pattents of land granted under the collony seale, by any of the precedent governours, shall be and remain in their full force and strength.
Sixthly - That the privilege of having fiftie acres of land for every person trans- ported to the collony shall continue as formerly granted.
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SKETCH OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA.
and the council and the burgesses do like- | his father. Realizing the hatred of the wise subscribe and engage the whole collony on their parts.
RICHARD .BENNETT SEALE L
WM. CLAIBORNE
SEALE
EDMUND CURTIS SEALE
These articles were signed and sealed by the commissioners of the councill of State for the Commonwealth of England, the twelvth day of March, 1651.
colonists, Berkeley resigned his commis- sion and returned to England. Finding his official conduct universally disapproved there, he sank under the opprobrium he had justly excited, and soon died.
The house of burgesses afterward be- came engaged in a controversy with Gov- ernor Alexander Spottiswood, the ables
Under these articles the colony was governor during the colonial period. He governed, the assembly electing the gov- had been with Marlborough in his cele- ernors until the restoration, when Gov- brated campaigns, and had won great ernor Berkeley was recalled. commercial relations with the Indians,
His distinction as a soldier, but, by reason of his military training, he was disposed to which induced him to leave unavenged rule the colony as a general does his their treacherous assaults upon the whites, army. His administration may be con- led to the organization of a volunteer sidered as the beginning of a new era of force, headed by Nathaniel Bacon, which prosperity to Virginia. He first explored her territory to the summit of the Blue Ridge, and revealed her beautiful valley. He improved the culture of tobacco, and obtained an act of assembly making the receipts of the warehouses in which it was stored lawful currency ; thus relieving the stringency caused by the scarcity of the
took upon themselves the chastisement of the Indians against the orders of the governor. Berkeley proclaimed Bacon a rebel on the 29th of May 1676, but was afterward driven from his capital by Bacon, who burned Jamestown. The death of Bacon shortly afterward put an end to the rebellion, but the popular precious metals, coinage of which was movement, defying royal authority, be- not allowed to the colony. He estab- lished the first iron furnace in Virginia - believed to have been the first in America - and, with a truly pious spirit, he estab- lished a school for the instruction of In- dian children in Christianity. When the house of burgesses refused to lay the taxes, which he deemed necessary, his imperious spirit was shown in their dis- cause of its abuse, was an evidence of the temper of the Virginians, which was manifested a century later in the scenes of the American Revolution, The sub- sequent history of Berkeley fully justified the colonists in their detestation of him. After the resistance to his authority was ended he commenced to take vengeance on the leaders of the movement, and he solution, after a harsh reprimand; but the caused to be hung twenty-three of those people supported their delegates, and most obnoxious to him. It is said finally succeeded in having the governor that Charles II, bad monarch as removed in September, 1722.
he was, expressed disgust with the governor's conduct, and declared that Berkeley had put to death more men on account of Bacon's rebellion than he had caused to be executed for the murder of and ordered new elections at pleasure, we
When we consider that the house of burgesses, like the house of commons at that time, could only be convened by the executive, who prorogued or dissolved it
376
SKETCH OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA.
are forced to admire the courage with Augusta county, a strong stream of im- which the body insisted on popular rights, migration, which overflowed the moun- and withstood the encroachments of the tains and commingled with the settlers in royal governors.
The Virginians, as has been stated, were mostly pure English. In the year 1690 William III sent to Virginia a num- ber of French Huguenots that had fled to England for protection, after the revoca- tion of the edict of Nantes. During the year 1699 another body came over, and these were followed by others in succeed- ing years. The larger part of them set- tled on the south bank of James river,
the Piedmont country. These people came to America from the north of Ire- land, where their ancestors had been carried from Scotland and the north of England. They had marked character- istics, and have impressed themselves upon the page of American history as perhaps no other part of her population has done.
Among the first houses in their settle- ments were the church and school house, about twenty miles above the falls. They and, living pious lives themselves, they called their settlement Manakin Town, raised their children strictly, and after the Monachan Indians, who had thoroughly impressed upon them the re- formerly occupied the land, but many of the ligious tenets which John Knox had given French refugees settled in other portions of Virginia, mostly upon the James and Rappahannock rivers. These French Pro- testants were the cream of the population of France, and among their descendants are found a great number of the most distinguished families in Virginia. Dur- ing the early part of the eighteenth century a number of Germans came into
to Scotland. Descended from the Coven- anters, they believed that the king of England was bound by the principles of "the solemn league and covenant," and that whenever he ceased to rule his people for their good they were absolved from their allegiance. Hence they were foremost in resisting all encroachments of the royal authority, and finally became the lower valley of Virginia and settled the leaders in the measures of the Revo- on the rich lands bordering on the lution. Settling on the western border of Shenandoah. They long remained a Virginia, they were in continual warfare with the Indians, and afforded protection to the older settlements eastward. Thus they became a community of warriors, and in all the wars in which Virginia has engaged they have furnished many of her best soldiers. They may be considered the Puritans of Virginia, without the fanaticism characteristic of that class in England. a separate population, retaining their language and their simplicity of manners and dress. In the year 1738 the Presby- terian synod of Philadelphia addressed a letter to Governor Gooch of Virginia, re- questing permission for the settlement of a portion of the Scotch-Irish members of their church in the valley of Virginia, but making a condition that they be allowed " the free enjoyment of their civil and
Washington fully appreciated their religious liberties." To this request, the soldierly qualities, and the firmness with which they maintained their principles; and it is related of him that in one of the
governor, himself a Scotchman, gave a favorable answer. And soon there poured into the valley, then embraced in darkest periods of the Revolution, when
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SKETCH OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA.
his army had been reduced to a mere |in America," says: "This region of skeleton, he exclaimed, "leave me but a banner to place upon the mountains of West Augusta, and I will rally around me men who will lift our bleeding country from the dust and set her free." southern uplands has in its soil, its forests and its mineral resources, a combination of advantages perhaps greater than those of any other equal area in the world. In addition to these favorable conditions,
The English came to Virginia not be-'the region possesses an admirable climate; cause of any oppression, civil or religious, in winter the temperature falls low in the mother country, but from a desire enough to insure the preservation of to try their fortunes in the new world. bodily vigor -in summer the heat is less The exception to this rule was when some ardent than in the lower-lying regions of of the defeated party in the wars of the the New England and the New York group of states. In the Virginia section, we find a climate resembling, in range of temperature, those which characterize the most favored regions of the old world; and it is there perhaps we may look for the preservation of our race's best char- acteristics." The geography of the col- ony and its soil united with its climate in making an agricultural population. Be- tween the mountains and the sea many streams watered the land, affording fer- tile bottoms. The accessibility of nearly every part of the colony to deep water enabled the planters to ship their prod- uce, and to receive foreign goods in ex- change, at wharves almost at their very doors. Commerce was thus slow to concen- trate at any particular port, and the very wealth of Virginia in harbors produced her poverty in cities. As late as the Revolution, Norfolk, with a population of six thousand, was the largest town in the
commonwealth sought refuge in the col ony from the vengeance of their victors, and when, in turn, upon the restoration, adherents of the commonwealth sought to escape the vengeance of the royalists. But still it is true that the great body of the Virginians were devoted not only to the laws and customs of England, but to her established church, and Vir- ginia was known as the most loyal of all the American colonies. This was evidenced, among other ways, by the names given to their coun- ties, towns and villages, which were al- most invariably named after English localities, or English nobility, including members of the royal family. This loyal English population, representatives of the highest civilization known to the world, came to a fertile land lying in a temper- ate climate, and peculiarly fitted for agri- cultural pursuits. Stretching from the sea on the east to the mountains on the colony. The profusion of productions west, and intersected by many noble afforded by the soil and the climate streams, Virginia furnished a great va- stimulated the hospitality of the inhabi- tants, of whom generous living became a characteristic; but while soil and climate united to give ease to Virginia life, they rendered the colonists too well satisfied riety of soil, upon which was raised in profusion every variety of the vegetable kingdom in the temperate zones. Speak- ing of this favored region of Virginia and of the Carolinas to the southward, Pro- with what they enjoyed to engage in fessor Shaler, in his valuable work re- arduous or speculative enterprises in cently published, styled " Nature and Man pursuit of wealth. They were content to
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SKETCH OF THE STATE OF VIRGINIA.
work their lands, and leave to others merchandise, mining and manufacturing. Undoubtedly the product of the soil which had most influence on the develop- ment of Virginia character was tobacco. their plantations whatever they needed. The following picture of William Cabell, of Union Hill, in Nelson county, from the accomplished pen of the late Hugh Blair Grigsby, is a fair representation of the It is said that John Rolfe, the husband of class to which he belonged. " He was a Pocohontas, first cultivated it in a system- planter in the large acceptation of the word, as it was understood rather in the atic and intelligent manner. Certain it is that from an early period of Virginia's interior than on the sea board, which in- history it was considered its most valuable cluded not only the cultivation of a product. It was easily transported across staple, in its ordinary agricultural aspects, the Atlantic, and found a ready market in but the construction of the instruments Europe. It became, and continued until and the preparation and manufacture of the Revolution, the money crop of the the articles which the eastern planters of planters, and from it was derived the wealth which characterized them as a that day, like many of their successors, were content to find ready made to their class. Its value was a strong preventive hands. He fashioned his iron on his
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