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Augusta County, Virginia
BY
JOS. A. WADDELL.'
SUPPLEMENT.
LIBI
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CITY
MAY 20 66 1€ =
J. W. RANDOLPH & ENGLISH, PUBLISHERS, RICHMOND, VA. 1888.
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PREFACE.
The chief object of this Supplement is to preserve some ac- count of many pioneer settlers of Augusta county and their immediate descendants. It would be impossible, within any reasonable limits, to include the existing generation, and hence the names of living persons are generally omitted. The writer regrets that he cannot present here sketches of other ancient and worthy families, such as the Andersons, Christians, Hamiltons, Kerrs, McPheeterses, Millers, Pattersons, Pilsons, Walkers, etc. The genealogies of several of the oldest and most distinguished families-Lewis, Preston, Houston, etc .- are omitted, because they are given fully in other publications. For much valuable assistance the writer is indebted to Jacob Fuller, Esq., Librarian of Washington and Lee University, and especially to Miss Alice Trimble, of New Vienna, Ohio.
Staunton, Va., March, 1888.
J. A. W.
CONTENTS.
Early Records of Orange County Court 381
The Rev. John Craig and His Times. 388
Gabriel Jones, the King's Attorney 392
The Campbells. 396
The Bordens, McDowells and McClungs.
398
The Browns
400
Mrs. Floyd's Narrative.
40I
The Floyds
404
The Logans
404 406
The Estills
Colonel William Whitley
407 408 408
The Moffetts .
The Allens.
410 4II
Fort Defiance
413 413
The Harrisons, of Rockingham.
415 416
The Alexanders and Wilsons.
-
The Raid upon the Wilson Family
417 420
Treaties with Indians.
421
The Mckees
The Crawfords.
The Bells
Capture and Rescue of Mrs. Estill and James Trimble
Massacre of Thomas Gardiner and His Mother
Some Curious Orders of Court ..
439
The Acadian French-Alexander McNutt.
440 442
The Poages
443
Revolutionary War Measures
An Incident of the Revolution
446 447 448
Andrew Wallace
Thomas Adams.
449 449
Captain William Moore
450 450
Colonel John Allen.
Emigration to Kentucky-Perils by the Way.
45I 454
Hanging for Horse-Stealing.
A Night Alarm 456 457
The Black Hawk War
The Hunter Raid. 457
Travels About Home.
458
Colonel William Fleming.
The Trimbles
The Smiths
The Robertsons.
422 423 430 433 438
The Cunninghams.
Errata
ANNALS
OF
Augusta County, Virginia.
SUPPLEMENT.
EARLY RECORDS OF ORANGE COUNTY COURT.
The County Court of Orange was opened January 21, 1734, and among the justices included in the "Commission of the Peace," issued by Gov- ernor Gooch, were James Barbour, Zachary Taylor, Joist Hite, Morgan Morgan, Benjamin Borden and the ubiquitous John Smith.
James Barbour was the grandfather of Governor James Barbour and Judge P. P. Barbour.
Zachary Taylor was the grandfather of the twelfth President of the United States of the same name.
Joist Hite (see page 10) and Morgan Morgan lived in the lower Valley. The latter was a native of Wales, and about 1726 (it is said) removed from Pennsylvania to Virginia, and erected the first cabin in the Valley south of the Potomac, and in the present county of Berkeley. He also erected the first Episcopal church in the Valley, about 1740, at the place now called Bunker Hill. He died in 1766, leaving a son of the same name.
According to tradition, Colonel John Lewis met Benjamin Borden in Williamsburg in 1736, and invited him to accompany him home, which led to the acquisition by Borden of a large tract of land in the present county of Rockbridge, known as " Borden's Grant " (see page 16). We think it likely, however, that Colonel Lewis first encountered Borden at Orange Court. In 1734, Borden probably lived in the lower Valley, then a part of Orange county, as he certainly did ten years later. When
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382
SUPPLEMENT TO THE
justices of the peace were appointed for Frederick county, in Novem- ber, 1743, he was named as one of them, but did not qualify, having died about that time. His will was admitted to record by Frederick County Court at December term, 1743, and his son, Benjamin, succeeded to the management of his Rockbridge lands.
John Smith cannot be located. We only know certainly that he was not the Captain John Smith, of Augusta, who figured in the Indian wars after 1755. He may have been the " Knight of the Golden Horseshoe," named Smith, who accompanied Governor Spotswood in his visit to the Valley in 1716.
The first allusion in the records of Orange to Valley people is under date of July 20, 1736. On that day Morgan Morgan presented the peti- tion "of inhabitants of the western side of Shenando," which was ordered to be certified to the General Assembly. What the petition was about is not stated. The name now written " Shenandoah " was formerly put in various ways-"Shenando," " Sherando," "Sherundo," etc.
On May 21, 1737, the Grand Jury of Orange presented the Rev. John Beckett ' for exacting more for the marriage fee than the law directs." On publication of the banns he exacted fifteen shillings. The trial came off on the 22d of September following, and the minister, being found guilty, was fined five hundred pounds of tobacco. But Mr. Beckett's troubles did not end there. On November 25, 1737, he was reported to court " for concealing a tithable."
In his work called "Old Churches and Families," etc., Bishop Meade says that the Rev. Mr. Beckett was regularly elected minister of St. Mark's parish, in May, 1733, and continued until the year 1739. He says further : " From something on the vestry book a year or two before, there would seem to have been a serious cause of complaint against Mr. Beckett." The proceedings in court above mentioned give a clew to the cause of trouble.
Under date of September 22, 1737, we have the following : "William. Williams, a Presbyterian minister, Gent., having taken the oaths ap- pointed by act of Parliament," etc., "and certified his intention of holding his meetings at his own plantation and on the plantation of Morgan Bryan," it was admitted to record, etc. From subsequent men- tion of Mr. Williams, it appears that he lived in what is now Frederick or Berkeley. He was engaged in trade, probably as a merchant, and was evidently too busy a trader to do much preaching. For several years he furnished more business to the court than any other person. He brought suit after suit against his customers, it is presumed, and was uniformly successful, obtaining judgment in every case. On the 23d of February, 1738, two men " sent up " by Morgan Morgan, J. P., on the charge of robbing the house of Mr. Williams, were examined and acquitted. At July court, 1738, a suit brought by Mr. Williams against the inevitable John Smith and some thirty or forty more, "for signing a certain scandalous paper reflecting on ye said Williams," came on.
383
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
The preacher was again triumphant. Many of the signers of the "scandalous paper " " humbly acknowledged their error, begging par- don, were excused, paying costs." At September Court the suit was abated as to John Smith on account of his death. Which John Smith this was we have no means of ascertaining. He probably was a neigh- bor of Mr. Williams.
We next find John Smith (probably the Squire) and Benjamin Borden in limbo. On October 22, 1737, "Zachary Lewis, Gent., attorney for our Sovereign Lord, the King, informed the Court that, at the houses of Louis Stilfy and John Smith, certain persons, viz : the said John Smith, John Pitts, Benjamin Borden" and others "do keep unlawful and tumultuous meetings tending to rebellion," and it was ordered that the sheriff take said persons into custody, etc. At November Court, “ Ben- jamin Borden, Gent," and his roistering and rebellious companions ap- peared, were examined, and, "acknowledging their error," were dis- missed with costs. Whether the Benjamin Borden referred to was the father, or his son of the same name, we do not know.
On the 28th of April, 1738, it was "ordered that ordinary keepers at Shenendo sell their Virginia brandy at the rate of six shillings per gal- lon." All the country west of the Blue Ridge was then know by the various names afterwards written Shenandoah
William Beverley's deed to " William Cathrey," the first of a long series of deeds by Beverley to various persons, was admitted to record Sep- tember 28th, 1738.
On the same day it was "ordered that the Sheriff of Sharrando give public notice "-exactly what cannot be made out from the writing. It related, however, to tithables, a list of whom was to be delivered to William Russell, Gent. It is presumed that a deputy sheriff of Orange county lived west of the Blue Ridge.
The Act of Assembly, constituting Augusta and Frederick counties, was passed November 1, 1738, but the business of the people of Augusta was transacted at Orange Courthouse till December, 1745, when the Court of Augusta was organized. In the meantime all persons in the Valley " having suits to prosecute, pleas to enter," etc., had to take the long trip on horseback, through the gaps in the mountain and by "bridle paths " to Orange, spending two or three days on the way. Moreover, as there was no minister of the Established Church in the Valley till 1747, all couples living here and wishing to be married, had to travel across the Blue Ridge to Orange, or elsewhere, in search of a minister authorized by law to perform the service.
William Beverley's deeds to John Lewis, George Hudson, George Robertson and Patrick Campbell were admitted to record February 22, 1739.
On the same day, "John Lewis, Gent., having taken the oaths and subscribed the Test, wassworn into his military commission accordingly." The title, or rank, is not given, but it was no doubt that of Colonel.
Zachary Taylor obtained license to keep an ordinary, March 22, 1739.
384
SUPPLEMENT TO THE
And now we have the first reference to a public road west of the Blue Ridge. June. 1739, "John Poage, David Davis and George Hutchison having, according to an order of Court, viewed and laid off a road from Beverley Manor " etc., " It is ordered that the said road be cleared from John Young's at the North Mountain to the top of the Blue Ridge to the bounds of Goochland county." The order of court directing the laying off of the road was not found.
Early in 1740, or shortly before, there was a great influx of popu- lation into the Valley. On the 22d of May, 1740, fourteen heads of families appeared at Orange Court to "prove their importation." The first order of the series is as follows:
"Alexander Breckenridge came into Court and made oath that he imported himself, and -, John, George, Robert, -, Smith, -, and Letitia Breckenridge from Ireland to Philadelphia, and from thence to this colony, at his own charges, and this is the first time of proving his and their rights in order to obtain land, which is ordered to be certified." He, however, acquired by purchase from Beverley 245 acres, on March 24, 1741.
The blanks above indicate names which are illegible in the record book. Of only one of Alexander Breckenridge's children, Robert, have we any particular account. (See page 140.) Possibly most of the others died young. There is no mention in the order of the daughter named Sarah, but she was the wife of Robert McClanahan when the family came to the Valley.
On the same day with Breckenridge, the following settlers in the Valley appeared in Court and proved their importation in like manner, all having come from Ireland through Philadelphia, viz :
James Bell and his children, John, Margaret and Elizabeth. These were the "Long Glade Bells."
John Trimble and his children, Ann, Margaret and Mary.
John Hays and his children, Rebecca, Charles, Andrew, Barbara, Joan and Robert
Patrick Hays and his children, Francis, Joan, William, Margaret, Catharine and Ruth.
William Brown and his children, Mary, Robert, Hugh and Margaret.
Robert Patterson, his wife Grace, and his children, Thomas, Mary and Elizabeth.
David Logan, his wife, Jane, and his children, Mary and William.
Robert Poage, his wife, Elizabeth, and his children, Margaret, John, Martha, Sarah, George, Mary, Elizabeth, William and Robert.
John Anderson, his wife, Jane, and his children, Esther, Mary and Margaret.
George Anderson, his wife, Elizabeth, and his children, Willian, Margaret, John and Frances.
Samuel Scott, his wife, Jane, and son, John.
Robert Scott, his wife, Ann, and his children, Mary, George and Esther.
385
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
David Wilson, his wife, Charity, and son, James."
James Caldwell and his children, Mary, Jean, Agnes, John, Sarah and Samuel.
John Stevenson and his children, Sarah and Mary.
John Preston came in with Breckenridge and others, but postponed proving his importation till 1746, when he appeared before the court of Augusta, "to partake of his Majesty's bounty for taking up lands." (See page 31.)
On the 26th of June, 1740, the following Augusta people "proved their importation," having come from Ireland through Philadelphia, viz :
Hugh Campbell and his children, Esther and Sarah.
Robert Young and his children, Agnes, John, Samuel and James. -
John Smith, his wife, Margaret, his children, Abraham, Henry, Dan- iel, John and Joseph, and Robert McDowell. This was Captain John Smith, of Augusta, who became prominent during the Indian wars, as did his sons, Abraham, Daniel and John.
Henry Downs was presented by the Grand Jury, November 27, 1740, " for Sabbath-breaking by traveling with loaded horses to Sharrendo," on the information of John and William Dewitt.
Benjamin Borden (probably Benjamin, Jr., ) next appears as a peace- able citizen, or rather "subject of the King," in fear of his life. On February 26, 1741, he "swore the peace against George Moffett, making oath that "he goes in danger of his life, or some bodily hurt, by the said George Moffett." The latter appeared in court, and was regularly · " bound over," his securities being James Cathrey and John Christian. This can hardly be the prominent citizen of Augusta, know as Colonel George Moffett, who died in 1811, aged seventy-six years, and who was therefore only six years old in 1741.
We now come to the mention of the first preacher of the Gospel who lived in Augusta :
February 26, 1741, "John Craig, a Presbyterian minister, in open Court took the oaths appointed by act of Parliament to be taken instead of the oaths of allegiance and supremacy and the oath of abjuration, and subscribed the Test: which is ordered to be certified."
William Beverley, on February 14, 1742, conveyed to Mr. Craig 335 acres of land-no doubt the tract on Lewis's creek, where Mr. Craig lived, afterwards owned by Benjamin T. Reid and now (18S7) by the heirs of Robert S. Harnsberger.
James Patton brought sundry suits in 1741, and from that time till 1746, he and Beverley often appeared in court as litigants.
William Thompson qualified as administrator of John Campbell in 1741, John Lewis security. The decedent was the ancestor of Colonel Arthur Campbell, General William Campbell and many others.
A new "Commission of the Peace " was issued by the Governor in the fall of 1741, and on the 3d of November the Justices were sworn in. Among them were John Lewis, James Patton, and John Buchanan, all of whom sat in court that day.
386
SUPPLEMENT TO THE
William Beverley qualified as County Lieutenant of Orange and also of Augusta, November 3, 1741.
Under date of November 27, 1741, we find some items of general in- terest, viz :
The Grand Jury presented "Jonathan Gibson of the Parish of St. Thomas, Gent., for not frequenting his parish church for the space of two months last past, on ye information of the Rev. Richard Hartswell." Mr. Gibson immediately appeared in court, confessed judgment, and "it was considered by the court that he pay the church wardens of St. Thomas parish ten shillings current money, or one hundred pounds of tobacco." There were two or more parishes in Orange county at that time. In one of these (St. Mark's) Augusta was included till 1745. St. Thomas's parish was mainly in what is now Madison county.
On the same day, and also on the information of Mr. Hartswell, the following presentments were made : Richard Cross, James Picket and Thomas Wood, for not frequenting their parish church; and Tully Joices, Bartholomew Baker and Jonathan Henning, "for swearing an oath, each, on the 23d of this instant, November, 1741."
" Thereupon, on the information of Tully Joices, the jury presented the Rev. Richard Hartswell, of ye parish of St. Thomas, for being drunk on the 23d instant "-the day the swearing was done. This was evi- dently a spiteful proceeding on Tully's part. What came of the pre- sentment we failed to discover.
Bishop Meade could not ascertain the name of the first minister of St. Thomas parish. On page 85, Vol. II, he says : " At that time " [1740] "an old Scotch minister of the Episcopal Church, whose name I have not been able to ascertain, but who, it seems, was fond of good cheer and a game of cards, officiated regularly at the church." Mr. Hartswell was doubtless the person referred to.
James Patton qualified as "Colonel of Augusta County," May 27, 1742. On June 24, 1742, John Buchanan, John Smith, Samuel Gay, James Cathrey and John Christian qualified as captains of militia ; and John Moffett and William Evans as lieutenants. On the same day the fol- lowing constables were appointed, viz : John Stevenson, Thomas Turk, James Allen, Patrick Martin, John Gay and James Cole.
Many deeds executed by Beverley and Borden, respectively, were admitted to record in the latter part of 1742, and the number of suits had greatly increased.
On the 27th of November, 1742, the "inhabitants of Borden's Tract " petitioned for a road to Wood's Gap, and the Court ordered that the road be "cleared from James Young's through Timber Grove."
A new "Commission of the Peace " was issued in November, 1742, and still another in May, 1743, in both of which Colonels Lewis and Pat- ton were included.
At November Court, 1742, several Indians, arrested " for terrifying one Lawrence Strother and on suspicion of stealing hogs," were ordered into custody, their guns to be taken from them "till they are ready to
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387
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
depart out of the county, they having declared their intention to depart out of this colony within a week."
On February 26, 1743, John Pendergrass, for not attending his parish church, was fined ten shillings, or one hundred pounds of tobacco, payable to the churchwardens. In the Valley nothing of this kind was done during the time of the religious establishment. The settlers of the Valley, coming in as Dissenters, had anıple "toleration "; but in other parts of the colony, people claimed as belonging to the Established Church, and forsaking its services, were subjected to the sort of disci- pline referred to.
In 1743, Beverley prosecuted suits against James Bell, Patrick Camp- . bell and George Robertson, of Augusta.
On the 23d of February, 1744, James Patton qualified as collector of duties "in that part of Orange called Augusta."
On the same day, Peter Scholl and others living on Smith's creek (now Rockingham) petitioned the Court, setting forth that they were required to work on a road thirty miles distant from their plantations, and praying for a new road nearer home. Evidently there was no road within thirty miles of Peter Scholl's dwelling. That, however, did not trouble him and his neighbors so much as the fact that they had to go so far to work, which was a hardship. The petition was granted
Peter Scholl was one of the first justices of Augusta county in 1745. A man of the same name, and probably the same person, was living in Kentucky, in 1776, intimately associated with Daniel Boone. He is spoken of as Boone's nephew in-law. (See Collins's History of Ken- tucky.)
May 24, 1744, Jane Breckenridge, widow of Alexander Breckenridge, in open court relinquished her right to administer on the estate of her deceased husband, in favor of her son, George, who entered into bond, etc. Think of the venerable matron having to travel from her home near Staunton to Orange Courthouse for such a purpose! The writer of these notes is naturally indignant, as Mrs. Breckenridge was his great- great-great-grand-mother.
James Trimble was appointed constable in place of James Anderson, February 28, 1744. This was probably the James Trimble who became deputy surveyor of Augusta in December, 1745.
At last we find a movement for a road through the Valley. On Feb- ruary 24, 1745, James Patton and John Buchanan reported that they had viewed the way from the Frederick county line "through that part of the county called Augusta, according to the order made last March," (which the writer failed to see) and the court ordered "that the said way be established a public road."
The last order of Orange Court in reference to Augusta, or her people, was entered at November term, 1745. when Augusta's part of the cost of running the line between the two counties was fixed at £32 5s. 9d.
388
SUPPLEMENT TO THE
THE REV. JOHN CRAIG AND HIS TIMES.
For an account of the Rev. John Craig see page 20.
In reference to Mr. Craig's personal history we have little to add ; but that enthusiastic antiquarian, Major J. M. McCue, having brought to light a record book kept by the pioneer minister for nine years, we find in it sundry items of more or less interest.
The title of the book, as written by the minister himself, is as follows : "A record of the names of the children baptized by the Rev. John Craig, both in his own and in neighboring congregations, where God in His Providence ordered his labors." It, however, embraces other things besides the record of baptisms. The writer was too busy to think of style, and some of the entries are the more interesting because of their quaintness and crudity.
The first child baptized in the county by Mr. Craig was Elizabeth, daughter of Jeremiah Williams, October 5, 1740. On October 26th, Samuel, son of William Logan, was baptized; and on the 28th, Mary, daughter of John Preston. Jean, daughter of Robert McClanahan, was baptized December 8, 1740, and this child, on growing up, became the wife of Alexander St. Clair, who is often mentioned in the ANNALS.
James Bell's twins, William and James, were baptized December 12, 1740. They were of the Long Glade family. William was killed in battle during the Revolutionary War.
At the close of the first year, Mr. Craig writes: "The year being ended, the whole number baptized by me is one hundred and thirty- three : sixty-nine males and sixty-four females. Glory to God who is daily adding members to His visible church !"
It appears from Mr. Craig's record, as well as elsewhere, that there was a low state of morals amongst the white servants brought into the county before the Revolution. This is not to be wondered at, as many of such persons were criminals brought over under sentence of transpor- tation. But good people appear to have sought to rear the children of the convicts under religious influences. On January 20, 1742, " Mr. James Patton stood sponsor for a child baptized, named Henry, born in his house of a convict servant, a base person ; could not be brought to tell who was the father, notwithstanding all means used."
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