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Gc 915.501 C 38c
Gc 975.501 C38c 1146004
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY L 3 1833 02341 322 9
HARLOTTE COUNTY VIRGINIA
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HISTORICAL STATISTICAL AND PRESENT ALIRACTIONS
THE HERMITAGE PRESS, INC. ยท RICHMOND, VA.
BANK OF GHASE GITY
CHASE CITY, VA. T. E. ROBERTS, Prest. N. H. WILLIAMS, V. P. and Cashier. H. R. COOLEY, Asst Cas.
DRAKES BRANCH, VA. GEO. B. RUSSELL, V. P. W. H. PETTUS, JR., Cas.
SOUTH HILL, VA. DR. S. S. NORTHINGTON, Vice-President. W. W. WRIGHT, Cashier
Capital, $50,000.00
. BANK .
DIRECTORS:
Surplus, $25,000.00
Undivided Profits, $3,500.00
Deposits, $335,000.00
T. E. Roberts, N. H. Williams, G. B. Russell, S. S. Northington W: H. Pettus, Jr., T. F. Pettus, R. L. Jeffreys, A. J. Moore, P. N. Morgan, R. W. Payne, W. R. Holden, J. A. Holmes,
Total Resources, $435,000.00
DRAKE'S BRANCH OFFICE.
We respectfully solicit the accounts of individuals, firms and corporations, either active accounts subject to eck without notice, or interest bearing deposits on ch we pay FOUR PER CENT. INTEREST, if allowed to remain four months or longer. Especial attention paid to collection items, which we have splendid facilities for handling. Prompt and polite attention given to all business entrusted to our care, and we especially invite those just moving into our community to call and see us and give us an opportunity for proving our ability to handle their accounts satisfactorily for them.
CHARLOTTE COUNTY
VIRGINIA
Historical, Statistical . . and . .
Present Attractions
COMPILED BY
J. Cullen Carrington CHARLOTTE COURTHOUSE, VA.
RICHMOND, VA .: THE HERMITAGE PRESS, Inc. 1907.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
Name of County Seat-CHARLOTTE COURTHOUSE.
The County is divided into six Magisterial Districts, each having three Magistrates, one Constable, one Overseer of the Poor and one Road Commissioner. Our County Government consists of the following officers:
HON. GEORGE J. HUNDLEY, Judge of the Circuit Court. J. CULLEN CARRINGTON, County Clerk.
THOMAS E. WATKINS, Commonwealth Attorney.
GEORGE B. RUSSELL, County Treasurer.
C. A. OSBORNE, County Sheriff. JOHN H. SHORTER, Superintendent of the Poor.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
P. N. MORGAN, Chairman.
G. W. BERKLEY,
A. S. BARKSDALE, A. B. RICE, W. D. CLARK.
W. E. HAILEY,
DIVISION SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
CHARLES C. PARIS.
COMMISSIONERS OF REVENUE.
Upper District C. M. HUTCHESON. Lower District D. B. HUTCHESON.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
1146004 Page 2
County Government
Preface
3
History
4-23
Population
25-26
Schools
26-29 29
The Negro
Laws
29-33
Geography
33-37
Character of Soil
37-43
Climate
44-52
Healthfulness
52-54
Valley of the Staunton
54-60
Natural Products
60-68
Lower End of the County
68-72
Bee-Keeping
72-75
Poultry
75-82 82-91
Test Farm
92-96
Agriculture Diversified
96-108
Tobacco, Corn, Wheat, &c
108-121
Fruits
121-125
Values, Taxation and Indebtedness
125-127
Transportation and Markets
127-133
Advantages Summarized 134-136
Charlotte Courthouse 136
Drake's Branch 136-140
Keysville 141-143
Advertisements
.145-148
Subdivision of Large Farms Desirable
134
Stock Raising
.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Red Hill, as it appears to-day
4
Red Hill, as it formerly appeared
6
Roanoke
9
Mulberry Hill
10
Ingleside
12
Woodfork
13
Col. Joseph Morton's Residence
15
Cub Creek Church
16
Edge Hill
18
Keysville Baptist Church
19
Old Courthouse
21
Charlotte Courthouse
22
Clerk's Office
24
Keysville High School
27 28
Hon. D. Q. Eggleston's Residence
30
McAdam Road
32 35 36
High Hill
39
W. S. Pugh's Residence
41 43
Test Farm Scene.
January Plowing at G. W. Watson's
January Plowing at S. C. Daniel's
Merry Oaks
.
Arcadia
Landscape Test Farm
Staunton Hill
55
The Oaks
57 59 61 63
Do Well
L. S. Jackson's Residence
63
Green Level
65
Staunton River Bridge
67
Red Oak Grove
69
Hay Field, Red Oak, Va.
71
Saw and Planing Mills, Red Oak, Va.
73
W. T. Marrilla's Residence
74
The Oak
76
Ridgeway Plantation
Woodburn
45 47 49 51 53
Courthouse High School
Bridge across Roanoke
Beechenbrook
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Silver Lace Wyandots
78
Barwyns
80
Buff Orpingtons
81
The Virginian
82
Elm Shade
84
Sheep at John H. Hatch's
86
Cattle Scene J. L. Edmund's
87 89
Cattle Scene Geo. G. Moseley's
Cottage Valley Farm
91
Sylvan Hill, Residence Test Farm
93
Barn Scene Cottage Valley Farm
95 97 99
Alfalfa Scene
Barn Test Farm
101 103 105 107
Tobacco Scene, Staunton Hill
109
Hillcroft
111
Tobacco Scene, Dr. G. V. Mortons'
113
Cornfield, Staunton Hill
115 117
Farm Scene, Maj. R. V. Gaines
118
The Grove
120
Saxe
122.
S. C. Adams' Residence
124
F. C. Thornton's Residence
126
Tramways, Tidewater R. R. Company
129
Residence Wm. H. Pettus, Jr.
133
Fair Oaks
135
Bank Chase City
137
Tobacco Wagons, Drake's Branch
138
Summer Residence of Chas. W. Priddy
140
Bank of Keysville
142
Residence of Jas. A. Bailey
143
Scene Cottage Valley Farm
Wheat Field, A. B. Rice's
Roxobel
Belle-Monte
Avondale
PREFACE.
Feeling a deep and abiding interest in the county of my nativity, where all of my life has been spent, and being willing to make any sacrifice that would advance her interests, I accepted the appointment of the Board of Supervisors to pre- pare a Hand Book of the County, although the time within which to do so was very limited and my time fully occupied with official duties. The historical sketch down to a descrip- tion of the Courthouse is from the facile pen of the Hon. William Wirt Henry; and I am indebted to the excellent work of Major R. V. Gaines for certain well established facts which I have found useful in the preparation of this book.
The selection of historic places and the houses of the Char- lotte of to-day was made by a committee composed of Messrs. A. J. Terry, F. C. Thornton and W. G. Williams. These gen- tlemen exercised their best judgment in these selections, and have been very considerate and helpful in other ways. To all who have contributed letters or rendered other assistance, I am profoundly grateful. That the book may rise to the hopes and expectations of those who have committed it to my charge and result in placing the county's attractions properly before the public, is my earnest and only desire.
J. C. C.
4
Red Hill as it Appears To-day.
CHARLOTTE COUNTY, VIRGINIA.
HISTORY.
The county of Charlotte was set off from the county of Lunenburg in 1764. The House of Burgesses at the time, one of the most loyal bodies on the continent, named the new county after the young Queen of George III, the Princess Charlotte, of Mecklenburg.
The white population was composed of English, with a trace of French Huguenots, and a considerable admixture of Scotch-Irish. At the time it became a separate county it was embraced in Cornwall Parish, the established religion of the colony being that of the English Protestant Episcopal Church.
But the Scotch-Irish and Huguenots had introduced Pres- byterianism, and one of the earliest preaching places of the great Samuel Davies was Cub Creek church, in the south- western portion of the county. Afterwards the Baptists and Methodists gained strong foothold.
The same loyal House of Burgesses that named the county did not fail, however, to protect it against the proposed passage of the famous Stamp Act, intended by Parliament to be a tax upon the colonies. The two repre- sentatives of the county, chosen for the Legislature, were Paul Carrington, afterwards one of the Committee of Safety of the colony, and later a distinguished judge of the Court of Appeals, and Thomas Read, afterwards the County Lieutenant and Clerk of the County. Both were men of fine talents and devoted to the cause of civil and religious liberty. A few days after they took their seats in the House of Burgesses the news of the actual passage of the Stamp Act was received.
. Patrick Henry offered his famous "resolutions, indicating resistance to its enforcement, which brought on a bitter con- fliet in the body. Upon being adopted and published the continent was aroused so that it was impossible to carry the aet into execution. The two delegates from Charlotte were
Red Hill -Home of Patrick Henry.
7
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
RED HILL ON THE STAUNTON.
The last home of Patrick Henry, the great orator of the Revolution.
Patrick Henry died in June, 1799, at his home at Red Hill, and is there buried. The place has been preserved with jealous care by his descendants.
In 1833 his son, John Henry, added some new rooms, and the grounds were planted with box hedges, which mark the tracks and drive ways. In 1906 Mrs. Mathew Bland Harrison, his great grand-daughter and one of the present owners of the Red Hill estate, made further additions, as shown in the picture of the house as it is to-day. The wood work inside and out is white; tall mantels and big fire places give a quaint character. The brass locks on the old building are historic, being part of a fee of Patrick Henry in a famous criminal case.
The Tidewater railroad runs in front of the house and has granted a flag station, which will make the place accessible. A recent writer has said of the mansion that "It gleams on the summit of the hill like some old abbey or monastery." The Staunton and Falling rivers make their junction near the house, and to the west on any clear day can be seen the Peaks of Otter.
Besides holding many other public positions of distinction Patrick Henry was elected Governor of Virginia in 1776 and served two terms. In 1794 Governor Henry Lee appointed him United States Senator to fili an unexpired term. This he declined, as he did also the office Governor of Virginia, to which he was elected by the General Assembly in 1795. The same year Wash- ington offered him the position of Secretary of State and that of Chief Justice of the United States. In 1799 John Adams appointed him Minister to France. All of these positions he was forced to decline on account of failing health.
The grave of Patrick Henry iies at the back of the old fashioned garden at Red Hill. An oblong slab of marble covers it, with inscription of his name, the dates of his birth and death and the simple words. "His fame his best epitaph."
Under the adjoining slab rests the remains of his wife, Dorothea Dandridge.
.
8
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
among those who voted for these resolutions, which brought on the Revolution. From that day the county of Charlotte was among the foremost in the cause of liberty, her delegates persistently supporting the patriotic measures which were brought forward from time to time. When all efforts to change the oppressive policy of Great Britain had proved vain, and her acts had become more and more harsh and re- vengeful, the county of Charlotte led the way in Virginia in demanding independence. Her instructions on the subject to her delegates, given April 23, 1776, and found in Force's Archives, Vol. V., page 1034, were not only the first in date, but were unsurpassed in ability and patriotism by any which came up from other counties. After reciting the vain en- deavors to affect a reconciliation with Great Britain, the committee of the county addressed Paul Carrington and Thomas Read, their delegates, as follows:
We give it you in charge to use your best endeavors that the dele- gates which are sent to the General Congress are instructed imme- diately to cast off the British yoke, and to enter into a commercial alliance with any nation, or nations, friendly to our cause. And as King George the III., of Great Britian, etc., has manifested deliberate enmity towards us, and under the character of a parent persists in behaving as a tyrant, that they, in our behalf, renounce allegiance to him forever; and that taking the God of heaven to be our King, and depending on his protection and assistance, they plan out the form of government which may the most effectually secure to us the enjoy- ment of our civil and religious rights and privileges to the latest posterity.
The convention, which met in May following, proceeded in the exact line of these instructions to instruct her delegates in Congress to move independence, and at once framed an independent form of government for Virginia.
The county was as brave in defense of American rights as it was quick in recognizing them. It contributed its quota to the regular army, and when, in 1781, General Green retreated through North Carolina, pursued by Cornwallis, and crossing the Dan river, halted and called for reinforcements from Vir- ginia, the militia of Charlotte, under Col. Thomas Read, the county lieutenant, turned out en masse.
9
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
ROANOKE.
The home of the great genius, John Randolph, and of Judge Wood Bouldin, of the Supreme Court.
The original house, which was occupied by John Randolph, was destroyed by fire in 1878, when it was the property of the heirs of the late Judge Wood Boul- din. In figure 1 of the illustration, the house on the right was the kitchen of John Randolph, which was moved up after the burning of the house near it's site. The building on the left is the original office of John Randolph, which remains intact.
In figure 2 of the illustration is the handsome residence of Clarence G. Cheney. of Chicago, built upon the exact site of the original house occupied by John Randolph, which was burnt down in 1878, as above described.
John Randolph was elected to Congress in 1799, and, with the intermis- sion of two terms, served as a member of that body until 1825, when he was elected United States Senator from Virginia, and served from 1825 to 1827. In 1829 he was appointed a member of the Constitutional Convention of Vir- ginia, and in 1830 Minister to Russia. He died in Philadelphia in 1833 and was buried at Roanoke. About twenty-five years ago his remains were removed to Richmond and interred in Hollywood cemetery.
Judge Bouldin was a distinguished lawyer ; was a member of the Convenl- tion of 1861 ; became a Judge of the Supreme Court April 2, 1872, which posi- tion he held until his death, October 10, 1876. His remains are buried at Roanoke,
10
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
E
MULBERRY HILL. The home of Paul Carrington, Revolutionary patriot and Supreme Court judge.
The house was built entirely with timbers grown upon the place, and with the exception of the left wing, which was added afterwards, presents the same appearance as when first built. The property is now owned by his great grandson, Panl C. McPhail.
PUBLIC POSITIONS HELD BY PAUL CARRINGTON.
Appointed King's Attorney of Bedford May 3, 1756, Major of Lunenburg Malitia in 1761, Colonel of Charlotte Malitia December 3, 1764, Member of House of Burgesses from Charlotte 1765 to 1775, King's Attorney of Mecklen- burg November 3, 1767, Botetourt May 4, 1770, Lunenburg October 13. 1770, County Lieutenant of Charlotte April 11, 1772, Clerk of Halifax November 17, 1772, Member of State Convention August, 1774, Chairman of Charlotte County Committee 1774-1776, Member State Conventions March. 1775, July, 1775, and December 1, 1775, Member of first Committee of Safety Angust to December, 1775, and Second Committee of Safety January to July, 1776, Con- vention of May 20 to July 5, 1776, House of Delegates 1776 to 1778, State Convention 1788, Member of Committee to Draft Bill of Rights and Consti- tution, was one of the Charter Trustees of Hampden-Sidney College.
He was a member of the first General Court in 1778. In 1779 he was elected a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which position he held until 1807. when he resigned at the age of seventy-five years. Ilis letter of resigna- tion to Governor William 11. Cabell begins thus : " I have served my country for forty-two years without intermission, twenty-nine of those years devoted to the judiciary department, and being now in the seventy-fifth year of my age, I think it time for me to retire from public business to the exalted station of a private citizen." He died in the year 1818 and is buried at Mulberry Hill.
11
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
Many of the men followed General Greene when he re- crossed the Dan and drove the British general into Wilming- ton. When, afterwards, Cornwallis returned to Virginia and was reinforced, a further call was made for men, Colonel Read reported to the Governor that every man capable of bearing arms in the county was ready to march, if he could be armed, although many of them had just returned from service with General Greene.
This militia was a part of that brave band that withstood the British regulars at Guilford, and came near destroying the army of Cornwallis. The officers of the county met and tendered their services to the Governor, though they had just returned from North Carolina. Their names are worthy of lasting remembrance. They were Thomas Read, County Lieutenant, Lieutenant-Colonel Joel Watkins, and Lieutenant- Colonel Morton; Captains W. Morton, White, Barksdale, James Morton, Richard Gaines, Jr., Spencer, Holloway, Wallace, and Jameson.
They sent their communication to Richmond by Lieutenant Madison. The Charlotte militia were placed under the gal- lant General Robert Lawson. of Prince Edward, and served under Lafayette in the campaign, ending in the surrender of the army of Cornwallis at Yorktown, which virtually closed the war.
While the militia were with Lafayette, Colonel Tarleton, the celebrated British officer, led a raid through the northern part of the county into Campbell, and traversed also the lower part of it on his return to the main force near Norfolk. He met with such a warm reception, however, from the men at home that he reported that he suffered at least as much injury as he in- flicted.
Among the soldiers of the county who distinguished them- selves during the Revolution should be mentioned Colonel Clement Carrington, son of Judge Paul Carrington. He joined the legion of General Harry Lee when a youth, and, after distinguishing himself in the service, was severely wounded at Eutaw. He lived to serve the county with dis- tinction in the Legislature and in the County Court for many years after the Revolution.
12
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
INGLESIDE.
The home of Colonel, Thomas Read, a patriot of the Revolution.
The house was built in the year 1810, and a brick office in the yard, not shown in the picture, was for a long time the clerk's office of the county- until the death of Colonel Read, in 1817. At his death Ingleside became the property of the late Henry Carrington, who lived there until his death in the year 1867. About the year 1870 it was sold to the late John W. Daniel, whose heirs now own it.
Colonel Read was the first, and for fifty-two years, clerk of the county. He was county lieutenant during the War of the Revolution ; marched with the County Levy to Petersburg, and again to oppose Cornwallis on the Dan. He was a member of the Conventions of 1774-1775 and 1776, and in the Con- vention of 1788 he opposed the adoption of the Federal Constitution.
13
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
WOODFORK.
The home of Colonel Joel Watkins, another Revolutionary patriot.
At his death, in 1820, it became the property of his son, Captain Henry A. Watkins. Upon his death, in the year 1848, it became the property of Dr. Joel Watkins, and is now owned by the heirs of the late James W. Elliott.
The small house on the right was the home of Colouel Joel Watkins. The large brick house on the left was built in 1829, and the home of Captain Henry A. Watkins.
John Randolph wrote the following obituary of Colonel Joel Watkins :
"On Sunday, the 2ud of January, 1820, departed this life, at an advanced age, beloved, honored and lamented by all who knew him, Colonel Joel Watkins, of the county of Charlotte and State of Virginia.
" Without shining abilities, or the advantages of education, by plain and straight forward industry, under the guidance of old fashioned honesty and practical good sense, he accumulated an ample fortune, in which it is firmly believed by all who knew him there was not one dirty shilling.
"The fruits of his labors he distributed with a promtitude and liberality seldom equalled, never surpassed, in suitable provision to his children at thelr entrance in life, and on every deserving object of private benevolence, or publle spirit, reserving to himself the means of a generous but unostentatious hospi- tality.
" Nor was he liberal of his money only. His time, his trouble, were never withheld on the bench, In his neighborhood, where they could be usually employed.
" If, as we are assured, the peace makers are blessed, who shall feel stronger assurances of bliss than must have smoothed this old man's passage to the unknown world."
14
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
After the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown 'many of the French troops were wintered in Virginia, and some were quartered at Marysville, the county seat of Charlotte. By the gold they paid out, the distress of the people for lack of a sound currency was greatly relieved, and there was a most agreeable intercourse between them and the citizens of the county.
When Virginia assumed independence and adopted a Bill of Rights and Constitution, the principle of religious liberty was embodied in the fundamental law of the State, but the Legis- lature was slow to repeal the laws supporting the Episcopal Church by taxation. At the first session of the new Legisla- ture, in 1776, the Baptists and Presbyterians sent up memo- rials, urging that religious liberty be fully established.
The Presbyterians acted through their church court, Han- over Presbytery, and its very able memorial was drawn by Rev. Caleb Wallace, the pastor of Cub Creek church, and one of the Scotch-Irish settlers in Charlotte. These memorials caused the tax for church support to be suspended, and the memorial drawn by Mr. Wallace is so like the celebrated bill of Mr. Jefferson, for the establishment of religious liberty subsequently offered and adopted, that a comparison will show that the memorial suggested the bill.
In the War of 1812, the county was no less prompt to do her duty than in the Revolution. When Admiral Cockburn en- tered Chesapeake bay in May, 1813, with a British fleet, and the attack upon Craney Island, near the mouth of Elizabeth river, was made, an artillery company from Charlotte, under the command of Captain John D. Richardson, carried off the laurels of the day in repelling the enemy, who soon after left the bay.
Nor did the late War between the States find any decline in the valor of the county. She furnished her full quota of troops, including infantry, cavalry and artillery. From the first shock of the conflict at Rich mountain, through all the campaigns and hard fought battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, and in the last sad drama at Appomattox, her sons bore honorable part. The first and last guns of the war were fired by them. Six companies of infantry were in Pickett's
15
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
.
THE RESIDENCE OF COLONEL JOSEPH MORTON. -
Built by him in 1735 on a tract of land on Little Roanoke granted to him by George the III., the original grant being in the possession of Dr. Goodrich V. Morton, of Texas. The plantation is now owned by one of his descendants, J. F. Morton.
Joseph Morton was one of the early pioneers of this section, and settled upon the above place, when there was not a neighbor in thirty miles of him. He was a surveyor by profession, was a member of the House of Burgesses and also a member of the County Court of Charlotte for many years, owned a large estate, and was a man of great influence. All of the lands patented by him are still in the possession of his descendants.
His son, Colonel William Morton, was a distinguished Revolutionary officer, and at the battle of Guilford "slew the gallant Colonel Webster, the pride of the army of Cornwallis."
16
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK 1
1 -
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CUB CREEK CHURCH.
The Mother Presbyterian Church of this part of Virginia. The first house of worship built and congregation organized about 1735.
The original building is probably a part of the present one, which assumed its present shape, with elevated front, about 1852. The first preacher was the Rev. William Robinson.
The neighborhood was originally " The Caldwell Settlement," led by John Caldwell, the grandfather of John C. Calhoun.
Many distinguished Divines have graced its pulpit. Rev. Sam'l Davies often preached there. Dr. Archibald Alexander and Dr. John H. Rice also preached there, the former 1795-7, the latter (ordained there) 1804-1812. Rev. Clement Read soon afterwards, until about 1842. The village church, Bethesda, Hermon and Roanoke churches are daughters of Cub Creek.
17
CHARLOTTE COUNTY HAND BOOK
division, Longstreet's corps, which made the celebrated charge at Gettysburg, which for bravery and steadiness has never been surpassed in the annals of war.
Approximately 1,500 soldiers enlisted in the Civil War; all on the Confederate side-no negro soldiers.
Among those who gave their lives and their fortunes to this cause, it will not be considered invidious to mention the name of the late Colonel H. A. Carrington, who commanded the Eighteenth regiment, nor can we repress those noble senti- ments of the human heart which compel us to reverence the memory of such a patriot.
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