History of Augusta County, Virginia, Part 1

Author: Peyton, John Lewis
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Staunton, Yost
Number of Pages: 420


USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > History of Augusta County, Virginia > Part 1


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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



PRESENTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO BY THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY


BALTIMORE 1890


Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation


http://www.archive.org/details/historyofaugusta00peytuoft


P5195h


HISTORY


-OF-


AUGUSTA COUNTY,


VIRGINIA;


-BY-


J. LEWIS PEYTON,


Author of "The American Crisis, or Pages from the Note Book of a State Agent during the Civil War;""Over the Alleghanies and Across the Prairies, or Personal Recollections of the Far West one-and-twenty Years Ago;" "A Statistical View of the State of Illinois," etc.


STAUNTON, VIRGINIA : SAMUEL M. YOST & SON. MDCCCLXXXII.


All rights reserved.


1


COPYRIGHTED.


6054 6/10/96


FRANK PRUFER & SON, Binders. Staunton, Va.


INTRODUCTION.


A county remote from the first scenes of European settlement in Vir- ginia ; not visited by whites until 1716; uncolonized till 1732, and organ- ized less than a century and a half ago, appears to offer few materials for history. The Valley of Virginia, in the heart of which Augusta lies, was unknown to the whites for more than a hundred years after the landing at Jamestown. During this long period no effort was made to penetrate into what was supposed to be an impenetrable region lying beyond high and inaccessible mountains. No one ventured to overcome these obstacles of nature, and to enter a dismal solitude of irremediable barrenness and per- petual gloom, whose air was said to be infectious and mortal, the ground covered with serpents, the forests infested by wild beasts, and the indige- nous inhabitants a race of fierce and brutal savages, hating strangers and implacable in their cruelty. It was only after the return of the " Knights of the Golden Horseshoe" from their successful expedition over the mountains and into the Valley, that all previous accounts were discovered to be fabulous, and what was hitherto considered an accursed land, was found to be a delightful region, blessed with a delicious climate, rich fields, groves, shades and streams. From this period many persons seriously considered the question of making their homes in these hesperian regions, and within less than twenty years of Spotswood's return the Valley became the permanent home of Europeans. The early history of the discovery and occupation of the country west of the great mountains, so far as the present County of Augusta is concerned, is illustrated by few traditionary legends or incidents of border warfare, beyond the ordinary privations attending a new settlement, but when the entire territory which bore her name from 1738 to 1790, comes under view, it is eminently worthy of his- torical relation. A small remnant only of the adventures of our western pioneers is preserved. Much of the information, collected here and there from tradition, is uncertain and some of it absurd, yet we know enough as to their patient perseverance in subduing the wilds of nature; of their dauntless valor in their wars with the savages, (whose native courage was


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HISTORY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.


improved before these wars began, by the use of arms and the knowledge of discipline,) and of the events of those bloody struggles, to render their history both interesting and instructive.


A strong wish to preserve, in a permanent form, a record of the past, that it may no longer be clouded by ignorance nor perplexed by fiction ; to rescue from unmerited oblivion the memories of our founders, whose heirs we are, with respect to civil and religious laws, language, science and territory ; to keep alive in their descendants a love and veneration for their memories and a spirit of patriotism, has been the chief incentive to this work. It has been well said that a love of country and its institutions and distinguished benefactors is as natural to man as is the love of those who are endeared to him by his earliest, his most pleasing and permanent asso- ciations. And this sentiment inspires a deep sense of obligation to bene- factors, and to that Being who, in His infinite mercy, is the bestower of every blessing enjoyed by man. It cannot be denied that to our fore- fathers we owe much of the happiness and prosperity we now enjoy, and every worthy descendant of those gallant and adventurous spirits must feel a strong desire to become intimately acquainted with their characters and history. A remembrance of what is past, and an anticipation of what is to come, seem to be the two faculties by which man differs from most animals. Though beasts enjoy them in a limited degree, yet their whole life seems taken up in the present, regardless of the past and the future. Man, on the contrary, endeavors to derive his happiness, and experiences most of his miseries, from these two sources.


That every existing history of Virginia is incomplete, is generally ad- mitted and regretted. The student must still have recourse to Hening's Statutes at Large as the best record of the intellectual and moral advance- ment in our Commonwealth. When a complete history of Virginia is written, it will contain not only a full account of her political, civil and military transactions, but a clear and concise exposition of the character of her authors, scholars, statesmen, jurists and warriors, and also a view of her physical resources. Before such a comprehensive work can be com- posed, it is necessary to obtain true and precise details of private and pre- liminary transactions. In history, it is not the great and striking events that are instructive, but the accessory facts or the circumstances that have prepared or produced them. This is evident, because it is only by a knowledge of the preparatory circumstances that we can be enabled to avoid or to obtain similar results. It is not from the issue of a battle that we receive instruction, but from the different movements that led to its decision, which, though less splendid, are, however the causes, while the event is only the effect. Such is the importance of those details that, without them, the term of comparison is vicious, and has no analogy with the object to which we would apply it. The history of a county should


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HISTORY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.


abound in details, so necessary to the elucidation of the different parts of a general history; and if a complete history of each county cannot be now written, all the fragments, at least, should be collected and put in order, as necessary to just conclusions, as to the formation of society, the mechanism of government, and a correct view of the habits, manners, opinions, laws, internal and external regimen of each community or state. The gathering together of this material for a history of Virginia, its pre- servation in a convenient shape for reference-(it has been well said to know where you can find a thing is, in fact, the greatest part of learning)- is one of the duties which the present owes to the future.


With these views, the writer has undertaken the task of preparing a history of his native county. In the scope of his design, he could only aim at a brief sketch or outline of the subject previous to 1790, when the county assumed its present confines. He has endeavored to exhibit the principal events which belong to the history of the Valley and the western country,-or that part of Augusta without the existing limits of the county,-in the most general and simple terms, confining himself, for the most part, in the case of Indian depredations, murders, massacres, &c., to those which occurred within a certain area, or territory, not too remote from the present county. He has made free use of the works of various authors ; he pretends to no originality, and offers his production to the public in the hope that it may prove useful and acceptable.


Under the head of Excerpts, Ana, &c., it has been found convenient to insert, at the close of several chapters, anecdotes, incidents related by living persons, genealogical memoranda, extracts from public records, original deeds, etc. Such matters could not be included in the text with- out interfering too much with the thread of the narrative. He has not sifted the evidence as to the authenticity of all these anecdotes, etc., but where there was a probability, from the story itself and the circumstances of the times that it was true,-where the matter was not inconsistent with nature and reason,-he has given them as he has found them in the news- papers or as they have been related to him. In this, the author has but followed the course of Herodotus, the father of profane history. History had its commencement in traditions, or narratives transmitted from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation. Indeed, before the art of printing was invented there was little else than these traditions. Such was the difficulty of multiplying books when writing was the only means by which they could be produced. While, therefore, implicit con- fidence may not always be placed in the stories handed down to us, we are not irreverently to reject them, unless irrational, contrary to nature and sound judgment. These scattered traditions, anecdotes and reminis- cences are so many living monuments of antiquity, and serve at once to instruct and amuse.


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HISTORY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.


It may, perhaps, be proper to make a further remark. In a work of t his nature the author could not, without swelling the volume to unreason- able proportions, seek to minutely detail the policy or exhibit the springs and motives of government. He has, therefore, in general restricted him- self to a plain exhibition of facts and events. It would be vain to attempt to unravel the tangled maze of British, French and Spanish politics in their connection with each other and their American colonies, within the limits necessarily assigned to the present volume. The intricacies of the complex machinery of government form a difficult study in themselves, and are therefore left, with other grave matters, to more competent hands.


In the appendix he has brought together all the information he could procure, or which was supplied to him by friends, as to the families of the pioneers or early settlers, and to this has been added a third part made up of biographical notices. These biographies are given, because biography is the hand-maid of history, portrait-painting for posterity, and the memory of our pioneer fathers and distinguished men is passing away, and will soon be forgotten unless some attempt be made to rescue it from impending oblivion. The heroes, who flourished before Agamemnon, says the Ro- man poet, passed into forgetfulness for want of a recording pen. Cicero eloquently remarks, the life of the dead is retained in the memory of the living, but a lethean wave will soon obliterate the remembrance of both living and dead, without the biographer's pen. If an apology is needed for his course it will be found in the remark of Lord Macaulay, who has justly observed : "A people, which takes no pride in the noble achieve- ments of remote ancestors, will never achieve anything worthy to be re- membered with pride by remote descendants."


The writer solicits indulgence for such errors, omissions or imperfec- tions as may be found in his work, and will endeavor to render a second edition, if one should be called for, more worthy of public favor. In the progress of the work he has had frequent occasion to seek in various quar- ters for information, but has not thought it necessary to weary the reader by crowding his pages with references. All those interested in preserving facts worthy of being transmitted to posterity were invited through the Staunton papers to communicate them to him. He regrets that much apathy exists on the part of the general public, and that information was frequently received too late to be always introduced where it properly be- longed. Notwithstanding this apathy, he has received from many so kind and ready a response to his appeal for information as to have excited his deep gratitude. He cannot forbear mentioning, in this connection, the spontaneous kindness of the following gentlemen, which has enabled him to enrich the work in many particulars : Rev. William T. Price, R. A. Brock, Joseph A. Waddell, Judge William McLaughlin, Hon. A. H. H. Stuart, Judge J. H. McCue, Wm. Withrow, Rev. J. S. Martin, Wm. E.


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HISTORY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.


Craig,.T.S. Doyle, Mathew Pilson, Chas. Campbell, Dr. C. Berkley, Dr. J. T. Clark, William M. Tate, George M. Cochran, jr., A. G. Christian, Marshall Hanger, J. H. Wayt, Maj. H. M. Bell, Hon. Absolom Koiner, J. W. Craw- ford, William Frazier, Hon. R. W. Thompson, Col. D. S. Young, J. N. Ryan, J. S. Gilliam, W. H. Peyton, W. A. Burnett, Joseph B. Woodward, Rev. John McVerry, Hon. Thomas Barry, D. A Kayser and A. H. Davies.


To the people of Augusta, who love their native land, and who will peruse the work with interest, he commends the volume.


STEEPHILL, NEAR STAUNTON, VA., November, 1882.


J. L. P.


THE HISTORY


-OF -


AUGUSTA COUNTY.


CHAPTER I.


-


ANCIENT LIMITS.


The County of Augusta was ushered into existence the 12th year of the reign of George II., as one of the shires of the colony of Virginia. No reason appears in the act establishing the county for the name, but it is believed to have been selected in honor of the Princess Augusta, wife of Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, and daughter of Frederick II. Duke of Saxe-Gotha. Frederick county was created at the same time, and it is said, with good reason, to have derived its name from the Prince of Wales himself. From the act, which we quote in full from Hening's Statutes, vol. 5, pp. 78-79, it will be seen that Augusta and Frederick are twin sisters :


ACT FOR ESTABLISHING THE TWO COUNTIES PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA NOV. IST, 1738.


I. Whereas, great numbers of people have settled themselves of late upon the rivers of Sherrando*, Cohengoruto and Opeckon, and the branches thereof, on the N. W. side of the Blue Ridge mountains, where- by the strength of this colony. and its security upon the frontiers, and H. M.'s revenue of quit rents are like to be much increased and augment- ed : For giving encouragement to such as shall think fit to settle there,


II. Be it 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 all that territory and tract of land, at present deemed to be part of the county of Orange, lying on the northwest side of the top of the said mountains, extending from thence northerly, westerly and southerly, beyond the said mountains, to the utmost limits of Virginia, be


*Sherrando, or Shenandoah, signifies, in the Indian tongue, Beautiful Daughter of the Stars.


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HISTORY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.


separated from the rest of the said county and erected into two distinct counties and parishes ; to be divided by a line to be run from the head spring at Hedgman river to the head spring of the river Potomack. And that all that part of the said territory lying to the northeast of the said line, beyond the top of the said Blue Ridge, shall be one distinct county and parish, to be called by the name of the County of Frederick and parish of Frederick; and that the rest of the said territory, lying on the other side of the said line, beyond the top of the said Blue Ridge, shall be one other distinct county and parish. to be called by the name of the County of Augusta and parish of Augusta.


III. Provided, always, That the said new counties and parishes shall remain part of the County of Orange and parish of Saint Mark until it shall be made appear to the Governor and Council, for the time being, that there is a sufficient number of inhabitants for appointing justices of the peace and other officers, and erecting courts therein for the due ad- ministration of justice, so as the inhabitants of the said new counties and parishes be henceforth exempted from the payment of all public county and parish levies in the County of Orange and the parish of St. Mark ; yet, that such exemption be not construed to extend to any of the said levies laid and assessed at or before the passing of this act.


IV. And be it further enacted That after a court be constituted in the said new counties respectively, the court for the said County of Frederick be held monthly upon the second Friday; and the court for the said County of Augusta be held upon the second Monday in every month, and that the said counties and parishes, respectively, shall have and enjoy all rights and privileges and advantages whatsoever belonging to the other counties and parishes of this colony. And for the better encouragement of aliens, and the more easy naturalization of such as shall come to inhabit there,


V. Be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the Gov- ernor or Commander-in-Chief of this colony, for the time being, to grant letters of naturalization to any such alien, upon a certificate from the clerk of any county court, of his or their having taken instead of the oaths of allegiance and supremacy ; and taken and subscribed the oath of adjura- tion, and subscribed the test, in like manner, as he may do upon taking and subscribing the same before himself.


VI. And for the more easy payment of all levies, secretary's clerk, sheriff's and other officers' fees, by the inhabitants of the said new co' n- ties, Be it further enacted, That the said levies and fees shall and may be paid in money, or tobacco at three farthings per pound, without any de- duction .- And that the said counties be and are hereby exempted from public levies for ten years.


VII. Provided, nevertheless, That from and after the passing of this act no allowance whatsoever shall be made to any person for killing wolves within the limits of the said new counties. Any law, custom, or usage to the contrary hereof, notwithstanding.


VIII. And for the better ordering of all parochial affairs in the said new parishes, Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, 'That the freeholders and housekeepers of the same, respectively, shall meet at such time and place as the Governor or Commander-in-Chief of this dominion, for the time being, with the advice of the Council, shall appoint, by precept under his hand, and the seal of the colony, to be directed to the sheriffs of the


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HISTORY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.


said new counties, respectively, and by the said sheriffs publickly adver- tised ; and then and there elect twelve of the most able and discreet per- sons of their said parishes, respectively : which persons so elected, having taken the oaths appointed by law and subscribed to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, shall to all intents and purposes be deemed and taken to be the vestries of the said new parishes respectively."


The " utmost limits of Virginia," as expressed in this act for the western boundary of Augusta County, was the Mississippi river, beyond which were situated the French possessions known as Louisiana. This region was explored by the French in 1512 and partly colonized by them in 1699. In the year 1717 it was granted by the Crown to the Mississippi Company, but three years later was resumed by the Crown, and in 1763 was ceded to Spain, but was recovered by Napoleon in 1800. New Orleans was the southern and St. Louis the northern capital of these vast territories. The French claimed that their possessions extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the St. Lawrence, a claim that ignored the rights of English colonists to any portion of the western territory, or country lying beyond the Ohio river. In support of their pretensions, the French erected forts and block- houses at intervals from the great Lakes through the western part of Pennsylvania to the Ohio, then along the banks of that stream to its junc- tion with the Mississippi, whence their chain of military posts followed the course of the latter river to its mouth. The English colonists, more par- ticularly the people of Augusta, found themselves by these proceedings of the French, hemmed in-prevented all expansion westward. A conflict, then, between the two races, the French and the English colonists of Au- gusta, Pennsylvania and New York, was, under these circumstances, soon- er or later, inevitable. A conflict in fact took place as early as 1753, on the banks of the Ohio, between some English settlers and the garrison of one of the forts already referred to. Both parties hastened to lay the story of their injuries before their respective governments. The conse- quence was a long and sanguinary war between England and France, in which half of Europe became involved.


In this war Braddock's defeat temporarily delayed, but could not avert, the final catastrophe. The superior numbers and indomitable resolution of the Anglo-Saxon in the end prevailed. Canada was conquered and the forts on the Ohio were necessarily abandoned. France, it is true, still retained Louisiana, which comprehended not simply the present area of that State, but, as we have said, a vast tract of territory extending from the Gulf to the 49° of north latitude, and from the Mississippi river on the east to the Mexican frontier on the west. The territory embraced within the French claim is now known as Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. To the eastern limits of this vast region, the Mississippi river, the western


4


HISTORY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.


boundary of Augusta county, extended under this act, and from its ancient territory were subsequently carved the present States of West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and part of Pennsylvania. It is not our purpose to write the history of this extensive region, now the seat of many great and prosperous Commonwealths. Its history, how- ever, cannot be altogether omitted in our work. It was part of Augusta county for over fifty years subsequent to 1738, was the native land of many of the savage tribes who harassed the border, the scene of the French and Indian war, and the wars of 1764, 1774, and of many civil and military expeditions, and, in fact, of continual Indian hostilities for forty years pre- vious to 1794, when the brilliant victory at the Rapids of the Maumee by Gen. Wayne brought permanent peace to the frontier.


All the events occurring in this region from the first settlement of Au- gusta had more or less influence upon the fortunes of the people of the Valley, and the inhabitants of Augusta and the Valley were so involved in them that they form in some measure a part of our history.


ABORIGINAL POPULATION.


At the period, 1716, of Col. Spotswood's discovery of the Valley, it was the camping, hunting-ground or residence of numerous tribes of Indians. These tribes, while wandering in pursuit of game from place to place dur- ing a considerable part of the year, possessed a few scattered villages, comprising a limited number of habitations, of the most imperfect con- struction, where they were in the habit of passing their winters and where they left their wives, children and old men during their absence. Round about these rude villages some feeble and ill-directed attempts at agricul- ture announced the more frequented and permanent haunts of savage life.


Many learned disquisitions exist as to the origin of these red men, and it cannot be denied that the origin, history, languages, and condition of the aborigines present ample materials for speculation. Among the Cen- tral and South American nations, notably in Mexico and Peru, many evi- dences exist of a regular, but limited civilization, but for the most part the tribes of both North and South America were, on the discovery of Colum- bus, composed of roving savages in a brutal state of abasement. Not- withstanding the greater progress among some of the aborigines, and certain physical differences, the Patagonians being generally over six feet high and the Esquimaux less than five feet,-a race of deformed and diminutive savages who tremble at the sound of arms,-the varieties of complexion, etc., those scholars whose opinions are entitled to most respect are agreed that there are sufficient points of general resemblance in all the nations of North and South America to justify the belief that they are sprung from one primitive pair. Religion, philosophy, geology, history and tradition combine to teach that man was created in Asia, and that his


5


HISTORY OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.


home after the flood continued in the high lands and lofty mountain regions of the Eastern continent.


While much obscurity rests on the question of the origin of the Ameri- can tribes, it may be stated as the settled opinion that our continent was peopled from different quarters of the old world. Space will not permit us to enter into an examination of this subject, of the causes which drove the Asiatic tribes from their native seats, which impelled their march to- wards the northeastern portion of the Eastern continent, and finally brought them to the shores of the New World. In their route to America there was no particular obstacle. Behring's Straits, the water they are believed to have crossed, is only 39 miles wide; in it there are two islands, and in winter it is frozen over, so that quadrupeds as well as man can pass. And it has been well said that water is the highway of the savage, to whom, with- out an axe, the jungle is impervious. Even civilized man migrates by sea and rivers, and has ascended 2,000 miles above the mouth of the Missouri, while interior tracts in Virginia, New York and Ohio are still a wilderness. To the uncivilized man, no path is free but the sea, the lake and the river.




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