USA > Virginia > Orange County > Orange County > A History of Orange County, Virginia > Part 6
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October Ist. Our ladies overslept themselves this morning, so that we did not break our fast till ten. We drank tea made of the leaves of ginseng, which has the virtues of the root in a weaker degree, and is not disagreeable.
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2d. This being the day appointed for my departure from hence, I packed up my effects in good time; but the ladies, whose dear companies we were to have to the mines, were a little tedious in their equipment. However we made a shift to get into the coach by ten o'clock; but little master, who is under no government, would by all means go on horseback. Before we set out I gave Mr. Russel the trouble of distributing a pistole among the servants, of which I fancy the nurse had a pretty good share, being no small favourite. We drove over a fine road to the mines, which lie thirteen measured miles from the Germanna, each mile being marked distinctly upon the trees. The Colonel has a great deal of land in his mine tract exceedingly barren, and the growth of trees upon it is hardly big enough for coaling. However, the treasure under ground makes amends, and renders it worthy to be his lady's jointure. We lighted at the mines, which are a mile nearer Ger- manna than the furnace. They raise abundance of ore there, great part of which is very rich. We saw his engineer blow it up after the following manner. He drilled a hole about eighteen inches deep, humouring the situation of the mine. When he had dried it with a rag fastened to a worm, he charged it with a cart- ridge containing four ounces of powder, including the priming. Then he rammed the hole up with soft stone to the very mouth; after that he pierced through all with an iron called a primer, which is taper and ends in a short point. Into the hole which the primer makes, the priming is put, which is fired by a paper moistened with a solution of saltpetre. And this burns leisurely enough, it seems, to give time to the persons concerned to retreat out of harm's way. All the land hereabouts seems paved with iron ore; so that there seems to be enough to feed a furnace for many ages. From hence we proceeded to the furnace, which is built of rough stone, having been the first of that kind erected in the
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country. It had not blown for several moons, the Col- onel having taken off great part of his people to carry on his air furnace at Massaponax. Here the wheel that carried the bellows was no more than twenty feet diam- eter; but was an overshot wheel that went with little water. This was necessary here, because water is something scarce, notwithstanding it is supplied by two streams, one of which is conveyed 1900 feet through wooden pipes, and the other 60. The name of the founder employed at present is one Godfrey, of the kingdom of Ireland, whose wages is three shillings and six-pence per ton for all the iron he runs, and his pro- visions. This man told me that the best wood for coaling is red oak. He complained that the Colonel starves his works out of whimsicalness and frugality, endeavouring to do everything with his own people, and at the same time taking them off upon every vagary that comes into his head. Here the coal carts discharge their loads at folding doors, made at the bot- tom, which is sooner done, and shatters the coal less. They carry no more than one hundred and ten bushels. The Colonel advised me by all means to have the coal made on the same side the river with the furnace, not only to avoid the charge of boating and bags, but like- wise to avoid breaking of the coals, and making them less fit for use. Having picked the bones of a sirloin of beef, we took leave of the ladies, and rode together about five miles, where the roads parted. The Colonel took that to Massaponax, which is fifteen miles from his furnace, and very level, and I that to Fredericksburg, which cannot be less than twenty. I was a little benighted, and should not have seen my way, if the lightning, which flashed continually in my face, had not befriended me. I got about seven o'clock to Col. Harry Willis's, a little moistened with the rain; but a glass of good wine kept my pores open, and prevented all rheums and defluxions for that time.
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3d. I was obliged to rise early here that I might not starve my landlord, whose constitution requires him to swallow a beef-steak before the sun blesses the earth with its genial rays. However, he was so complaisant as to bear the gnawing of his stomach, till eight o'clock for my sake. Colonel Waller, after a score of loud hems to clear his throat, broke his fast along with us. When this necessary affair was despatched, Colonel Willis walked me about his town of Fredericksburg. It is pleasantly situated on the south shore of Rappahan- nock River, about a mile below the falls. Sloops may come up and lie close to the wharf, within 30 yards of the public ware-houses, which are built in the figure of a cross. Just by the wharf is a quarry of white stone that is very soft in the ground, and hardens in the air, appearing to be as fair and fine grained as that of Port- land. Besides that there are several other quarries in the river bank, within the limits of the town, sufficient to build a large city. The only edifice of stone yet built is the prison ; the walls of which are strong enough to hold Jack Sheppard, if he had been transported thither. Though this be a commodious and beautiful situation for a town, with the advantages of a navigable river and wholesome air, yet the inhabitants are very few. Besides Colonel Willis, who is the top man of the place, there are only one merchant, a tailor, a smith, and an ordinary keeper; though I must not forget Mrs. Levistone, who acts here in the double capacity of a doctress and coffee woman. And were this a populous city, she is qualified to exercise two other callings. It is said that the courthouse and the church are going to be built here, and then both religion and justice will help to enlarge the place. Two miles from this place is a spring strongly impregnated with alum, and so is the earth all about it. This water does wonders for those that are afflicted with a dropsy. And on the other side the river, in King George County, 12 miles from hence,
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is another spring of strong steel water as good as that at Tunbridge Wells. Not far from this last spring are England's iron mines, called so from the chief manager of them, though the land belongs to Mr. Washington. These mines are two miles from the furnace, and Mr. Washington raises the ore, and carts it thither for 20 shillings the ton of iron that it yields. The furnace is built on a run, which discharges its waters into Poto- mac. And when the iron is cast, they cart it about six miles to a landing on that river. Besides Mr. Wash- ington and Mr. England, there are several other per- sons, in England, concerned in these works. Matters are very well managed there, and no expense is spared to make them profitable, which is not the case in the works I have already mentioned.
CHAPTER XII.
The Knights of the Horseshoe.
It has been stated that Governor Spotswood's tra- montane expedition started from Germanna. The Governor, and John Fontaine, who had been an ensign in the British army and had lately come to Virginia, came thither from Williamsburg, and Fontaine's quaint Journal constitutes the historical warp and woof of any account that can be given of the expedition.
The gentlemen of the party appear to have been Spotswood, Fontaine, Beverley, the historian of Vir- ginia in 1703, Colonel Robertson, Austin Smith, who abandoned the expedition the second day because of sickness, Todd, Dr. Robinson, Taylor, Brooke, Mason, and Captains Clouder and Smith; the whole number of the party was about fifty, and as Campbell remarks and the Journal shows, they had "an abundant supply of provisions and an extraordinary variety of liquors." Probably but for the frequent manifestations of loyalty by the party in drinking the healths of the royal family and themselves, a better idea could be formed of the route followed. Suffice it to say here that it appears to have been wholly within the confines of what was then Spotsylvania, and afterwards became Orange County.
Rev. Dr. Philip Slaughter, in his "History of St. Mark's Parish" undertook to outline the route, and even to
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attempt a diagram of it. Manifestly there is so much conjecture in both the outline and diagram that it can- not be accepted as serious history. It confutes itself by its own ingenuity.
Names of places, as given in the Journal, have come down to the present time, as Mine Run, and Mountain Run. The forks of the Rappahannock above Ger- manna can only mean the confluence of the Robertson and Rapidan rivers; after that all is confusion and pure guesswork until Swift Run is reached.
Fontaine calls the Rapidan the Rappahannock, its true name at that period, throughout the westward journey ; returning he calls it the Rapidan, a name it never had until so called by Spotswood about the date of this expedition.
Beverley says, in the preface to the second edition of his "History of Virginia" (1722), contradicting a more absurd statement of Oldmixon; "I was with the present Governor at the head spring of both these rivers (Rap- pahannock and York) and their fountains are in the highest ridge of mountains;" Dr. Slaughter, that, "as Swift Run Gap is the only 'pass' which the head waters of York, James and Rappahannock approximate, etc." The well ascertained fact is that the ultimate head springs of the York are within a few miles of Gordons- ville, and the head spring of the Rappahannock some miles to the east of Swift Run Gap; so both these con- tentions fall.
Fontaine's statement is simply that they "came to the very head spring of James River where it runs no bigger than a man's arm from under a big stone," where
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they drank many healths at the very top of the Appala- chian Mountains; and that about a musket shot from this spring there is another which runs down on the other side. This statement can be confirmed by any traveller through the gap, and his general description of the near approach to the gap is very realistic as one follows the turnpike, Journal in hand. Of course this head spring of the James is its eastern head spring, and the spring distant from it about a musket shot flows into the Shenandoah and thence into the Potomac.
There is no reason to doubt, and every reason to believe, that this crossing of the Blue Ridge was made in 1716, and was almost certainly the first that had ever been made by any body of white men. So when Spot- sylvania was formed four years later, and its south- western line was run from a "convenient" point on the North Anna to the river on the west side of the great mountains "so as to include the northern passage through the said mountains," and that line has sub- sisted substantially from that day to this, the conclusion seems unavoidable that Swift Run Gap is the place where Spotswood crossed. The line runs but a few miles southwest of the gap, with no intervening good pass.
The footnote to the Journal sufficiently indicates the bestowal of miniature horseshoes upon these gentle- men adventurers, and any further attempted elabora- tion of it would be mere conjecture. It is very remark- able, however, that all of these jeweled tokens of the expedition have disappeared. In the Romance, "The Knights of the Horseshoe," by Dr. Caruthers, is pub- lished a letter from Judge Brooke of Fredericksburg to
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the author in which he testifies that he had seen one of them. Campbell, the careful historian, relates that the one which had belonged to Spotswood was small enough to be worn on a watch chain. Some of them, if not all, were set with jewels.
Curious and careless as it may seem, several Virginia historians have published the legend as "Sic Jurat," instead of " Juvat;" and even John Esten Cooke in his "Stories from the Old Dominion," forfeiting all doubt as to a typographical error, so writes it and then trans- lates his bad Latin, "So they swore to cross the moun- tains;" an error which is corrected in his graver work, the History of Virginia in the "American Common- wealths" series.
It has been impossible to ascertain where the fiction of "knighthood" originated, a dignity which only royalty or quasi royalty could confer : it seems improb- able that the ever loyal Spotswood would have pre- sumed to establish an "Order" of his own.
In a former paragraph it has been stated with confi- dence that this crossing of the Blue Ridge was almost certainly the first by any body of white men; which statement was not made in ignorance of other claims to that distinction. In an "Abridgement of the Public Laws of Virginia in force and use, June 10, 1720, Lon- don, 1728," in the Library of Congress, at page 163-165, there appears an address of the Burgesses to the King, in which it is distinctly stated that there are only two known "passes" through the Blue Ridge : the Northern pass and the one on Roanoke leading to the south. Three white men, an Indian and a "former servant"
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appear to have passed through Wood's Gap, near the North Carolina line, as early as 1671, but nothing was accomplished by them towards opening up the great Valley of Virginia,
"The Discoveries of John Lederer in Three Several Marches from Virginia," published in London in 1672, so discredits itself by travellers' tales, as to forfeit all claim to be called history. From the top of the Blue Ridge he "saw the Atlantic Ocean washing the Vir- ginia shore" and sundry other impossible things; and it seems to be agreed that if, perchance, he did ascend the Blue Ridge he certainly did not descend the western slope. (See Amer. Anthropologist, IX, 45.)
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THE VIRGINIANS OF THE VALLEY. Sic Juvat.
The knightliest of the knightly race, Who, since the days of old,
Have kept the lamps of chivalry Alight in hearts of gold. The kindliest of the kindly band Who rarely hated ease,
Yet rode with Spotswood 'round the land And Raleigh 'round the seas!
Who climbed the blue Virginia hills Amid embattled foes,
And planted there, in Valleys fair, The lily and the rose; Whose fragrance lives in many lands, Whose beauty stars the earth, And lights the hearts of many homes With loveliness and worth.
We thought they slept! these sons who kept The names of noble sires,
And slumbered while the darkness crept Around their Virgin fires! But still the Golden Horseshoe Knights Their Old Dominion keep, Their foes have found enchanted ground But not a Knight asleep.
The above poem, written by Ticknor, of Georgia, about 1861, seems an appropriate introduction to the Journal, as copied from the "Memoirs of a Huguenot Family."
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JOHN FONTAINE'S JOURNAL.
Williamsburg, 20th August, 1716. In the morning got my horses ready, and what baggage was necessary, and I waited on the Governor, who was in readiness for an expedition over the Appalachian mountains. We break- fasted, and about ten got on horseback, and at four came to the Brick-house, upon York River, where we crossed the ferry, and at six we came to Mr. Austin Moor's house, upon Mattapony River, in King William County; here we lay all night and were well enter- tained.
2Ist. Fair weather. At ten we set out from Mr. Moor's, and crossed the river of Mattapony, and con- tinued on the road, and were on horseback till nine of the clock at night, before we came to Mr. Robert Beverley's house, where we were well entertained, and remained this night.
22d. At nine in the morning, we set out from Mr. Beverley's. The Governor left his chaise here, and mounted his horse. The weather fair, we continued on our journey until we came to Mr. Woodford's where we lay, and were well entertained. This house lies on Rappahannock River, ten miles below the falls.
23d. Here we remained all this day, and diverted ourselves and rested our horses.
24th. In the morning at seven, we mounted our horses, and came to Austin Smith's house about ten, where we dined, and remained till about one of the clock, then we set out, and about nine of the clock, we came to the German-town, where we rested that night -bad beds and indifferent entertainment.
German-town, 25th. After dinner we went to see the mines, but I could not observe that there was any good mine. The Germans pretend that it is a silver mine; we took some of the ore and endeavoured to run
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it, but could get nothing out of it, and I am of opinion it will not come to anything, no, not as much as lead. Many of the gentlemen of the county are concerned in this work. We returned to our hard beds.
25th. At seven we got up, and several gentlemen of the country that were to meet the Governor at this place for the expedition arrived here, as also two com- panies of rangers, consisting each of six men and an officer. Four Meherrin Indians also came.
In the morning I diverted myself with other gentle- men shooting at a mark. At twelve we dined, and after dinner we mounted our horses and crossed the Rappahannock River, that runs by this place, and went to find out some convenient place for our horses to feed in, and to view the land hereabouts. Our guide left us, and we went so far in the woods, that we did not know the way back again; so we hallooed and fired our guns. Half an hour after sunset, the guide came to us, and we went to cross the river by another ford higher up. The descent to the river being steep, and the night dark, we were obliged to dismount, and lead our horses down to the river side, which was very troublesome. The bank being very steep, the greatest part of our company went into the water to mount their horses, where they were up to the crotch in water. After we had forded the river and come to the other side, where the bank was steep also, in going up the horse of one of our company slipped and fell back into the river on the top of his rider, but he received no other damage than being heartily wet, which made sport for the rest. A hornet stung one of the gentle- men in the face, which swelled tremendously. About ten we came to the town, where we supped, and to bed.
27th. Got our tents in order, and our horses shod. About twelve, I was taken with a violent headache and pains in all my bones, so that I was obliged to lie down, and was very bad that day.
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28th. About one in the morning, I was taken with a violent fever, which abated about six at night, and I began to take the bark, and had one ounce divided into eight doses, and took two of them by ten of the clock that night. The fever abated, but I had great pains in my head and bones.
29th. In the morning we got all things in readiness, and about one we left the German-town to set out on our intended journey. At five in the afternoon, the Governor gave orders to encamp near a small river, three miles from Germanna, which we called Expedi- tion Run, and here we lay all night. This first encamp- ment was called Beverley Camp in honor of one of the gentlemen of our party. We made great fires, and supped, and drank good punch. By ten of the clock I had taken all of my ounce of Jesuit's Bark, but my head was much out of order.
30th. In the morning about seven of the clock, the trumpet sounded to awake all the company, and we got up. One Austin Smith, one of the gentlemen with us, having a fever, returned home. We had lain upon the ground under cover of our tents, and we found by the pains in our bones that we had not had good beds to lie upon. At nine in the morning, we sent our ser- vants and baggage forward, and we remained because two of the Governor's horses had strayed. At half past two we got the horses, at three we mounted, and at half an hour after four we came up with our baggage at a small river, three miles on the way, which we called Mine River, because there was an appearance of a silver mine by it. We made about three miles more, and came to another small river, which is at the foot of a small mountain, so we encamped here and called it Mountain Run, and our camp we called Todd's Camp. We had good pasturage for our horses, and venison in abundance for ourselves, which we roasted before the fire upon wooden forks, and so we went to bed in our tents. Made six miles this day.
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3Ist. At eight in the morning, we set out from Moun- tain Run, and after going five miles we came upon the upper part of Rappahannockiver. One of the gentle- men and I, we kept out on one side of the company about a mile, to have the better hunting. I saw a deer, and shot him from my horse, but the horse threw me a terrible fall and ran away; we ran after, and with a great deal of difficulty got him again; but we could not find the deer I had shot, and we lost ourselves, and it was two hours before we could come upon the track of our company. About five miles further we crossed the same river again, and two miles further we met with a large bear, which one of our company shot, and I got the skin. We killed several deer, and about two miles from the place where we killed the bear, we encamped upon Rappahannockiver. From our encampment we could see the Appalachian Hills very plain. We made large fires, pitched our tents, and cut boughs to lie upon, had good liquor, and at ten we went to sleep. We always kept a sentry at the Governor's door. We called this Smith's Camp. Made this day 14 miles.
Ist, September. At eight we mounted our horses, and made the first five miles of our way through a very pleasant plain, which lies where Rappahannockiver forks. I saw there the largest timber, the finest and deepest mould, and the best grass that I ever did see. We had some of our baggage put out of order, and our company dismounted, by hornets stinging the horses. This was some hindrance, and did a little damage, but afforded a great deal of diversion. We killed three bears this day, which exercised the horses as well as the men. We saw two foxes but did not pursue them; we killed several deer. About five of the clock, we came to a run of water at the foot of a hill, where we pitched our tents. We called the encampment Dr. Robinson's
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Camp, and the river Blind Run. We had good pastur- age for our horses, and everyone was cook for himself. We made our beds with bushes as before. On this day we made 13 miles.
2d. At nine we were all on horseback, and after riding about five miles we crossed the Rappahannockiver, almost at the head, where it is very small. We had a rugged way; we passed over a great many small runs of water, some of which were very deep, and others very miry. Several of our company were dismounted, some were down with their horses, and some thrown off. We saw a bear running down a tree, but it being Sunday, we did not endeavour to kill anything. We encamped at five by a small river we called White Oak River, and called our camp Taylor's Camp.
3d. About eight we were on horseback, and about ten we came to a thicket so tightly laced together, that we had a great deal of trouble to get through; our baggage was injured, our clothes torn all to rags, and the saddles and holsters also torn. About five of the clock we encamped almost at the head of James River, just below the great mountains. We called this camp Colonel Robertson's Camp. We made all this day but eight miles.
4th. We had two of our men sick with the measles, and one of our horses poisoned with a rattlesnake. We took the heaviest of our baggage, our tired horses, and the sick men, and made as convenient a lodge for them as we could, and left people to guard them, and hunt for them. We had finished this work by twelve, and so we set out. The sides of the mountains were so full of vines and briers, that we were forced to clear most of the way before us. We crossed one of the small moun- tains this side the Appalachian, and from the top of it we had a fine view of the plains below. We were obliged to walk up the most of the way, there being abundance of loose stones on the side of the hill. I
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killed a large rattlesnake here, and the other people killed three more. We made about four miles, and so came to the side of James River, where a man may jump over it, and there we pitched our tents. As the people were lighting the fire, there came out of a large log of wood a prodigious snake, which they killed; so this camp was called Rattlesnake Camp, but it was otherwise called Brooke's Camp.
5th. A fair day. At nine we were mounted ; we were obliged to have axemen to clear the way in some places. We followed the windings of James River, observing that it came from the very top of the mountains. We killed two rattlesnakes during our ascent. In some places it was very steep, in others it was so that we could ride up. About one of the clock we got to the top of the mountain; about four miles and a half and we came to the very head spring of James River, where it runs no bigger than a man's arm, from under a large stone. We drank King George's health, and all the Royal Family's, at the very top of the Appalachian Mountains. About a musket shot from the spring, there is another which rises and runs down on the other side; it goes westward, and we thought we could go down that way, but we met with such prodigious preci- pices, that we were obliged to return to the top again. We found some trees which had been formerly marked, I suppose, by the northern Indians, and following these trees, we found a good, safe descent. Several of the company were for returning ; but the Governor persuaded them to continue on. About five, we were down on the other side, and continued our way for about seven miles further, until we came to a large river, by the side of which we encamped. We made this day 14 miles. I, being somewhat more curious than the rest, went on a high rock on the top of the mountain, to see fine pros- pects, and I lost my gun. We saw when we were over the mountains the footing of elks and buffaloes, and
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