USA > Virginia > Rockbridge County > Rockbridge County > A history of Rockbridge County, Virginia > Part 5
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Passing the entire Borden matter in review, it appears in the light of a long-continued nuisance and an unjustifiable and injurious monopoly. The elder Borden had performed no public service to warrant so large a benefit from the public domain. The heirs, with the one exception of Benjamin, Jr., were non- residents There was never any sound reason why the individual purchases should not have been patents issuing from the state. A vast amount of litigation and other forms of annoyance would thus have been avoided
V
EARLY PIONEER DAYS
SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS-A VIRGIN WILDERNESS-HOUSES-PREDATORY ANIMALS-CHURCHES, TAVERNS, AND MILLS-STAUNTON-LITIGATION-WILLS- NATURE OF THE TIMES
The eighteenth century was less democratic than our decade of the twentieth, and the English were less democratic than the Ulster people. Yet even on the old frontier, where leveling tendencies came into play from the very outset, social lines were somewhat closely observed. More than a century after the settlement of Rockbridge, we are told by Alexander S. Paxton that there was little or no social intercourse between the planter on the one hand and the mechanic or the ordinary tradesman on the other. In land deeds the social rank, or the occu- pation, of one or both parties was frequently mentioned. The institution of nobility, universal in Europe in our colonial period, never took formal root in our soil. The recognized gradations in social rank were fewer in the Valley of Virginia than in Tidewater. In the former district the number of those who were technically known as "gentlemen" was quite small. This term did not have in 1737 its present rather indefinite application. The gentle- man was understood to be one of the upper middle class, coming between the nobility and the yoemen. He was descended from freemen, had a coat of arms, and had the privilege of wearing a sword. But on the frontier, a prominent person, a member of the county court for instance, would be given the title as a matter of courtesy.
The yeoman, according to the British usage, was a freeholder, and was qualified to vote and to serve on a jury. In old Augusta this class was nummer- ously represented, and it was the backbone of its society. Below the yeoman was the freedman, who had emerged from servitude and was now in the full enjoyment of the ordinary civil rights. On a level with the freedmen were a considerable number of people who were penniless or nearly so. These were sometimes worthy members of society and sometimes very unworthy. At the bottom-and still on the white side of the scale-was the indentured servant. With the exception of his larger legal rights, he was practically as much a serf as the negro. These white servants were numerous in Augusta and require special mention.
Some of these people were convicts. But the convict of those days was not necessarily a "hard case." The person who purloined a coat or loaf of bread to fend off cold or starvation was marked for the gallows by the letter
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A HISTORY OF ROCKHRIINGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
of the savage English law. The British judge would order him to be trans- posted to America, where he had to undergo servitude a number of years. Some other members of this class, especially boys, had been kidnapped from the British seaports. Still others were debtors, poor relations, and ne'er-do-wells, sent away by their "friends." so as to be out of sight if not out of mind. But many a person sold himself to some shipmaster in order to reach America. Such a person was known as a "kid." On arrival at an American seaport the servants, whether voluntary or involuntary, were sold by the captain, the usual price being about $65. The average age at indenture was nineteen, and the average term of servitude was five years. They were beetter fed than in Furope and did not work so hard. They were entitled to free time, medi- cal attention, commutation from punishment, the right to sue and to complain by informal petition, and protection from service to colored persons. When the servant's time was out, his freedom dues would help him to get a start in the workl. If he ran away-and he often did-he was advertised, and if retaken he might be branded and whipped. The county court would also decree that he should serve his master a year or more of extra time, by way of indemnifica- tion for the cost of recovery. On the other hand, there are instances where the servant agreed to serve a year longer for being purchased from a disagree- able master. In 1761, a servant to Sampson and George Mathews agreed to serve them three years extra time in return for their consent to her marrying the man of her choice. If in that time there were no issue the brothers were to pay her $10 a year, less the cost of her clothes.
The indenture system, with respect to immigrants, came to an end during the Revolution. It was a mode of colonization and it promoted a democratic feeling. But with its decline negro slavery grew in favor. The moral in- fluence was bad, and not a few of the women servants were of loose character. When, as often occurred, one of these women had a child by another man than her master, she would be required to serve him extra time.
There were native apprentices as well as imported servants, and with re- spect to the general character of the servitude there seems to have been little difference between the two classes. The master was not infrequently summoned to answer the complaint of an apprentice. A petition of 1811 asks for a more efficient means of effecting recovery of the many apprentices that try to abscond.
In the next paragraph we give a specimen of the colonial form of indenture. The John Ko eman mentioned therein was a settler of the Raphine neighbor- hood The MeBride name appears in the same locality.
THIS INDENTURE made the twenty fourth Day of - in the year of Our Lord Chrift one thouland seven hundred and fifty five WITNESSETH that Daniel McBride of the County of Augusta in the Colony of Virginia hath Put himself apprenting Servant
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and by these presents Doth Voluntarily Put himself and of his own free will & accord put himself apprenting servant to John Roseman Cordwainer or shoemaker of this sd County of Augusta in the Colony aforesd to Learn his art and Trade or Mystery after the manner of an apprenting servant to sarve him or his assigns from the Day of the Date hereof for & During the full Term and Time of two full years next ensuing, During all what time the sd apprentice his Said Master faithfully shall Serve his secret Keys his Lawfull Commands very - gladly obey he shall Do no Damage to his said Master nor see it Done by others with out Letting or giving notice thereof to his said Master he shall not wast his said Mas- ter's goods nor lend them unlawfully to others he shall not Commit fornication nor Contract Matrimony within the sd Term at Cards or Dice or any other unlawfull games he Shall not play whereby his said Master may be Damaged with his own goods or the goods of others During the sd Term without the License of his sd Master he Shall Nither Buy nor Sell he Shall not absent himself Day nor Night from his sd Master's Service without his Leave nor haunt ale houses still houses Taverns or play Houses but in all things Behave himself as a faithful apprentice Savant ought to Do During the sd Term & Time and the sd Daniel McBride doth hereby Covenant and Declare himself Now to be of the age of Nineteen years a single Person & no Covenanted Indented or Contracted Servant or appren- tice to any persons or persons whatsoever and the sd Master Shall use the utmost of his Indeavors to Teach or Cause to be Taught & Instructed the sd prentice in the Trade and Mystery he now professes Occupieth or followeth and procure and provide for him the sd apprentice sufficient meat Drink apparel washing and Lodging fitting for an apprentice During the sd Term and at the End & Expiration thereof the sd master shall pay unto the sd prentice the sum of Ten pounds Current Money of Virginia or the value thereof in goods or Chattels and for the true performance of all & every this sd Covenant & agree- inent Either of the said Parties binded them selves to the other firmly by these presents IN WITNESS whereof they have hereunto Interchangeably set their hands and affixed their seales the Day and Year first above written
The newcomers spoke English of the Elizabethan type that was current in Ulster. Words peculiar to the Scotch dialect were also heard. The old pro- nunciation vanished in the second or third generation, on American soil, yet there is abundant evidence of its everyday use in the colonial age. The broad sound of the first letter of the alphabet was much more often heard than it is now. A number of conversational expressions, such as "cow-beast," have gone out of usc, but when our ancestors committed their thoughts to paper. their meaning is perfectly clear to ourselves; more so than our own breezy, snappy specch would be to them, if they were here to listen to it.
Though we speak of Rockbridge as being on the old American frontier, it was never, unless to a partial extent for a few years, a section of the back- woods fringe. The immigrants continued to clothe themselves very much as they had been doing. The dress suit of the gentlemen and ycomen was more elaborate than a costume of this character is now. The colors were brighter and more diversified. We read of green and plum colored broadcloths and of bright red fabrics. The coat of a certain militia captain was valued by himself at $13.33, and it would have taken two or three of his cows to
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S HISTORY OF ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
pay for it We find a tailor's bill of $707. In the settlement of the estate of Adam Dickenson, a pair of silver knee buckles is listed at one pound, a set of silver breeches buttons at the same figure, a silk bonnet at $11.33, and a lawn handkerchief at $1 25. The man for whom Jackson's River is named lived on the very edge of settlement, yet he wore a wig and a stock and buckle. The statue of Andrew Lewis at Richmond presents that general in hunting shirt and leggings. This is a violation of historical fact. He had little to do with the conventional garb of the scout and is known to have been particular in the matter of raiment. The Reverend Samuel Houston was old-fashioned in his attire, which was representative of the epoch under consideration. He wore short breeches buttoned and buckled at the knee, long stockings, large shoes with heavy silver buckles, a dress-coat rounded in front and with its many buttons on one side only, and a standing collar. His broad-brimmed. three- sided cocked hat was made by John Ruff, a famous hatter of Lexington. His riding boots that reached nearly to the knees and had white leather tops were made by Colonel Jordan of the same town.
In many an instance the settler was master of some handicraft, as is often noticed in reading the carly land deeds. One man was a weaver, another a millwright, another a cooper, another a rope-maker, and still another a car- Tenter or cabinet-maker. A very important man was the blacksmith. He did not limit himself to repair work, but was really a manufacturer. lle made nails. horseshoes, edged tools, and cooper-glazed bells. He also made farm implements, except such as were wholly of wood.
When immigration began to flock into the Rockbridge area in the fall of 1737, it was not into an unknown land. Governor Gooch had given wide publi- city to what had been seen by Spottswood and his companions. The prospectors who spied out the choicer portions of the Valley, with the intention of covering them with orders of council or with patents of less ambitious size, were de- sirous of seeing people come in. John Lewis, who arrived at Lewis Creek in 1732, very soon had a hundred families of the U'lster folk around him, and when Augusta attained to separate county government in 1745, the population of its vast area was about 4,000.
Nearly coincidling with the line of the present Valley Turnpike was an Inchan warpath, which, like all the more conspicuous trails of its class, could be used by a wagen as well as by a pack-horse. This "Pennsylvania Road" was the one thoroughfare by which a stream of immigration poured into Augusta. The court of Orange adopted it as a county road. The latter portion of its order rcade as follows :
Ani that ile til read continue from Heyetly Manor line to Gilbert Campbell's ford en the North Branch of James River, and that Capn Benjamin Borden, Capn Wilbam
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EARLY PIONEER DAYS
Evins, and Capn Joseph Culton be overseers of the same, and that the gang to clear the same be all the inhabitants above Beverly Manor line to the said Gilbt Campbell's ford.
And that the road continue from Gilbt Campbell's ford to a ford at the Cherrytree Bottom on James River, and that Richard Wood, Gilbt Campbell, Joseph Lapsley, and Joseph Long be overseers, and that all the inhabitants betwixt the said rivers clear the same.
And that the said road continue from the said Cherrytree Bottom to Adam Harmon's on the New, or Wood's, River, and that Capn George Robinson and James Campbell, and Mark Evins, and James Davison be overseers of the same, and that all the inhabitants betwixt James River and Wood's River clear the same.
And that a distinct order be given to every gang to clear the same, and that it be cleared ; as it is already blazed and laid off with two notches and a cross. Given under our hands this Sth day of April, 1745.
The settlers of this county found that much of its area was covered with brush, or with "Indian meadows," in which the coarse grass and peavine is spoken of as quite luxuriant. A forest growth was confined largely to the mountains, as in the case of Timber Ridge, which derives its name from this circumstance. So far from being compelled to clear the land. the settler had sometimes to go a miile to find logs for a cabin. And yet, as the "brushy barrens" were considered poor, they were passed over in favor of the timbered localities. The early comers were particular in refusing all lands they thought to be poor, but afterward found their judgment had sometimes been at fault. Thus Timber Ridge was settled in preference to open ground that was actually better.
The country being generally open, it was a comparatively simple and ex- peditious matter for the homeseeker to view the land, determine his individual preference, and assist in making what were called roads in that early time. If any of his open ground went back to its natural forest covering, it was because he permitted it so to do.
The purchases within the Borden grant averaged nearly 300 acres, and this was rather less than the customary size of the individual patents around it. And since labor-saving machinery was unknown in that day, so large a holding was a plantation rather than a farm. As a rule the purchaser was a substantial yeoman, and he often had a tenant on his place or one or more indentured ser- vants in his household. Under circumstances like these, the normal development of the region would be at a quite rapid pace.
The very first dwelling houses were undoubtedly primitive. They were round-log cabins, and sometimes the floor was nothing better than the naked earth. There is no doubt that the bark hunting-lodge left here by the red man was occasionally used. But by all except the moneyless and the easy-going, the rough and ready shelter was intended only as a makeshift. The man of property who felt that he had come to stay did not lose much time in building a larger and better dwelling of hewed logs. The house of Captain William Jameson, of the Calfpasture, built in 1752, was probably a fair specimen of a home of the
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A HISTORY OF ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
permanent type. It was eighteen by twenty-four feet in the clear, one and one- half stories high, and had a shingled roof. The contract price was $22 50.
The Indian peril, which first manifested itself at the close of 1742, must have been a powerful incentive to build houses of strength and a fair degree of security. Several structures of this kind are still in existence, but with enlarged windows and some other alterations.
Log houses were the rule for several decades. The immense chimney was of stone, the supply of which in Rockbridge is abundant. Before the close of the Revolution there were few houses of stone or brick. AAs the years went by. the brick house became increasingly frequent, but it was some time before the log house was outnumbered by the framed dwelling. Even yet, the log house is far from being extinct in Rockbridge.
The tilled acreage was small. Grain could be marketed only in the form of flour, and then only to a limited extent. Consequently, the pioneer grew little more than the supplies consumed on his place. Indian corn, unknown in the British Isles, was the only staple he had to learn how to grow. Since only the well-to-do could afford clothes of imported cloth, there was much weaving of linen and linsy-woolsy. The flax patch was consequently a feature of the frontier farm. Ilemp was a staple crop, and it was the one most immediately a source of ready money. The cultivation of it was encouraged by the colonial government. The fiber brought $5 a hundredweight, and there was a bounty of $1. More hemp seems to have been grown in Rockbridge than in other parts of old Augusta. Orchards were begun with young apple and peach trees brought from Pennsylvania. Kitchen gardens are said to have been unknown before the Revolution. The hint was taken from the Hessian prisoners-of-war at Staunton, who were permitted to plant gardens in the vicinity of their camps. Wagons were at first scarce, but were rather common during the Revolution. The farming tools were few and simple. Almost the only implements drawn In horses were the brush harrow and the plow with wooden mouldboard.
Rockbridge is well suited to grazing, and the carly farms were well stocked with horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs. These animals were not so large as the breeds of the present day. The immigrants were not slow to see the advantage of irrigating the level meadows along the large streams. Such artificial water- ing was practiced on Walker's and Kerr's creeks. There is mention of the "Iegypt field" on the last named watercourse. The dams and ditches are now pone, and corn is king rather than hay.
The carly comers found the wilderness infested with several predatory annual , the most troublesome of which was the wolf. For many years it was nece ary to pen the calves and sheep by night to protect them from the bear and the puma, as well as the wolf. It is a noteworthy fact that crows, black-
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EARLY PIONEER DAYS
birds, and honeybees were not known in this region before the arrival of the white men. The Indians called the bee the "white man's fly."
It was provided that the settlers in Augusta should be exempt from levy so long as they remained under the jurisdiction of Orange. This was found to be a disadvantage, and in response to a petition from them a poll tax of two shillings was authorized. This was to provide a fund for paying wolf bounties. The oath administered to a claimant of the bounty read as follows :
I, -, do swear that this head by me now produced is the head-or heads- of a wolf taken and killed within the county of in Virginia ; and that I have not wittingly or willingly spared the life of any bitch wolf in my power to kill. So help me God.
The whole head of the wolf had to be shown to the magistrate, who clipped the ears, administered the above oath, and issued a certificate. In one month of 1752, 225 wolf-heads were brought to the Augusta court-house. In 1790, forty wolf-heads were presented to the magistrates of this county, the bounty then being 100 pounds of tobacco ($3.33) for a grown animal, and fifty pounds for a cub. A petition of 1809 says wolves are increasingly numerous, and asks that the bounty be raised to $8 and $6. There was the same complaint in 1823. In 1831, the bounties were $12 and $6 for wolves and $1 and fifty cents for red foxes. In 1834, only one wolf-head was produced, but there were 110 fox scalps. Squirrels as well as crows were destructive to the corn, and a law of the Revolutionary period imposed a penalty on each tithable for failing to present a specified number of scalps each year. Deer, on the contrary, were protected by law. A statute of 1792 made it illegal to kill a deer with a bell or collar on its neck.
Except for a few communicants of the Established Church, the pioneer popu- lation of Rockbridge was Presbyterian, so far as it adhered to any creed at all. The carliest meeting houses are spoken of in another chapter. The Sunday services continued from 10 o'clock in the morning until sunset, but with an inter- val of one hour for dinner. At a time of communion the meeting continued four days, and several ministers were present. People then came from a wider radius than usual, and the families living near the meeting house were duly hospitable. Some persons walked barefoot to church, putting on their shoes and socks after crossing the last branch on the road. To serve hot coffee on Sunday was considered a desecration.
According to Howe, there was little social intercourse, except within the churchyard, and there were no gay amusements at any time. In fact, social intercourse was largely of a religious character. The presbytery was the chief festival occasion. Dancing lay under a ban, and the "cavalier vices" of Tide- water Virginia did not flourish within the mountains. But at length some of the
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A HISTORY OF ROCKARIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
Rockbridge people grew idle, merry, and dissipated, and this element was more conspicuous on the very front line of settlement.
Prior to the organization of Rockbridge as a county, there was no town or village. The store, the ordmary, and the mill were the weekday places where the male element was most likely to congregate. There may have been a few stores previous to 1777, but we have no knowledge of them. The distance to Staunton was not prohibitive, and an occasional visit by a pedlar could be counted upon. The ordinary, or tavern, had a name which was painted on a board placed near the front entrance. There were a few of these in Rockbridge but they were usually styled houses of private entertainment. There was a fine of ten pounds for keeping a tavern without a license. The guest could not be made to pay unless there were an agreement in advance. "The White Horse" was the name of the McClenahan hostelry in Staunton.
The first mill, according to Mrs. Greenlee, was that of Charles Hays. It was probably built not later than 1740. It was soon followed by the mill of James Young at the mouth of Kerr's Creek. Other mills, dating from about 1752, were those of David Moore, Joseph Long, and Joseph Kennedy. But in 1747. James Allison and Henry Gay had petitioned for leave to build water grist- mills. Before 1788, and perhaps a little before the opening of the Revolution, Thomas Paxton had put up a mill at the mouth of the Buffalo. The earliest of these concerns were probably on a par with the tubmills of William Wilson and Adam Dickenson in the Bath area. The former was built in 1750 at the contract price of $20. The labor put into the second mill on the Dickenson plantation was in 1763 adjudged to be worth four pounds cash, or $13.33. The tulmill had a wheel five feet in diameter.
Staunton was the seat of government for the Rockbridge area during two- score years, and therefore deserves a few lines of mention. Nine years after the coming of the MeDowells there was nothing around the little log court- house and prison except two cabins, one of these being tenanted by a woman of questionable character. The colonial capital was at that time a village of about thirty houses "Stamtown" was surveyed in 1750, and three years later contained about twenty houses. Two years later yet, a new courthouse, twenty- six by forty feet, was completed In 1701. Staunton was designated as a town Is legislative enactment, and wooden chimneys were no longer to be permitted. Fairs were anthonzed in June and November for the second Tuesday of the month. When the Revolution broke out. Staunton was one of the few important towne in Virginia and had several stores and taverns.
The doings within the courtyard were not always tame. The justices were repeatedly disturbed by rioting outside the building or by ball playing. They were sometimes "damned," or otherwise insulted, while on the bench. In 1754
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EARLY PIONEER DAYS
a woman called one of them a rogue, and said that on his "coming off the bench she would give it to him with the devil." Neither was there the best of public order away from the precincts of the court. In 1754 John Clark went into the house of Robert McClenahan and demanded satisfaction for a decision given by McClenahan as a magistrate. Two years later, three men entered the house of Alexander Wright, broke doors and windows, and beat and abused Mary McDonnell, an inmate.
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