USA > Virginia > Albemarle County > Albemarle County > Albemarle County in Virginia; giving some account of what it was by nature, of what it was made by man, and of some of the men who made it > Part 17
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FARISH.
William P. Farish came to Albemarle from Caroline about 1820. He is mentioned in 1823 as a manager for Charles L. Bankhead. In subsequent years he was engaged in superin - tending the affairs of John N. C. Stockton. In 1834 he pur- chased from John M. Perry six hundred acres on the south fork of the Rivanna below Hydraulic Mills, and the same year sold to William H. Meriwether the tract on which Meriwether erected the Rio Mills. He bought in 1837 from Ira Garrett the plantation south of Charlottesville, now in the possession of Rev. J. T. Randolph, on which he subsequently resided until his death. After the demise of Mr. Stockton in 1837, he was appointed the administrator of his estate, and in the years following sold off his large possessions, except Carrsbrook, which was reserved for his family. He also had the direction of the Stage lines which Stockton controlled In 1845 the firm of Farish & Co. was formed, by which the Stage property was bought and managed for many years. The firm consisted of W. P. Farish, Dr. O. B. Brown, of Washington City, Slaughter W. Ficklin and John S. Cocke. About this time Mr. Farish entered the ministry of the Bap - tist Church. He died in 1869. His wife was Mellicent Laughlin, and his children Thomas L., and Ann, the wife of Rev. J. T. Randolph.
Stephen M. Farish was a brother of William P., and prob- ably came to the county before him. He was for a time a
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resident of Milton, and afterwards lived in the vicinity of Earlysville. He was twice married, and his children were Susan, Andrew J. and William.
In 1823 Hazelwood Farish sold to Thomas Poindexter Jr., the stock and equipment of a Stage line running through Charlottesville.
FARRAR.
John Farrar lived in the southwest part of the county, and 1 died in 1769. His children were Perrin, Catharine Jopling, Sarah Spencer, William, Peter, Thomas, Elizabeth and Rich- ard. Perrin, William, Peter and Richard were all owners of land on Green and Ivy Creeks, branches of the lower Rock - fish. Perrin died about 1793, leaving eight children who re - moved to Amherst.
. Richard married Susan Shelton, of Louisa, and died in 1807. He was a ruling elder in the Cove Church. His children were Joseph, Landon, John S., Lucinda, the wife of Samuel L. Wharton, Elizabeth, the wife of George Wharton, both of whom emigrated to Davidson County, Tennessee, and Sophia, the wife of Dr. Samuel Leake, and mother of Hon. Shelton F. Leake. John S. was appointed Colonel of the Forty-Seventh Regiment in 1815. He died in 1832, and left nine children, Richard L., Matthew G., Elizabeth, Martha, Marcellus, Sarah, the wife of Alexander K. Yancey, Sophia, the wife of George W. Piper, Lavinia and Susan.
FICKLIN.
Benjamin Ficklin became a citizen of Albemarle about 1814, and is described in one place as being from Frederick County, and in another from Culpeper. Either then, or shortly after, he entered the Baptist ministry. He purchased in the west- ern part of the county upwards of thirteen hundred acres, and his residence for twenty years, called Pleasant Green, was the place adjoining Crozet on the west, now occupied by Abraham Wayland. He was appointed to a seat on the county bench in 1819. In 1822 he proposed to sell his lands with the design of removing to Ohio or Indiana. This pur- pose however was abandoned, and in 1832 he removed to
4
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Charlottesville where for a number of years he was engaged in the manufacture of tobacco.
He was noted for his uprightness and decision of character. At the time of his removal to Charlottesville, the state of things in the town, morally and religiously, was far from being unexceptionable. In a clandestine manner, most of the stores did more business on Sunday than on other days. The negroes came in in large numbers for purposes of traffic. Great quantities of liquor were sold. In the later hours of that day, the roads leading from town were lined with men and women in all stages of drunkenness, some staggering with difficulty, others lying helplessly by the wayside. Mr. Ficklin set himself vigorously to remedy these evils. He warned the merchants that every violation of the Sunday law should be visited with the highest penalty. A similar warning was given to the negroes ; and by the lively applica- tion of the lash to those who neglected it, the town and roads were soon cleared of transgressors. Sabbath observance put on a new face. The comfort of worshippers, and the general order of the community, were vastly promoted. So impar- tial was the old man in the execution of his duty, that when one of his own wagons, sent out to sell tobacco, trespassed upon the sacred hours in reaching home, he imposed a fine upon himself. It is said, that a member of the bar remon - strated with him on what he considered his excessive zeal, and stated by way of illustration, that in the preparation of his cases he had often been obliged to work on Sunday; whereupon Mr. Ficklin at once fined him on his own confes- sion. Altogether the whole county was laid under many obligations to his courage, efficiency, and public spirit.
His last years were overclouded by business reverses. He closed his earthly career during the war, in the last days of 1864. His wife's name was Eleanor, and his children were Slaughter W., Benjamin F., who was one of the last Stage proprietors in the country, Ellen, the wife of a Brown, Susan, the wife of J. R. Hardesty, Elizabeth, the wife of Elijah Dunkum, and Lucy, the first wife of Fontaine D. Brockman.
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FIELD.
For many years before the end of the last century, and in the early part of the present, the name of Field was a familiar one in the vicinity of Batesville. The family head was Robert, who began to purchase land in that section in 1766. From small beginnings he rose gradually, till he ac- quired a considerable estate. He died in 1824. He was twice married, and raised a family of ten children, Mary, the wife of a Garland, Elizabeth, the wife of John Mills, Sarah, the first wife of Charles Yancey, Jane, the wife of Thomas Grayson, John, Robert, Ralph, Joseph, Susan, the wife of Nelson Moss, and Nancy, the wife of William Wood.
Three of the brothers married sisters, daughters of the elder Jesse Wood, John being united to Sarah, Ralph to Mildred, and Joseph to Elmira. Joseph died before his father, leaving two sons, William and Joseph. His widow afterwards became the wife of John Robinson. Robert led the way in emigrating first to Kentucky, and subsequently to Missouri, and was ultimately followed by most of the family ; by all indeed bearing the name. John's home was east of Batesville, where Mrs. William H. Harris resides. Here he kept for many years a well known public house. In 1807 he conveyed to Marshall Durrett, James Wood, Charles Massie, Jonathan Barksdale, Oliver Cleveland, Thomas Massie, Henry Emerson, William Wood Sr., and John Wood, son of Isaac, ground for the old Mount Ed Church, on the south side of the public road, and on the top of the hill between Whitesides Creek and Captain White's. His son, bearing his name, was a druggist in Charlottesville, doing business on the public square under the firm of Field & Goss. In 1831 the father sold his place to Isaac White, and all the family joined their kindred in the West.
FITCH.
In 1759 William Daniel Fitch bought land on the east side of the South West Mountain, near Hammock's Gap, w here he seems to have had his home. He died in 1814 His family consisted of twelve children, only two of whom
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were sons, John, who died before his father, and William D. The latter was one of the early and leading inhabitants of Milton. He maintained his interests there, until the place was completely shorn of its prestige and trade. While its flourishing days lasted, he was an Inspector of tobacco in Henderson's Warehouse, and the proprietor of a public house. About 1829 he removed to Charlottesville, and took charge of the Eagle Tavern. This property he purchased in 1833. He continued to be engaged in its management during the remainder of his life. His death occurred in 1848. He married Mary Bernard, who survived him twenty years. This worthy couple, though without children of their own, exercised the kindly care of parents over many of their nieces and nephews.
FRETWELL.
The first Fretwell appearing on the records was William, who in 1776 bought part of the Sumter land near Piney Mountain. It is conjectured his wife was a Crenshaw, as his eldest son bore that name. He died in 1822. His children were Crenshaw, John, Thomas, William, Susan, believed to have been the first wife of Elijah Garth, and the wife of Fendall Sebree. At the time of his death Thomas, William and Susan had already departed this life.
Crenshaw lived on the waters of Ivy Creek, not far from Garth's Mill. This place he and his wife Sarah sold to Dr. Charles Brown in 1822. A protracted litigation in which he was concerned, in connection with the old Draffen tract of land in the same neighborhood, was finally settled by the Court of Appeals in 1831. As no subsequent mention of him is found, it is supposed he removed from the county. John married Mildred, daughter of Thomas Garth Sr. His home was on the western side of the Garth plantation, on the Whitehall Road. He died in 1837. His children were Emily, the wife of Mortimer Gaines, Lucy, the wife of Sam - uel Kennerly, Susan, William G., Frances, Selina and John T. William G. married Emeline, daughter of Thomas H. Brown, and his children were John T., Susan and Lucy Elizabeth. John T., son of John, married Nannie A. - ,
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and his children were William G., Susan B., and Frances. Thomas lived between Free Union and the old Garrison Meeting House. He kept a store, which was known as Fret- well's Store, aud which at the beginning of the century was the place for holding elections for Overseers of the Poor for the northwest district of the county. His wife was Agnes Burrus, and at the time of his father's death, she and her family were living in Kentucky.
William married Jemima Brown. He resided on the Staunton Road, above Mechum's Depot. He was deemed by his neighbors fit to be a landmark, because of his uncom- mon stature; in a deed of Nelson Hardin to his brother Isaac, the property is described as adjoining that of the tall William Fretwell. He died in 1807. His children were William C., who married first Mildred, daughter of Henry Burnley, of Louisa, and secondly Vienna, daughter of G. W. Kinsolving, Susan, the wife of William Brown, Judith, the wife of Benjamin H. Brown, Nancy, the wife of Augustine Stephenson, and Hudson. Hudson married Elizabeth, daughter of John Burnley, of Louisa, and sister of Nathaniel Burnley. His home was the large brick house on the Staunton Road, above Mechum's Depot, where for many years he kept a public house. He died in 1834. His chil - dren were Mary, the wife of Paul Tilman, Burlington, William, Franklin, Susan, the wife of Overton Tilman, Jurena, the wife of James H. Jarman, Brightbury, and Bernard.
Alexander Fretwell was for the first quarter of the century one of the business men of Warren. He was probably the same Alexander, who sold to Isaac Hardin in 1792 five hundred acres on the Staunton Road, adjoining the William just mentioned; from this too it may be inferred, that he also was a son of the first William. He died in 1825. He seems to have been twice married, first to Ann, daughter of William Barksdale, and secondly to Jane Hughes. His children were James B., who died in 1868 in Sumner County, Tennessee, aged eighty-three, Richard, Nancy, and three other daughters, the wives of Robert Anderson, Matthew Martin
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and William Moorman. Richard married Sarah, daughter of Samuel Barksdale, and had ten children. He lived on the east side of Dudley's Mountain, at the place recently occupied by Major Berkeley. About 1840 he removed to Lewis County, West Virginia.
FRY.
Joshua Fry was born in England, and educated at the University of Oxford. Coming to this country, he was made Professor of Mathematics in William and Mary Col - lege. He was present at the organization of Albemarle County, and was appointed one of its first magistrates, its Lieutenant, and its Surveyor. For some years he was actively engaged in surveying lands in this and adjacent counties, and entered a considerable number of tracts in his own name. When the French and Indian War broke out in 1754, and a regiment was raised in Virginia on that occa - sion, Fry was appointed its Colonel, and Washington its Lieutenant Colonel. Fry repaired to Fort Wills, now Cum - berland, Md., the rendezvous, to assume the command, but shortly after died, and was there buried. The home of Colonel Fry was the plantation just south of Carter's Bridge, which he patented in 1750, and which is now known by the name of Viewmont. There his widow lived till her death in 1773, and in 1786 the place was sold to Governor Edmund Randolph.
The wife of Colonel Fry was Mrs. Mary Micou Hill, and his children were John, Henry, Martha, the wife of John Nicholas, Clerk of the county, William, and Margaret, the wife of John Scott. John married Sarah, sister of Thomas Adams, who was once the owner of Blair Park, and had three children, Joshua, William and Tabitha. He died in 1778. Joshua married Peachy, youngest daughter of Dr. Thomas Walker. He was appointed a magistrate of the county, and represented it in the House of Delegates. To- wards the end of the last century he removed to Kentucky, where he taught for a time a classical academy, and was the ancestor of a numerous posterity, the Frys, Greens, Bullitts
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and Speeds, who have acted a prominent part in the affairs of that State. Henry served as deputy Clerk of the county, married Susan, daughter of Dr. Thomas Walker, and removed to Madison County near Rapidan Station, where he died in 1823 in his eighty-fifth year. He had nine children, one of whom, Reuben, was the father of Joseph L. Fry, for twenty years the Judge of the Wheeling Circuit; another, Henry, married Mildred, daughter of Rev. Matthew Maury, and was the father of J. Frank Fry, long a Commissioner of the Revenue of the county ; and another, Wesley, was the father of Captain W. O. Fry. William, the Colonel's son, died unmarried about 1760.
GANTT.
Henry Gantt, of Prince George County, Maryland, came to Albemarle in 1813, and purchased from James Bullock, agent of Brown, Rives & Co., seven hundred and eighty- four acres, which had belonged to Robert and William Alcock, and which were situated southwest of the Cross Roads in North Garden. He made this place his residence for some years. On the fifth of December 1821, he bought a ticket of the State Lottery of Maryland, and on the thirteenth drew a prize of forty thousand dollars. He afterwards re- turned to his old home in Maryland, and was succeeded on the farm in North Garden by his son, Dr. John W. Gantt, to whom he and his wife Ann formally conveyed it in 1830. Here the Doctor lived and practised his profession till 1835, when he purchased from Charles A. Scott the plantation on James River, just above the mouth of Totier. On this place he passed the remainder of his days. He was appointed a magistrate of the county in 1830. In 1837 he and his wife Sarah conveyed the farm near Cross Roads to Joseph Suther- land, in whose family it has since remained. The Doctor died in 1860. His children were Henry, Philip, Albert, and Mary, the wife of Z. R. Lewis.
GARLAND.
The first of the Garland name who settled in Albemarle was James. He came from Hanover County, where he had
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married his wife, Mary Rice. In 1761 he bought land in the coves of the mountains southwest of the Cross Roads. He purchased first from James and John Coffey, and afterwards from Robert Nelson, till he possessed considerably more than a thousand acres. He also purchased from Samuel and William Stockton upwards of four hundred acres near the head of Mechum's River, including a mill which the Stock - tons had built. He was acting as magistrate in 1783, when the existing records begin, and was appointed Sheriff in 1791. He died in 1812. His children were Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Garland, Edward, Rice, Robert, Clifton, Mary, the wife of James Woods, who in 1797 emigrated to Garrard County, Kentucky, and as nearly as the lines of descent in this family can be ascertained, James and Na - thaniel.
Edward lived on the south side of the north fork of Hard - ware, near the crossing of the old Lynchburg Road. He was appointed a magistrate in 1801, and in 1808 succeeded Francis Taliaferro as Commissioner of the Revenue for St. Anne's, which office he filled until his death in 1817. His wife was Sarah, daughter of Colonel John Old, and his children Nathaniel, Mary, the wife of Nicholas Hamner, Fleming, James, Elizabeth, the wife of Joseph Sutherland, Saralı, the wife of Pleasant Sowell, and Maria, the wife of Thomas Ham- ner, who removed to Lewis County, West Virginia.
The home of Rice was the present farm of Bloomfield near Ivy Depot. He was appointed a magistrate in 1791, was elected to the Legislature in 1808, and served as Sheriff in 1811. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Hamner, and died in 1818. His children were William, James, Rice, Samuel, Elizabeth, the wife of Henry White, Mary Rice, the wife of Robert H. Slaughter, Burr, Maurice and Nicholas. William and James were their father's executors. The for - mer lived for a time in Charlottesville, was the constructor of the present Lynchburg Road, and died in 1841. Rice was a lawyer, and settled in Leakesville, N. C. Samuel became a prosperous man of business in Lynchburg.
Robert was an active practitioner at the Albemarle bar, and
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about 1822 removed to Nelson. Clifton was appointed a magistrate in 1806, and in 1813 contested unsuccessfully the election of Jesse W. Garth to the House of Delegates. He died unmarried in 1815.
James, as already narrated, lost his life at the Prison Bar- racks in 1781. His wife was Ann, daughter of John Wing - field and Mary Hudson, and his children Hudson M., James P., and Spotswood. They all removed to Amherst. Hud- son was admitted to the bar, represented Amherst in the Legislature, was a captain in the war of 1812, was an intimate friend of General Jackson, and received from him an office in Washington, which he held until the administration of Presi- dent Tyler. His wife was Letitia Pendleton, and he was the father of Judge James Garland, of Lynchburg, and General John, of the United States Army, whose daughter was the wife of General Longstreet. Spotswood became the first Clerk of Nelson, married a Rose, and was the father of Lan- don, late Chancellor of Vanderbilt University.
In 1778 Nathaniel bought land from Colonel Charles Lewis in North Garden, near Taylor's Gap. He died in 1793. His wife's name was Jane, and his children were Frances, the wife of John Woodson, Nelson, Mary, the wife of Isham Ready, Anderson, whose widow Nancy was married to Rich- ard Bruce, and whose children removed to Lewis County, Kentucky, Elizabeth and Peter. Peter married Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Martin, who after her husband's decease became the wife of Daniel, son of Thomas Martin and Mary Ann White. Peter's sons were James and Goodrich.
William Garland, who was probably a brother of the first James, married Ann, daughter of Christopher Shepherd, and died comparatively young in 1777. His children were Fran- ces, the wife of Reuben Pendleton, Mary, James, and David S. David S. resided at New Glasgow in Amherst, and in 1807 represented the district in Congress. His wife was Jane, daughter of Colonel Samuel Meredith and Jane Henry, sister of the renowned orator.
Another branch of the Garlands was resident in the county at a later date. About 1833 a mercantile firm did business
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on the public square in Charlottesville under the style of Binford & Garland. The Garland of the firm was James, who soon after removed to Richmond. In 1835 his brother Thomas purchased from John R. Campbell the fine low grounds on the Rivanna, just below the mouth of Buck Island. He was appointed a magistrate of the county in 1838. He was a man of unamiable temper and unsavory reputation. He died in 1874. The brothers came from Goochland County. Their mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Morris, of Green Spring, Louisa, and sister of Mrs. Dr. Frank Carr.
GARRETT.
The name of Garrett must always awaken interest in Albe- marle, because of its long official connection with its affairs. William Garrett appeared on the scene in 1764, when he pur- chased from Francis Jerdone, the same person who bought the Farmington lands and sold them to George Divers, two thousand acres along the northern base of Tom's Mountain, in North Garden. In the course of the next ten years he disposed of this property to different parties, but far the greater portion of it to John Jones. Garrett as well as Jer- done belonged to Louisa. It is thought he was the grand - father of Alexander Garrett. The father of Alexander was Henry, who in 1810 removed from Louisa to Kentucky, and in passing through Charlottesville constituted his son his attorney to settle up his business. He departed this life in his new home in 1815.
Alexander came to the county as early as 1794. In 1799 he was a deputy of Samuel Murrell, who at that time was Sheriff. A year or two after he married Elizabeth, daughter of James Minor, who resided on the north fork of the Ri- vanna, near Stony Point; and from the mention of his name among those assigned to work the roads, Mr. Garrett evi - dently lived for a time in the same vicinity. In 1806 he received the appointment of deputy Clerk under John Nicho- las. About that time his wife died, and in 1808 he married Evalina, daughter of John Bolling, of North Garden. In 1815 he succeeded Mr. Nicholas as County Clerk, and in
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1819 was appointed Clerk of the Circuit Court upon the res - ignation of John Carr, who had occupied that office since the Circuit Court superseded the District Court in 1809. Both of these offices he held until 1831, when his brother Ira was made County Clerk. Besides his official duties, he was assid- uous and successful in many lines of business. He was a large dealer in real estate, owning at different times fine tracts of land in various neighborhoods of the county, Meadow Creek, Birdwood, North Garden, North Blenheim, Ivy Cot - tage and Greenwood. About 1815 his home was on the south side of University Street, and during the decade of 1820 he erected the large brick mansion at the foot of Second Street. In 1825 he laid out and brought into market the lots on Ridge Street, and in 1828 built Midway as a hotel, of which J. A. Xaupi was the first occupant. During his latter years, owing no doubt to the constant and long continued strain on his powers, he was afflicted with softening of the brain. He died in 1860. By his first marriage he had a daughter, Eliz- abeth, the first wife of V. W. Southall, and by his second, Dr. John Bolling Garrett, Susan, the wife of Dr. Thomas Johnson, Eliza K., the wife of Alexander Duke, and Clar- issa, the wife of Dr. Thomas J. Pretlow.
Ira Garrett, like his brother, commenced his business life by riding Sheriff. He was a deputy under Benjamin Harris in 1815, and Robert Davis in 1817. Soon after he became deputy County Clerk under his brother, and in 1831 suc- ceeded him as principal. When the office became elective, he was chosen both to it and the Circuit Court Clerkship, term after term, as long as the people had a voice; and even when another was appointed by military authority, it was demanded by an overwhelming public sentiment that the faithful old man should act as deputy. In 1818 he bought from Jonathan B. Carr the place at the east end of Main Street, which he made his home the rest of his life. He al - ways had a strong inclination to rural pursuits, and in 1836 purchased a plantation south of Charlottesville, afterwards the farm of W. P. Farish; but with him the lack of a close hand marred the knack of accumulation, and the project soon
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failed. Just before the war he bought Sunnyside, the late residence of Colonel Duke, but the outbreak of hostilities in- terfered with his enjoyment there. After the war however he indulged this fancy at Hobby Hill, a cottage with a few acres east of James D. Goodman's, where he and his wife, who shared in his taste for horticulture, spent a part of every summer. He died full of years in 1870. His wife was Eliza, daughter of John Watson, and his children Dr. Henry, of Southwest Virginia, John Alexander, George, Jane, the wife of Benjamin Winn, Ann, the wife of Thomas M. Smyth, Isaetta, the wife of K. Kemper, and Ellen, the wife of Watkins, who emigrated to Mississippi.
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