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 20
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Bennett, the second son of John Sr., was a man of much consideration. He was a magistrate of the county. It was on his land Milton was built. He resided there, and in the exercise of a liberal, enterprising spirit erected a large flour - ing mill, and a tobacco warehouse, that during the next thirty years preserved the name of Henderson in the commu-
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nity. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Charles Lewis Jr., of Buck Island, and had twelve children, John, who married Ann B. Hudson, sister of his cousin William's wife, William, Sarah, the wife of John R. Kerr, James, Charles, Isham, Bennett, Hillsborough, Eliza, the wife of John H. Bullock, Frances, the wife of Thomas Hornsby, Lucy, the wife of John Wood, and Nancy Crawford, the wife of Matthew Nelson. Bennett Henderson died comparatively young in 1793, and within the next fifteen years his widow and all her children had removed to Kentucky. Their land around Milton, which was sold to Craven Peyton, came into Mr. Jefferson's hands in 1811 ; and in the deed to Mr. Jeffer - son, evidently written by his own hand in the precise lan - guage which marks all his writings, there is a full account of Bennett Henderson's family.
James P. Henderson was a grandson of Justice John Blair, of the United States Supreme Court, and one of the heirs of Blair Park. By purchasing the interest of John Blair Peachy, the other heir, in 1831, he became the sole owner. He mar- ried Margaret C., daughter of Richard Pollard, and grand - daughter of Robert Rives, and had one child, Pauline, who became the wife of David M. Clarkson, of New York. He put an end to his own life at Cocke's Tavern in 1835.
HENING.
William Waller Hening, the compiler of the Statutes at Large of Virginia, was at one time a resident of Charlottes- ville, and a regular practitioner at its bar. He settled in the town in 1793, and seems to have come from Spotsylvania. His place of residence was first on the southern boundary of the place, near where Vandegrift's Planing Mill recently stood, and subsequently on the south side of University Street, not far from the Delavan Church. He dealt somewhat in real estate, but apparently not with much success. He was the owner of a Distillery which was once located beside the spring on the west side of the old Lynchburg Road, a little northeast of Orangedale, and with which his name was asso" ciated long after his removal from the county. This event
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occurred in 1805, when he went to Richmond to engage in the useful work of collecting and publishing the Laws of Virginia. He was unquestionably induced to undertake this task by Mr. Jefferson, to whom it had been a matter of deep interest and great labor for many years. He was also asso- ciated with William Munford in publishing Hening & Mun- ford's Reports. His wife was Agatha, daughter of Henry Banks. Mr. Hening continued to hold the ownership of some lots in the southern portion of the town, and of some land near Moore's Creek, which was finally closed out in 1830 by his son-in-law, Robert G. W. Spotswood. He died in Richmond in 1828.
HOPKINS.
As early as 1732, Dr. Arthur Hopkins, who resided on one of the branches of Byrd Creek in Goochland, obtained a patent for four hundred acres where Milton now stands, an - other in 1748 for nearly twenty-three hundred on Totier Creek, and a third in 1765 for fourteen hundred and seventeen be - tween Hardware and Totier, which had been granted to Har- din Burnley, but forfeited for failure to pay the quit rents. He died in 1766. He and his wife Elizabeth had eight chil- dren, Samuel, John, Arthur, William, James, Lucy, the wife of George Robinson, of Pittsylvania, Mary, the wife of Joseph Cabell, and Isabel.
Samuel married Isabella Taylor, a cousin of President Madison's grandmother, and of President Taylor's grand- father, and an aunt of John Taylor, of Caroline. Their son Samuel was Lieutenant Colonel of the Tenth Virginia in the Revolution, and General in Kentucky in the war of 1812, for whom Hopkins County and Hopkinsville in that State were named. Arthur went to Kentucky, and died unmarried. William lived in Albemarle on Totier. He married Eliza - beth daughter of Jacob Moon, and died in 1820. His children were Ann, the wife of Peter Porter, who removed to Missouri, Mildred, the wife of James Thomas, Jane, the wife. of Littleberry Moon, and mother of Samuel O. Moon, Mary, Margaret, Isabel, the wife of Henry Turner, and mother of the venerable William H. Turner, Elizabeth, the
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wife of Jesse Haden, Samuel-the last two emigrated to Kentucky-and William. William had his home in the vicinity of Scottsville, married Rebecca Estis, and died in 1832. His children were Mary, the wife of Lain B. Jones, Martha, the wife of John H. Henderson, James, and Mar - garet, the wife of Moses Arnold.
James, the son of Dr. Arthur, was the accomplished phy- sician who settled in Nelson County, and as already narrated, was basely murdered in 1803.
Mary, daughter of Mary Hopkins and Joseph Cabell, be - came the wife of John Breckinridge, then of Botetourt County, but subsequently United States Senator from Kentucky, and Mr. Jefferson's Attorney General. Mr. Cabell, who had bought the glebe of St. Anne's on the south fork of Totier, presented it to his daughter, and there . Mr. Breckinridge made his residence from 1785 to 1793, when he removed to Kentucky. During that time he was a member of the Albemarle bar, and in 1792 in the interval between the resignation of the first John Nicholas, and the appointment of the second, as Clerk of the county, he acted as Clerk pro tem. His two eldest children were born in Albemarle, one of whom was the father of the Vice President.
HUDSON.
One of the earliest patentees of land in the wilds of Albe- marle was Charles Hudson, of Hanover. His first entry was made in 1730 on the Hardware, below Carter's Bridge. It was for two thousand acres, and within the next three years he obtained grants for sixteen hundred more in the same locality. It embraced Mount Air, which was one of the seats of the Hudson family for more than a hundred years. The stream entering the south side of the Hardware below Mount Air, was formerly known as Hudson's Creek. Charles Hudson also took out a patent in 1735 for two thousand acres on Ivy Creek, southwest of Ivy Depot, which he sold two years later to the elder Michael Woods. It is almost certain he never lived in Albemarle himself. He died in 1748, and the executor of his estate was his son-in-law, John Wingfield.
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His wife was probably a Royall, and his children were Wil - liam, John, Christopher, Mary, the wife of John Wingfield, Elizabeth, the wife of Nicholas Johnson, Rebecca, the wife of Robert Wathen, Sarah, the wife of Richard Holland, and Ann, the wife of Joseph Lewis. In 1762 Mary Wingfield, still living in Hanover, conveyed to her son Charles part of five hundred acres in Albemarle given her by her father, and named Prospect, where Charles was living at the time. This Charles was the forefather of most of the Wingfields, who have since resided in the county.
John Hudson had his residence on the lower Hardware. He died in 1768. He and his wife Ann had four children, Charles, John, Christopher, and Mary, the wife of a Gaines. Charles married Jane, daughter of Colonel Charles Lewis Jr., of Buck Island. Their daughter, Martha Eppes, was the wife of Tucker Moore Woodson, who about 1804 removed to Kentucky. Charles Hudson seems not to have been pros- perous in his affairs. In 1807 he exchanged with Samuel Dyer the place on Hardware where he lived, for a tract of land in Barren County, Kentucky, to which he probably removed. John, whose residence was on the Hardware, died in 1801. His children were John, who died in 1827, Charles, who died in 1837, and whose daughter Isaetta became the wife of Isaac R. Barksdale, Elizabeth, the wife of Charles A. Scott, Rebecca, the wife of William Henderson, Sarah, Mary, the wife of a Cobbs, and Ann Barber, the wife of John Hender- son.
Christopher, the son of the first Charles, displayed more of the ability and thrift of his father than any other of his de - scendants. At the time of his death, which took place in 1825, he was the possessor of more than five thousand acres of land. He was appointed a magistrate in 1800, but four years after resigned. His home was at Mount Air. He married Sarah, daughter of David Anderson, and his chil - dren were Elizabeth, the wife of George Gilmer, and Ann, the wife of William Tompkins. His grandson, Thomas W. Gilmer, had charge of the administration of his large estate.
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HUGHES.
Thomas Hughes, who came from Buckingham, and lived on James River, died in 1779. His children were William, Moses, Mary, the wife of a Jude, and Rebecca, the wife of a Ball. William was a man of some prominence. He was acting as a magistrate of the county in 1783, and served as Sheriff in 1797. He and his wife Mary had five children, Rebecca, Robert, Jane, the wife of Alexander Fretwell, Hannah, the wife of Edward Thomas, and Sarah, the wife of Samuel Irvin. He died in 1813.
Stephen Hughes was a large landholder near Charlottes - ville at the time the town was established. In 1764 he pur - chased from John Grills nearly a thousand acres on Moore's Creek, including the mouth of Biscuit Run. In June 1762 he bought from Colonel Richard Randolph, of Henrico, five hundred and fifty-eight acres lying mainly on the east side of the present Scottsville Road, and extending from the limits of the town beyond Moore's Creek; this tract, except a few acres, he sold in 1765 to Creed Childress, who the same year sold it to Nicholas Lewis. His dwelling was not far from where the old Lynchburg Road crosses Moore's Creek. He died in 1793. He was twice married, and his children were Stephen, Mary, the wife of James Mayo, Ed - ward, Sarah, and Letitia, the wife of Francis Taliaferro. Stephen about 1810 built a mill on Moore's Creek, which occupied the site of that which now belongs to Jesse L. Maury. He disposed of it to John Wheeler, who in 1820 sold it to Reuben Maury and John M. Perry. Edward died about 1826. His wife was Elizabeth Chisholm, and his children Nancy,; Mary, Martha, Susan, Sarah, William and John. Mary became the wife of Washington Chiles, who was for many years one of the cabinet makers of the town, and lived on the south side of Main Street, east of the Per- ley Building.
IRVIN.
Rev. William Irvin was one of the early Presbyterian ministers of the county. He received his education in part at the school of Rev. John Todd in Louisa. He was received
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by the Presbytery of Hanover in 1769, and settled as pastor of the Cove and Rockfish Churches in 1771. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Holt, who served in the Rev- olution as First Lieutenant in the Fourth Virginia, and who purchased land from Colonel Charles Lewis on the Staunton Road west of Ivy Depot, where he resided until 1794. Mr. Irvin bought part of this land from his father-in-law, but sold it in 1783, and the same year purchased from Charles Martin a farm on the south fork of Hardware, where J. Goulet Martin now lives, and where he made his home until his death in 1809. His relation to Rockfish Church was dissolved in 1776, and he then devoted his time to preaching at the Cove, D. S., and Mountain Plains. In July 1793 his old preceptor, Rev. John Todd, met with a tragic death on his return from a meeting of Presbytery at the Cove. The road on the east side of Persimmon Mountain passed then, as it does still, along the bed of the South Hardware for a short distance ; there the venerable minister was found, lying in the stream with life extinct. Whether he was smitten with an apoplectic stroke, or whether his horse took fright, and starting suddenly threw him, was not known. It is said, he was accustomed to ride a spirited horse.
Mr. Irvin had ten children, some of whom attained a degree of eminence in the world; Joseph Holt, Margaret. Elizabeth, the wife of Dabney C. Gooch, Nancy, the wife of Thomas W. Gooch, Sarah, the wife of Robert Sangster, John, William W., James, Thomas and David. Joseph was ad - mitted to the Albemarle bar in 1796, married Elizabeth, daughter of William Cole of North Garden, and died in 1805. leaving two daughters, one of whom, Susan, was married first to Colonel Thomas Wood, and was the mother of Dr. Alfred Wood and Mrs. Jeremiah A. Early, and secondly to John Fray. John lived on the old place, was a magistrate of the county, and died in 1828, leaving a number of chil - dren, all of whom removed to Campbell and Prince Edward Counties. William became a member of the Albemarle bar, but emigrated to Lancaster, Ohio, where he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, and elected to Congress in
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1828. Thomas joined his brother William in Ohio, and be- came Judge of the Lancaster Circuit. David was also a lawyer, received the appointment of Governor of Wisconsin Territory, and afterwards settled in Texas, where he was left by the war with only the shreds of a large fortune, and where he shortly after died.
JAMESON.
The Jamesons were settled at an early day on Moorman's River, both above and below Whitehall. John Jameson took out a patent for land on the north side of that stream in 1741, and Samuel, his brother or son, on the branches of Spring Creek in 1747. In 1765 Samuel purchased the land in the old Woods Gap from Archibald Woods, who had entered it in 1756. His son Alexander sold it in 1809 to David Stephen- son, of Augusta. Samuel died in 1788. He and his wife Jean had nine children, four of whom were Alexander, Thomas, John and Samuel. Samuel Jr., died about 1805. His wife's name was Margaret, and his children were Han- nah, the wife of William Harris, Jane, the wife of William Maupin, Elizabeth, the wife of a Harris, Catharine, the wife of Nathan Mills, Mary, the wife of Nehemiah Birckhead, William and Samuel. Some of the sons of this family were mighty hunters, as is manifest from their frequent reports of wolf scalps to the County Court.
It is supposed that Thomas Jameson, who was a physician in busy practice in Charlottesville the early part of the cen - tury, was a scion of this stock. In 1806 he lived on the lot on which the family of J. J. Conner resides at present, and which he purchased from William G. Garner. In one of his conveyances it is described as being "on the upper street leading out to Jameson's Gap," that being evidently the name of what is now called Turk's Gap. He married Eva- lina, daughter of William Alcock, and sister of the second wife of John Kelly. In 1815 he sold his residence to Mr. Kelly, and it is believed emigrated to the West.
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JARMAN.
The first of the Jarman name settled in the county was Thomas, who obtained a grant of land on Moorman's River in 1762. His children were Elizabeth, the wife of Zacha- riah Maupin, Mary, the wife of Benajah Brown, William, Martha, the wife of Daniel Maupin, Frances, the wife of John A. Michie, and James. James had his residence on the east side of the road in Brown's Cove, about a mile south of Doylesville. He was appointed a magistrate in 1819, and was frequently employed in the county business of his dis - trict. He died in 1847, and was succeeded in the homestead by his son, Miletus, who departed this life in 1874.
William established himself in 1790 near the present Mechum's Depot. He soon after built the mill at that place, which was for many years known by his name, and on the site of which one has existed ever since. In 1805 he and Brightberry Brown undertook the construction of Brown's Turnpike, beginning at a point called Camping Rock, cross- ing the Ridge at Brown's Gap, descending through Brown's Cove, and terminating at Mechum's Depot. A formal accept- ance of it took place the next year by Commissioners appointed from both sides of the mountain. William Jarman died in 1813. He married Sarah, daughter of John Maupin, and had five sons and six daughters. In 1819 James, his eldest son, sold his half of the Turnpike to Ira Harris for one hundred dollars. His son Thomas bought the land on the summit of the Ridge at the old Woods Gap, and since his purchase the Gap has generally gone by his name. His daughter Mary became the wife of the younger William Woods, of Beaver Creek, and mother of Peter A. Woods, formerly one of the merchants of Charlottesville.
JEFFERSON.
Peter Jefferson, the father of the President, was a native of Chesterfield, and removed to the present limits of Albe- marle in 1737. He entered the wilderness literally, as when he first came there were but three or four persons living in the neighborhood. His first entry was that of a thousand
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acres on the south side of the Rivanna, between Monticello Mountain and the Henderson land above Milton. Wishing a more eligible site for his house, he bought from his friend William Randolph, of Tuckahoe, the Shadwell tract of four hundred acres, where his distinguished son was born. He had been a magistrate and Sheriff in Goochland, and when Albemarle was formed, was one of its original magistrates, and its Lieutenant Colonel. He also represented the county in the House of Burgesses. He was employed with Colonel Joshua Fry to run the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, and to make the first map of Virginia ever drafted. When William Randolph died in 1747, leaving a son of ten- der age, he committed him to Mr. Jefferson's care, and more efficiently to discharge this trust Mr. Jefferson removed to Tuckahoe, where he resided seven years. This circumstance explains the difficulty in Mr. Waddell's mind, when in his Annals of Augusta County, he wondered how Thomas Lewis and his friends, who had gone to Mr. Jefferson's to make a map of the survey of the Northern Neck line, could ride from his house to Richmond to hear preaching on Sunday. He returned to Albemarle in 1755, and died in 1757. His wife was Jane, daughter of Isham Randolph, of Dungeness, and his children Jane, who died unmarried, Thomas, Randolph, Mary, the wife of Thomas Bolling, Martha, the wife of Dabney Carr, Lucy, the wife of Charles Lilburn Lewis, and Ann, the wife of Hastings Marks.
Thomas was born in 1743, married in 1771 Martha, daugh- ter of Jolin Wayles, of Charles City, and widow of Bathurst Skelton, and died July 4, 1826. He had two daughters, Martha, the wife of Governor Thomas Mann Randolph, and Mary, the wife of John W. Eppes. He was one of the largest landholders in the county, being assessed in 1820 with four thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine acres. Soon after attaining his majority, he was appointed a magistrate of the county, and at the first session of the County Court after his decease, the following memorial was entered upon its records :
"As a testimonial of respect for the memory of Thomas Jefferson, who devoted a long life to the service of his coun-
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try, the principles of liberty, and the happiness of mankind ; who aided conspicuously in the cause of the American Revolu - tion; who drafted the Declaration of the principles, on which the Independence of these States was declared; who uni- formly exerted his great talents to aid both the civil and religious liberties of his countrymen, and by whose practical administration of the principles he had promulgated in many stations, legislative, diplomatic and executive, in which he had acted as a public functionary, the equal rights of his countrymen were promoted, and secured at home and abroad ; who, uniting to a native benevolence a cultivated philan - thropy, was peculiarly endeared to his countrymen and neighbors, who were witnesses of his virtue :
Resolved therefore that this testimonial be recorded as a perpetual memorial of respect and affection of his country - men, and of the Court of Albemarle, of which he was once a member; and
Resolved that this Court and its officers, as a testimony of public respect, will wear crape on the left arm for thirty days, and will now adjourn."
Randolph Jefferson in 1781 married Ann, daughter of Charles Lewis Jr., of Buck Island. He had his residence in Fluvanna County. He had two sons, Thomas and Isham R. Thomas was twice married, first to his cousin Mary R., daughter of Charles Lilburn Lewis, and secondly in 1858 to Mrs. Elizabeth Barker, daughter of Henry Siegfried. His children were Peter Field and Robert L. Peter Field lived in Scottsville, and by his shrewdness and frugality amassed a large fortune. He died in 1861, leaving a son bearing his own name, and a daughter, the wife of Peter Foland. Peter Field Jr., died in 1867. Robert L. married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Robert Moorman, lived near Porter's Precinct, and died in 1858. His children were Eldridge, who lived in the same section of the county till after the war, and Mary, the wife of Albert W. Gantt.
A story is told of Randolph, that one day he came to his brother to unburden his mind of a weighty idea that had struck him, and announced himself thus: "Tom, I'll tell you
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how to keep the squirrels from pillaging the corn. You see they always get on the outside row. Well then, don't plant any outside row"-which, if true, well illustrates a reflection of Miss Sarah Randolph, "It is curious to remark the unequal distribution of talent in this family, each gifted member seem- ing to have been made so at the expense of one of the others."
A Thomas Jefferson, who in the first days of the county was one of its deputy Surveyors, was no doubt a brother of Peter, the President's father.
JONES.
Many persons named Jones have lived in Albemarle. Orlando Jones appears at the earliest date. In 17 60 he bought four hundred acres from John Scott, and fourteen years later four hundred more from Joseph Anthony, both tracts being on the waters of Totier. It was unquestionably at his place that Major Anbury, and others of the Saratoga prisoners, were quartered, while in the county ; and there is as little ques- tion that it is the same place near Gleudower, that was recently occupied by the late R. J. Lecky. Jones married as his sec- ond wife Elizabeth Clayton, sister of Edith, wife of Rev. Charles Clay, aud daughter or niece of John Clayton, the celebrated botanist of Virginia. He died in 1793. His widow was subsequently married to William Walker, and his ยท son, Lain, succeeded to the homestead, which then went by the name of Mount Gallant. In 1800 Lain was the bearer of a challenge from George Carter to James Lewis, and together with his principal was placed under bonds. He died in 1805, leaving three sons, Orlando, Lain B., and William. Lain B. in 1825 married Mary, daughter of Captain William Hopkins. His mode of living led to the incumbering of his estate, and in 1824 it was sold under a deed of trust to John Neilson, one of the builders of the University. When after the death of Neilson the place was sold by Andrew. Leitch, his executor, it was purchased by James Jones, a gentleman of considerable wealth. He made it his residence until his death in 1838. He and his wife Margaret had six children, James, William, Ann, Sarah, Lucy, the wife of a Moseley,
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and Virginia. The next year the plantation was sold to John H. Coleman and Dr. Samuel W. Tompkins.
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In 1762 a James Jones bought eight hundred acres from Joseph Anthony at the northeast corner of Dudley's Moun- tain. His home was on the old Lynchburg Road, and Jones's Still House, and Jones's Branch constantly occur in the early records as marking the lines of the road precincts. He had a son, James Jr., who lived on part of the estate. It is believed that Allen Jones, who resided in the same vicinity, was also a descendant. Allen married Nancy, daughter of John Carr. In 1821 he was desirous of remov- ing South, and advertised his place for sale. He finally sold in 1833 to John H. Maddox, and presumably accom - plished his purpose.
In 1765, John Jones, of Louisa, bought from Henry Ter - rell more than eight hundred acres adjoining Batesville, and including Castle Mountain. During the next eight years he purchased from William Garrett upwards of thirteen hun- dred in North Garden, on the north side of Tom's Mountain. He sold in 1778 a thousand and eighty-one acres of that lying east of Israel's Gap to William Cole, of Charles City, and a portion of that lying west to Robert Field in 1782. He died in 1793. His wife's name was Frances, and his son John in 1806 married Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel White. The son's home was on Beaver Creek, where his grandson, James Rea, now resides, and he died in 1868. His children were Nancy, the wife of William Woods, Mary, the wife of Thomas Grayson, Elizabeth, the wife of Bland Rea, and Sarah Jane, the wife of John M. Godwin.
Thomas Jones, who commenced his purchase of land in 1767, became the owner of more than twelve hundred acres on Blue Run, and the Orange line. The most of it was acquired from Thomas Garth, and his son John. Jones sold the larger portion of it to Francis Gray. He died in 1799.
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