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 22
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moved to Goochland. Lilburn also lived on the north side of the river, and in 1806 disposed of his place to Hugh Nel- son. His wife was Jane Woodson, by whom he had five children, among them Mary H., the wife of Charles Palmer, and mother of Dr. William Palmer, the compiler of the Cal- endar of the State Papers of Virginia. All the daughters of Charles Lilburn Lewis except Jane and Mary, emigrated to Livingston County, Kentucky.
Robert Lewis, a nephew of the first Charles above men- tioned, lived at Belvoir, on tlie east side of the South West Mountain. He was the son of John Lewis and Frances Fielding, and a brother of Fielding, Washington's brother - in -law. He married Jane, daughter of Nicholas Meriwether, the large landholder, and he was himself one of the largest landholders in the county. In 1736 he entered upwards of four thousand acres in North Garden, and in 1740 nearly sixty-five hundred near Ivy Depot. He died in 1765. His children were John, Nicholas, Robert, Charles, William, Jane, the wife of Thomas Meriwether, Mary, the wife first of Samuel Cobb, and secondly of Waddy Thomson, Mildred, the wife of Major John Lewis, Ann, the wife of another John Lewis-both of these gentlemen of Spotsylvania and kinsmen -Elizabeth, the wife of William Barrett, and Sarah, the wife of Dr. Waller Lewis, of Spotsylvania, son of Zachary Lewis, and brother of Mildred's husband. John, the eldest son, received the main portion of his estate in Gloucester.
Nicholas lived at the Farin, adjoining Charlottesville on the east, a gift from his grandfather, Nicholas Meriwether. He was a public spirited man, a Captain in the Revolution, a magistrate, Surveyor and Sheriff of the county, possessed of a sound judgment and kindly spirit, appealed to on all occasions to compose the strifes of the neighborhood, the trusted friend of Mr. Jefferson, and the adviser of his family during his long absences from home. He married Mary, eldest daughter of Dr. Thomas Walker, and died in 1808. His children were Nicholas M., Thomas W., Robert Warner, Jane, the wife of Hudson Martin, Elizabeth, the wife of William D. Meriwether, Mildred, the wife of David Wood, Mary, the wife of Isaac
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Miller, and Margaret, the wife of Charles L. Thomas. Nich- olas married his cousin, Mildred Hornsby, of Kentucky, and doubtless emigrated to that State. Robert married Elizabeth Wood, and removed from the county. Thomas W. lived at Locust Grove, the northern part of his father's farm. He was appointed a magistrate in 1791, and died in 1807. In his will he directed that the families of his servants should not be separated, and expressed the wish that circumstances had permitted their emancipation, as according to his view all men were born free and equal. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Meriwether, and sister of his brother - in-law, William D., and his children were Nicholas H. Margaret, the wife of James Clark, Mary, the wife first of James Leitch, and secondly of David Anderson, Lydia, the wife of Samuel O. Minor, Thomas, Charles, Elizabeth, the wife of John C. Wells, Alice, the wife first of George D. Meriwether, and secondly of John W. Davis, Jane, the wife first of Walker Meriwether, and secondly of Dr. Richard Anderson, and Robert W., of Castalia. By far the greater number of this family emigrated in 1837 to Pike County, Missouri. In 1804 Mary removed with her husband, Isaac Miller, to Louisville Ky.
Robert, son of Robert, married a Miss Fauntleroy, and removed to Halifax County. Charles lived in the North Garden, where James G. White now resides. He was one of the first to offer his services at the outbreak of the Revolu- tionary War. He was Captain of the first volunteer company raised in Albemarle, Lieutenant Colonel of the first regiment formed, and afterwards Colonel of the Fourteenth Virginia. He died in 1779, while in command of the Guards at the Barracks near Charlottesville. His wife was Mary, daughter of Charles Lewis Jr. , of Buck Island, and his children Howell Charles Warner, who died young, Mary R., the wife of Ed - ward Carter, Jane, the wife of John Carr, Sarah, the wife of Benjamin Brown, Ann, the wife of Matthew Brown, and Susan, the wife of Joel Franklin. Mrs. Lewis was married the second time to Charles Wingfield Jr., and died in 1807. Howell lived at the old homestead, and died in 1845. His
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wife was Mary, daughter of Thomas Carr, and his children Thomas Fielding, Howell, of Mechunk, Mary, the wife of Clifton Harris, and Sarah, the wife of Ira Harris.
William Lewis, son of Robert, lived at Locust Hill, near Ivy Depot. He was a Lieutenant in the Revolutionary army. He died in 1780. His wife was Lucy, daughter of Thomas Meriwether, and his children, Meriwether, Reuben and Jane, the wife of Edmund Anderson. Meriwether was the famous explorer of the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Coast, and while acting as Governor of Missouri Territory, died by his > 2 own hand near Nashville, Tenn., in 1809. Reuben studied medicine, lived on a part of his father's place, married his cousin, Mildred Dabney, and died without children in 1844. Mrs. Lucy Lewis was married the second time to Colonel John Marks, and with him removed to Wilkes County, Georgia, in 1787. On the death of Colonel Marks, she returned to Locust Hill, where she departed this life in 1836. By her last mar - riage she had one son, John Hastings, who died in Baltimore, and one daughter, Mary, who became the wife of William Moore, and lived in Georgia.
The second family of this name sprang from David Lewis, who, with his brother-in-law, Joel Terrell, in 1734 entered three thousand acres just west of the University. The next year his brother, Abraham Lewis entered eight hundred acres, including the land the University now occupies. These brothers belonged to Hanover County. Abraham never lived in Albemarle, but David at once settled on the hinder part of the present Birdwood farm, so that when the county was or- ganized, his residence was a well known place in the country. He was an active man, a captain in the militia, one of the early magistrates, and bore his part in clearing the roads, and executing other works of public convenience. He died in 1779, at the great age of ninety-four. He was married three times, his first wife being a sister of Joel Terrell, and his third, Mary McGrath, widow of Dr. Hart, of Philadel - phia. By the first marriage he had eight children, and by the third three, William Terrell, Susan, the wife of Alexan - der Mackey, who lived for a time on Ivy Creek, near the
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crossing of the Whitehall Road, Hannah, the wife of James Hickman, probably the son of Edwin Hickman, second Sher- iff of the county, Sarah, the wife of Abraham Musick, who lived in the Mechum's Depot vicinity, where his son Ephraim also lived, and thence emigrated to Kentucky, David, John, Joel, Ann, the wife first of Joel Terrell Jr., and secondly of Stephen Willis, Elizabeth, the wife of John Martin, James, and Miriam, the wife of Gabriel Madison.
William Terrell Lewis kept a tavern on the Staunton Road, about three miles west of Charlottesville, called at first Ter - rell's and subsequently Lewis's Ordinary. He married Sarah Martin, and had eleven children. All the family emigrated to North Carolina, and later he himself went to Nashville, where he died in 1802. Three of his sons, Micajah, Joel and James, were in the battle of Kings Mountain, and Mica- jah was killed at Guilford C. H. A great, great granddaugh- ter, Mrs. Patty L. Collins, has in these last days been in the Dead Letter Office at Washington, where she is held in high repute for her marvellous skill in deciphering bad chirogra - phy. David Jr., was a man of great enterprise and ability. He owned numerous parcels of land in the Mechum's Depot section, and carried on a brisk mercantile business in that vicinity. He also removed to North Carolina just before the Revolution. Though twice married, he seems to have left no sons, as in the final settlement of his affairs in Albemarle in 1794, his legatees all bore other names. John was twice married, first to Sarah Taliaferro, and secondly to Susan Clarkson, no doubt a sister of Peter Clarkson. He had twelve children, among whom were Taliaferro, a brave sol - dier of the Revolution, Charles C., whose descendant, William T., a resident of Louisville, Miss., compiled a history of the family, Jesse P., and David Jackson, who was a man of commanding presence, measuring six feet, four inches, was a soldier in the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794, an active mag istrate of the county, and the father of eleven children, lived north of the Rivanna, on the Hydraulic Road, and in 1818 removed to Breckinridge County, Kentucky.
Jesse Pitman was also a soldier of the Revolution. His
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wife was Nancy, daughter of Manoah Clarkson. His home was on the Staunton Road, above the University. He died in 1849, and with him the name of old David Lewis's line in the county passed away, as he left only daughters. These were Jane, the wife of Nelson Barksdale, Mary, the wife first of Julius Clarkson, and secondly of John H. Craven, Elizabeth, the wife of Reuben Maury, Sophia, the wife of Michael Johnson, and Sarah, the wife of Alexander St. C. Heiskell.
James Lewis, son of David Sr., was in his day a figure of great prominence in the county. He was a gallant soldier of the Revolution, a magistrate, a contractor, a large landholder, the owner and keeper for some years of the old Stone Tavern in Charlottesville, the agent of President Monroe, and much employed both by the Courts and his fellow citizens in the appraisement and division of estates. His first residence was doubtless the homestead, the home of old David. He married Lucy, daughter of John Thomas, by whom he had eleven children. In 1818 he emigrated to Franklin County, Tennessee. In 1826 he returned on a visit to Albemarle, and married the second time Mary, daughter of Peter Marks, and at last finished his course in Tennessee at the advanced age of ninety-three.
The head of the third family of the name was John, who was one of the earliest settlers in the county. He entered land on Totier Creek in 1741. When the location of the old courthouse was fixed, he obtained a license to conduct an ordinary at the place. He seems to have married a daughter of Samuel Shelton, and had two sons, and a daughter, Jane, who became the wife of Richard Davenport, and removed to Georgia. John, the elder son, died in 1804, and left three children, Sarah, John Waddy, who died in 1824, and Eliza - beth. Owen, the other son, died in 1805, and his children were William, John, Hardin P., Howell, Robert, Nicholas, Daniel P., Zachariah, and Sarah, who was the wife of Jacob Tilman, and removed to Tennessee. Most of the sons were considerable land owners in the southern part of the county, particularly on the lower Hardware. Some of them also
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transacted a lucrative business in transporting freight on James River, and the canal. Hardin P. emigrated to Ala - bama. In 1821 Robert in a quarrel fatally stabbed Thomp- son Noel, a tavern keeper in Scottsville, and fled the country. It is said he went to Memphis, Tenn., and in course of time acquired a large fortune. A great granddaughter of the first John Lewis was the first wife of the late Christopher Gilmer, and a great grandson, Zachariah, recently died in .. . Nelson County, immediately above the mouth of Rockfish River. A similarity of names suggests a relationship between this family and that first mentioned.
LINDSAY.
Reuben Lindsay came to Albemarle from Westmoreland about 1776. In that year he purchased from John Clark seven hundred and fifty acres on the east side of the South West Mountain, where he made his home. During the ensu- ing twenty years he had purchased upwards of two thousand acres. He was already a magistrate at the close of the Rev - olutionary War, frequently sat on the County bench, and was otherwise often engaged in the duties of that office. He departed this life in 1831. He was twice married, first to Sarah, daughter of Dr. Thomas Walker, by whom he had no children, and secondly to Miss Tidwell. By the last marriage he had three daughters, Sarah, the wife of James Lindsay, his nephew, whose home was at the Meadows, a short dis- tance southwest of Gordonsville, and whose daughter became the wife of John M. Patton Jr., Elizabeth, the wife of Gen- eral William F. Gordon, and Maria, the wife of M. L. Walker, son of Captain Thomas Walker Jr.
Another nephew bearing his own name, Reuben, lived on the Rivanna, near the mouth of Limestone. His wife was Mary Goodman, and his children were Susan, the wife of John G. Gray, Mary, the wife of Albert G. Watkins, Ann, the wife of Stephen F. Sampson, James, William and Reuben. He died in 1837, and his wife in 1841. His son Reuben was a physician, practised his profession with much success at Scottsville, and died in 1881.
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LYNCH.
Charles Lynch, it is said, was a native of Ireland. Tak- ing offence while a mere youth at some ill-treatment, he determined to quit home and country, and with this purpose took passage on a vessel bound for America. As the ship was leaving her moorings, he repented the step, and leaping into the sea, struck out for land. He was however rescued by the sailors from his perilous position, and after the usual voyage of those days, safely reached the shores of the new world. Coming to Virginia, and exerting the energy and persever - ance that belonged to his nature, he soon began a successful career. He commenced entering land within the present county in 1733, and in the next seventeen years had obtained patents for sixty-five hundred acres in different sections, on Hardware, on the Rivanna, on Moore's Creek, and on the waters of Mechum's, not far from the Blue Ridge. He estab- lished his home on the Rivanna, on the place now known as Pen Park. The ripple in the river at that point was beyond question Lynch's Ferry, or Ford, which is often mentioned in the early records. He was one of the original magistrates of Albemarle, and had previously been one in Goochland. He served as Sheriff in 1749, and was a representative of the county in the House of Burgesses. His last entry of land was made in 1750, and embraced sixteen hundred acres on the James, opposite Lynchburg. To this land he removed at that time, but did not long survive the change. He died in 1753.
His wife was Sarah, daughter of Christopher and Penelope Clark. She joined the Friends about the time of their removal from Lynch's Ferry on the Rivanna to Lynch's Ferry on the James. A Quaker Meeting House called South River, was built in 1754 on her land on Lynch's Creek, a branch of the Blackwater, three or four miles south of Lynchburg. Her children were Charles, John, Christopher, and Sarah, the wife of Micajah Terrell. John was the founder of Lynch- burg. Charles was the clerk of South River Meeting till the beginning of the political ferment prior to the Revolution, when the warmth of his patriotism surmounted the pacific
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principles he had espoused, and he became a Colonel in the Revolutionary army. His busy promptitude in dealing with outlaws and violent Tories during those disturbed times, gave rise to Lynch law. Mrs. Lynch was married the second time to John Ward, of Bedford. Besides the imprints of this family about Lynchburg, they have left their memorial in the names of this county, Lynch's River, and Lynch's Creek, a tribu - tary of the Rockfish.
MCGEHEE.
James McGehee obtained a patent for four hundred acres of land on Little Mechunk in 1747. In 1768 William Mc- Gehee patented nearly two hundred acres on Henderson's Branch, and near the Secretary's Road, a description, which indicates that the place was not far from Colle, especially as in 1774 it came into Mr. Jefferson's hands. William was probably a son of James, and it was he who gave name to the ford at Milton, that passage of the river being known in early times as McGehee's Ford. The family seems subsequently to have been settled near the present Woodridge, as the forks of the roads at that place went for a long period by the name of McGehee's Old Field. William died in 1815. He and his wife Elizabeth had eight children, 'William, Elizabeth, Joseph, Nancy, the wife of William Adcock, Sarah, the wife of William Campbell, Mary, the wife of James Martin, Lively and Charles. After the death of the father, most of the family removed, some to Franklin County, Virginia, and some to Kentucky.
Whether Francis McGee was related to this family, is not known. He appears early in the century as having married Martha, daughter of Peter Marks. He purchased the interests of some of the Marks heirs in Lots Seventeen and Eighteen in Charlottesville, on which the old Stone House stood, and exchanged them with James Lewis for the place on Moore's Creek, which has long been the home of the Teels. In 1817 he bought from Dabney and Thomas Shelton the farm between Ivy and Mechum's Depot, which is still owned by his descend- ants. ' For some years he conducted the old Hardin Tavern on the Staunton Road. He died in 1846. His children were
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Ann, Peter, Mary, the wife of James Lobban, Martha, the wife of John J. Woods, Lewis and Joanna. Lewis died in 1858. Peter in his youth was a merchant at Hillsboro, and subsequently County Surveyor. He died on his farm south of Ivy Depot in 1888.
MCKENNIE.
Clement P. Mckennie deserves commemoration among the people of Albemarle for being the publisher of the first news- paper ever issued in the county. On the twenty-ninth of January 1820, appeared the first number of the Central Gazette. He and his brother, J. H. Mckennie, were asso - ciated in the enterprise. It is said the office of publication stood on the northwest corner of Jefferson and Third Streets. By the withdrawal of J. H. McKennie at the close of the first year, his brother became the sole publisher. The paper was issued weekly until about 1828, when on account of the appearance of the Virginia Advocate, it was discontinued. About 1834 Mr. Mckennie purchased from the heirs of W. G. Garner the property adjoining the University, where he established the book store so long conducted by himself and his son, Marcellus. In 1822 he married Henrietta, daughter of Matthew Rodes, and departed this life in 1856. In 1821 J. II. Mckennie married Mary, daughter of Jesse Garth, and soon after removed to Nelson County.
MACON.
Thomas Macon came to the county from New Kent in 1833. In that year he purchased from John Price Sampson Tufton, a plantation, which contained a thousand and forty acres, had once belonged to Mr. Jefferson, and which has since been the home of the Macon family. Mr. Macon was an ear- nest member of the Episcopal Church. On account of his intelligence and high character, he was soon appointed a magistrate of the county, in which office he served until his decease. He died in 1851.
MAGRUDER.
John B. Magruder came to Albemarle from Maryland in the early years of the century. With him from the same
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State came George Jones, the father of Robert S., Jesse and Thomas. They were friends, both good men, and local preachers of the Methodist Church. They settled in the eastern part of the county, on the borders of Fluvanna. Mr. Magruder died in 1812. He and his wife Sarah had nine children, Sarah, the wife of John Timberlake, Mildred, the wife of Gideon A. Strange, Elizabeth, the first wife of Dr. Basil Jones, James, Horatio, Benjamin H., William, Hilary and John B.
The family were largely engaged in the improvements of the Rivanna Navigation Company. Besides founding the Union Mills in Fluvanna, John B. Magruder and John Tim- berlake in 1829 bought the Shadwell Mills from the Jefferson estate, and in addition to the grist mills already existing, established cotton and woolen factories, which continued in operation until swept away by the disasters of the war. In 1833 they purchased from a family named Scholfield, of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a large body of timber land in the Buck Island section, which had lain in its virgin state from time immemorial. James Magruder after the war purchased Frascati, the former home of Judge Philip Bar- bour near Gordonsville, where he resided until his death. Benjamin H. was admitted a member of the Albemarle bar in 1829, and lived for some years in Scottsville. He subse- quently bought Glenmore, opposite Milton, which he made his home until his death in 1885. Both before and since the war he represented the county in the Legislature. He was twice married, first to a daughter of James Minor, of Sunning Hill, Louisa, and secondly to Evalina, daughter of Opie Norris. Mildred and her husband, Gideon A. Strange, were the parents of Sarah, the wife of William Stockton, a brother of John N. C. Stockton, who emigrated to Florida, John B., Colonel of the Nineteenth Virginia in the late war, and Mary, the wife of John W. Chewning.
Mary, the sister of John B. Magruder Sr., was the wife of Thomas D. Boyd. At the beginning of the century he con- ducted a public house at the junction of the Three Notched and River Roads, the locality still known as Boyd's Tavern.
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He had six children, John H., who went to Richmond, Charity, the wife of James Thrift, of Montgomery County, Maryland, James M., Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas A. Woodson, Mary, the wife of Bartley Herndon, of Shenan - doah County, and Thomas J. The last was admitted to the Albemarle bar in 1829, and removed to Wytheville, where he recently died at an advanced age.
Allan B. Magruder, a nephew of John B., and brother of General John Bankhead, became a member of the Albemarle bar in 1838. He resided in Charlottesville in the house at the rear of the late Thomas Wood's until a short time before the war, when he removed to Washington City, and subse - quently to Frederick County, Virginia. His daughter Janet became the wife of Major Robert H. Poore, who fell in the battle of Gettysburg, and his daughter Julia, by the produc- tions of her pen, has attained quite a position of note in the literary world.
MARKS.
An Englishman named Marks married Elizabeth Hastings, and emigrated to Virginia. They had five sons and a daughter, Peter, John, James, Hastings, Thomas, and Sarah, who in 1782 became the wife of James Winston, of Louisa. The children were all settled in Albemarle prior to the Revolution. Peter probably lived in Charlottesville, as his business operations were mainly connected with the real estate of the town. He was Escheator for the county, and during the Revolution superintended several inquisitions, for the confiscation of the property of those who took sides with the British. In 1791 he bought from Mr. Monroe the square on which the Stone House stood, and from Dr. Gil - mer part of Lot Thirty- Two, on which stands the store of T. T. Norman. His death occurred in 1795, and gave rise to complications in his affairs that were not fully straightened for many years; in fact, the part of lot Thirty - Two was not finally disposed of till 1830. His wife was Joanna Sydnor, and his children Sarah, the wife of Joshua Nicholas, Martha, the wife of Francis McGee, Mary, the second wife of James Lewis, Sophia, the wife of Russell Brown, Elizabeth, the
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wife of John W. Hinde, Nancy, the wife of Temple Gwath - mey, a nephew of George Rogers Clark, Hastings and Peter. The most of the children removed to Kentucky. The only one who spent her entire life in the county, was Mrs. McGee. Her sister Mary seems to have made her home with her, but in 1826 James Lewis returned from Tennessee, and took her back as his wife.
John Marks was a Captain in the Revolutionary War, and for this service received a grant of four thousand acres of land on Brush Creek, Ross County, Ohio. After the death of William Lewis, he married his widow, Lucy. He was a magistrate of the county, and was appointed Sheriff in 1785. During his incumbency of the office, he removed with the Gilmer emigration to Georgia, where he died shortly after. James was also a magistrate. He lived on a farm consisting of eight hundred acres near Keswick Depot, and likely includ- ing it. He emigrated to Georgia, and when taking this step sold his plantation to John Harvie, whose sister Elizabeth was his wife. Hastings owned a place in the Ragged Moun- tains, not far from the D. S. In 1785 he married Ann Scott, sister of Mr. Jefferson, and removed to the tidewater district of the State. The kind and considerate disposition of the President, who at the time was Minister to France, was shown in the letters he addressed to each of the parties, on the occa- sion of this union.
MARTIN.
The name of Martin has belonged to a number of families in the county. The year it was organized, 1745, Captain Joseph Martin, as he was called in the patents, obtained grants of more than fourteen hundred acres on Priddy's Creek, and eight hundred on Piney Run. His will disposing of land in Essex County, it is surmised he came from that part of the State. He and his wife Ann had eleven children, Brice, William, Joseph, John, George, Sarah, the wife of John Bur- rus, Mary, the wife of a Hammock, Susan, Martha, Ann, and Olive, the wife probably of Ambrose Edwards. The Cap- tain died in 1761.
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