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 6
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in the early part of the century shipped about as many hogs- heads as Henderson's. The first inspectors were Clifton Garland, Abraham Eades, Samuel Childress, Robert Moor- man and John T. Holman. Beyond these enterprises Warren never made much progress.
About the beginning of the century plans were outlined for four other towns, of which even the memory has perished from among men. One was North Milton, laid out by Thomas Mann Randolph on the north side of the Rivanna, opposite Milton. It was established by the Legislature and placed in the hands of trustees. Those appointed to that office were Francis Walker, William D. Meriwether, Edward Moore, James Barbour, William Bache, George Divers, Hore Brouse Trist, Edward Garland and David Higginbotham. It appears the only lot ever sold was Lot numbered Eight, and that was conveyed to John Watson in 1802. Still another Tobacco Warehouse was established here, and for a short period conducted under the same inspection that had the oversight of the warehouse at Milton. But the place was over shadowed by its neighbor across the river, and from all indications, never had more than a name.
The other three attempts were private speculations. Travellers' Grove, a name suggestive of refreshment and repose, was planned by Colonel John Everett at the junction of what are now known as the Lynchburg and the Taylor's Gap Roads. Four lots formally numbered, but apparently unmarked by improvements of any kind, were sold to a Paul Apple, and subsequently underwent two other transfers. There their history terminates. Not long after Colonel Everett disposed of the environs of the new town, and removed to Cabell County. He was succeeded in the possession of Travellers' Grove by James Kinsolving, Jr., in whose time the name was changed to Pleasant Grove. In later years the place was purchased by the Methodist churches of the adjacent circuit for a parsonage, and though held now by other hands, it still goes in the neighborhood by that name.
Another of these mushroom creations was New York, or as it was colloquially spoken of, Little York. It was estab -
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lished by James Hays at the foot of the Blue Ridge, a few hundred yards north of the present road to Staunton. At the time it was laid out, the road passed along its main street. Like Charlottesville it was divided into lots and out lots. Its first inhabitants were for the most part Germans from Pennsylvania, Greegors, Spieces, Hallers, Landcrafts. Its manufactories were a smith's shop, and a tanyard. It was once the seat of a postoffice, and had a meeting house. More than that, it had a place on the map of Virginia, published in 1824. At present no sign of buildings or streets can be seen, its very ruins have disappeared, and its site is a fertile field, on which a late proprietor raised the most abun- dant crop of corn he has ever gathered.
In some respects the most remarkable of these temporary municipalities was Morgantown,a place well known, but not by that name. It was a pretentious city on paper, laid off into at least two hundred and fifteen lots, and wood lots, as they were called. It was situated on the main road to Staunton, about a mile west of Ivy Depot. It was planned by a man named Gideon Morgan, and sold by lottery at the rate of fifty dollars a ticket. The special attraction was Lot One Hundred and Seventy-six, on which were built a large brick house and stable, and this attraction had such power that tickets were purchased by persons, not only in Albemarle, but also from the surrounding counties, Frederick, Shenan- doah, Rockingham, Bath, Augusta, Rockbridge, Fluvanna, and even places as far distant as Henrico and Lancaster Counties, and the city of Philadelphia. Among those who participated in the affair from Augusta were Chesley Kinney, Jacob Swoope and Judge John Coalter; while from Albe - marle were Peter and John Carr, Isaac Miller, Elijah Garth, Richard Gambell, Andrew Kean and Thomas Wells. The fortunate ticket-holder was George Anderson, of Greenbrier, who sold the place to Benjamin Hardin. In 1821 Anderson's widow, then living in Montgomery County, conveyed her interest in the property to Hardin, to whom Morgan also sold his remaining land. Hardin kept tavern there down to 1827 or 1828, when the place was sold for his debts. As the
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other lots lay on bare fields and forest, running up on Turner's Mountain, the owners most probably quietly abandoned them, and allowed them to lapse into Hardin's possession. In 1814 however, Micajah Woods and wife conveyed to Har- din two lots which had been drawn by William Davenport, and Taylor and Newbold, of Philadelphia, conveyed to him another in 1821. Altogether one hundred and nine persons bought tickets, and Morgan derived from his few acres, nearly twice as much as the county derived from the thou- sand acres on which Charlottesville was built. Intoxicated by his success, he went over to Rockingham and projected another town not far from Port Republic, which he named New Haven; but in this attempt he was not so highly prospered. The last heard of him, he was living in Rowan County, Tennessee As will be readily conjectured, the brick house and stable are still standing, the same that Francis McGee occupied as a tavern after Hardin, and that was recently the residence of his daughter, Mrs. John J. Woods.
It may be stated, that another town, called Barterbrook, spread itself in the books more extensively than it did on the face of the earth. Its situation was on the west side of the road to Stony Point, just where it crosses the branch oppo- site Liberty Church. It contained a tanyard, and a tavern, which had the significant appellation of Pinch'em-slyly. A muster ground was contiguous, where the militia company of the district assembled to perform their exercises, and where Joshua Key, a neighboring magistrate, was often called upon to exert his authority for the preservation of the peace. According to the records, Lot Fifty-Six in Barter- brook was conveyed by William Smith to Thomas Travil- lian's heirs, by said heirs to Pleasant Sandridge, of Green County, Kentucky, and by Sandridge to Dr. John Gilmer, when it became a part of the Edgemont estate. A successor in some sort, possessing the same name, and consisting principally of a tanyard conducted by Bernard Carr, was at a later date located in the western part of the county, near Mechum's River.
An impression has prevailed with many, that the cele-
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brated statesman and philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, was once a visitor in Albemarle, and while here purchased a plan- tation for his son. There is no real ground for this impres- sion. A Benjamin Franklin did live in the county in its early days, but he came from Orange, and died in 1751. Franklin,the philosopher, appears never to have been South but once, and then he visited Charleston, South Carolina, mak- ing the journey most probably by sea. He had but one son who lived beyond maturity, who in all likelihood was never South at all, and who was the Tory Governor of New Jersey, obliged at the close of the Revolution to leave the country, never to return. But it is true, that a grandson of Franklin came to Albemarle, bought property, and resided on it for a short time. His name was William Bache, the son of Frank- lin's daughter, and already referred to as one of the trustees of North Milton. In 1799 he purchased from James Key the farın which is known as the old Craven place, and which still bears the name of Franklin. The letters of the Jeffer- son household about that period make mention of him and his family. His son, Benjamin Franklin Bache, a distin - guished surgeon in the navy, is stated in Appleton's Bio- graphical Cyclopedia to have been born at Monticello, February 7th, 1801. William Bache was evidently not blest with prosperity. He incurred many debts, was harrassed with many lawsuits, gave a deed of trust to Thomas Mann Randolph to sell Franklin, and left the State. He was a physician by profession. His place was sold to Richard Sampson in 1804. Dr. Bache while here also invested in Charlottesville lots. He bought from David Ross Lots Forty-Three and Forty-Four, now cut in two by the track of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad; and in 1837 they were conveyed to Dr. Hardin Massie by his son B F. Bache and his wife, and his daughter Sarah and her husband, who was Rev. Dr. Charles Hodge, the eminent professor of theology at Princeton.
John Blair, Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was also a land owner in Albemarle. The old Michael Woods place, Mountain Plains, at the mouth of Woods' Gap,
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descended to his son William, who sold it to Thomas Adams, a resident, the latter part of his life, of the Pasture District of Augusta County. Adams, who died in 1788, made title by his will to this and other parcels of land he had bought in the neighborhood, amounting to nearly a thousand acres, to Judge Blair-"To my honorable friend, John Blair, Esq., Chancellor, all the lands he purchased of me in Albemarle County, known by the name of Mountain Plains, and for which he has long since honestly paid me." From him the place has since acquired the name of Blair Park. Judge Blair devised it to his two daughters, through whom it came to their two sons, James P. Henderson and John Blair Peachy. In 1831 Peachy sold his interest to Henderson. After Henderson's death in 1835, it passed into other hands.
A still more distinguished jurist, Chief Justice Marshall, owned land in the county. He was once the proprietor of the old D. S. place. He purchased it from Henry Williams about 1809, and in 1813 sold it to Micajah Woods.
When the county was organized, settlements had been making within its present limits for twelve or thirteen years. Williamsburg being the capital of the colony, and its public business being transacted there, it was natural that the first great roads of the country should tend in that direction. There can be little doubt that one was opened along the river James ; but that leading to the more northerly portions of the county was the Three Notched Road. It was cleared on the track it pursues now, following the watershed between the South Anna and the James, and still bearing the name, though the tree-marks on account of which it was given, have not been seen for three or four generations. It passed the county line where it does now, not far from Boyd's Tavern, came up the Rivanna on its north side, crossed at the Secretary's Ford, coincided with what is now the main street of Charlottesville, crossed Ivy Creek and Mechums' River where it does still, but at that point diverged from what is the main road at present. It continued in a straight line to Woods's (now Jarman's) Gap, instead of striking the · Ridge at Rockfish Gap. At the mouth of Woods's Gap was
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the first settlement in that part of the county, and for some years the chief route of travel passed over it to the Valley. In the diary of Thomas Lewis, dated 1746, in which he describes his journey to Orange County to join the surveyors appointed to run the line between the Northern Neck and the rest of the colony, he states that he crossed from Augusta at Woods's Gap, and stopped with Michael Woods both on his departure and return. As late as near the close of the Revo- lution, when Rockfish Gap was much used, the prisoners of the Convention army, as already mentioned, were upon their removal taken across the Blue Ridge at Woods's Gap. The Three Notched Road was the dividing line between the par - ishes of Fredericksville and St. Anne's.
Another road had the name of Three Notched in early times. It was the cross road leading from Carter's Bridge to Red Hill Depot. At present it is only a neighborhood road ; but when the county seat had its location near Scotts- ville, being the highway thither for all the northwestern part of the county, it occupied a place of the highest impor - tance, and was one of the earliest cleared. As settlements extended up the James in what is now Nelson and Amherst, they necessarily sought a way of access to the Court House. Accordingly one of the first roads established was that which was known as the River Road, crossing the Rockfish at Limestone Ford near Howardsville, and at another higher up, called Jopling's, and proceeding along the brow of the river hills to the county seat. In 1746 Rev. Robert Rose petitioned the County Court for the clearing of a road from Tye River to the Rockfish.
The Buck Mountain Road was made in the primitive times. This name was applied to the series of roads which start from Rockfish Gap, bend along the base of the Ridge and Buck's Elbow to Whitehall, pass over Moorman's River at Millington to Free Union and Earlysville, cross the north fork of the Rivanna at the Burnt Mills, and enter the Bar - boursville Road at Stony Point. It still follows the route on which it was originally laid out, except slight deviations for short distances to avoid some obstacle, or'gain an easier
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grade. The Barboursville Road ran from the beginning, much as it does now. Just after the county was formed, old David Lewis was appointed Surveyor of the road from his place south of Birdwood to Lynch's Ferry; at that point the Rivanna was crossed, instead of as now at the Free Bridge. This road must have intersected the Three Notched Road some distance west of Charlottesville, the existence of which at that time had not entered the thought even of the most sagacious. The hill at the old Craven place was in all probability always ascended where it is at present. The trade of the upper part of the county, and the adjacent sec- tions of the Valley, being then carried on with Fredericks - burg, both of these roads, and the Three Notched also as far as the fork at Everettsville, possessed in common the name of the Fredericksburg Road. In early times the Barbours - ville Road was continued down the river on the eastern side, and probably ran across the hills through the Haxall and Pantops plantations to the Secretary's Ford.
When the Court House was removed to Charlottesville, it of course became the centre of the county roads. The Three Notched Road running along its main street, afforded a ready approach both from the east and the west. One out- let towards the north was the Barboursville Road by way of Lynch's Ferry. Another was by a connection with the Buck Mountain Road at David Wood's old place, which was at or near the late Colonel Bowcock's. The road making this connection left the west end of High Street, ran to the foot of the hill near Clay Michie's, thence over Meadow Creek past the place recently occupied by the late Harvey Hull, and crossed the south fork of the Rivanna at Carr's old Ford on the Carrsbrook plantation. Shortly after another road was opened, branching from the last mentioned north of Harvey Hull's, crossing the south fork at the Broad Mossing Ford, and continuing thence to the Burnt Mills.
The Barracks Road was laid out during the Revolution, and has since been a noted way, though much deflected from its original course. It started from the west end of High
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Street, ran on the highland south of the ravine crossed by the present road near Kellytown-remains of the stone fences lining it can still be seen-passed over Preston Heights not far from the mansions of Colonel Preston and General Rosser, forking on the summit with the road to Carr's Ford, continued past Colonel Duke's and the colored settlement of Georgetown to the ridge east of Ivy Creek, and descended to the ford of the creek past the old Ivy Creek Church. Near town a branch of the Barracks road diverged from its main course on the eastern slope of Preston Heights, and ran into the Three Notched Road not far from the Junction Depot. The present location of the Barracks Road immediately west of Charlottesville, was fixed about the beginning of the Cen - tury. A contention respecting it arose between Isaac Miller and John Carr, Clerk of the District Court, owners of the adjoining lands. After several views and reports on the subject, it was finally determined according to the ideas of Mr. Miller, whose residence at the time was either at Rose Valley, or near the house of Mason Gordon.
The course of the road from Brown's Gap was always much the same as it is at present. It crossed Mechum's River where it does now, coming down through the rocky defile on the west, then known as the Narrow Passage. After passing Ivy Creek, it turned southeast and ran over to the Three Notched Road-passing in its way the old D. S. Church- entering it where the old Terrell, or Lewis's, Ordinary stood, the location of which must have been near the site of Jesse Lewis's blacksmith shop. This road went for many years by the name of Rodes's Road. The connecting link between Rodes's and the Barracks Roads was made about the first of the century. It wound round Still House Mountain as it does now, and then turned south and continued down the ravine in which the outflow of what was called Wade's Spring was carried off. The old Poor House was built immediately upon this road. Somewhat later Governor Nicholas petitioned for the opening of a road from the D. S. Church to his plantation on the Rivanna, the present Carrs - brook; but it does not appear that anything was ever done.
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The road that crosses the river at Rea's Ford was opened about the close of the last century. The people of the north- west section of the county petitioned for a more convenient way to the courthouse. It was decided after several views, that a new road should start at Fretwell's Store, which was at or near Free Union, cross at Rea's Ford, fall into the Barracks Road and continue with it to the top of the ridge east of Ivy Creek, and there branching off run to Meadow Creek at the plantation of Bernard Carter, now F. B. Moran's, uniting at that point with the road from Carr's Ford.
The Richard Woods, or Dick Woods Road, as it was fre- quently called, is one of the oldest in the county. It diverged from the Three Notched just west of the D. S., passed Richard Woods' place at the mouth of Taylor's Gap to the little stream called Pounding Branch, crossed Mechum's river at the Miller School, and continued thence to Rockfish Gap. The place of Pounding Branch went in early times by the name of Little D. S. A tanyard was located there, which at first was named Simpson's, and afterwards Grayson's. Near that point the road turned off, described in old deeds as the road to Amherst C. H., the same that stills exists, run - ning through Batesville, and passing the Nelson line at what was formerly known as Harlow's Tavern on Lynch's Creek .. Tradition relates that Richard Woods, in laying out the road called by his name, followed a well marked buffalo trail, and the fact of its being established by those sagacious engineers of nature accounts for the gentle grade for which it has been distinguished. It seems that the road through Israel's Gap was not made till near the end of the last century. At that time William Woods, Surveyor Billy, was summoned by the County Court to show cause why he had not opened a road from Israel's Gap into the Richard Woods Road.
The outlets from Charlottesville to the south were mainly the same as now exist. The road by which the people of Fluvanna south of the Rivanna reached the county seat, passed through Monticello Gap, then called the Thorough - fare, crossed Moore's Creek where it does now, and joined the Three Notched Road at the top of the hill near the junc-
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tion of the macadamized road recently made by Mr. Brennan ; for the Three Notched Road then came from the Secretary's Ford along the ridge now followed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, or over the low grounds of Moore's Creek in the rear of the Woolen Mills. The road from town to Carter's Bridge has always pursued the present route. It was for - merly described as passing by a place, well known as the Colts' Pasture, and the Plum Orchard Branch of Biscuit Run. The old Lynchburg Road has been in use from the first settlement of the town. It commenced at the foot of Vinegar Hill, reached the top of the Ridge beyond the Dry Bridge, and continued along its crest to the branch at its south end, then called Haggard's, and afterwards West's Saw Mill Run. It crossed the north fork of Hardware where it does at pres- ent, the place long known as Old's Forge, turned around the end of Gay's Mountain past Andrew Hart's Store, and cross- ing Jumping Branch and the south fork of Hardware as at present, united with the present Lynchburg Road at the end of Persimmon Mountain a short distance north of Covesville. Near town it went by the name of Haggard's Road, from a Nathaniel Haggard, who owned the land on its course from the end of the Ridge to Moore's Creek. In those days the present Lynchburg Road was a mere farm road bearing the name of Wheeler's, from a family who lived at the head of Moore's Creek.
The Secretary's Road has frequent mention in the early records. It set out from Carter's Mill on the north fork of Hardware, shortly above its union with the south fork, ran on the north side of that river to Woodridge, and thence pursued the watershed between it and the Rivanna to Bremo on the James. From its lower terminus it was sometimes called the Bremo, corrupted to Brimmer, Road. Near Wood- ridge the Martin King Road branched from it, crossing the Rivanna at Union Mills, and thence proceeding to Louisa. The road which passes over the Green Mountain west of Porter's Precinct was established at an early date. For many years it was known as the Irish Road, as far as can be ascertained from a mau name James Ireland, who was a patentee of land in that neighborhood.
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The first turnpike in the county was built in 1806. It crossed the Blue Ridge at Brown's Gap, descended Brown's Cove, and joined the Three Notched Road at Mechum's Depot. It was made and owned by William Jarman and Brightberry Brown. It received a formal acceptance by inspectors appointed by the County Court, though the tolls were taken by the owners. In 1819 Jarman's share was sold by James Jarman to Ira Harris; and in 1867 the title as individual property was relinquished, and it lapsed into an ordinary road of the county. It was known as Brown's Turnpike.
About 1830, a few years before and after, a number of turnpikes were undertaken. The first was the Staunton and James River, having a charter of incorporation, and extend - ing from the place first named to Scottsville. It crossed the Ridge at Rockfish Gap, and ran through Batesville and Israel's Gap, following for the most part the course of old roads. As far back as 1790 a lottery was authorized by the Legislature, to be managed by Francis Walker, William Clark, Nicholas Lewis, John Breckinridge, George Divers, William D. Meriwether, Charles Irving and Isaac Davis, to raise not exceeding four hundred pounds for the purpose of cutting a road from Rockfish Gap to Nicholas's and Scott's Landings; what was accomplished in pursuance of this act is not known. The Staunton and James River Turnpike - was for a number of years the route of a heavy transporta - tion, passing from the Valley to connect with the James River and Kanawha Canal. Later, when plank roads be - came the fashion of the day, it was converted into a Plank Road Company. Under its auspices some alterations were made in the grades, particularly avoiding the hills between Kidd's Mill and North Garden, and between Hart's and Garland's Stores, and an inconsiderable portion near Hughes's Shop was covered with plank; but the coming of the railroads, and the temporary nature of the construction, destroyed the public interest in its maintenance. The build - ing and support of good roads over which the produce of the farm is to be hauled, and rapid and comfortable transit to
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be enjoyed, constitute a lesson the people have yet to learn. The Staunton and James River Turnpike was abandoned in 1867, and taken back by the county as a common road.
The next was the Blue Ridge and Rivanna River Turn - pike, which ran from Meriwether's Bridge on the Rivanna to the Turnpike last mentioned at Brooksville. Its construc - tion occasioned the laying out of the straight road from the Woolen Mills to the east end of Market Street. Not many years before, Mrs. Mary Lewis, of the Farm, petitioned for a more convenient approach from her residence to Charlottes - ville, as previously her only way lay directly south to the Three Notched Road. Opie Norris was the Secretary and Treasurer of this Turnpike, and advertised for bids for its construction. Its route west of town mainly coin- cided with the Three Notched Road to Mechum's River, and generally with the old road from that point to its termination. Toll gates were erected and for some years its business was regularly transacted. The first gate west of town was immediately opposite the large oak tree on Jesse Lewis's place, under which General Washington is said once to have lunched, and which was blown down by a violent storm in September 1896; its keeper was Patrick Quinn. In 1857 the road was purchased by the county for fifteen hun- dred dollars, John Wood, Jr. being appointed to receive the purchase money for distribution among the stockholders. When this Turnpike was first projected, an urgent petition was presented to the Legislature for the establishment of a similar one from Meriwether's Bridge to Boyd's Tavern, but nothing further was ever effected.
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