Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, Part 2

Author: Waddell, Joseph Addison, 1825-1914
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Richmond, W. E. Jones
Number of Pages: 94


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Robert, son of Robert Young, was baptized January 22, 1742, and Mr. Craig notes that he was "born with teeth."


William Johnston's son, Zachariah, was baptized September 26, 1742, and his son, Joseph, April 21, 1745 (see page 200).


In the second year the number of baptisms was eighty-two, and the record is followed by another ascription of praise to God.


Under date of December 19, 1742, we find: "This day the news of the Indian rebellion and the death of our friends by their hands, came


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to our ears." The allusion is to the massacre of John McDowell and his companions in the Forks of James river (see pages 31, 32). There was, however, no Indian rebellion. A party of Indians returning from Williamsburg, under some sudden impulse or possibly provocation, fired upon the whites, and then, frightened at their act, ran away as fast as they could.


David Logan's child, Benjamin, was baptized by Mr. Craig, May 3, 1743. This child became the distinguished General Logan of Kentucky. (See elsewhere in this Supplement).


On the 26th June, 1743, several children were baptized at North Mountain Meeting-house, and on the 30th, eight at South Mountain Meeting-house. The latter place may have been the predecessor of Tinkling Spring, or it may have been in the present county of Rock- bridge. The names of the children baptized there were Hays, Greenlee, Dunlap, Crawford, Breckenridge, etc.


The child of a woman "lately from Ireland," bound to John Pickens, was baptized December 10, 1743. Mrs. Eleanor Pickens stood sponsor, her husband being abroad. From 1740 to 1749, inclusive, various chil- dren of Israel, John and Gabriel Pickens were baptized. (See page 28).


James Robertson's son, Alexander, was baptized January 10, 1744.


On the 15th of January, 1744, David Campbell's child, Arthur, was baptized. This was the widely known and distinguished Colonel Arthur Campbell. (See page 98).


James Trimble's son, John, was baptized March 18, 1744, and James Robertson's son, George, April 24, 1744. (See "The Trimbles " and " The Robertsons ").


Mr. Craig pursued his calling wherever he went. Under date of June I, 1744, he says : "Being at Synod " [of Philadelphia] "I baptized three children in Pennsylvania."


Elizabeth Herison, " an adult person," was baptized July 27, 1744, and the following children at the dates mentioned : John Pickens's son, Israel, October 1, 1744; Thomas Stuart's son, Archibald, and Edward Hall's daughter, Jennet, February 12, 1745; John Crawford's son, William, March 21, 1745; and David Logan's son, Hugh, March 24, 1745.


William Renix was baptized June 2, 1745, and his brother, Joshua, in October, 1746. These were children of Robert Renix, who was killed by Indians in 1761, and his wife and children carried off. (See page 107). William returned from captivity with his mother in 1767. Joshua remained with the Indians, and became a chief of the Miamis.


Next we have the date of the first meeting at Tinkling Spring. After recording the baptism of Samuel Davison's child, Jesse, April 14, 1745, Mr. Craig says, in words expressive of his dissatisfaction with the place and the people : "This being the first day we meet at the contentious meeting-house about half built-T. S."


The " contention," to which Colonel Patton was a party (see page 44), was then vexing Mr. Craig's soul. He mentions, however, June 9, 1745, "This day Colonel Patton appeared at meeting."


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On September 1, 1745, Charles Campbell's son, William, was baptized. This child became the celebrated General William Campbell, of King's Mountain fame, the maternal grandfather of William C. Preston, of South Carolina. (See "The Campbell's.")


February 26, 1746, was " a fast day appointed by the Governor upon ye account of ye civil war." The war referred to was doubtless the re- bellion in Great Britain stirred up by Charles Edward, son of the Pre- tender to the British throne, which began in 1745, and was ended by the battle of Culloden, April 16, 1746.


At North Mountain Meeting-house, June 1, 1746, among the children baptized were John Trimble's son, James, and Alexander Crawford's son, William. It is an interesting coincidence that John Trimble and Alexander Crawford were both murdered by Indians in October, 1764, and probably on the same day, as related elsewhere. John Trimble's son, James, mentioned above, probably died in childhood, and another child called by the same name, born in 1756, became Captain James Trimble.


John Madison, the first clerk of the County Court of Augusta county, and father of Bishop Madison, was no doubt a member of the Church of England ; but, no rector having been appointed for Augusta parish, his son Thomas was baptized by Mr. Craig in October, 1746.


David Stuart and Abigal Herrison, "adult persons," were "bap- tized, after profession of faith and obedience," January 21, 1747.


Thomas Stuart's child, Jennet, was baptized February 22, 1747. This was probably the "Miss Jenny Stuart," a very old maiden lady, who was residing in Staunton within the recollection of persons still living.


Mr. Craig's record shows that there were repeated lapses from the path of virtue, and not alone by the class of "convict servants." It would not be to edification to set these matters forth in detail. The civil magistrates were rigid in the enforcement of laws against immor- ality, and the minister of religion faithfully performed his duty in the premises as he understood it. "Public satisfaction " was required of delinquents before they were allowed to have their children baptized.


The first rector of Augusta parish was the Rev. John Hindman, who was appointed April 6, 1747. (See page 34.) We have no account of him before that date. But he seems to have been a Dissenter and an old acquaintance of Mr. Craig, who mentions him curtly, April 5, 1747, as follows: "This day John Hindman attend, having turned his coat and now appears in the quality of a Church of England parson."


Robert McClanahan's son, Robert, was baptized April 19, 1747. He became Dr. Robert McClanahan, married a daughter of Thomas Lewis, removed (after 1770) to the part of Botetourt now Greenbrier, was cap- tain in the Botetourt regiment under Colonel Fleming in 1774, and killed at the battle of Point Pleasant.


John Tate's child, Eleanor, was baptized at North Mountain Meeting house, November 5, 1747 ; and Joseph Bell's child, Mary, February 21, 1748.


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Andrew Lewis's son, Samuel, was baptized September 15, 1748, and V became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Revolutionary War.


James Crawford's son, Alexander, and Patrick Crawford's daughter, Martha, were baptized in November, 1748.


Robert McClanahan's child, William, was baptized January 10, 1749. He was the father of Colonel Elisha McClanahan, of Roanoke.


On January 22, 1749, Mr. Craig makes the following entry : " This the first day we meet in and preach in Augusta meeting-house." It is gen- erally supposed that this refers to the stone meeting-house which is still standing and used by the congregation. We are not sure of that, how- ever; the entry may refer to a log building which preceded the stone house.


During the year 1749, besides his regular preaching places, Augusta and Tinkling Spring, Mr. Craig administered baptism at North Moun- tain, South Mountain, "Timber Grove," North River, near Great Lick, Calf Pasture and Cow Pasture.


The last entry in the book is dated September 28, 1749. During the nine preceding years the number of baptisms was 883, -463 males and 420 females. Mr. Craig could not say with the Apostle Paul that he was sent " not to baptize, but to preach the gospel," although he too, no doubt, preached whenever and wherever he could.


According to Mr. Craig's account of himself, he married, June II, 1744, "a young gentlewoman of a good family and character, born and brought up in the same neighborhood where I was born, daughter of Mr. George Russel, by whom I had nine children." The first, third and fifth children died young, and another must have died after the narrative was written, as we can learn of only five of his children who came to maturity.


His only son was named George. He married a Miss Kennerly, and removed to Kanawha. The daughters of Mr. Craig were-


I. Patience, wife of William Hamilton. This couple had three sons and five daughters, viz .:


I. John C. Hamilton, married Sally Craig-no relation. The late William and John Hamilton, of Christian's creek, were sons of John and Sally.


2. Hugh Hamilton, married Betsy, daughter of Samuel Clark, of Staunton. He went to Missouri and died there. His son, Dr. William Hamilton, was long an assistant physician at the Western Lunatic Asylum.


3. Andrew Hamilton, married Nancy Craig-no relation.


II. Mary Craig, daughter of the Rev. John Craig, married Charles Baskin, who was baptized by Mr. Craig, March 15, 1741. Captain Baskin, as he was called, was badly wounded at the battle of Guilford, in 1781. He had two children, Captain John C. Baskin, of the war of 1812, and a daughter, who married William Grimes.


III. Joanna Craig, married John Hamilton, a brother of William, hus- band of Patience. No children.


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IV. The name of Mr. Craig's fourth daughter is not known. She married an Atwater, and had two children : John, who died in service during the war of 1812, and Hannah, who married George Craig, of Putnam county.


GABRIEL JONES, THE KING'S ATTORNEY.


Gabriel Jones was the son of John and Elizabeth Jones, of the county of Montgomery, North Wales. At what date this couple came to America is not known. They settled at Williamsburg, Virginia, and on the 13th of August, 1721, their first child, a daughter named Elizabeth, was born in William and Mary College. Nearly three years later, on May 17, 1724, Gabriel was born, about three miles from Williamsburg. Another son, named John, was born at the same place, June 12, 1725.


John Jones, the father, apppears to have died before the year 1727. Mrs. Jones and her children were in England at the beginning of that year, and on February 20th her daughter was baptized at St. Giles-in- the-Fields, London, as shown by the parish record.


In April, 1732, Gabriel was admitted as a scholar of the " Blue Coat School," Christ's Hospital, London, on the presentation of Mr. Thomas Sandford. There he remained seven years. Under date of April 12, 1739, the following entry appears on the records of the school :


" Gabriel Jones is this day taken and discharged from the charges of this Hospital forever, by Elizabeth Jones, his mother, and by Mr. John Houghton, of Lyon's Inn, in the county of Middlesex, Solicitor in the High Court of Chancery, with whom he is to serve six years."


This brings his history up to 1745, in which year his mother died. Having served out his term of apprenticeship, the young lawyer, then twenty-one years of age, was no doubt "admitted to the bar." The family were of " gentle blood," but in reduced circumstances. One of Mr. Jones's descendants preserves some old coin, on the paper wrap- ping of which is written in his own hand: "This is the patrimony I re- ceived from my mother. From my father I received nothing." As early as 1750 he used the same crest and coat-of-arms as Sir William Jones, indicating a relationship with that celebrated man.


Gabriel Jones found means to return to America soon after he at- tained his majority and was " free of his indentures." He located first in Frederick county, and on March 1, 1747, bought a tract of land near Kernstown, where he lived for a time. He resided in Frederick in April, 1746, when he was appointed prosecuting attorney for Augusta, and was then only twenty-two years old.


On the 16th of October, 1749, Mr. Jones married Margaret Morton, widow of George Morton, and daughter of William Strother, of King George county. Mrs. Jones was born in 1726, and died in 1822,in her


.


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ninety-seventh year. She is described as a lady of eminent Christian character.


A deed of Christopher Francisco, of Pennsylvania, to Gabriel Jones, of the county of Frederick, dated August 8, 1751, is recorded in the clerk's office of Augusta county. The land conveyed consisted of 244 acres, being a part of 5,000 acres granted by patent to Jacob Stover, lying on the north side of " Shenandore River," in the parish and county of Augusta, and " opposite to the lower end of the Great Island." This was the farm below the present village of Port Republic, upon which Mr. Jones lived many years, and where he died. He was still a resident of Frederick, however, on the 24th of August, 1753, when Alexander Richie conveyed to him 400 acres of land on the north side of James River in the present county of Botetourt. He sold his Frederick property, on which he had lived, December 3, 1753, and probably before the close of that year removed to his farm on the Shenandoah, in Augusta.


If not the first lawyer who resided in the Valley, Mr. Jones was the first member of that profession who lived in Augusta. He was actively engaged in practice for many years. As we have seen (pages 35, 36), he also represented Augusta in the House of Burgesses in 1757, 1758 and 1771. He was considered a man of great ability and unbending integrity. His only fault, or the only one which tradition tells of, was an extremely irritable temper, which, when aroused, expressed itself in the strongest terms he could command, mingled with no little profanity. Having a scorn of all dishonesty and meanness, he did not spare a miscreant by tongue or pen. Two of his letters are before us. In one he describes a certain person, whose trickery he was exposing, as "one of the greatest villains," etc., etc. The other is dated July 28, 1782, and was written, when he was sick, to his son-indeed, from his own account he was " very low"-but he summoned strength enough to denounce a man about whom he wrote as a " scoundrel " and "infamous rascal." Yet at the close of this letter he expressed the tenderest affection for his son's wife.


When Rockingham was constituted, in 1777, Mr. Jones became a citi- zen of that county, and was immediately appointed prosecuting attorney. He was a member of the State Convention of 1788, having his brother- in-law, Thomas Lewis, as his colleague, both of them being zealous advocates of the adoption of the Federal Constitution. Mr. Lewis was a popular man while Mr. Jones was not, and it is related that in a public speech before the election, the latter declined the support of " the rascals " who, he understood, proposed to vote for him because of his association with the former. Archibald Stuart, of Augusta, went to Rockingham to electioneer for Mr. Jones, who afterwards presented to him a chaise in which to bring home his wife.


He continued to practice law, and the road he traveled, from his resi- dence to the county seat of Rockingham, is still called "The Lawyer's Road." An anecdote related of him, whether true or false, illustrates the awe he inspired in his latter days. It is said that on one occasion,


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during the trial of a cause before the County Justices of Rockingham, or Shenandoah, he had Alexander Hugh Holmes, afterwards the Judge, as his adversary at the bar. Holmes was mischievous and witty, and the old gentleman became angry and profane. The court abstained from interfering as long as possible, but finally put their heads together to confer about the matter. After due consideration, the Presiding Justice announced as the judgment of the court that they would send Lawyer Holmes to jail if hè did not quit making Lawyer Jones swear so.


Mr. Jones died in October, 1806. Having always pictured him as a giant in size and strength, we were surprised to learn that he was a man of small stature. His portrait represents him in the old style of dress, with a large wig, and a shade over his right eye. Some of his descendants suppose that he lost his eye during his early life, and others attribute the loss to an accident during his latter years. In the spring of 1887, a window, in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Jones, was inserted by their descendants in a new Protestant Episcopal church, which stands near their former residence.


The children of Gabriel Jones were three daughters and one son, besides one that died in infancy. Margaret Morton, the oldest daughter, married Colonel John Harvie, for some time a member of Congress and for many years Register of the Land Office of Virginia. The descend- ants of Colonel and Mrs. Harvie are very numerous, and many of them have been highly distinguished. Another daughter married John Lewis, of Fredericksburg, a lawyer, whose brother married a sister of General Washington; and the third married Mr. Hawkins, of Kentucky.


William Strother Jones, the only son of Gabriel Jones, was born March' 21, 1756. In the catalogue of students of William and Mary College we find the name of Strother Jones, son of Gabriel Jones, of Augusta, in 1767. His wife was Fanny Thornton, of Fredericksburg, who died about the year 1790. He was a captain in the Continental army during the Revolution, and subsequently a colonel of militia. It is said that he was an accomplished gentleman, but inherited his father's temper. At one time during the war he was ordered under arrest for " beating a sentry while on post and a corporal on guard."


William Strother Jones, Jr., was the only son of the former. He was born October 7, 1783, lived in Frederick county, married, first Ann Maria Marshall, a niece of Chief-Justice Marshall, and, second, Ann Cary Randolph, and died July 31, 1845.


The children of the last-named William Strother Jones were, Mrs. F. L. Barton, of Winchester; Wm. Strother Jones, now of New York ; Captain James F. Jones, who was murdered in 1866; Francis B. Jones, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Virginia regiment, who was killed at Malvern Hill ; and R. B. Jones.


Robert T. Barton, of Winchester, to whom we are indebted for much of the foregoing information, is a great-great-grandson of Gabriel Jones. John Jones, the brother of Gabriel Jones, had a son named John


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Gabriel, who was born June 6, 1752, and while still a very young man went to Kentucky. In June, 1776, George Rogers Clark and John Gabriel Jones were chosen by a popular meeting at Harrodsburg mem- bers of the General Assembly of Virginia. Before they arrived here the Legislature had adjourned, and Jones directed his steps to the set- tlements on the Holston, leaving Clark to proceed to Richmond. The latter obtained from the council an order for the transportation to Pitts- burg of 500 pounds of gunpowder for the use of the people of Kentucky. At the Fall session of the Legislature the two agents of Kentucky were in attendance. They were not received as members, but through their influence the county of Kentucky was constituted. Clark and Jones conveyed the powder from Pittsburg down the Ohio river to a point eleven miles above the present town of Maysville, and concealed it there. In December following, Colonel John Todd and a party of men, under the guidance of Jones, went for the powder; but on Christmas day, when near the Lower Blue Lick, they were attacked by Indians. Jones and several others were killed and the expedition was aban- doned. In January, 1777, however, Colonel Harrod succeeded in finding the powder and conveying it to Harrodsburg.


John Jones, the brother of Gabriel, was not the rector of Augusta parish in colonial times. Some of the descendants of Gabriel Jones state that as far as they know he had no brother whatever. Others not only give the brother's name, but the date of his birth.


MRS. AGATHA TOWLES, a grand-daughter of Colonel John Lewis, in a brief memoir, written by her in 1837, states that Colonel Lewis pre- ceded his family to America, and lived in Pennsylvania and Virginia three years before their arrival. A brother of his went from Wales to Portugal, and from thence probably to America, but Colonel Lewis came directly from Ireland. After his rencounter with "the Irish Lord," he took refuge in a house on the banks of the Boyne, and as soon as a ship was ready to sail, embarked for America. Mrs. Lewis and her children came over in a vessel with three hundred passengers, all Presbyterians, and landed on the Delaware river, after a voyage of three months. Mrs. Towles gives the names of Colonel Lewis's children, four sons and two daughters, but says nothing of a son named Samuel. She states that her uncle, Andrew, and her father, William Lewis, were at Brad- dock's Defeat, and that the latter was wounded on that occasion. It is hardly probable that she was mistaken in regard to her father, but we still think Andrew Lewis was not with Braddock. (See page 64.) An- drew Lewis having been taken prisoner at Grant's defeat, in 1758, (see page 105), was detained at Quebec for three years, says Mrs. Towles. She describes her father as a man of eminent piety.


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THE CAMPBELLS.


John Campbell came from Ireland to America in 1726, with five or six grown sons and several daughters, and settled first in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Six or eight years afterwards he removed to that part of Orange county, Virginia, which, in 1738, became Augusta county, where many of his numerous descendants lived for many years.


Three of John Campbell's sons came with him to Augusta, viz: Pat- rick, Robert and David.


I. Patrick Campbell, who died in Augusta, had at least two sons- Charles and Patrick.


I. Charles Campbell, son of Patrick, died in Augusta in 1767. He was the father of General William Campbell, of King's Mountain fame. In his will, dated August 4, 1761, proved in court and admitted to re- cord March 17, 1767, he speaks of himself as a resident of Beverley's Manor. He appointed his wife, Margaret, sole executrix, provided for her support, left 1,000 acres of land on the Holston to his son William, and lands in the same section to his daughters. The inventory of the estate shows a larger amount of personal property than was common at that time.


William Campbell, only son of Charles, was born in 1745. In a short time after his father's death, the whole family moved to the Holston, now Washington county, then in Augusta. The oldest daughter, Eliza- beth, married John Taylor, and from her the Taylors of Botetourt and Montgomery are descended ; the second, Jane, married Thomas Tate ; the third, Margaret, married Colonel Arthur Campbell, her second cousin ; and the fourth, Ann, married Richard Poston.


2. Patrick Campbell, second son of Patrick and brother of Charles, went to the southern part of Kentucky, and left many descendants.


II. Robert Campbell, son of John and brother of Patrick (I), was one of the first Justices of the Peace appointed for Augusta county, in 1745. He died in 1768, without leaving a will. His descendants, if any, are not mentioned by Governor David Campbell in his account of the family. (See Foote's Sketches, 2d series, page 117).


III. David Campbell, son of John and brother of Patrick (I) and Robert (II), married, in Augusta, Mary Hamilton, and had seven sons and six daughters, all of whom, except a son who died young, emi- grated to the Holston. The sons were John, Arthur, James, William, David, Robert and Patrick ; and the daughters, Margaret, Mary, Martha, Sarah, Ann, and sixth not named.


I. John Campbell, the oldest son of David, was born in 1741, and received a good English education. He accompanied Dr. Thomas Walker in his exploration in 1765, and purchased for his father a tract of land called the "Royal Oak," near the head waters of the Holston. A year or two afterwards, he and his brother Arthur, and their sister


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Margaret, moved to that place and made improvements. About 1771, the parents and the other children removed to the same place.


John Campbell was a Lieutenant in William Campbell's company, Colonel Christian's regiment, in 1774, which arrived at Point Pleasant too late for the battle of October Ioth. In July, 1776, he was second in command at the battle of the Long Island Flats of Holston, which resulted in a signal victory over the Indians. In October of the same year he commanded a company under Colonel Christian in his expedi- tion against the Cherokee towns (see page 142,) and up to 1781 was almost constantly in military service. He was appointed clerk of Washington County Court in 1778, and held the office till 1824. His death occurred in 1825. He was the father of Governor David Camp- bell.


Edward Campbell, another son of John Campbell, the younger, and brother of Governor Campbell, was a lawyer, and father of the late Judge John A. Campbell and others, of Abingdon. A sister of David and Edward married James Cummings, son of the Rev. Charles Cum- mings (see pages 50 and 52,) and was the mother of Colonel Arthur Campbell Cummings, of Abingdon.


2. Arthur Campbell, second son of David, (see page 98,) died about ISII, in his sixty-ninth year.




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