USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, with reminiscences illustrative of the vicissitudes of its pioneer settlers (A Supplement) > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
25 We give the date as stated by Kercheval, but feel quite sure that it is not correct. Bouquet concluded a treaty with the Indians in Novem- ber, 1764, and it is not probable that the massacre mentioned was per- petrated nearly two years afterwards during a time of peace. Most likely it occurred in August, 1764.
9
130
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
fair state of the case," to be laid " before Mr. Attorney and Mr. [Benjamin] Waller and get their opinion thereon." The "Mr. Attorney" referred to was Peyton Randolph, Attorney-General of the colony. Mr. Waller was a distinguished lawyer of Williams- burg. The opinion of Messrs. Randolph and Waller was laid before the vestry by Mr. Mathews, November 22, 1766, and it was ordered that each be paid {2 therefor. They advised that Mr. Jones's salary was only 650, and there the matter rested.
The trustees to purchase land for a poor-house, reported in November, 1766, that they had purchased a hundred acres on the waters of Christian's creek, from Sampson and George Mathews, for £40. A year later Daniel Perse and his wife were appointed keepers of the poor-house, on a salary of £35.
In November, 1767, a minute was entered in the vestry book, that all the members then present had subscribed a declaration " to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England." At a subsequent meeting, several members entered their protest against the signing of the proceedings by Israel Christian and (Mr.) John Buchanan, they having refused to sign the declaration.
On laying the parish levy, November 21, 1769, the Rev. Mr. Jones was allowed, by agreement, a salary of £150. At the same meeting William Bowyer was elected a vestryman in place of Colonel John Buchanan, deceased, Thomas Madison was chosen in place of Captain Israel Christian, and Captain Peter Hogg in place of Major Robert Breckenridge, "the said Breckenridge and Christian having refused subscribing to the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England."
On the 22d of November, 1769, it was entered of record by the vestry, that the Rev. John Jones, being incapacitated by age and infirmity, consented "to accept of fifty pounds and per- quisites in full of his salary for ensuing year, and to allow the residue levied for him by agreement to hire a curate to officiate in his stead."
No other meeting of vestry was held till November 22, 1771. This fact is not explained in the vestry book, but we find from an act of Assembly, published in Hening (Vol. VIII, page 438), why it was. This act, passed at the session which began in No- vember, 1769, declares that a majority of the vestry of Augusta parish, being dissenters from the Church of England, the vestry
131
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
is dissolved, and that an election of vestrymen be held on the 20th of September, 1770, the freeholders elected being required, before serving, to take and subscribe in court the oaths prescribed by law, to take and subscribe the oath of abjuration, to repeat and subscribe the test, and also to subscribe the declaration to be conformable, &c. Oaths and declarations were never so piled up, till immediately after the late war, the Federal Government waked up to the immense efficiency of such things. But surely one would think there was ample time, after the passage of the act referred to, and before the 20th of September, for the sheriff of Augusta to give the required notice and hold the election or- dered. The sheriff, however, did not think so, and probably the people were not unwilling to try the experiment of getting along without any vestry and parish levies. So it was for two years there was no meeting, because there were no vestrymen author- ized to meet, and all parish officers and creditors, including Mr. Jones, the rector, had to do without their pay. This state of affairs was reported to the Assembly, and in July, 1771, another act was passed to correct the matter. Some apology for the fail- ure of the election in 1769 was necessary, and therefore the act recites that, " owing to the remote situation " of Augusta county, the sheriff did not have notice of the act of 1769 in time to hold the election. He was, however, ordered to proceed, on the Ist of October, 1771, to have twelve freeholders duly elected as vestrymen, who were peremptorily required to swear and sub- scribe as directed by the former act This election was duly held, and Augusta parish being again equipped with a full complement of public officers, taxes were levied, and the rector, sexton, &c., received their salaries as before.
The first division of the territory of Augusta county was made in 1769, when an act was passed creating the county of Bote- tourt. The new county embraced a part of the present county of Rock bridge-the North river, near Lexington, being the boundary line between Augusta and Botetourt-and also part of Alleghany and Bath, and all of Greenbrier, Monroe, &c.
The first County Court of Botetourt was held February 13, 1770, the justices commissioned being Andrew Lewis, Robert Breckenridge, William Preston, Israel Christian, James Trimble, John Bowyer, Benjamin Hawkins, William Fleming, John Max- well and George Skillern. The five justices first named were
132
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
on the bench and constituted the court. John May having been appointed clerk by the proper authority at Williamsburg, was duly qualified. In like manner, Richard Woods was appointed and qualified as sheriff. James McDowell and James McGavock qualified as under sheriffs. The following attorneys were ad- mitted to practice in the court : Edmund Winston, John Aylett, Luke Bowyer and Thomas Madison. William Preston qualified as county surveyor, coroner, escheator and colonel of militia, Robert Breckenridge as lieutenant-colonel, and Andrew Lewis also as coroner. On the third day of the term, additional justices were recommended to the Governor for appointment, viz: Wil- liam Ingles, John Howard, Philip Love, James Robertson, Wil- liam Christian, William Herbert, John Montgomery, Stephen Trigg, Robert Dodge, Walter Crockett, James McGavock, Francis Smith, Andrew Woods, William Matthews, John Bow- man, William McKee and Anthony Bledsoe.
William Preston, Israel Christian and Robert Breckenridge removed to the " upper country" some time after 1761. In that year they resided at Staunton, and were members of the first board of trustees appointed for that town.
The county of Botetourt was named in honor of Norborne Berkeley, Lord Botetourt, who was Governor of Virginia in 1768. Israel Christian made a present of forty acres of land to the justices for the use of the county, and the town of Fincastle was built thereon. This town was established by law in 1772, and called after Lord Botetourt's county seat in England. 26
The new vestry of Augusta parish met November 22, 1771,
26 In 1772, Botetourt was reduced by the formation of Fincastle county, which embraced all southwest Virginia and also Kentucky. Fincastle, however, existed for only a few years. In 1776, its terri- tory was divided into the three counties of Montgomery, Washington and Kentucky. During its short existence, its county seat was at Fort Chiswell, now in Wythe county. This fort was built in 1758 by the colonial government, and named for Colonel John Chiswell, who owned and worked the New River lead mines. Chiswell died in the jail of Cumberland county, while awaiting trial for murder, having killed his antagonist in a personal encounter. The property subse- quently fell into the hands of Moses Austin, father of Stephen F. Austin, famous in Texan history .- [Hale's Trans. Alleghany Pio- neers.
.
133
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and ordered that the collector for 1769 pay to Mr. Jones one hundred pounds "which was then levied for a curate, as none such has been employed."
In March, 1772, it was "ordered that Mr. William Bowyer employ a curate for this parish to supply the curacy of the same as directed by the present rector." From subsequent proceedings, it appears that the Rev. Adam Smith was the curate employed for a few months. In 1783 he was the rector of Botetourt parish.
In November, 1772, Thomas Mathews was allowed £2 as sexton for one year. A reader "at the Dutch meeting near Picket mountain" was allowed £5, and the "clerk of the church, if one, he got " £6.
In August, 1773, the Rev. Adam Smith, late curate, was allowed £41, 135. 4d. for officiating five months. William Bowyer, who had previously objected to paying Mr. Jones anything, on the ground that he was incapacitated, now ob- jected to the deduction from Mr. Smith's pay as ungenerous. Michael Bowyer suggested that Mr. Smith might make up the lost time.
At the meeting, November 9, 1773, the Rev. John Jones agreed to receive the Rev. Alexander Balmaine as curate and to pay him at the rate of {100 a year, directing his attorney, Robert McClanahan, to pay the same out of his salary. The vestry ratified this arrangement November 18th, but ordered that the collector make payment of the £100 directly to Mr. Balmaine.
Mr. Jones appeared no more at meetings of the vestry. He had evidently become imbecile, and his business affairs were transacted by his attorney-in-fact, Robert McClanahan. But we imagine that his young and talented curate created quite a sensation in the parish on his appearance here.
Mr. Balmaine, says Bishop Meade, was born near Edin- burgh, Scotland, in 1740, and educated at St. Andrew's with a view to the Presbyterian ministry. He and his brother, a lawyer, at an early day espoused the cause of the American colonies and, in consequence, found it necessary to leave Scot- land. They went to London, and there became acquainted with Arthur Lee, agent of Virginia, who recommended Mr. Balmaine as a private tutor to Richard Henry Lee. While
134
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
waiting in London he took orders in the Church of England, and after arriving in Virginia, became curate to Mr. Jones. During his service in this capacity he paid several visits to the Episcopalians at Pittsburg, which was regarded as within his parish. At the beginning of the Revolutionary war, he entered the army as chaplain, and at the close became rector of Frederick parish, residing at Winchester for thirty years, till his death.
At the meeting of vestry, November 18, 1773, it was deter- mined to build a chapel in the neighborhood of Cook's creek, now Rockingham. In November, 1774, we find those sturdy Scotch-Irishmen, Alexander St. Clair and John Hays, elected members of the vestry, and, more surprising still, John Lyle and John Grattan were elected church-wardens.
On the 18th of December, 1773, a number of the inhabitants of Boston, disguised as Indians, boarded the English tea ships in the harbor, broke open the chests, and emptied the contents into the sea. A boy from Virginia participated in that famous adventure. Christian Bumgardner, who lived in what is now Shenandoah county, was then in Boston with his wagon and team, accompanied by his son, Jacob. The youth was drawn into the scheme, and helped to throw the tea overboard. During the war of the Revolution, Mr. Bumgardner removed to Augusta, and settled on the farm near Bethel church, where some of his descendants now reside. Jacob Bumgardner was a Revolutionary soldier, and lived to a venerable age. He was the father of Messrs. Lewis and James Bumgardner.
The Rev. John Craig 27 died on the 21st of April, 1774. He had retired from Tinkling Spring ten years before, and that congregation had no pastor for about twelve years. They extended an invitation to the Rev. James Waddell, then living in Lancaster county, but he declined it. Mr. Craig was suc- ceeded at Augusta church, but not till 1780, by the Rev. Wil liam Wilson, a native of Pennsylvania, but reared in that part of Augusta county now Rockbridge. He officiated at the stone church till 1814, when, owing to his infirmities, he retired, but
27 Mr. Craig had four children, a son named George, who removed to Kanawha, and three daughters. From one of his daughters the Hamiltons of Tinkling Spring are descended.
135
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
his life was protracted till 1835. Mr. Wilson was considered an admirable classical scholar and an attractive preacher. Upon recovering from an illness at one time, he had wholly forgotten his native language, but his knowledge of Latin and Greek remained. Gradually he recovered his English.
But the happy days of peace did not last. In the early part of 1774 the Indians assumed an attitude of hostility towards the whites. The whole race was alarmed at the attempts of white men to occupy Kentucky. They were, moreover, not without provocation, on account of the ruthless conduct of encroaching settlers and hunters. Single murders, on both sides, were com- mitted on the Ohio frontier; and finally, in the month of April, the family of Logan, a noted Indian chief, was slaughtered in cold blood, not far below Wheeling, by a party of whites. A general war immediately began, and Logan led one of the first of the marauding parties against the settlers on the Mononga- hela. Logan was so called after James Logan, the secretary of Pennsylvania. His Indian name is unpronounceable. He was the son of a celebrated Cayuga chief, who dwelt on the Susque- hanna. Until the unprovoked slaughter of his family he was friendly with the whites. Then he became a fiend incarnate, carrying fire and death through the frontier settlements. He is described as an Indian of extraordinary capacity.
Colonel Angus McDonald, at the head of a small force, ad- vanced from Wheeling into the Indian country, but returned without accomplishing any important result. The Indians con- tinued hostile, and proceeded to form extensive alliances amongst themselves.
The government at Williamsburg then took steps to protect the western frontier. Lord Dunmore, the Governor, ordered Andrew Lewis, then a brigadier-general, and residing in Bote- tourt, to raise a force of eleven or twelve hundred men and march to the Ohio ; while he at the head of a similar force raised in the lower valley, should move to Fort Pitt, and thence to meet Lewis at Point Pleasant.
Eight companies raised in Augusta county formed a regiment of four hundred men, commanded by Colonel Charles Lewis. His captains were George Mathews, Alexander McClanahan, John Dickinson, John Lewis (son of Colonel William Lewis), Benjamin Harrison (of the Rockingham family), William Paul,
136
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Joseph Haynes, and Samuel Wilson. Colonel William Fleming, of Botetourt, commanded a regiment of about the same number of men, and one of his captains was Robert McClanahan, a native of Augusta, and brother of Alexander. Robert McClanahan's wife was the eldest daughter of Thomas Lewis, the surveyor. She afterwards married a Mr. Bowyer.
The Augusta companies rendezvoused in Staunton the latter part of August. Sampson Mathews's ordinary seems to have been headquarters. Here, no doubt, grog was freely dispensed for several days, but tradition states only one fact in connection with the gathering. It is said that the heights of the men of Captain George Mathews's company were marked on the bar- room walls, nearly all the men being over six feet two inches in their stockings, and not one under six feet.
Of the departure from Staunton and march to Camp Union (Lewisburg) we have no account. At the latter place General Lewis assembled his command about the 4th of September.
On September 11th, the command began the march to the Ohio. Captain Matthew Arbuckle, of Greenbrier, acted as guide. There was no track of any kind, and few white men had ever gone down the Kanawha valley. Of course wagons could not be employed, and provisions were transported on pack-horses. Many cattle also were driven along to supply food for the army. In nineteen days the command advanced from Camp Union to Point Pleasant, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles, averag- ing eight and a half miles a day.
Here we must repeat a story of the supernatural, as related by Governor Gilmer, without, however, vouching for its truth :.
" About mid-day on the Ioth of October, 1774," says Governor Gilmer, "in the town of Staunton, a little girl, the daughter of John and Agatha Frogge, and grand-daughter of Thomas and Jane Lewis, was sleeping near her mother, when suddenly she waked, screaming that the Indians were killing her father. She was quieted by her mother, and again went to sleep. She again waked, screaming that the Indians were killing her father. She was again quieted and went to sleep, and was waked up by the same horrid vision, and continued screaming beyond being hushed. The child's mother was very much alarmed at the first dream. But when the same horrid sight was seen the third time, her Irish imagination, quickened by inherited superstition, pre-
137
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
sented to her the spectacle of her husband scalped by the Indians. Her cries drew together her neighbors, who, upon being informed of what had happened, joined their lamentations to her's, until all Staunton was in a state of commotion.
"It so happened that the great battle of the Point between the western Indians and the Virginians was fought on the very day when all Staunton was thus agitated. And what was still more wonderful, John Frogge, the father of the child who saw in her dream the Indians killing her father, was actually killed by the Indians on that day." It is said that Captain Frogge was a sutler, but took a gun and fought with the rest. He was gaudily dressed in bright colors, and his hat was adorned with ribbons and feathers.
Of this extraordinary occurrence there is no tradition in Staunton. We may add that Mrs. Frogge's second husband was Captain John Stuart, afterwards Colonel Stuart.
Early Monday morning, October 10, the Virginians were suddenly attacked by a large body of Indians led by Corn- stalk and Logan. The battle raged all day, and was one of the most noted conflicts that ever occurred between Indians and white men. Seventy-five of the whites, including Colo- nels Lewis and Field, and Captain Robert McClanahan,28 were killed, and one hundred and forty were wounded. The loss of the Indians is unknown, but they were signally defeated.
Sundry articles captured from the Indians were sold at auc- tion after the battle, and brought £74, 4s. 6d.
After burying the dead and providing for the wounded, Gen- eral. Lewis proceeded to join Governor Dunmore, in order to penetrate the Indian country in pursuance of the original scheme, but an express met him with orders from the Governor to re. turn to the mouth of the Big Kanawha. The integrity of the Governor was suspected. The Revolutionary troubles having begun, it was believed that Dunmore was seeking to win the Indians to the side of Great Britain against the Colonies. The men of Lewis's command refused to obey the Governor's order, and continued to advance till he met them and made such
28 Captain McClanahan left two sons, Robert and John, who went to Kentucky. Robert, however, was back in Augusta in 1808.
I38
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
representations as to the prospect of peace as induced them to retire.
Dunmore went into Ohio, and halted his command eight miles from the Indian town of Chilicothe, calling the place Camp Charlotte. Eight chiefs, with Cornstalk at their head, came to Dunmore's camp, and in the course of a few days a treaty of peace was concluded. Interpreters were sent to Logan to request his attendance, but he refused to come, saying "he was a warrior, not a counsellor." His speech, which, it is said, the interpreters delivered ou their return, is regarded as a fine specimen of untutored eloquence :
"I appeal to any white man to say if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him no meat; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not? During the course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate of peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed and said, 'Logan is the friend of white men.' I have even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for re- venge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."
Mr. Jefferson, it is said, found this speech at Governor Dun- more's, in Williamsburg, and afterwards published it in his Notes on Virginia. The genuineness of the speech has been questioned, but it is generally believed to be authentic. The
charge against Cresap, however, who was captain in the division of the army under Dunmore, appears to have been unfounded. Logan did not name him in the speech, or message, which he sent to Dunmore.
Of Cornstalk it is said: " If in the battle of Point Pleasant he displayed bravery and generalship, in the negotiation at Camp Charlotte he exhibited the skill of a statesman, joined to powers of oratory rarely, if ever, surpassed."
139
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
The news of the battle of Point Pleasant could not well have reached Staunton until about the 24th of October. The anxiety of the people at home, while waiting the result of the expedition, may be imagined.
There is no record or tradition in regard to it, but the County Court records indicate the state of feeling. The October term of the court began on the 18th, but no business was transacted, except the qualification of several new justices of the peace. The court met again on the 19th, but only to adjourn to the next term. The whole community was too anxiously awaiting intel- ligence from the west to attend to ordinary affairs.
When November court came round the surviving heroes of Point Pleasant had returned to their homes. One of them, An- drew Moore, appeared in court on November 15, and qualified to practice law. Alexander McClanahan sat as a magistrate on the County Court bench August 22, and then hurried with his company to Camp Union; he was on the bench again on No- vember 16, soon after his return.
By January court, 1775, the men who were in the expedition had gotten up their accounts against the government for pecu- niary compensation. Many were for "diets of militia ;" some for "sundries for the militia ;" others for " driving pack horses." William Sharp and others presented claims for services as spies. John Hays demanded pay for himself and others as " pack-horse masters." William Hamilton had a bill for riding express, and William McCune another as " cow herd."
Colonel Charles Lewis executed his will August 10, 1774, on the eve of his departure for Point Pleasant, and the instrument was admitted to record January 17, 1775. The testator seeins to have been a man of considerable wealth. Four children sur- vived him-John, Andrew, Elizabeth and Margaret, and one was born after his death. His wife was Sarah Murray, a half sister of Colonel Cameron, of Bath county.
We anticipate the course of events to relate briefly the fate of Cornstalk. A fort had been established at Point Pleasant, and in 1777 was garrisoned by a small force. The Indians having recently shown an unfriendly disposition, a larger force was ordered there, with a view to an advance into the Indian coun- try, to overawe the savages. Colonel Skillern, of Botetourt, commanded several companies raised in Augusta and Botetourt,
140
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and with him arrived a company of Greenbrier men. Captains Stuart and Arbuckle, of Greenbrier, were also present. Corn- stalk, and another chief called Redhawk, came to the fort pro- fessedly to give warning that the Shawnees intended to take part with the British against Virginia, and were detained as hostages. Elinipsico, the son of Cornstalk, afterwards arrived to inquire, about his father. This being the state of things at the fort, two young men, named Gilmore and Hamilton, from Kerr's creek, belonging to a company commanded by Captain John Hall, went across the Kanawha to hunt. On their return, as they approached the river, some Indians hid in the weeds fired upon them. Gilmore was killed and scalped, but Hamilton was rescued by some of his comrades. They brought the bloody body of Gilmore across the river, and no doubt instantly thought of the terrible inroads upon Kerr's creek, led by Cornstalk, it was believed, years before. The cry arose, "Let us kill the Indians in the fort !" Hall's men, with the captain at their head, rushed in, and, notwithstanding the intervention of Stuart and Arbuckle, accomplished their purpose.
The BRECKENRIDGES were driven by persecution from Ayrshire, Scotland, to the north of Ireland, during the reign of Charles II. In 1728 Alexander Breckenridge came to America, and after residing a few years in Pennsylvania, removed to Augusta county, and settled on a farm near the site of Staunton. As we have seen, he was one of the commissioners of Tinkling Spring congregation, August 11, 1741. He died in 1747, and his name does not appear again in our Annals.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.