USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, with reminiscences illustrative of the vicissitudes of its pioneer settlers (A Supplement) > Part 21
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of which two editions were printed. By invitation of President Jefferson, he visited Washington city, and there delivered an address in the capital, which excited much admiration. Soon afterwards he became pastor of a church in Baltimore. He was chosen chaplain to the lower house of Congress in 1806, and to the Senate in 1815. About the year 1822, the University of Maryland conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. His style of oratory is said to have indicated his common nation- ality with Curran and Philips. His popular address and talents, in connection with the important places he occupied, and the fact of his being an exile from his native land, gave him easy access to the highest classes of society. He died October 4, 1832.
In the year 1802, another change was made in the judiciary system of the State. Four chancery districts were then consti- tuted, and John Brown was elected by the Legislature "judge of the court of chancery for the upper district." At the time of his election, Judge Brown resided in Hardy county, but he im- mediately removed to Staunton, where he was required to hold terms of his court. He sat also in Lewisburg and Wytheville. The first chancery court was held in Staunton, July 1, 1802. Henry J. Peyton was the first clerk of this court, and William S. Eskridge was the second and last. William Kinney, Sr., was its "sergeant-at-arms." Among the lawyers who qualified to practice in the court, on the day it opened, were Edmund Ran- dolph, James Breckenridge, Daniel Sheffey, Chapman Johnson and Edward Graham. Of these, only Mr. Johnson resided in Staunton. Mr. Sheffey lived at that time in Wythe, and did not remove to Staunton till some twenty years afterwards.
Judge Brown died in 1826. His successor was Judge Allen Taylor, of Botetourt, who presided in the court till 1831, when another change was made in the judiciary system.
In connection with the foregoing, we may state here that, in 1809, circuit courts of law, instead of district courts, were estab- lished by act of assembly. The counties of the State were arranged in circuits, and one of the judges of the general court was required to hold terms in every county. Judge Stuart then became sole judge of the circuit of which Augusta was a part. Chesley Kinney, by appointment of the judge, was clerk of the circuit court of law for Augusta county, till 1828, when his son, Nicholas C. Kinney, was appointed.
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The system of two distinct courts, one of law and the other of chancery, continued till the year 1831.
From the year 1800 to the year 1860, emigration and immi- gration were the order of the day in Augusta county. The sons of farmers and others, descendants of early settlers, were enticed away by the low prices of rich lands in the west-Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Often whole families sold out their lands here, and left in search of new homes near the frontier of civilization; and sometimes several families, neighbors and friends, went together to form a congenial settlement else- where. The emigrants packed in wagons their provisions, clothing, bedding, and such cherished articles as they could not leave behind, and spent weeks on the road, camping out at night. The descendants of Augusta people in the States just named, must number many thousands. Some forty years ago, a citizen of Augusta was visiting relations in central Illinois, when two other citizens of the county arrived on horseback. The latter stated that after crossing the Ohio river, they had spent every night at the house of an Augusta man.
The places of the emigrants were taken by immigrants from Pennsylvania and the lower valley, generally people of German descent-the most thrifty of farmers-and thus the county suf- fered no loss in population.
For some years Mississippi was the Eldorado which attracted young men who desired to embark in business-lawyers, doctors and clerks; many of these, however, drifted back to their old homes. Our farming and grazing population were never much inclined towards the cotton growing States and territories.
In the fall of 1803 the people of Staunton and Augusta county were thrown into a hubbub of excitement in regard to a noto- rious character called Bob Bailey. A brief sketch of this man will be read with interest, and is not out of place here. He was born, according to his own account, in Culpeper county, in 1773. His father having been killed at the battle of the Cowpens, and his mother being poor, he was thrown upon his own resources at an early age. But he was industrious and enterprising, and got along remarkably well, with very little edu- cation, however. In 1791, when he was eighteen years old, he was employed as overseer by Major John Hays, of Hays' creek, Rockbridge. He was sent to Staunton for Dr. Humphreys,
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and the conversation, during his ride back with the doctor, de termined him to come to Staunton, possibly to study medicine. To Staunton he came, and attending a 22d of February ball had the Widow Bosang as a partner in the dance. As we have seen, John Bosang was one of the five ordinary keepers in Staunton in 1787. His tavern was on the northwest corner of Main and Lewis streets, near the Methodist church, where a brick dwelling house now stands. After his death his widow, who appears to have been a matron of good repute, continued the business at the old stand. In an evil hour for her she encountered the hand- some young stranger, was captivated, and after a short courtship agreed to marry him, he being about nineteen years of age, and she twenty-eight or thirty. For a time the youthful husband devoted himself to tavern-keeping and prospered. He then concluded to become a merchant also, and went to Philadelphia with a lot of horses to barter for goods. There he was intro- duced to the gaming-table, was fascinated, and soon became an adept at card-playing. For about twenty years he pursued that nefarious business.
While he was living in Staunton, or claiming a residence here, the fall term of the district court, 1802, came on. The court opened on the Ist day of September, Judges St. George Tucker and Joseph Jones presiding. John Coalter, afterwards judge, was clerk of the court. Philip Grymes resigned the office of prosecuting attorney on an early day of the term, and Hugh Nelson was appointed in his place. Chapman Johnson, who had just settled in Staunton, qualified to practice as an attorney. A grand jury was impanneled, and among the members were Alexander Nelson, James Cochran, Robert Doak, Andrew An- derson, Henry McClung, and James Moffett. On the next day the jury brought in a presentment charging that Robert Bailey, at the house of William Chambers, in Staunton (the Wayne Tavern), " was the keeper and exhibitor of a certain unlawful gaming table called Pharaoh, or Pharaoh Bank." The case hav- ing been continued at April term, 1803, came on for trial in September of that year. General Blackburn appeared as coun- sel for the accused, who kept out of sight in another county. On the 3d of September the petit jury, John Poage, foreman, brought in a verdict of guilty. General Blackburn moved an arrest of judgment, and the court took time to consider.
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Finally, on the 6th, the motion was overruled, and judgment was rendered that Robert Bailey be deemed and treated as a vagrant ; that he be delivered by the sheriff to the overseers of the poor, to be by them hired out for three months for the best wages that could be procured, for the use of the poor ; and that he give security in the penalty of five hundred dollars for his good behavior for three years. A capias for the arrest of Bailey was awarded, returnable on the first day of the next term.
Bailey was astounded when, at his hiding-place in Bath county, he heard the news from Staunton. What a punishment for a gentleman ! He says he almost became a lunatic. He did not come forward to be hired out for the use of the poor, and evi- dently there was no particular desire to capture and detain him for three months in the community. Having, when flush of money, purchased a farm in Botetourt, his family removed there, and for a time he claimed a residence in that county. Wishing to obtain a writ of error he sought to employ Philip Grymes to appear for him in the court of appeals. In a letter to that gen- tleman, he charged that Judge Tucker had offered to compro- mise the prosecution against him in consideration of a hundred guineas. Mr. Grymes communicated the accusation to the judge, and he brought it to the attention of the Legislature, with a view to an investigation of his official conduct. Thus the charge became public, and all Augusta county was aroused. Many citi- zens sent down written testimonials as to the respective repu- tations of Judge Tucker and Bailey-General Blackburn, Judge Stuart, Alexander St. Clair, John Wayt, Sr., General Porterfield, Chesley and Jacob Kinney, Jacob Swoope, John McDowell, Jo- seph Bell, Sr., Judge Brown and others. Bailey, on the other hand, in person or by his friends, got up counter testimonials signed by two or three hundred respectable citizens-Major Joseph Bell, Jr., Captain Samuel Steele, William Moffett, Jacob Lease, Peter Hanger, John Tate, William Gilkeson, Lawrence Tremper, &c., &c. He showed also that he was captain of the Staunton Light Infantry Blues, "the finest uniformed company west of the Blue Ridge," and that having been a candidate for the House of Delegates in April, 1803, he was voted for by two hundred and fifty-nine freeholders out of five hundred and sixty- four who voted. Many people evidently rather liked the man- his utterly reprobate character had not then been fully devel-
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oped. He was free-handed with his money, and profuse in acts of kindness, and a large number of his acquaintances could not re- fuse to certify that as tavern-keeper, merchant, and private citizen he was just and fair in his dealings. They all admitted, however, that he was fond of gaming. Bailey published a pamphlet, in which he retorted upon his assailants, saying many hard things about some of them. Of some, such as General Blackburn and Mr. St. Clair, the worst he could say was that they had accepted his hospitality and received him as their guest. Judge Stuart and Judge Brown he affected to brush aside with supreme contempt. Daniel Sheffey, a member of the Legislature from Wythe at the time, was scouted as "a little cobbler." A com- mittee of the Legislature investigated the matter, and Judge Tucker was exonerated, of course.
Bailey gained what was no doubt highly valued by him-in- creased notoriety. He entered now fully upon his career as a "sportsman "-a gambler he says he never was. A gambler cheats and he always played fair. He was a frequenter of vari- ous Virginia summer resorts, especially the Sweet Springs, and extended his operations to Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Charleston, and New Orleans. He claimed to have visited London and Paris on the same business, but his contem- poraries believed he had never been in Europe. At times he rolled in wealth, and moved about with such splendid equipage as to attract general attention. He was then munificent in his benefactions. At other times he was penniless, and depended upon his boon companions for another start in the world. He offered himself as a candidate for Congress in the Botetourt district, and, if he tells the truth, came within three votes of being elected. Although a most amiable man in his own estima- tion, he was often involved in broils. While living in Staun- ton he had a fight with Adam Bickle, Sr., and another with Jacob Peck. At the Sweet Springs he fought a duel and wounded his antagonist, but confesses that he was very much frightened. In Washington city he had a street fight with Col- onel Isaac Coles, of Albemarle, President Jefferson's private secretary, Coles having ordered him out of the President's man- sion at a levee. His fortunes waned when he was still in the prime of life. He had abandoned his family many years before, and at the age of forty-eight he wrote his Life and Adven-
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tures in a cabin, the best abode he could then command. From a mutilated copy of this book we have taken most of his history as here related. It is as candid as the Confessions of Rousseau, giving many details too unchaste for these pages. He warns young men, with apparent sincerity, against ever playing cards. His life, as related by himself, is another proof of the Bible declaration that " the way of the transgressor is hard."
About the year 1818, Bailey was traveling about the country soliciting subscribers for his proposed publication, and came to Staunton, the first time for fifteen years. He ventured into the courthouse, and Judge Stuart, who was on the bench, recognized him and ordered his arrest on account of the affair of 1803. He hurried away, going to the tavern of the widow Mitchell, on the old Winchester road, and she aided him to escape by way of Rockfish Gap, while the sheriff was in search of him down the Valley. He remarks in his book that he did not obtain many subscribers in Augusta.
Between the years 1800 and 1812, the county received impor- tant accessions of professional and business men from abroad. Most of these located in Staunton, and became part and parcel of the county. John C. Sowers, the merchant, Briscoe G. Bald- win, Erasmus Stribling, and the Eskridge brothers came from Frederick county, or thereabouts. Chapman Johnson came from Louisa county, and the Waddells from the same section. John H. Peyton, the lawyer, and John Randolph, the Middlebrook merchant, came from Stafford county. James A. Frazier, a native of Ireland, was employed as a store boy at Jennings' Gap by Robert McDowell, who afterwards failed in business. Young Frazier held the position, and in the course of time built up an extensive business and one of the largest fortunes ever accumu- lated in the county. During the earlier part of his career, Au- gusta merchants dealt almost exclusively in Philadelphia. They generally made the trip to market, or "below," as the phrase went, twice a year, on horseback, two or more traveling together, carrying Mexican dollars in their saddle-bags.
For several years during the first decade of the present cen- tury, Jacob D. Dietrick published a newspaper in Staunton called the Staunton Eagle. We know of no complete file of this paper in existence, but several isolated numbers have fallen into our hands. It is almost provoking to find in them so little of local
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interest. There is hardly ever a line of editorial, and no attempt whatever to report the county and town news. We, however, extract an item here and there from advertisements, communica- tions, or marriage and death announcements. The wars of Napoleon were then in full blast, and the troubles between the United States and Great Britain, which led to the war of 1812, were brewing ; and these matters of course occupied much space in the columns ; but the editor had no idea of condensing a long article, and two or three dreary documents often occupied all the space devoted to news. The editor was classic and mythological in his taste, and the "make up" of the paper was fanciful and unique. He announced marriages under the head of " Hall of Hy- men," and deaths under that of "Repository of Death." The poetry column was styled "Temple of the Muses," and the joke column "Temple of Hilarity." A wide circulation was sought for the paper, and a long list of agents was published, in nearly all the Valley counties in Virginia, and in the States of Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. Oh, for a file of the Eagle or the Republican Farmer, got up in the style of our present Staunton newspapers ! But we will not be ungrateful, and thanking Mr. Dietrick for the few small favors he has granted us, we regret that more of his issues, such as they were, have not come to our hands.
We learn from an advertisement in the Eagle that in October, 1807, James Miller had a paper mill near Staunton. Lots in the town of New York (Albemarle county) were advertised for sale. Advertisements in the German language appeared in the paper. Miss Smith advertised her " Young Ladies' Academy," at Lex- ington-board for five months, $50; tuition, $10. In one issue, under the head "Hall of Hymen," appeared the marriage, by the Rev. Mr. Calhoon, of Mr. Abraham Smith to Miss Juliet Lyle, and of Lieutenant G. W. Sevier, of Tennessee, to Miss Catharine Chambers. In October, 1807, a friend of the editor, "traveling through this place," favored him "with a copy of the official return of members of the General Assembly for Wash- ington county, Maryland." But not a word of county news in the issue.
In January, 1808, Mr. Dietrick began to issue a paper in Ger- man. In March, the same year, the town authorities were elected, viz: Chapman Johnson, mayor; John McDowell, re-
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corder; and Jacob Lease, John C. Sowers, John D. Greiner, and Michael Garber, aldermen. John Coalter,48 then a Staunton law- yer, afterwards judge of the court of appeals, published a com- munication advocating the election of Mr. Johnson to the House of Delegates, and answering the objection that he was an attor- ney. Madison and Monroe were then rival candidates for the presidency of the United States. The Republican politicians of the county were divided, and each faction had a committee of correspondence. The Madison committee were John Coalter, Chapman Johnson, and General John Brown, the chancellor. The Monroe committee consisted of Chesley Kinney, James Cochran, David Parry, Micajah Coalter, and a fifth whose name has been torn out of the newspaper.
The Eagle was Republican in politics, and supported the ad- ministration of Mr. Jefferson, as far as a newspaper so edited could support any side. It, however, did not survive long in the soil and climate of "Old Federal Augusta."
William G. Lyford started another newspaper, the Republican Farmer, in 1808, but soon sold out to Isaac Collett. In his first issue, Collett announced that he was " decidedly a Federal char - acter." His paper was edited on the same plan as the Eagle, but survived, in his hands, for twelve or thirteen years.
Jacob Swoope, of Staunton, was the member of Congress from the Augusta district in the years 1809-1811. Party spirit ran high in those days. Mr. Swoope was leader of the Federalists,
48 While a young lawyer, living at Staunton, Judge Coalter resided at the place then called Elm Grove, on Lewis's creek, half a mile east of town. His circumstances were so poor, that he had to return home every day in time to cut wood for family use; and not being able to keep or hire a horse, he walked to his courts, carrying his clothes and papers in a bag on his shoulders. Afterwards, when a distinguished judge of the court of appeals, he was in the habit of referring to this period as the happiest of his life. His last residence was a handsome seat, called Chatham, on the Rappahannock river, opposite Fredericksburg. He was born a little north of New Provi- v dence church, now in Rockbridge county. His first wife was a daughter of Judge St. George Tucker, sister of Judge Henry St. G. Tucker, and half-sister of John Randolph, of Roanoke. His last wife, who long survived him, was Miss Jones, of Spotsylvania.
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and Judge Stuart of the Republicans. Both parties had balls in Staunton, to which their adherents in the county were invited, with their wives and children. Each had also street processions, headed by its chief. Mr. Swoope's competitor, when he was elected, was Daniel Smith, then a young lawyer in Rockingham. Swoope could speak German, while Smith could not, and the German people of the district generally voted for the former.
Mr. Swoope declined a re-election, and Generel Samuel Black- burn, then of Bath, was announced as the Federalist candidate. William McCoy, of Pendleton, came forward as the Republican candidate. The election was held on April court day, 1811. At that time, and for long afterwards, elections were not held as now, on the same day, throughout the State, or even district, but the people of each county voted at their April court. Au- gusta, Bath and Hardy, gave majorities for Blackburn, but Pen- dleton and Rockingham, the other two counties of the district, carried the day for McCoy, who was elected by a majority of one hundred and thirty-five votes. At the same time Chapman John- son was elected to represent Augusta in the State Senate, and A. Fulton and A. Anderson were elected delegates. The whole vote cast in Augusta at the election was seven hundred and eighty- five, the right of suffrage being restricted to freeholders.
William McCoy held the seat in Congress till 1833. Daniel Sheffey represented the Wythe district in the House of Re- presentatives from 1809 to 1817, and afterwards removed to Staunton. In due time he presented himself as the Federalist candidate against McCoy, but in vain. On election day in Pen- dleton, he was there to confront his adversary at home, but on his return reported that "it was nothing but Hiner, Greiner and McCoy," the first two being candidates for the Legisla- ture.
Although the trustees of the Staunton Academy were incor- porated in 1792, their school-house seems not to have been com- pleted till about 1810. Judge Stuart gave the lot. A part of the funds employed was raised by general subscription in the county, and a part was donated by the State out of proceeds of sale of glebe lands. The Masonic fraternity also had an interest in the building, occupying an upper room as their hall. In the year last named, the principals of the academy were James G.
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Waddell and Bartholomew Fuller. The former taught the clas- sics, and the latter mathematics.
For nearly seventy years-until the building was turned over to the trustees of public free schools-a succession of teachers had charge of the academy. In 1833, Lyttleton Waddell and William D. Cooke became joint principals. The latter continued for a short time only, but the former conducted the school for more than twenty years. During most of that time, the institu- tion was highly prosperous, attracting many pupils from abroad.
Colonel Robert Porterfield was elected brigadier-general of State troops in 1810, and appointed Mr. John H. Peyton his chief of staff.
The population of the county in 1810 was 14,338; Staunton, 1,225; Waynesborough, 250; Greenville, 162; and Middlebrook, 66. . The number of slaves in the county was 2,880.
The Fourth of July was celebrated with much enthusiasm during the earlier years of the century. In 1810 William Clarke delivered the annual oration. From the Republican Farmer we extract the following account of the celebration in 1811 : "The day was announced by one discharge from the artillery of Cap- tain McCue's company at daybreak, and seventeen at sunrise. About 12 o'clock the artillery company and Captain Poage's troop of cavalry paraded the streets of Staunton, and marched to Mr. Peter Heiskell's spring, about a mile from town, when, after hearing a short address suitable to the occasion, delivered by Briscoe G. Baldwin, a soldier of the artillery company, they dined on an excellent barbecue." Then follows the toasts. In the evening the military returned to town, and performed " seve- ral interesting evolutions." "Seventeen discharges from the cannon," continues the Farmer, "closed the celebration of the day. The citizens, who did not belong to the military com- panies, enjoyed a barbecue feast at Mr. John McDowell's spring. At night a large and respectable company formed a dancing party at Mrs. Chambers's tavern. It was observed by a polite and intelligent stranger that he had never seen such a collection of beautiful ladies."
The Farmer of August 16, 1811, announced that the mail stage would leave Winchester every Friday at 7 A. M., and arrive at Staunton on Sunday at 4 P. M .; and leave Staunton every
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Monday at 4 A. M., and arrive at Winchester on Tuesday by IO P. M.
In the Farmer of September 6, 1811, we find an advertisement by General Porterfield in regard to the training of officers, and regimental musters of the various regiments of his brigade. James Brown was the brigade inspector.
Henry Miller, the founder of Miller's Iron Works, having died, his administrators, Samuel Miller and John M. Estell, ad- vertised for sale, September 6, 1811, the furnace and forge, with eight thousand acres of land, "supposed to be the most valuable property of the kind in Virginia."
" A matter of common concern," was advertised in September, 18II. Robert Porterfield, William Boys, John Coalter, Erasmus Stribling and John Brown, managers, invited subscriptions to the stock of a company to construct a road from Rockfish Gap to Scott's landing, on James river. The capital of the company was $60,000, shares $25 each, dividends anticipated fifteen per cent! This scheme came to naught. Many years before, the justices of Augusta and Rockbridge counties were authorized by act of assembly to appropriate money for repairing the road over the Blue Ridge at Rockfish Gap.
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