USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, with reminiscences illustrative of the vicissitudes of its pioneer settlers (A Supplement) > Part 43
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We have no information of any Indian raid into the county in the spring, or early summer, of 1764, except the fact of the Gardiner mas- sacre, just mentioned. This massacre may have been perpetrated by a single Indian, who penetrated by himself into the settlement. It is not said, however, that even one Indian was seen by a white man at that time, and a white ruffian may have committed the murders for the sake of plunder. An old story says that Gardiner had money buried in an iron pot, which his descendants could never find. Quite recently an empty ancient pot was found on the premises, having been washed out by a freshet, and it is thought to give color to the story.
SOME CURIOUS ORDERS OF COURT .- The November term, 1764, of the County Court of Augusta was a very busy one. It began on the 20th and continued five days. The proceedings cover seventy-six folio pages. At this term, Silas Hart qualified as high sheriff, and Dabney Carr, of Albemarle, as attorney-at-law. The estates of John Trimble and Alexander Crawford, both of whom had been killed by Indians in October preceding, were committed to their respective administrators. William Fleming, Sampson Mathews, George Skillern, Alexander Mc- Clanahan and Benjamin Estill were recommended for appointment as justices of the peace.
Among the orders we find the following: "Jacob Peterson having pro- duced a certificate of his having received the Sacrament, and having taken the usual oaths to his Majesty's person and government, sub- scribed the abjuration oath and test, which is, on his motion, ordered to be certified, in order to his obtaining Letters of Naturalization."
The clerk who wrote the orders sometimes set the rules of grammar and spelling at defiance, as witness the following, which we copy liter- ally :
"On complaint of Patrick Lacey, setting forth that his master, William Snoden, doth not provide cloaths for him, nor will Imploy him as his servant: It is ordered that the said Snoden be summoned to appear here the next Court, to answer the said complaint ; and it is further or- dered that the Church-wardens provide him Necessary Cloaths and that tney in the meantime hire him out to such persons that may think proper to Imploy him."
Patrick was no doubt a white "indented servant " (see page 17). His complaint came up at March court, 1765, and was dismissed, very likely to the relief of the master, who thus escaped being clothed and hired out by the church-wardens, as the order required he should be.
Another order of November term, 1764, is equally curious : "Ordered
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that the church-wardens of Augusta Parish bind Michael Eagin of the age of nine years in September last, son of Patrick Eagin, to John Pat- rick, the father of the said Michael having runaway according to law."
THE ACADIAN FRENCH-ALEXANDER McNUTT.
The history of the expulsion of the Acadian French from Nova Scotia is one of the darkest pages in the annals of Great Britain. The ancestors of these people settled in the province before the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth Rock. They occupied a beautiful and fertile country, and in course of time farm-houses and villages sprang up over the country. By the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, the province was ceded to Great Britain, and the French population submitted to the transfer without opposition. They, however, for some years, re- fused to swear allegiance to the new Government. When war again arose between England and France, the French of Nova Scotia were regarded with distrust by their British rulers, and it was determined to expel them from the province. Their villages were laid waste, and the country was reduced to a solitude. Seven thousand men, women and children were driven on board ships, and scattered among the English colonies from New Hampshire to Georgia. In 1755, eleven hundred and forty of these "French Neutrals," as they were called, were landed at Hampton, in Virginia, without means of support, or previous notice of their coming. Governor Dinwiddie and his Council maintained them at the public expense for four months, but the opposition on the part of the people to their remaining in the colony was universal. No public land remained in lower Virginia upon which to settle them, and west of the Blue Ridge the French and Indians were waging a ruthless war upon the frontier settlers, rendering it unsafe to send them to that region. The Governor described them in one of his numerous letters as "bigoted Papists, lazy, and of a contentious behavior." Finally, when the General Assembly met, it was determined by that body to ship the unfortunate people to England, and this was done at a cost to the colony of £5,000.
On pages 46, 82 and 84 mention is made of Alexander McNutt as a resident of Angusta county. He is supposed to have been in confidential relations with Governor Dinwiddie, to whom (and not to Governor Fau- quier) be delivered his account of the Sandy Creek Expedition of 1756. After his affray in Staunton with Andrew Lewis, he went to England, and, being recommended by the Governor of Virginia, was admitted to an audience by the King. Ever afterwards he wore the prescribed court dress. The French having been driven out of Nova Scotia as related, McNutt received from the Government grants of extensive
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tracts of land in that province upon condition of introducing other settlers. He accordingly brought over many people from the north of Ireland, including persons of his own name, and a sister, who married a Mr. Weir. Admiral Cochrane, of the British navy, is believed to be a descendant of Mrs. Weir, and other of her descendants are now living in Nova Scotia.
A letter from Halifax, Nova Scotia, published in the Boston Gazette of October 26, 1761, says : " Last Friday arrived here the ship Hopewell, of Londonderry, by which came upwards of two hundred persons for the settlement of this Province, with Colonel Alexander McNutt, who, we are informed, has contracted for five thousand bushels of wheat, five thousand bushels of potatoes, etc., etc., for the use of the Irish settlers." In November, 1762, McNutt arrived with one hundred and seventy settlers, and at different times with many more. The last men- tion of him in the archives of the Province is in 1769, when the Attor- ney-General complained that he had parceled out certain lands without authority.
While living in Nova Scotia, in 1761, McNutt executed a power of attorney, authorizing his brother, John, to sell and convey his real estate. In pursuance of this instrument, John McNutt, on August 16, 1785, con- veyed to Thomas Smith, in consideration of {110, lot No. 10 in Staun- ton, which was purchased by Alexander in 1750 for 63, as stated on page 46. Buildings afterwards erected on the lot were long known as the " Bell Tavern." Captain Thomas Smith was the father in-law of Michael Garber, who came into possession of the property and owned it for many years.
Alexander McNutt seems to have returned to Nova Scotia after the Revolution, as in the deed of 1785 he is described as "late of Augusta county, now of Halifax, Nova Scotia." But he did not remain there long. He appears to have been a visionary man, and in his latter years, at least. somewhat of a religious enthusiast. While living in Nova Scotia, he attempted to found there a settlement to be called "New Jerusalem." It is presumed that his lands in that Province were confis- cated when he came away and joined the American "rebels"; but in 1796 he undertook to convey by deed 100,000 acres in Nova Scotia to the Synod of Virginia, in trust for the benefit of Liberty Hall Academy, in Rockbridge, among other purposes "for the support of public lec- tures in said seminary annually, on man's state by nature and his recov- ery by free and unmerited grace through Christ Jesus, and against oppo- site errors." Possibly finding that this deed would not do, he executed another the next year directly to the trustees of Liberty Hall, for the same uses. 'The second deed was witnessed by Andrew Alexander, Conrad Speece and Archibald Alexander. It is unnecessary to say that Liberty Hall did not get the land.
McNutt never married, and left no posterity. His old-fashioned dress sword was preserved by his collateral descendant, Alexander McNutt Glasgow, of Rockbridge; but at the time of "Hunter's Raid," in 1864,
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the silver-mounted scabbard was carried off, leaving only the naked blade.
John McNutt, a brother of Alexander, settled on North river, Rock- bridge. His wife was Catherine Anderson, a great-aunt of Judge Francis T. Anderson. One of his sons, Alexander, was the father of Governor Alexander G. McNutt, of Mississippi, and grandfather of General Frank Paxton and General Albert G. Jenkins.
A daughter of John McNutt married, first, Lieutenant McCorkle, who was mortally wounded at the battle of the Cowpens, the grandfather of the Rev. Alexander B. McCorkle, and great-grandfather of Thomas McCorkle, Esq. Her second husband was Arthur Glasgow, grand- father of William A. Glasgow, Esq., and Colonel J. K. Edmondson. To the former we are indebted for most of the facts here given.
THE CUNNINGHAMS.
Robert Cunningham, a native of north Ireland, settled on a farm called Rock Spring, in Augusta county, about the year 1735. He was one of the first set of justices of the peace appointed in 1745, and after- ward, it is said, a member of the House of Burgesses. His wife was a widow Hamilton, and the mother of several children at the time of her second marriage. One of her daughters, Mary Hamilton, married David Campbell, and was the mother of John and Arthur Campbell, and others. (See "The Campbells.") Two of the daughters of Robert Cunningham also married Campbells. He had no son. His daughter, Martha, about the year 1750, married Walter Davis, who became the owner of Rock Spring farm. Mr. Davis never held civil office, but was an elder of Tinkling Spring church and a man of much influence. His daughter, Margaret, married John Smith, and was the mother of Judge Daniel Smith, of Rockingham. His son, William Davis, born in 1765, married Annie Caldwell, and died about 1851, aged eighty-six. He was a man of high standing in the community, a justice of the peace, high sheriff, etc. Walter Davis, Jr., son of William, born in 1791, was for many years one of the two commissioners of the revenue in Augusta county, and noted for his faithful and intelligent discharge of the duties of his office. His wife was Rebecca Van Lear. William C. Davis, a brother of Walter Davis, Jr., removed to Missouri in 1836 or 1837. Dr. Thomas Parks, of Missouri, is the only surviving grandchild of Walter Davis, Sr.
John Cunningham, believed to have been a brother of Robert, lived in Staunton, his residence being on Lot No. 1, southwest corner of Au- gusta street and Spring Lane. He had three daughters and one son. His oldest daughter was Mrs. Margaret Reed, mentioned on page 153. who was baptized by Mr. Craig in 1747, and died in 1827. Another
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daughter, Isabella, married Major Robert Burns, and was the mother of Mrs. Waterman and Mrs. Gambill, of Rockingham. The third daughter of John Cunningham, Elizabeth, married Captain Thomas Smith. According to family tradition, Captain Smith commanded the only troop of cavalry that went into the Continental service from Augusta during the Revolutionary war. His, daughters were Mrs. Michael Gar- ber, Mrs. Moses McCue, and Mrs. John Jones. Captain Walter Cun- ningham, only son of John, removed to Kentucky in 1788, and thus the name disappeared from the county.
We are indebted to Major James B. Dorman, a grandson of Mrs. Moses McCue, for most of the above facts.
THE POAGES.
Robert Poage, with many other settlers in the Valley, appeared at Orange court, May 22, 1740, to "prove his importation," with the view of taking up public lands. The record sets forth that he, his wife, Elizabeth, and nine children, named, came from Ireland to Phila- delphia, "and from thence to this colony," at his own expense. He may have come some years earlier than the date mentioned, but we find no trace of him before that time. Alexander Breckenridge proved his importation on the same day, and very likely the two families came over in the same ship.
Mr. Poage settled on a plantation three miles north of Staunton, which he must have purchased from William Beverley, as the land was in Beverley's Manor. The tract contained originally seven hundred and seventy-two acres. It was there, no doubt, that the young preacher, McAden, obtained his first dinner in Virginia on Saturday, June 21, 1755. (See page 66.)
But he acquired other lands directly from the government. There is before us a patent on parchment, executed by Governor Gooch, July 30, 1742, granting to Robert Poage three hundred and six acres of land "in the county of Orange, on the west side of the Blue Ridge," to be held " in free and common soccage, and not in capite or by knight's service," in consideration of thirty-five shillings; provided the grantee should pay a fee rent of one shilling for every fifty acres. annually, " on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel," etc. . The seal attached to the patent has on it an impression of the royal crown of Great Britain.
The will of Robert Poage, dated October 20, 1773, was proved in court March 6, 1774. The executors were William Lewis and testator's son, John. The testator mentions his sons John, Thomas, Robert, George and William, and his daughters Martha Woods, Elizabeth Crawford and Margaret Robertson. To the last six he gave only
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"one pistole " each, having provided for them otherwise. The son Thomas is not named in the Orange county court record, and the' presumption is that he was born after the family came to America. The record referred to mentions, however, two daughters, Mary and Sarah, who are not named in the will. Both had probably died before the date of the will. One of these, it is supposed, was the first wife of Major Robert Breckenridge (son of Alexander), who died while quite young, leaving two sons, Robert and Alexander Breckenridge, who- became prominent citizens of Kentucky. (See page 140, and also "Mrs. Floyd's Narrative.")
The only children of Robert and Elizabeth Poage, of whom we have any particular account, are their sons John and Thomas.
I. John Poage qualified as assistant to Thomas Lewis, Surveyor of Augusta county, May 20, 1760. In 1763, he was a vestryman of Augusta Parish (see page 110). On March 17, 1778, he became high sheriff, and on the next day qualified as county surveyor. His will, dated Feb- ruary 16, 1789, and proved in court April 22, 1789, mentions his wife, Mary, and his children, Robert, George, James, John, Thomas, Eliza- beth and Ann. Of most of these nothing is known.
1. Robert Poage, son of John, qualified as assistant county surveyor, June 16, 1778. Nothing else is known of him.
2. James Poage. A person of this name married a daughter of Mrs. Martha Woods (daughter of Robert Poage, Sr.), and removed to Kentucky. If this was James the son of John, he and his wife were first cousins. In 1796, a James Poage was a member of the Kentucky Legislature, from Clarke county.
3. John Poage, son of John, succeeded his father as county surveyor. He lived on a farm near Mowry's Mill, about five miles north of Staun- ton, and died in 1827, leaving several children, most of whom went west. His son James, who remained in Augusta, died in 1876.
4. Thomas Poage, son of John, Sr., was a promising young minis ter, who died in 1793. He had recently married a Miss Jane Watkins, to whom, and his brother John, he left his estate. The witnesses to the will were the Rev. William Wilson and the Rev. John Poage Campbell. The latter and John Poage were appointed executors. Mr. Campbell's name was originally simply John Campbell, but he added the name Poage on account of his devotion to his friend, Thomas Poage (see page 192).
5. Elizabeth, daughter of John Poage, Sr., was the wife of the Rev. Dr. Moses Hoge, long president of Hampden Sidney College. She was married August 23, 1783, and died June, 1802. Her three sons were eminent ministers, viz : Rev. Dr. James Hoge, of Columbus, Ohio; Rev. John Blair Hoge, a man of brilliant genius, who died young, at Martinsburg; and Rev. Samuel Davies Hoge, who also died young, the father of the Rev. Moses D. Hoge, D. D., of Richmond.
Of George and Ann Poage, the remaining children of John Poage, Sr., nothing is known.
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II. Thomas Poage, son of Robert, Sr., inherited and lived on his father's homestead. His wife was Polly McClanahan. His will, proved in court, January 24, 1803, mentions his children, viz: Elijah, Robert, John, William, Elizabeth, Ann, Polly and Agnes.
I. Elijah Poage married Nancy Grattan, daughter of John Grattan (see pages 177-8), July 3, 1787, and went to Kentucky.
2. Robert Poage, son of Thomas, Sr., married Martha Crawford, September 15, 1791, and went to Kentucky.
3 John Poage, son of Thomas, Sr., married, November 27, 1792, Mrs. Rachel Crawford, widow of John Crawford, of Augusta, and dangh- ter of Hugh Barclay, of Rockbridge. He lived in Rockbridge, on a farm given to him by his father, and was the grandfather of Colonel William T. Poage of Lexington.
4. William Poage, youngest son of Thomas, Sr., was the Major Poage who lived many years on the ancestral farm, three miles from Staunton. His first wife was Betsy, daughter of Colonel Andrew An- derson. She died without issue, and he married again, Peggy Allen (see "The Allens"), by whom there was a large family. His son Thomas, a rising lawyer in southwest Virginia, was Colonel of the Fiftieth Virginia regiment when he was killed, on Blackwater, in February, 1863. One of Major Poage's daughters is the wife of General James A. Walker, late Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia. To A. W. Poage, of Wythe, a son of Major Poage, we are indebted for much of this family history.
5. Ann Poage, daughter of Thomas, Sr., married Major Archibald Woods, of Botetourt, March 5, 1789, who was a son of Mrs. Martha Woods, daughter of Robert Poage, Sr. Major Woods removed to Ohio county, and died in 1846. His son, Thomas, who was cashier of the North Western Bank of Virginia, at Wheeling, was the father of the Rev. Edgar Woods, of Pantops Academy, Albemarle.
6. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Poage, Sr., was the wife of the Rev. William Wilson, of Augusta church. (See page 135.)
7. Polly, daughter of Thomas Poage, Sr., was the wife of Thomas Wilson, a brother of the Rev. William Wilson. Thomas Wilson lived at Morgantown, Northwest Virginia, and was a lawyer, member of Con- gress, etc. His son, the Rev. Norval Wilson, was long a prominent minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and one of his daughters, Mrs. Louisa Lowrie, was a missionary in India. Among the grandsons of Thomas Wilson are Bishop Alpheus Wilson and E. W. Wilson, the present Governor of West Virginia.
8. Agnes Poage, daughter of Thomas, Sr., died unmarried.
Another family of Poages came from Ireland and settled in Rockbridge county. The name of the ancestor is not known. He was, probably, a brother of Robert Poage, Sr., who settled in Augusta about 1740. His wife was Jane Somers. They had ten children. One of the sons, Jonathan, was the grandfather of Dr. Poage, late of Rockbridge, of Mrs. Lane, a missionary in Brazil, and others. A daughter, Ann, was the wife of Isaac Caruthers, and has many descendants widely scattered.
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Another daughter, Martha, married James Moore. The fifth child of James and Martha Moore was called Mary, after her father's oldest sister, who was the wife of Major Alexander Stuart, father of Judge Archibald Stuart. Mary Moore became the wife of the Rev. Samuel Brown, of New Providence. When a child, nine years of age, living with her parents in Abb's Valley, now Tazewell county, she and others were carried off by Indians, July 14, 1786, and detained in captivity three years.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR MEASURES.
For the only account of any proceedings under the ordinances passed by the State Convention in July, 1775, providing for the organization of "minute men," we are indebted to the ".Gilmer Papers," issued in 1887 by the Virginia Historical Society. Commissioners from the coun- ties of Buckingham, Amherst, Albemarle and Augusta, composing a district (see page 157), met on the 8th of September, 1775, at the house of James Woods, in Amherst, now Nelson. The commissioners from Augusta were Sampson Mathews, Alexander McClanahan and Samuel McDowell. It was resolved that Augusta furnish four companies of fifty men each, and that each of the other counties furnish two compa- nies, making the total of ten companies and five hundred men required by the ordinance. George Mathews, of Augusta, was chosen colonel ; Charles Lewis, of Albemarle, lieutenant-colonel; David Gaines, major ; and Thomas Patterson (or Patteson, doubtless, of Buckingham), "commissary of masters."
The officers appointed for the Augusta companies were as follows :
Ist. Benjamin Harrison, captain ; Henry Evans, lieutenant; and Cu- rord Custard, ensign.
2d. Daniel Stephenson, captain; John McMahon, lieutenant; and Samuel Henderson, ensign.
3d. Alexander Long, captain ; James Sayres, lieutenant; and John Buchanan, ensign.
4th. William Lyle, Jr., lieutenant; and William Moore, ensign. The captain of this company was not named.
The first company was evidently intended to be raised in the north- ern part of the county, now Rockingham, and the fourth in the south- ern part, now Rockbridge.
The regiment was required to meet on the east side of the Blue Ridge, at a point to be designated by the colonel, within three miles of Rockfish Gap.
As far as we have learned, no other proceedings were taken in pursuance of the ordinance, and probably the regiment never mus- tered. In December following, an ordinance was passed for raising
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seven regiments of regulars, in addition to the First and Second, and George Mathews was then appointed by the Convention lieutenant- colonel of the Ninth. (See pages 157, 158 and 160.) The latter ordi- nance superseded the former, which proposed merely a militia organi- zation.
The ordinance of July, 1775, also called for two regiments of regulars, the First and Second, as mentioned on page 156, and the district com- missioners, at their meeting in September, designated the officers for two companies. Among them was Thomas Hughes, but whether cap- tain or lieutenant it is impossible to tell from Dr. Gilmer's memoran- dum. He was, however, no doubt, the Captain Hughes mentioned on page 159. William Robertson, of Augusta, was chosen a lieutenant.
Lieutenant Robertson entered the service in 1775, and was at the battles of Great Bridge, Brandywine and Germantown. Being a mem- ber of Colonel Mathews's regiment at Germantown, he was taken prisoner there, and detained three years. After his discharge, he rejoined the army and served till the close of the war. He died November 12, 1831.
[The only child of William Robertson was the wife of Charles A. Stuart, of Greenbrier, who, with his sons, William Robertson and John Stuart, succeeded to the old gentleman's property .. He owned at one time the mill which stood where the mill of Witz & Holt is now, but sold it before his death to Jacob Smith.]
The following is said to have been written as an inscription for a flag of one of the Augusta companies during the Revolution. Whether it was so used, we do not know:
" We raise this banner to defend the cause Of injured freedom and our country's laws ; This banner, Britain, means no ill to thee : We love as children, but we will be free."
AN INCIDENT OF THE REVOLUTION, which occurred in Augusta, is related in the memoir of Mrs. Jane Allen Trimble. The women and children of that era were left in charge of the homesteads, and many females displayed as much patriotism and courage as the male mem- bers of their families. Rigid economy and untiring industry were practised in every household, and many families, whose sons and brothers were in the field as soldiers, were dependent upon their neighbors for the means of living.
A German family dwelling near the Stone church, seemed to be out of the pale of sympathy that pervaded society. They contributed neither men nor means to aid the cause, and were regarded as Tories, but afraid to avow their principles.
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An officer of the Virginia line visited his family in Augusta in 1777, and was at a social party composed principally of females, when the conduct of the family alluded to was commented upon. A majority of the party urged that the Tories should be driven out of the neighbor- hood. Jane Allen and one of the Misses Grattan opposed the proposi- tion, saying that the people, if driven away, would probably go to North Carolina and swell the number of active enemies. It was therefore agreed that the case should be put into the hands of the young women named, to be managed by them. The two heroines made their plan and proceeded to execute it at once. Disguised as Continental officers, it is said, they repaired to the house of the German, two miles off, late in the evening. The dogs announced their approach, and the men,. seeing officers coming, hid themselves, the female head of the family presenting herself at the door of her dwelling. "Madam," said one of the recruiting officers, " more soldiers are needed. You have four sons and can spare two. Your family has been protected by your neighbors, while you have contributed nothing to relieve the women and children around you. You must either furnish men for the army, or supplies for the neighborhood."
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