USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta county, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 > Part 26
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After the war, Captain Moore settled in Lexington as a merchant. It is said that he brought to that town the first sack of coffee ever seen there. Like most enterprising men, however, he was "in ad- vance of his age." His customers were not acquainted with coffee, and it remained unsold till some Pennsylvanians arrived and purchased it. The people of Lexington and vicinity were quicker to learn the use of tea. As explained by an old lady living there, her husband "drank the broth," and she "ate the greens."
After merchandising in Lexington, Captain Moore had an iron furnace on South River, Rockbridge, and then lived near Fairfield. For many years he was a justice of the peace, and was high sheriff for two terms. He died in Lexington in 1841, aged ninety-three.
The wife of Captain Moore was Nancy McClung, and his children were Samuel, David, John, Eliab, Jane, Isabella, Elizabethi and Nancy.
ANDREW MOORE was born, in 1752, at Cannicello. In early life he made a voyage to the West Indies, and was cast away on a desert island, where for three weeks he and his companions lived on a species of lizard. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. In 1776 he entered the army as lieutenant of a company of which John Hays was captain. Nineteen men enlisted under him at a log rolling as soon as he received his commission. Nearly his whole military life was spent in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. He with his company, as a part of Morgan's corps, participated at the battle at Saratoga, which resulted in Burgoyne's surrender. After a service of three years, and attaining the rank of captain, he resigned and returned home. He was a member of the Legislature from Rock- bridge when it met in Staunton, in 1781, and continued to serve in that body till 1789. In 1788, he was a member of the State Conven- tion which ratified the Constitution of the United States. Upon re- tiring from the Legislature he was elected a member of Congress by the Rockbridge District, and held the position during the entire administration of Washington. He was a member of the Legislature again from 1798 to 1800, and was again elected to the lower house of Congress in 1803. He was then elected United States Senator, and served till 1809. In 1810, he was appointed by President Jefferson United States Marshal for the State of Virginia, which office he held till his death, in 1821. At an early date he was made brigadier- general of militia, and in 1809 major-general. He was the fatlier of the late Samuel McD. and David E. Moore, of Lexington .- [Grigsby's Sketches.]
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When the Western District of Virginia was projected in ISO1, Mr. Jefferson consulted Judge Stnart of Staunton as to the appoint- ment of a Marshal. He wrote, April 25. 1801, that Andrew and John Alexander and John Caruthers, all of Rockbridge, had been recom- inended to him by different persons. Mr. Caruthers was appointed, but declined. On the 5th of August, 1801, Mr. Jefferson wrote to Judge Stuart, informing him of Mr. Caruthers' refusal of the office, and saying : " I have now proposed it to Colonel Andrew Moore, with but little hope, however, of his acceptance." The Western District was, however, not established at that time, and Colonel Moore was appointed Marshal for the whole State in 1810.
JOHN MCCLANAHAN was probably the second son of Robert Me- Clanahan, the emigrant, younger than his brother Alexander, and older than Robert who was killed at Point Pleasant. He was extensively engaged in business, having as partners Thomas and Andrew Lewis. His wife was Margaret Ann, daughter of Thomas Lewis. His will, dated June 25, 1774, was offered for probate November 16, 1774, and he probably died June 30th, five days after the execution of the will. He left a son named Thomas Lewis, who, however, died November 14, 1774. A posthumous child, born Decem- ber S, 1774, was called Jolin, and succeeded to his father's estate.
John MeClanahan, jr., moved to Kentucky, in 1807, and coming back to Virginia on business. died in 1815, probably at Lewisburg. He inherited from his father the land on which Lewisburg was built. His wife was Mildred Maupin, of Williamsburg. They had seven children, of whom only two lived to inaturity and married. Their son, John Gabriel MeClanahan, married Eliza MeClung, of Green- brier, and died in 1838, leaving descendants. Virginia, the daughter of Jolin MeClanahan, jr., married Captain John Gantt, of the U. S. army, and their only son, N. B. Gantt, lives in Louisville, Kentucky. (1890.)
Mr. Gantt writes that his grand-mother, (Mildred Maupin MeC.) related that she had often heard her mother-in-law ( Margaret Lewis MeC. ) say, that at the time her husband (the first John MeClanahan ) died, "the fort was besieged by Indians, and as she sat by his bed she heard their whoops. In her prayer book is this entry : 'June 30, 1774, that fatal day,' " probably the day of her husband's death.
The Indians became hostile early in 1774, and probably invested some fort, so called, (possibly " Fort Lewis" in Bath, ten miles from the Warm Springs,) in June, 1774, while John McClanahan, Sr., lay there on his death-bed. Gen. Andrew Lewis assembled his command at Camp Union, September 4th and began his march to the Ohio, September Irth. The battle of Point Pleasant occurred October 10, I774.
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Alexander St. Clair, whose wife was a sister of John McClanahan, Sr., was one of the executors of his brother-in-law and guardian of the son John. After the marriage of John McClanahan's widow to Col. William Bowyer, the friendly suit of Bowyer and wife vs. McClana- han's executors was brought that Mrs. Bowyer might obtain lier legal rights in her deceased husband's estate. The accounts of St. Clair as guardian were also settled in the same suit. From a paper filed in the cause, showing the guardian's expenditures for the ward, young John, we obtain some information as to the style in which a wealthy youth lived in or about 1792-3. It seems that the ward was a student at William & Mary College, and among the expenditures, besides the cost of Latin and Greek books, were the following : Tuition in dancing, in fiddling, in psalmody and book-keeping ;- caslı " to see the tumbler," to "go to see the play," and for knee and shoe buckles-an astonish- ing number. Mr. Edmondson was paid {1, 8s. for teaching the young man to play on the fiddle, Mr. Cheapen £5, 4s. for teaching him psalmody, Mr. Vaughan {2, 135. 5d. for teaching him to dance. Lawrence Tremper furnished him a pair of leather breeches for £1, 6s., and Smith Thompson was paid 15 shillings for shaving him and dressing his hair in the summer of 1796.
CHAPTER IX.
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION, ETC., FROM 1775 TO 1779.
The first patriotic meeting of the people of Angusta county, of which we have any account, was held in Staunton, February 22, 1775. The proceedings were reported as follows :
" After due notice given to the freeholders of the county of A11- gusta to meet in Staunton, for the purpose of electing delegates to represent them in Colony Convention at the town of Richmond, on the 20th of March, 1775, the freeholders of said county thought proper to refer the choice of their delegates to the judgment of the committee, who, thus authorized by the general voice of the people, met at the courthouse on the 22d of February, and unanimously chose Mr. Thomas Lewis and Captain Samuel McDowell to represent them in the ensuing Convention.
"Instructions were then ordered to be drawn up by the Rev. Alexander Balmaine, Mr. Sampson Mathews, Captain Alexander McClanahan, Mr. Michael Bowyer, Mr. William Lewis, and Captain George Mathews, or any three of them, and delivered to the delegates thus chosen, which are as follows: 'To Mr. Thomas Lewis and Captain Samuel McDowell .- The committee of Augusta county, pur- suant to the trust reposed in them by the freeholders of the same, have chosen you to represent them in Colony Convention, proposed to be held in Richmond on the 20th of March instant. They desire that you may consider the people of Augusta county as impressed with just sentiments of loyalty and allegiance to his Majesty King George, whose title to the imperial crown of Great Britain rests on no other foundation than the liberty, and whose glory is inseparable from the happiness, of all his subjects. We have also respect for the parent State, which respect is founded ou religion, on law, and on the genuine principles of the constitution. On these principles do we earnestly de- sire to see harmony and a good understanding restored between Great Britain and America.
" ' Many of us and our forefathers left our native land and ex- plored this once-savage wilderness to enjoy the free exercise of the rights of conscience and of human nature. These rights we are fully
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resolved, with our lives and fortunes, inviolably to preserve ; nor will we surrender such inestimable blessings, the purchase of toil and danger, to any Ministry, to any Parliament, or any body of men upon earth, by whom we are not represented, and in whose decisions, therefore, we have no voice.
" ' WVe desire you to tender, in the most respectful terms, our grateful acknowledgments to the late worthy delegates of this colony for their wise, spirited, and patriotic exertions in the General Con- gress, and to assure them that we will uniformly and religiously adhere to their resolutions providently and graciously formed for their country's good.
"'Fully convinced that the safety and happiness of America de- pend, next to the blessing of Almighty God, on the unanimity and wisdom of her people, we doubt not you will, on your parts, comply with the recommendations of the late Continental Congress, by ap- pointing delegates from this colony to meet in Philadelphia on the 10th of May, next, unless American grievances be redressed before that. And so we are determined to maintain unimpaired that liberty which is the gift of Heaven to the subjects of Britain's empire, and will most cordially join our countrymen in such measures as may be deemed wise and necessary to secure and perpetuate the ancient, just, and legal rights of this colony and all British America.
"' Placing our ultimate trust in the Supreme Disposer of every event, without whose gracious interposition the wisest schemes may fail of success, we desire you to move the Convention that some day, which may appear to them most convenient, be set apart for imploring the blessing of Almighty God on such plans as human wisdom and integrity may think necessary to adopt for preserving America happy, virtuons, and free.' "
In obedience to these instructions, the following letter was ad- dressed by Messrs. Lewis and McDowell to the members of Congress :
" To the Hon. Peyton Randolph, Esq., President, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Randolph, Esqrs., Delegates from this colony to the General Congress :
" Gentlemen, -We have it in command from the freeholders of Augusta county, by their committee, held on the 22d February, to present you with the grateful acknowledgment of thanks for the pru- dent, virtuous, and noble exertions of the faculties with which heaven lias endowed you in the cause of liberty, and of everything that man
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ought to hold sacred at the late General Congress-a conduct so nobly interesting that it must command the applause, not only from this, but succeeding ages. May that sacred flame, that has illuminated your minds and influenced your conduct in projecting and concurring in so many salutary determinations for the preservation of American lib- erty, ever continue to direct your conduct to the latest period of your lives ! May the bright example be fairly transcribed on the hearts and reduced into practice by every Virginian, by every American ! May our hearts be open to receive and our arms strong to defend that liberty and freedom, the gift of heaven, now being banished from its latest retreat in Europe! Here let it be hospitably entertained in every breast ; here let it take deep root and flourish in everlasting bloom, that under its benign influence the virtuously free may enjoy secure repose and stand forth the scourge and terror of tyranny and tyrants of every order and denomination, till time shall be no more.
" Be pleased, gentlemen, to accept of their grateful sense of your important services, and of their ardent prayers for the best interests of this once happy country. And vouchsafe, gentlemen, to accept of the same from your most humble servants."
The reply of the members of Congress was as follows :
" To Thomas Lewis and Samuel McDowell, Esqrs. :
"Gentleman, -Be pleased to transmit to the respectable free- holders of Augusta county our sincere thanks for their affectionate address approving our conduct in the late Continental Congress. It gives us the greatest pleasure to find that our honest endeavors to serve our country on this arduous and important occasion have met their approbation-a reward fully adequate to our warmest wishes- and the assurances from the brave and spirited people of Augusta, that their hearts and hands shall be devoted to the support of the measures adopted, or hereafter to be taken, by the Congress for the preservation of American liberty, give us the highest satisfaction, and must afford pleasure to every friend of the just rights of mankind. We cannot conclude without acknowledgments to you, gentlemen, for the polite manner in which you have communicated to us the senti- ments of your worthy constituents, and are their and your obedient humble servants."-[Signed by all the members of Congress from Virginia.]
The former colonial system having disappeared, all the functions of government were assumed and exercised by the Convention, in which Messrs. Lewis aud McDowell sat as delegates from Augusta.
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The executive authority was entrusted to a committee of safety, con- sisting of eleven members-Pendleton, Mason and others-appointed by the Convention. To provide local governments until public affairs could be settled, the Convention passed an ordinance in July, 1775, requiring the qualified voters of each county to elect a county commit- tee, to act as a sort of executive authority in the county for carrying into effect the measures of the Continental Congress and the Colonial Convention .- [Hening, Volume VIII, page 57.]
Silas Hart, an old justice of the peace, whose residence was with- in the present county of Rockingham, was chairman of the Augusta county committee. On October 3d this committee met at Staunton, and, pursuant to summons, Alexander Miller appeared before them to answer charges. Miller was an Irish Presbyterian preacher, who had been deposed from the ministry, and was accused of having denounced as rebellion etc., the popular opposition to the measures of the British Government. He was solemnly tried and pronounced guilty. His punishment anticipated the recent policy in Ireland called " boy- cotting." The committee subjected the offender to no restraint, and advised no violence toward him. They only recommended that "the good people of this county and colony have no further dealings or in- tercourse with said Miller until he convinces his countrymen of having repented for his past folly."-[American Archives, Vol. III, page 939.]
The annals of the county during most of the war of the Revolu- tion are quite meager. This Valley was remote from the scenes of combat, and only once was there an alarm of invasion. The domestic life of the people and the business of the county court were generally undisturbed during the war. Public business was transacted and writs were issued in the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia, instead of the king of Great Britain, and there was little other change. The abolition of the religious establishment in the course of time marked the most important departure from the old order of things. So far from danger was this region considered, that the Continental Congress, by resolution of September 8, 1776, advised the Executive Council of Pennsylvania to send disaffected Quakers arrested in Philadelphia, to Staunton for safe-keeping. A number of Quakers, a druggist, and a dancing-master were soon afterwards brought to Winchester and detained there eight or nine months ; but we have no account of any persons of the same class having been in Staunton. Several hundred Hessians, captured at Trenton, were, however, detained here for a considerable time, and there is a tradition that some of these were employed by Peter Hanger to build the older part
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of the dwelling formerly standing on Spring Farm, adjacent to the city water-works .*
How invaluable would be a diary written, even crudely, by a resident of the county during the war, telling about the raising of troops, the departure of individuals and companies for the army, the rumors which agitated the community, and the simple events of common life ! But nothing of the kind exists. We have, however, some extracts from the diary of a young Presbyterian minister who made two visits to the county in 1775. There is not much in them, and no reference whatever to public events; but the mere mention of a few people living in the county at that time is somewhat interesting. The minister referred to was the Rev. John McMillan, of western Pennsylvania, afterwards the Rev. Dr. McMillan, the founder of Jefferson College ; and a portion of his diary is found in a book called "Old Redstone " (Presbytery), by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Smith.
Young McMillan came from Pennsylvania, on his second visit, in November, 1775. He says :
" Monday .- Passed through Stephensburgh, Stoverstown, and Millerstown-crossed Shenandoah, and after travelling forty - eight miles, we came to a Dutchman's, where we tarried all night.
" Tuesday .- We rode this day thirty - five miles-crossed the North river, and lodged at Widow Watson's.
"Wednesday .- About noon, came to Staunton ; where, it being court time, I met with a number of my old acquaintances, who pro- fessed great joy to see me. I stayed in town till towards evening, and then rode to John Trimble's. This day I travelled about twenty-two miles.
" Thursday .- Continued at Mr. Trimble's.
" Friday .- Went to John Moffett's.
[John Moffett was buried in the North Mountain grave-yard. His grave is marked by a sandstone, but all the inscription, except the name, has worn out.]
"Saturday .- Returned to Mr. Trimble's; and, in the evening, Benjamin Brown brought me a pair of shoes for which I paid him 8s.
* The Hessian fly, from which the farmers of the country suffered so severely for many years, is commonly believed to have been imported by the Hessian troops in their straw bedding, and hence the name. It appeared on Long Island during the Revolutionary war, and quite numerously in Virginia in 1796. McMaster's History says it first appeared in New York in 1784.
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" Sabbath (the fourth in November. )-Preached at the North Mountain, and lodged with Matthew Thompson.
" Monday .- This day I rode in company with John Thompson about sixteen miles to see my uncle on Back creek ; found them all well.
" Tuesday .- This morning proving very stormy, we thought it most convenient to return again to the settlements, and, accordingly, I took leave of my relations, and though it snowed excessively, we set to the road, and in the evening came again to Matthew Thompson's.
" Wednesday .- Went to Hugh Torbet's ; from thence to Alexan- der Mitchell's, where I tarried all night.
" Thursday .- Came to Joseph Blair's.
" Friday ( Ist. December. )-Rode to John Moffett's in the even- ing. Got a tooth pulled by Wendal Bright. Tarried here until Sabbath.
" Sabbath (the first in December.)-Preached at the stone ineet- ing-house, and in the evening rode in to Staunton in company with Mrs. Reed. Lodged at Mr. Reed's.
[Mrs. Reed afterwards, while a widow, became the second wife of Colonel George Mathews, from whom she was divorced. She lived to extreme old age in the low frame house which formerly stood on the south side of Beverley street, between Augusta and Water streets. A few persons still living remember her. She was generally called " Aunt Reed."]
" Monday .- I left town. Called at Mr. Trimble's and lodged with Mr. Moffett.
" Wednesday .- This day I moved my camp to William Mc- Pheeters'.
" Thursday and Friday .- Continued at the same place, spending my time chiefly in study."
On New Year's day, 1776, he preached at Peter Hanger's to a large assembly, and next day set out down the Valley.
The Rev. James Waddell came to Augusta from Lancaster county about the year 1776,* and bought the Springhill farm on South River, originally owned by Colonel James Patton. The deed of James and William Thompson, Patton's son in-law and grandson, describes the
* Hanover Presbytery met at his house, Springhill, June 18, 1777, when the Rev. John Blair Smith was licensed as a preacher.
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tract as 1,308 acres, and states the price as £1,000 ($3,33373). Dr. Waddell resided at Springhill, and preached at Tinkling Spring and occasionally in Staunton, while he remained in the county. One of the subscription papers circulated in Tinkling Spring congregation, for raising the pastor's salary, has escaped destruction, and is interest- ing as showing in some degree the state of the times. The subscribers promised to pay the Rev. James Waddell "the sum of one hundred pounds, current and lawful money of Virginia, for the whole of his labours for one year ; " payment to be made "in clean merchantable wheat at three shillings (fifty cents) per bushel, or in corn or rye of like quality at two shillings per bushel, or in other commodities he may want at said rates." James Bell, Sr., promised to pay £3, os. 9d. (about $10), the largest subscription on the list. Other subscribers were John Ramsey, Thomas Turk, John Ramsey, Jr., William Black, William Guthrie, John Collins, John Caldwell, Benjamin Stuart, Robert Thompson, A. Thompson, Thomas Stuart, and Walter Davis. The subscription for 1783 was {40 in cash for half the minister's time, the other half to be bestowed in Staunton .- [Foote's Sketches, First Series, page 376.]
In the early part of 1776, the county committee of Augusta adopted a memorial to the Convention, of which we have no account except in the journal of that body. The purport of the paper, presented to the Convention on the 10th of May, is thus awkwardly stated in the journal : "A representation from the committee of the county of Augusta was presented to the Convention and read, setting forth the present unhappy situation of the country, and from the ministerial measures of revenge now pursuing, representing the neces- sity of making the confederacy of the united colonies the most per- fect, independent and lasting, and of framing an equal, free-and liberal government, that may bear the test of all future ages." This is said to be the first expression of the policy of establishing an independent State government and permanent confederation of States, which the parliamentary journals of America contain .* It is curious, however, to observe how carefully "the representation " throws the blame of the measures complained of upon the British ministers, still seeking apparently to avoid censuring the king. The feeling of loyalty to the sovereign was hard to give up.
The last Court of Augusta County under the authority of the King of Great Britain, was held May 1, 1776, when a man accused of stealing a horse was sent on for trial before the General Court at Williamsburg.
* Hugh Blair Grigsby.
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The first Court under authority of the Commonwealth of Virginia, pursuant to an ordinance of the Convention, was held July 16, 1776 .- Samnel McDowell and Sampson Mathews administered the prescribed oath to Archibald Alexander, justice of the peace, who immediately administered the oath to them. John Christian qualified as sheriff and Richard Madison as deputy clerk. Conrt was proclaimed and then adjourned till the next monthly term. The orders were signed by Archibald Alexander .*
At the Court held August 20, 1776, Archibald Alexander was recommended to the Governor for the office of High Sheriff of Augus- ta, and qualified as such November 19, 1776. At the same time Alexander St. Clair was recommended as a justice of the peace.
In October, 1776, the "several companies of militia and free- holders of Augusta " forwarded to the representatives of the county in the Legislature their "sentiments" on the subject of religious liberty. They demanded that "all religious denominations within the Dominion be forthwith put in full possession of equal liberty, without preference or pre-eminence," etc. The paper was signed by Jolını Magill, James Allen, George Moffett, Alexander St. Clair, John Poage, John Davis, Alexander Long, William McPheeters, Elijah McClanahan, Alexander Thompson, Archibald Alexander, Robert Wilson, James Walker, Charles Campbell, Walter Cunningham, and others .- [American Archives, Fifth Series, Volume II, page 815.]
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