USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta county, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 > Part 33
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Very likely the riflemen mentioned were militiamen from Au- gusta county. Capt. Davis was, of course, not acquainted with all that occurred ; but the above extract is interesting because it was written on the day and on the spot.
Bell continued in service till after the surrender of Cornwallis. He was absent from home about five montlis.
Other companies from the county during the summer and fall of 1781, were-
Capt. Thomas Smith's, which rendezvoused at Teas' in August. John Thompson and Alexander Williams were members of this com- pany. The former was discharged two or three days before the surrender at Yorktown ; the latter continued in service till after the surrender.
Capt. William Finley's company, of which William Patrick was a member, Colonel Lewis' regiment, was dismissed at Yorktown a short time before the surrender.
Cavalry company of Capt. Zachariah Johnston, Lieut. Charles Baskin, and Ensign Richard Madisou. This company assembled at Teas' about the first of June, and was probably engaged in the battle of Jamestown.
John McCutchen, drafted in June, left Staunton with Major Alexander Robertson, and was discharged soon after the battle of Jamestown.
Samuel McCune who was drafted in the company of Capt. Francis Long, heretofore mentioned, was in the battle of Hot Water, and was "trampled by a British light-horseman." He was also in the battle of Jamestown .- John Crawford was Lieutenant of the company.
William Armstrong was drafted in July, in the company of Capt. James Bell, Lieut. John Wackub, and Ensign Alexander Crawford, and was discharged two days before the surrender at Yorktown.
One-fourth of the Augusta militia had been called out by the order of July 25th, and marched on the 8th of August to lower Virginia and Yorktown, as appears from a letter written by Colonel
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Sampson Mathews, dated September 4th. The regiment, or battalion, was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Lewis (son of Andrew) and Major William Long.
At a court-martial held August 23, 1781, one man convicted of deserting from Captain Mccutchen's company, while under command of Brigadier-General Campbell, was sentenced to serve an additional six months. Another was tried for not going with the twenty days men ordered out under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Bowyer, and acquitted. The court was kept busy during this year trying men for desertion and other offences. An offence charged against some of the accused, was " failing to appear at the rendezvous when ordered under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Lewis, August 8, 1781."
On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, at Yorktown, and the war of the Revolution ended, although peace was not formally concluded till 1783.
As a part of the history of the county, we mention that the Presbytery of Hanover, about the year 1773, determined to establish " Augusta Academy," and it was at first proposed to locate the insti- tution at Staunton. At a meeting of Presbytery, in April, 1775, persons were appointed to solicit subscriptions in behalf of the academy, among whom were William McPheeters and John Trimble, at North Mountain ; Thomas Stuart and Walter Davis, at Tinkling Spring; Sampson Mathews, at Staunton; and George Mathews, George Moffett and James Allen, in Augusta congregation.
In May, 1776, the Presbytery determined to locate the school 011 Timber Ridge, "as there was no one in Staunton to take the management, and it was uncertain whether there ever would be." At the same time the Rev. William Graham was elected rector, and a young man named John Montgomery his assistant. Mr. Graham was born in Pennsylvania, in 1746, and was educated at Princeton Col- lege. Mr. Montgomery was born in Augusta, and graduated at Princeton in 1775. He spent the last years of his life as pastor of Rocky Spring church, in Augusta. Trustees were also appointed : Rev. John Brown, Rev. James Waddell, Thomas and Andrew Lewis, William Preston, Sampson Mathews, Samuel McDowell, George Moffett, and others.
In 1779, the school was removed to Lexington, and called "Liberty Hall." An act of incorporation by the Legislature was ob- tained in 1782, and the institution has now become " Washington and Lee University."
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The subject of religious liberty occupied the attention of the peo- ple of Virginia as soon as the Revolutionary war arose. At a meeting of the Legislature, in October, 1779, all laws providing salaries for ministers were repealed, and it was generally understood that 110 de- nomination should be favored in that respect ; but the scheme of a " general assessment," for the benefit of ministers of all sects, was proposed and advocated by Patrick Henry and others.
In April, 1780, Hanover Presbytery met at Tinkling Spring, and held a session on the 28tli at the house of Mr. Waddell. A memorial, praying the Legislature to abstain from interference with the government of the church, was prepared, and Messrs. Waddell and Graham were appointed to request Colonel McDowell and Captain Johnston, the delegates from Augusta, to present the me- morial to the assembly. Another memorial on the subject was adopted at Bethel, May 19, 1784, and still another in October, 1784. A convention of Presbyterians was held at Bethel, August 10, 1785, and a final memorial, drawn by Mr. Graham, was adopted on the 13th. The Legislature met October 17, 1785, and on December 17th, Mr. Jefferson's bill " for establishing religious freedom " became a law.
Early in 1782 the Marquis de Chastellux, a French officer, traveled extensively in Virginia, and subsequently published an account of his trip. In April he visited the Natural Bridge, crossing the Blue Ridge at Rockfish Gap. On the eastern side of the moun- tain lie was joined by an Augusta man on horseback who appeared " much at his ease," and who entertained him with an account of the battle of the Cowpens, in which he had participated. His description of the battle agreed with General Morgan's official report of it. One incident of the battle he did not know of, but it was related by Mor- gan himself. The old hero was accustomed to say in his latter days that people thought he never was afraid, but he was often miserably afraid. After arranging his troops at the Cowpens, he said, as he saw the glittering array of the British army coming on, he trembled for the result. Retiring to the rear he poured out a prayer to God and then returned to his lines and cheered his men for the fight. The French officer pronounced the battle of the Cowpens the most extra- ordinary event of the war.
The Marquis and his party forded South river, where Waynes- borough now is, and put up for the night at a little inn kept by a Mrs. Teaze,* of which Mr. Jefferson had told him. He says the inn was
* Mrs Teaze, or Teas, was a daughter of Colonel John Reid, son of Thomas Reid, who came from County Down, Ireland. Thomas was a brother of John and Andrew Reid, the latter of whom was the father of the Rockbridge family.
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one of the worst in all America. A solitary tin vessel was the only wash-bowl for the family, servants, and guests. The travelers did not pass through Staunton, but hurried on to a better inn than Mrs. Teaze's, promised them near the site of Greenville. They were doomed to disappointment, as the landlord, Mr. Smith, had neither food for the men nor forage for the horses. The war just closed had impoverished the country to that extent. Mr. Smith encouraged the party, however, to expect supplies at a mill further on. The miller, who also kept a public house, was a handsome young man of about twenty-five years of age, and had a handsome wife. He was found to be physically disabled, and upon inquiry explained that he was still suffering from fifteen or sixteen wounds received at the battle of Guil- ford. This was David Steele, of Midway. His wife brought the piece of skull clipped from his head by a British sabre to exhibit. The most serious injuries were received after he was taken prisoner by the enemy. Mr. Steele kept no spirits, and his guests fared upon cakes baked upon the cinders, and butter and milk.
The Marquis spent a night at a Mr. Grigsby's, near the Natural Bridge, and says : "The other guests were a healthy, good-humored young man of eight and twenty, who set out from Philadelphia with a pretty wife of twenty, and a little child in her arms, to settle five hundred miles beyond the mountains in a country lately inhabited bordering on the Ohio, called the country of Kentucky. His whole retinue was a horse, which carried his wife and child. We were astonished at the easy manner with which he proceeded on his expedition." And the natural charms of the young wife, says the Marquis, " were embellished by the serenity of her mind."-[ Travels in North America, pages 234, etc.]
After the surrender at Yorktown, Col. George Mathews rested on his laurels at his home in Augusta. Gen. Greene, however, desired his aid in the South, and on February 1, 1782, the Colonel wrote a characteristic letter, from "Markit Hill," Augusta, to Col. Davies, ex- cusing himself from service. He was "with care and rigid economy endavering to presarve from rail want a wife and eight helplis chil- dren," left in easy circumstances when he went into the service. More- over, his health was seriously impaired. He would join Geu. Greene in April, however, if his health permitted.
Until peace was declared the army had to be kept up, and another draft for regular service was ordered early in 1782. Col. George Mof- fett, then County Lieutenant of Augusta, wrote to Governor Harrison,
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March 20th, with "much concern" respecting the draft in Augusta, which was appointed for April 9th. He says "it is probable that day will begin in tumult and end in something worse." The people were indignant at the proposed drawing, and persuaded it was "contrary to the mind of the last Assembly." By a temporizing policy he hoped to avert the threatened consequences.
On May Ist he wrote again-he had found it impracticable to make the draft, and had postponed it till May 28th. The Indians were invading the frontiers, and he had sent out "above eighty militia," exclusive of those sent to Tygart's Valley. He thought it a hard case that he should be called upon to send 70 men to defend Mo- nongalia county, while the frontiers of Augusta were " so distressed by ye Enemy." Col. Armand's* cavalry had lately come to Staunton, and but for the contributions of the inhabitants would "undoubtedly have perished or plundered."
Col. Moffett reported, on November 3, 1782, that more money than necessary for recruiting had been raised, but "not one soldier."
On May 7, 1783, Col. Moffett wrote to the Governor about Indian depredations "nigh ye head of greenbrier." Several persons had been killed. He had ordered spies to be sent out, etc.
We conclude this chapter with a synopsis of what seems now a curious act of the Legislature, passed in 1783. The act authorized the payment of one-half of taxes in tobacco, hemp, flour and deer skins. Warehouses were established at Staunton, Winchester and the stone-house in Botetourt ; and at those places flour was to be received at the rate of fourteen shillings per hundred pounds, with an allow- ance of two shillings and six pence for casks and inspection. At the same places, and also Louisville, (Kentucky), deer skins were to be taken at the price of one shilling and eight pence per pound for gray skins, and two shillings for red and blue skins.
Charles Armand was a French Marquis, born in 1751. At an early age he entered a military corps at Paris, but fought a duel, was dismissed from the service, came to America and volunteered in the cause of the colonies, May 10, 1777. He was commissioned as Colonel and participated in various engagements under La Fayette. In 1779, his corps was incorporated with Pulaski's. In 1781, he returned to France, procured clothes and accoutrements, and came back in time to participate in the victory at Yorktown. The rank of Brigadier General was conferred upon him, March 26, 1783. In the same year he returned to France, and afterwards took an active part in the early stages of the French Rev- olution on the side of the King. He became a fugitive, and after the execution of Louis XVI, sank under a nervous malady and died January 30th, 1793. He is described as a polished gentleman and gallant leader.
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THE GAMBLES.
About the year 1735, Robert Gamble left Londonderry, Ireland, his native place, and with other emigrants from the same section set- tled in Augusta county. The name Gamble had been prominently connected with the history of Londonderry, and one of the family died, or was killed, there during the famous siege in 1689. Robert Gamble was a married man when he came to America, and brought with him a son named James, who was born in 1729. He had another son named Joseph, who was probably the ancestor of the Gambles of Ohio and Missouri. [This is a mistake. The Missouri Gambles are de- scendants of a Joseph Gamble who came to America from Derry, in 1784.]
On the 6th of March1, 1746, Robert Poage conveyed to Robert Gamble 306 acres of land, in consideration of £15. This tract lies about a mile northeast of the village of Springhill, and is the farm lately owned by Theophilus Gamble, and now (1892) by the heirs of R. B. Hamrick, deceased.
James Gamble's wife was Agnes Bell, a sister of Josepli Bell of South River, the Revolutionary soldier often mentioned in preceeding pages. He (Joseph Bell) was a bachelor, and died in 1834, leaving a considerable estate to his collateral descendants. He was called Major Bell ill 1832.
The children of James and Agnes Gamble were two sons, Robert and John; and three daughters, Mrs. Agnes Davis, Mrs. Elizabeth Moffett, and Mrs. Esther Bell. Mrs. Bell left no children. Mrs. Moffett's descendants, -Moffetts, Tates and others,-are numerous.
Robert Gamble, tlie younger, was born on his father's farm, September 3, 1754. He received an unusually good education for the time, at Liberty Hall Academy. When he had just attained his majority, and begun the business of a merchant, the troubles with Great Britain culminated in war. At the first call to arms he was made first lieutenant of the first company raised in the county. He soon became captain of the company, but as promotion in the Conti- mental line was slow, he appears to have remained in that position for some years.
Captain Gamble was in active service during the entire war, and participated in many battles at the north, including the battles of Princeton and Monmouth. As we have seen, he served under General Wayne on the Hudson, in 1779. It is said that he led one of the assailing parties at the storming of Stony Point. He with his men mounted the wall in the immediate vicinity of a cannon, and seeing the match about to be applied, barely had time to lower his head and order liis men to fall flat before the gun was discharged. He was, however, permanently deafened by the concussion. His company immediately moved on, and were the first to enter the fort. Being busily engaged in securing prisoners, the British flag was overlooked, until Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury observed it and pulled it down. At this stage the Pennsylvania troops entered the fort.
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General Wayne's report of the affair was unsatisfactory, and upon learning all the facts he wrote another, giving the Virginians the credit to which they were entitled. At that time there was much jealousy between the troops from different colonies, and before the revised re- port was published General Washington made a personal appeal to the Virginians to let the matter drop for the good of the cause. Such an appeal from such a source was irresistible, and the error was allowed to remain.
During the latter part of the war, Captain Gamble served under General Greene, in the South, and for a short time acted on the staff of Baron De Kalb. He was taken prisoner in South Carolina, and confined on a British vessel in Charleston harbor. He afterwards frequently complained of the treatment he received while a prisoner, his food consisting exclusively of rice. For many years before his death he was styled colonel, but he appears not to have attained that rank in the army, during the war, having been allotted pension lands for service as a captain only.
Colonel Gamble's wife was Catherine Grattan, daughter of Mr. John Grattan, who lived on North river, near the present village of Mount Crawford. On the 17th of May, 1780, James Gamble, and Agnes, his wife, conveyed to their son, Robert, a tract of four hundred and twenty-seven acres, adjoining the homestead of three hundred and six acres. Colonel Gamble made his home in the country on the farm thus acquired by him, and there his children were born, in a house still standing. Not long after the war, however, he embarked in mercantile business in Staunton, in partnership with his brother-in- law, Robert Grattan. The store of Gamble & Grattan was at the northeast corner of Main and Augusta streets, in a low frame house then standing, and subsequently occupied during many years by the post-office. Colonel Gamble's town residence was the frame house on the west side of Augusta street, about midway between Main and Frederick streets. On the 17th of April, 1787, he was a member of a court-martial held in Staunton, as lieutenant-colonel of Augusta militia. In 1792, or early in 1793, he removed to Richmond, where he became a prosperous business man and influential citizen. His residence in Richmond was on the eminence called for him, Gamble's Hill, and his business was conducted in a large building at the corner of Main and Fourteenth streets. His sons, Colonels John G. and Robert Gamble, were his partners. Both the sons were officers in the war of 1812, and both removed to Florida in 1827, where they were prosperous and influential. One of Colonel Gamble's daughters was the wife of the celebrated William Wirt, and the other, of Judge William H. Cabell, who was Governor of Virginia in 1806-'8, after- wards a judge of the general court, and, finally, president of the Court of Appeals till his death, in 1849. After leaving Staunton, Colonel Gamble sold his Augusta farm, October 15, 1793, to his brother, John, who transmitted it to his son, William.
Colonel Gamble was in the habit of riding on horseback every morning from his residence to his counting-room. On the 12th of
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April, 1810, as he was thus on his way, reading a newspaper, some buffalo skins were thrown from the upper window of a warehouse he was passing, his horse took fright, started, and threw him, which pro- duced concussion of the brain, and terminated his life in a few hours. Mr. Wirt said of him, in a letter to a friend : "He was a faithful soldier of the Revolution, a sincere and zealous Christian, one of the best of fathers, and honestest of men." His house in Richmond was the seat of an elegant hospitality, and within its walls were frequent gatherings of the veterans of the Revolution and others, including Generals Washington and Knox, and Chief-Justice Marshall. But he did not forget the friends of his early days and native county, and by them and their posterity his name and memory have always been revered and cherished.
John Gamble, Colonel Robert Gamble's brother, was also a soldier during the Revolution, but where or in what capacity he served is not known. He was called Captain Gamble, and in 1794 was captain of an Angusta militia company. His wife was Rebecca McPheeters, a sister of the Rev. Dr. McPheeters; and his children were James (a minister), William, Philander, Robert, Theophilus, Mrs. Ramsey and Mrs. Irvin. He died in 1831, on the farm where he was born. By his will, he left five hundred acres of land to his daughter, Rebecca, and grand-daughter, Mary J. Ramsey. This land is described as "lying in the district set apart for the officers and sol- diers of the Continental line, on the waters of Little Muddy creek, in Logan county, Kentucky,-granted to said Gamble the 15th of September, 1795."
THE MATHEWS FAMILY.
John Mathews, one of the first settlers in Borden's tract, about 1737, died between April 20, 1757, the date of his will, and November 16, 1757, the date of probate. His wife was Ann Archer, daughter of Sampson Archer, a fellow emigrant. His sister, Betsy, was the wife of Robert Renick. His children were John, Joshua, Richard, Samp- son, George, Archer, William, Jane, Anna, Rachel and Elizabeth. " Border Warfare " says that five of the seven sons were at Braddock's defeat, which statement may be set down as not entirely correct, to say the least of it.
JOHN MATHEWS, JR., lived, it is presumed, on James River, in what is now Botetourt county. From his will, made November 27, , 1761, we learn that his wife was named Ann, and that he had three sons and three daughters, all under age at the date of the will .- Soon after that date, the whole family was murdered and burnt with their house. The only information we have of the tragedy is from the pro- ceedings in the suit of Murray and wife against Mathews, brought in the County Court of Augusta, in 1768, for a division of the de-
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cedent's real estate. Whether the murders were perpetrated by Indians or whites, is not stated, or surmised.
SAMPSON MATHEWS, son of John, was a very prominent citizen of the county for many years, and is often mentioned in these Annals .- He was the father of Mrs. Samuel Clarke and Mrs. Alexander Nelson. He had two sons, John and Sampson, the latter of whom was the father of Andrew Mathews of Pulaski county, and of Jacob and Sampson Mathews of Pocahontas county. The Staunton residence of Col. Sampson Mathews was the log house on the lot bounded on the south by Beverley street and on the east by Water street, which is still standing, (1892.) He died in Staunton, in 1807. His wife was a Miss Lockhart.
GEORGE MATHEWS, son of John, was born in 1739, and, there- fore, was a mere youth when he was engaged in the Indian fray of 1761. In 1762, he and his brother Sampson were merchants in Staunton. His first wife, the mother of his children, was Anne Paul, sister of Andley Paul, and step-daughter of Col. David Stuart. He was captain of one of the Augusta companies at Point Pleasant in 1774, and in 1775 was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth Virginia regiment. This regiment, though raised for the protection of Accomac and Northampton counties, was soon ordered to join tlie main army under Washington. Mathews therefore participated, in command of the regiment, in the battles of Brandywine and Germanl- town, and his conduct gained him great credit. At Germantown he and his whole regiment were captured by the enemy. He was con- fined in a prison ship in New York harbor, and not exchanged till late in the war. Then he was ordered to the south and joined the army under General Greene, as commander of the Third Virginia regiment. While serving in the south he purchased a tract of land in Georgia to which he removed in 1784
Colonel Mathews was elected Governor of Georgia in 1786, and again in 1794, and between those dates was the first representative of Georgia in the United States Congress after the adoption of the Federal Constitution. During his second terin as Governor, a scheme, known afterwards as the " Yazoo fraud," for disposing of the public lands of Georgia, was consummated. These lands embraced the present States of Alabama and Mississippi. The Governor, though he had opposed all such schemes, was induced to sign the bill passed by the Legislature No sooner did the measure become a law than a popular clamor arose. All who had aided the scheme were accused of fraud and corruption. Stout as the Governor was, he was driven from Georgia by the storm and took refuge in Florida. It is not believed, however, that he was justly chargeable with any wrong. He died in Augusta, Georgia, September 30, 1812, while on his way to Washington city, and was buried in St. Paul's churchyard, of that city. Howe states that Mathews county. in Virginia, formed in 1790, was called for him, but others say it was called for Colonel Thomas Mathews, who was Speaker of the House of Delegates for many years.
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He is described as a short, thick man, standing very erect, and carrying his head thrown back. His features were bluff, his hair light red and his complexion florid. He admitted no superior but Washington. John Adams, when President, nominated Mathews for Governor of Mississippi territory, but afterwards recalled the nomi- nation, because the Senate seemed unwilling to confirm it. The recall greatly enraged the Governor. He hastened to Philadelphia on horseback, dismounted at the President's door and stalked in, wear- ing his old army sword at his thigh and his three cornered cocked hat on his head. He proceeded to administer a rebuke to the President, but being like Mr. Adams, a hot Federalist, means were found to ap- pease his wrath, and he returned home pacified.
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