USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta county, Virginia, with reminiscences illustrative of the vicissitudes of its pioneer settlers > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
The first deed recorded, dated December 9, 1745, was from Andrew Pickens to William McPheeters, and conveyed twelve and one-half acres of land in consideration of five shillings. Deed Books, 1, 2 and 3, are occupied almost exclusively by the conveyances of William Beverley to various persons.
Beverley no doubt made many deeds previous to 1745, which were recorded in Orange; and from 1745 to 1755, no less than one hundred and sixty six of his deeds were recorded in Augusta. He never conveyed the two acres promised to the justices in 1745; but in 1749 he donated much more land to the county, as we shall see.
From the papers in an early suit we have ascertained the prices in the county of several articles in the year 1745. Money was then, and for a long time afterward, counted in pounds, shillings, and pence, one pound, Virginia currency, being $3.337/3.º We state the prices here in the present currency. The price of sugar was 162/3 cents per pound, two nutmegs 22 cents, half a pound of powder 337/3 cents, one
9 We cannot account for the change in the currency. English set- tlers in Virginia, of course, brought with them the pound sterling of Great Britain, equal to about $4.85. When, why, and how the Virginia pound of $3.331/3 was introduced, we have not been able to ascertain. Governor Spotswood, in a letter to the Lords Commissioners of Trade, dated May 24, 1716, alludes to "Virginia money " as something differ- ent from English currency. The change was probably caused by the lesser value of Virginia currency in England, compared with gold and silver.
30
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and a-half pounds of lead 1912 cents, and one ounce of indigo 25 cents.
The rates for ordinaries fixed by the court, March 10, 1746, were as follows : For a hot diet, 1212 cents ; a cold ditto, 833 cents ; lodging, with clean sheets, 47% cents ; stabling and fodder a night, 81/3 cents; rum, the gallon, $1.50; whiskey, the gallon, $1 ; claret, the quart, 837/3 cents.
The ordinary proceedings of the County Court, as recorded in the order books, often illustrate the history of the times, and we shall make frequent quotations.
As soon as the court was established, taverns were needed at the county seat. Therefore, we find that on February 12, 1746, license to keep ordinaries at the courthouse was granted to Robert McClanahan and John Hutchinson. And on the same day it was "ordered that any attorney interrupting another at the bar, or speaking when he is not employed, forfeit five shillings."
On February 19, 1746, a court was held to receive proof of "public claims," and the losses of several persons by the Indians were proved and ordered to be certified to the general assembly for allowance.
While the white settlers and the Indians who often passed through the country were supposed to be at peace, and the more prudent settlers sought by every means to conciliate the savages, instances of robbery and massacre by Indians were not infrequent, as is shown by the records of the County Court and otherwise. Tradition tells of an Indian raid upon a home- stead near Buffalo Gap, but at what date is not stated. The ancestor of the Bell family of that neighborhood lived some two miles from the gap, and the females and children who were at home, learned that a party of Indians were in the vicinity. Feeling insecure, they abandoned their house and sought safety elsewhere. The Indians would have passed the dwelling without discovering it, but were attracted to the place by the cackling of a flock of geese. They plundered the house, setting it on fire, by design or accident, and went off. From that day to the present no member or descendant of that family of Bells has kept geese.
A more disastrous raid occurred, however, in December, 1742. A party of Indians from Ohio came into the Valley,
31
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
and John McDowell, who lived on Timber Ridge (now Rock- bridge) summoned his neighbors to watch, and, if need be, resist the savages. The whites fell into an ambush, near the junction of the North river and the James, and at the first fire McDowell and eight of his companions were slain. The In- dians, alarmed at their own success, fled precipitately, and were not pursued. The people of the neighborhood gathered on the field of slaughter, and, says Foote, "took the nine bloody corpses on horseback and laid them side by side near McDowell's dwelling, while they prepared their graves, in overwhelming distress."
John McDowell's grave may still be found in the family burying ground near Timber Ridge church, marked by a rough stone. He has been mentioned heretofore as one of the first settlers in Borden's grant. His son, Samuel, was Colonel of militia at the battle of Guilford, and the ancestor of the Reids, of Rockbridge; and his son, James, who died in early life, was the grandfather of the late Governor James Mc- Dowell. His only daughter, Martha, married Colonel George Moffett, of Augusta, a gallant soldier of the Revolution, whose descendants are numerous in this county and elsewhere.
At the April term, 1746, of the County Court, John Nicho- las having declined to act as prosecuting attorney, the court recommended Gabriel Jones " as a fit person to transact his majesty's affairs in this county." Mr. Jones was accordingly appointed, and duly qualified at the next court.
At May term, 1746, John Preston proved his importation from .Ireland, with his wife, Elizabeth, William, his son, and Lettice and Ann, his daughters, at his own charge "in order to partake of his majesty's bounty for taking up land."
Foote speaks of John Preston as "a shipmaster in Dublin." Brock says he was a ship carpenter. He came to the county in the year 1740, with his brother-in-law, James Patton, who was a brother of Preston's wife. He resided for a time at Patton's place, Springhill, but about the year 1743 he removed to the tract known as Spring Farm, adjacent to Staunton, and there, in a house near the site of the present city water works, he lived and died. He and other Presbyterian people of Staunton and vicinity, of his day, worshipped at Tinkling Spring church, and
32
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
his body was interred at that place. His eldest daughter mar- ried Robert Breckenridge, the ancestor of several distinguished men. The second daughter married the Rev. John Brown, pas- tor of New Providence church, and from them descended John Brown, of Kentucky, and James Brown, of Louisiana, both of them United States senators, and the latter ministor to France. William Preston was the father of a numerous family, male and female, and many of his descendants have been eminent in various walks of life. John Preston, the ancestor, appears to have been a quiet man, and without the bustling energy which characterized other pioneer settlers; but the traits which he and "his wife Elizabeth " transmitted to their posterity is a noble testimony that the pair possessed more than common merit. He died in 1747, leaving a very small estate, as far as appears. His wife qualified as administratrix, February 6, 1747, and exe- cuted a bond, with John Maxwell and Robert McClanahan as her securities, in the penalty of {100, indicating a personal estate of only £50.
On the day that John Preston " proved his importation," the court ordered that "Edward Boyle, for damning the court and swearing four oaths in their presence, be put in the stocks for two hours, and be fined twelve shillings" ($2).
Till the year 1746, no vestrymen had been elected, as provided in the act .of 1738. In that year, however, an election was held, and twelve persons were chosen to constitute the vestry of the parish, viz: James Patton, (Col.) John Buchanan, John Madison, Patrick Hays, John Christian, (Mr.) John Buchanan, Robert Alexander, Thomas Gordon, James Lockhart, John Archer, John- Matthews, and John Smith.
From the first settlement of Virginia the Church of Eng- land had been established in the colony. The inhabited parts were laid off into parishes, in each of which was a minister, who had a fixed salary in tobacco, together with a farm (called glebe) and a parsonage. There was a general assess- ment on all the inhabitants to meet the expenses.
When a new parish was established, the vestrymen were elected by the qualified voters, but vacancies occurring after- wards were filled by the board. Two members were annually chosen to act as church-wardens, and these were more particu-
,
33
ANNALS OF. AUGUSTA COUNTY.
larly charged with all matters pertaining to religion and pub- lic morals. The minister, or rector, was ex officio president of the board.
Vestrymen were not merely ecclesiastical officers, but some of the duties now performed by supervisors were imposed upon them by law. They had the care of the poor, and attended to the important duty, as it was then, of "processioning lands." At a time when the boundaries of contiguous tracts of land were ill defined, to prevent or settle disputes, commissioners were appointed by the vestry to ascertain and fix the lines. This custom had fallen into disuse, and every law on the subject had disappeared from the statute books, till the de- struction of many county records during the late war, led to an act of Assembly, in 1865-'6, reviving the practice. In England the vestry has also charge of all highways in the parish; but in Virginia, during colonial times, little or no con- cern was taken about public roads.
The vestry held meetings statedly, at least once a year, to count up and provide for the expenses of the parish. They laid the parish levy ; and it is curious at this day to find that here, as well as elsewhere in the colony, glebe farms were bought, churches and parsonages built, ministers, readers and sextons paid, and even the sacramental wine provided, out of the public treasury.
All members of the vestry were required by law to take the various oaths imposed upon public officers generally, and, in addition, to subscribe a declaration "to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England." It is quite certain that most of the vestrymen of Augusta parish in 1746 were Dissenters from the Established Church. How they could, with a clear conscience, subscribe the declaration referred to is a question. They probably pleaded the neces- sity of the case. Without vestrymen and a rector the local government could not be completed, the poor could not be cared for, lands could not be "processioned," and especially none of the young people in the county could get married without much expense and inconvenience. The Scotch-Irish vestrymen of Augusta parish, with James Patton at their head, very likely agreed "to be conformable," &c., with the under- standing that it was only for the time being and in respect to
3
84
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
the particular public duties they undertook to discharge. They did not relax their interest in the dissenting congregations to which they belonged, and, as far as known, they did not incur censure nor lose respect by their conformity as vestrymen. Some Dissenters of the Covenanter stock no doubt compared the Presbyterian vestrymen and church-wardens to Naaman, the Syrian, bowing himself in the house of Rimmon, because the King leaned upon his hand. As will be seen hereafter, the practice of subscribing the declaration of conformity fell into partial disuse, and some persons elected vestrymen refused to subscribe when required to do so, and retired from the board.
The vestry of Augusta parish met for the first time in the courthouse, April 6, 1747. They elected John Madison clerk, and Robert Alexander and James Lockhart church-wardens. The Rev. John Hindman appeared with letters from the Gover- nor, etc., recommending him for employment as "rector of the parish." The vestry, however, were not in a hurry, and proceeded to drive a bargain with Mr. Hindman. They agreed to accept him, provided he would not insist upon the purchase of glebe lands, etc., for two years, and would hold his ser- vices in the meanwhile in the courthouse, "and in people's houses of the same persuasion." Moreover, he was not to complain to the Governor in regard to the tardiness of his vestrymen. A glebe farm, however, was purchased, and a church building was erected in Staunton in the course of time. The farm was at the foot of North Mountain, about five miles south of Swoope's depot, and is now owned by the Thompson family. No church was ever built there, but farm buildings were erected, and an acre or more of land was laid off for a public burying ground. In common with other glebe lands, the farm was disposed of as directed by law, after the dis- establishment of the Church of England in the State. The church in Staunton was built on land given by Beverley, April 3, 1750. It was begun in 1760, and finished in 1763.
Mr. Hindman's salary, payable in money, was £50 a year. Commissary Dawson, in a letter of July 11, 1749, to the Bishop of London, states that the parish was then vacant because of the death of Mr. Hindman. At a meeting of the vestry, on the day last named, Mr. Robert Clowseme, recommended by " Peter Hedgman, gentleman," sought the vacant place, but he was
35
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
rejected, the vestry "not being acquainted with him," and resolving to receive no minister "without a trial first had." For more than two years the parish was vacant, and then, in 1752, the Rev. John Jones was inducted on the recommen- dation of Governor Dinwiddie.
.
But we have anticipated the course of events. It is prob- able that on the day, in 1746, that vestrymen were elected, delegates, or "burgesses," to represent Augusta county in the colonial assembly were also elected. We find no trace of such election, however, in our local archives or elsewhere. The county was duly represented in the " House of Burgesses," nevertheless, and from several acts found in Hening's Statutes at Large, it appears that the county was required to pay the "wages" of her representatives. The name and fame of one of our earliest burgesses have been perpetuated by a stone erected in the glebe burying ground. We give a literal copy of the inscription :
HERE LY,S THE INTER,D BODY OF COL, JOHN WILLSON WHO DEPARTED THIS LIF. IN THE - YARE - OF OUR LORD 1773 IN - THE 72- YR- OF HIS EAG HAVING SERVD HIS COUNTY - 27 - YA - REPRESE - NTETIVE - IN . THE HONOURABLE - HOUS - OF BUR- JESIS. IN VIRGINIA &C
Colonel Willson is not to be held responsible for the illit- eracy and mistakes of the stone-cutter. We presume there is no mistake as to the date of his death, and the statement that he served twenty-seven years as a member of the House of Burgesses. He must, therefore, have been elected in 1746, and have served, upon repeated elections, continuously till his death.
R. A. Brock, Esq., Secretary of the Virginia Historical Society, has furnished to us the following partial list of dele- gates from Augusta in the House of Burgesses :
1751-John Willson and John Madison. 1752-John Willson and John Madison. 1757-John Willson and Gabriel Jones. 1758-John Willson and Gabriel Jones. 1759-John Willson and Israel Christian. 1761-John Willson and Israel Christian.
·
.
.
.
36
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
1768-John Willson and William Preston. 1769-John Willson and William Preston.
1771-John Willson and Gabriel Jones.
1773-John Willson and Samuel McDowell. 1776-George Mathews and Samuel McDowell.
In the interval, from 1761 to 1768, and probably at other times, Thomas Lewis served as one of the delegates from Augusta. James Patton also represented the county, for we find that at November term of the County Court, 1755, an allowance was made to his executor for "burgess wages." It is probable that Patton was Col. Willson's colleague from 1747 to 1751, and that he was a member of the House of Burgesses from 1752 to 1755.
We again revert to an earlier period in the history of the county. On May 21, 1747, George Wythe appeared before the county court and took the oaths required of attorneys. At the same time the grand jury presented five persons as swearers and two for Sabbath breaking.
On the 22d of May, 1747, the Rev. Samuel Black, a dissent- ing minister, appeared before the court and took the prescribed oaths. We have no further information in regard to Mr. Black.
The number of tithables in the county in 1747 was 1,670, and the tax per head as levied by the vestry, six shillings.
The following extract from the records of the court, of date May 20, 1748, is a part of the history of the times, and pos- sesses some special interest: "On the motion of Matthew Lyle, yts ordered to be certified that they have built a Presbyterian meeting-house at a place known by the name of Timber Ridge, another at New Providence,10 and another at a place known by the name of Falling Spring." All these places are in the present county of Rockbridge, then part of Augusta. The record shows, among other things, the rapid settlement of the country.
"West of the Blue Ridge," says Foote [First Series, page 309] "the inhabitants were generally Dissenters, and coming
10 There was a house of worship in Pennsylvania, near Norristown, called Providence. "From this many families emigrated to New Vir- ginia, settled together, and built a meeting-house, which they called New Providence."-[ Life of Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander, page 6.
.
.
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
37
into the province such, there was always less difficulty in obtain- ing license for houses of worship than in those counties east of the Ridge, where no Dissenters, or but few, had settled, and those that appeared were converts from the Established Church." The early meeting-houses in Augusta, erected before the year 1745, were doubtless registered in Orange county.
Early in the century the American Presbyterian Church became divided into what were known as the "Old Side" and the "New Side." There was no question in regard to doctrine, but only as to the proper methods of promoting religion. The New Side Presbyterians, sometimes called "New Lights," were admirers and followers of George Whitefield, who traversed the country, and by his zeal and eloquence caused an extraordinary religious excitement. The Old Side party was composed of the more conservative and less aggressive element of the church, who feared excitement, and perhaps were not specially zealous. The various Presbyterians adhering to the Old Side were associated as the Synod of Philadelphia, and those of the New Side as the Synod of New York. There was no Presbytery in Virginia till the year 1755, when Hanover Presbytery was formed by au- thority of the Synod of New York, and was composed of New Side ministers and churches. This Presbytery consisted at first . of only six ministers, including the celebrated Samuel Davies, of Hanover county ; Rev. John Brown, of New Providence, and Rev. Alexander Craighead, of Windy Cove. The Rev. John Craig, of Augusta and Tinkling Spring, was not a member of it till the breach was healed, in 1758, and the two parties came to- gether again. During the alienation most, if not all, the Presby- terian churches in the present county of Augusta adhered to the Old Side, and those in the region now composing Rockbridge county (New Providence, Timber Ridge, Falling Spring, Hall's meeting-house, afterwards Monmouth, or Lexington) to the New Side. While the strife lasted much bitterness of feeling was ex- hibited, and the cause of the Dissenters, and of religion itself, was no doubt greatly injured thereby. Missionaries were sent to Virginia by both the Northern Synods. A minister named Robinson, sent out by the Synod of New York, was preaching in the Valley, when one of the inhabitants of Augusta, going into the lower country for salt and iron, met some of the attendants upon Morris's meetings in Hanover, and recommended Mr.
.
.
38
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
Robinson to them. He was invited to visit them, which he did, and his visit led to the settlement of Samuel Davies in Virginia.
To show further how the Dissenters managed their affairs during colonial times, we mention that, in 1747, James Patton, John Christian, John Finley, James Alexander and William Wright, "chosen commissioners and trustees," received a deed from William and John Thompson for one hundred and ten acres of land for the use of "the Presbyterian congregation of Tinkling Spring." Many years afterwards an act of the Legis- lature authorized the congregation to sell as much of the tract as they wished, and expend the proceeds in repairing their meeting-house, or in building a new one.
It is stated that, as early as 1748, Colonels Patton and Bu- chanan and others, with a number of hunters, made an exploring tour to the southwest. They discovered and named the Cum- berland mountain and Cumberland river, so called in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, who had recently gained the battle of Culloden, in Scotland.
And now, in the year 1748, we come to the first mention of the town of Staunton. During that year William Beverley laid off the beginning of the town, within his manor, and at his " Mill Place." The surveying was done by Thomas Lewis, the county surveyor, and the plot is highly creditable to the surveyor's skill. The number of town lots is forty-four, each, with a few exceptions, containing half an acre. The streets laid off and named are Beverley, Frederick and Johnson, running east and west, and Augusta, Water and Lewis, running north and south. A plot of twenty-five acres, east of Augusta street, and extending half a square north of Frederick street, was reserved for the use of the county. The inscription under the plot, signed by the surveyor, is as follows; "A plan of the town of Staunton, in Augusta county, each lot containing half an acre *
* * * laid out in the year 1748, and since con- firmed by an act of the last session of assembly."
The plan was produced in court by William Beverley, Feb ruary 27, 1749, and ordered to be recorded. It may be found in Deed Book No. 2, page 410.
It appears, however, that several streets and town lots were laid off by Thomas Lewis for Beverley, July 15, 1747, as we learn from the original plot which was not recorded. The
.
-
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
39
number of lots was only thirteen, so moderate was the expecta- tion in regard to the town ; but by the next year it was thought advisable to extend the dimensions of the embryo city, and thirty-one lots were added in 1748. In the divisions of 1747, each lot contained half an acre, as in the plot of 1748. Lot No. I was between Spring Lane and the creek, west of Augusta street. The two squares north of Spring Lane and west of Augusta street were laid off, and each was divided into four lots. Lots 10, 11, 12, and 13 were west of Water street, and between Spring Lane and Frederick street, the north branch of Lewis's creek running through each of them. Beverley retained (in 1747) lots 2, 10, and 11, and sold off the other lots ; Joseph Bell purchased No. 3 (southwest corner of Beverley and Augusta streets, on a part of which the Augusta National Bank now stands) for £5, or $16.662/3. Robert Mcclanahan pur- chased two lots, No. 7 (southeast corner of Beverley and Water streets-Old Central Bank, &c.), for £9, 15s. $32.50,11 and No. 12 (northeast corner of Beverley and Water streets-Lutheran Church, &c.), for £5. Other purchasers of lots were Samuel Wilkins, John Brown, William Lyndwell, Andrew Campbell, John Ramsey, David Stuart, and Patrick McDonal. In the plot of 1748, as recorded, the streets designated are named as at present ; in the original plot of 1747, Augusta was called Gooch street, Water was called William, and Beverley was called Cross street. Spring Lane was so called from the first, although now generally known as Irish Alley. The name Staunton was originally often written Stanton. It is generally supposed that Augusta and other parallel streets were intended to lie exactly north and south, but in the original plot those streets are represented as slightly departing from the meridian line.
Twenty five acres heretofore referred to, were conveyed by Beverley to the justices of the peace for the use of the court- house, etc., April 21, 1749.
Why Staunton was so called has been a question for many years. We long ago saw a statement in print somewhere, that the new town was named in honor of Lady Gooch, wife of the Governor, who, it was said, was a member of the English family
11 About one-half of this lot was sold at auction March 5, 1886, for $13,300, the value of buildings being hardly estimated.
40
ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.
of Staunton, but we do not vouch for the truth of the statement. There is a small town of the same name near Kendal, West- morland county, England.
The inscription by the surveyor alludes to an act of assembly establishing the town. No such act is found in Hening, but it appears from a proclamation issued by Governor Dinwiddie, April 8, 1752, that " An act for establishing a town in Augusta county, and allowing fairs to be kept there," was passed by the assembly in 1748. It was, however, for some unexplained rea- son, "disallowed" by King George II, and pronounced by the Governor "utterly void and of none effect." Thus the aspira- tions of Staunton were repressed, and the rising town had to wait for thirteen years for a new king liberal enough to grant her a charter.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.