USA > Virginia > Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, Volume I > Part 8
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ginia. Wiser than Nicholson, he took care not to offend the council, and was very popular with all classes, but he died only about a year after his arrival. Several important events, however, in the colonial annals are identified with his brief administration: The completion of the capitol building begun by Nicholson ; the burning of the college, October, 1705 ; the founding by Mrs. Mary Whaley of Mattey's Free School near Williamsburg, and the adop- tion by the assembly of a revised code of laws -the fourth since the first settlement. In this code provision was made for building a gov- ernor's house, for completing the founding of Williamsburg, and for encouraging the French Protestant refugees whose settlement was above the falls of the river at "King William's parish in the county of Henrico." Some years after the sudden demise of Nott, August 23, 1706, a handsome box monument of marble was erected by the general assembly over his remains in Bruton parish churchyard. It is still standing. He was succeeded at the head of the government by the president of the council, Edmund Jennings.
Edmund, Jenings, president of the coun- cil and acting governor from June, 1706, to August, 1710, was son of Sir Edmund Jen- ings, of Ripon, Yorkshire, England, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Edward Bark- ham, lord mayor of London, 1621-22. He was born in 1659, and died June 2, 1727. He came to Virginia at an early age, and settled in York county. He was appointed attorney- general in 1680, and retained the office till after 1692. He was appointed to the council in 1701, and remained a member till his death. In 1704 he was appointed secretary of state, and from June, 1706, till August 23, 1710, he was acting governor. Later, after the death
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of Hugh Drysdale, he would have again be- come acting governor, but was set aside on account of his feeble health. He married, Frances, daughter of Henry Corbin, of Buck- ingham House, and had issue (1) Frances, married Charles Grymes, of Moratico, Rich- mond county, and was ancestress of General R. E. Lee; (2) Elizabeth, married Robert Porteus, of New Bottle, Gloucester county, who afterwards removed to England, where she became the mother of Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London: (3) Edmund, secretary of Maryland, married in 1728, Anna, widow of James Frisby and Thomas Bordley, and daughter of Matthias Vanderheyden, by which marriage he was father of Ariana (who mar- ried John Randolph of Virginia, father of Edmund Randolph, first attorney-general of Virginia and of the United States), and a son Edmund, who died unmarried in 1819.
Hunter, Col. Robert, an officer in the Eng- lish army, was appointed governor of Vir- ginia in 1706 to succeed Sir Francis Nichol- son, but in his voyage was captured by a French privateer and remained prisoner until the end of 1709. In June, 1710, he became governor of New York, and held that office till 1719. In July, 1727, was appointed gov- ernor of Jamaica and died there March II, 1734.
Spotswood, Alexander, lieutenant-governor under the Earl of Orkney (1710-1722) was a great-grandson of John Spotswood or Spotis- wood, Scotland, who in 1635 became arch- bishop of Glasgow and one of the privy coun- cil. His grandfather, Sir Robert Spotswood, was an eminent lawyer, who was elected presi- dent of the court of sessions in Scotland. In the civil war, Sir Robert was a staunch sup- porter of Charles I. and was temporary sec-
retary of state in 1643. Taken prisoner at the battle of Philiphaugh, he was tried by the Scotch parliament, sentenced to death, and executed. Alexander Spotswood's father was Dr. Robert Spotswood, who was a physician to the governor and garrison at Tangier. His mother was Catherine Elliott, a widow who had by her first husband a son, General Roger Elliott, whose portrait is now in the state library at Richmond, Virginia. Alexander was born at Tangier in 1676, educated for a military life, fought under Marlborough, was quartermaster-general with the rank of colonel, and was dangerously wounded in the breast at the battle of Blenheim. In 1710 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Virginia, and showed himself a conspicuously energetic administrator. He bestowed much attention upon Williamsburg, leveled the streets, assisted in rebuilding the church, providing some of the brick, built a brick magazine for the safe- keeping of the public arms, and aided in rebuilding the college, which had been burned in 1705; and in 1722, on the petition of the people of Williamsburg and the assembly, he granted a charter of incorporation to the city of Williamsburg. Against the enemies of the colony he took firm and decided steps. The coast of Virginia was harassed by piratical vessels. Spotswood sent an expedition against them under Captain Maynard. killed the pirate, Teach or Blackbeard, and hanged others. As to the Indians he blended humanity with policy. He established a school for the Sap- onies at Fort Christanna in Brunswick county, and paid the master, Mr. Griffin, out of his own pocket, and arranged a treaty by which the chiefs of the tributary tribes promised to send their sons to college. He sent soldiers against the Tuscaroras, who had attacked North Carolina, but laid force aside when he
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found them ready to negotiate a treaty of peace. Against the French and Indians he established two forts on the frontiers to guard the northern and southern passes. At the first of these he planted the German settlement and at the other he gathered the Sapony Indians. His idea was to extend the line of Virginia settlements so as to check the further exten- sion of French influence on this continent. With this in view he explored the back coun- try, and in 1716 crossed the Blue Ridge moun- tains and visited the Shenandoah river and the beautiful valley through which it runs. He urged upon the mother country the policy of establishing a chain of posts back of the mountains, from the great lakes to the Miss- issippi river. But Spotswood had his weak points like Nicholson, another capable man before him. He was overbearing and had great ideas of the royal prerogative. And so, though he encouraged the rights of the sub- ject by bringing over with him a confirmation of the writ of habeas corpus, he did not like Nott attempt to conciliate the people. The result was that he got at cross purposes with the assembly, with the council, and with Dr. James Blair, the president of the college, which resulted in his removal September 27. 1722 .. He continued to reside in Virginia and led an active life. During his governorship he had established a postal system in Vir- ginia, and in 1730-1739 was deputy postmaster- general for the American colonies, in which capacity he arranged the transfer of mails with great energy. It was he who made Benjamin Franklin postmaster for Pennsylvania. He had also called the legislature's attention to the iron ores of Virginia, though without effect; and now in a private capacity he established a furnace in Spotsylvania county, where he had patented 40,000 acres of land. In 1740
Spotswood was made general of an expedition against Carthagena. He visited Williamsburg, and then repaired to Annapolis with the in- tention of embarking with the troops, but he died June 7, just before the embarkation, and Colonel William Gooch was appointed chief in his place. He left his books and mathematical instruments to the college. Colonel Spotswood married, in 1724, Ann Butler Brain, daughter of Mr. Richard Brain, of London, and they had two sons, John and Robert Spotswood, and two daughters, Ann Catherine, who mar- ried Bernard Moore, and Dorothea, who mar- ried Captain Nathaniel West Dandridge. Robert, his younger son, was slain by the In- dians in the French and Indian war. John, the elder son, married, in 1745, Mary, daughter of William Dandridge, and had issue two sons, General Alexander Spotswood and Captain John Spotswood, both of the army of the revo- lution, and two daughters, Mary and Ann. The descendants of Governor Spotswood are now represented in numerous families of distinc- tion.
Drysdale, Hugh, lieutenant-governor of Virginia (1722-1726), succeeded Governor Spotswood in the administration of the colony, September 27, 1722, and remained in office till his death, July 22, 1726. Very little is known of his antecedents, but during his administra- tion in Virginia he was very popular. There were two sessions of the assembly during this period, one beginning May 9, 1723, and the other beginning May 12, 1726. At the first, on the recommendation of Governor Drysdale, laws were passed to regulate the militia and for the more effectual prevention of negro insur- rections. It appears that not long before a conspiracy had been planned by negroes. This conspiracy furnished additional reasons for
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the duty laid the same session on liquors and slaves.
At the next session a commission was issued by the governor constituting Philip Finch to be the first sergeant-at-arms and mace-bearer of the house of burgesses. Previous to this time an officer called the messenger had discharged these duties. Governor Drysdale announced to the house that "the interfering interest of the African Company" had obtained from the board of trade the repeal of the law of the previous session .imposing a duty on liquors and slaves. He stated his belief that if a new duty be laid on liquors for the support of the college, then "in a languishing condition," the English government would not object, and this was done. Drysdale was a sick man during this session, and not long after its adjourn- ment he died at Williamsburg, July 22, 1726.
Carter, Robert, president of the council and acting governor from the death of Drys- dale, July 22, 1726, till the arrival of William Gooch about October, 1727, was born in Vir- ginia in 1663, son of Colonel John and Sarah (Ludlow) Carter. His father had been promi- nent in the colony as lieutenant-colonel, bur- gess and councillor. His mother was a daugh- ter of Gabriel Ludlow, a nephew of General Edmund Ludlow, one of Cromwell's generals. Robert Carter was for many years the agent of Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the Northern Neck grant. He was treasurer of the colony, speaker of the house of burgesses 1694-99, and member of the council for twenty-seven years (1699-1726). He became president of the council, and as such succeeded as acting gov- ernor. His great possessions earned him the name of "King" Carter. His residence was in Lancaster county, at Corotoman, on the Rap- pahannock river, and there is still standing
nearby a church that he built shortly before his death, which occurred August 4, 1732. His splendid tomb in a rather shattered condition is still to be seen in the yard of the church. He was twice married, first to Judith, eldest daughter of John Armistead, Esq., a member of the council, and (second) to Elizabeth Wil- lis, daughter of Thomas Landon, of an ancient family in Hereford county, England. By these wives he had numerous children, who have many influential descendants in Virginia and the south.
Gooch, William, lieutenant-governor of Virginia (1727-1749), was born October 12, 1681, in Yarmouth, county Suffolk, England, and was descended from an ancient family. His grandfather was William Gooch, of Suf- folk, and his father was Thomas Gooch, alder- man of Yarmouth, who married Frances, daughter of Thomas Love, of Norfolk county. His uncle, William Gooch, had emigrated to Virginia at a very early date and become a major in the York county militia and a mem- ber of the Virginia council, dying in 1655. The subject of this sketch entered the English army at an early age and took part in all of Queen Anne's wars, being present at the battle of Blenheim. In October, 1727, he super- seded Robert Carter as lieutenant-governor of Virginia, and for more than twenty years con- ducted the affairs of the colony in a manner which occasioned complaint neither in Eng- land nor in America. Indeed, it is said that in this respect he stands alone among colonial governors. Still his administration was a period of much activity in Virginia. In 1730 tobacco notes, a new form of currency, were devised which proved salutary. The frontier line was pushed to the Alleghanies, and the valley of Virginia was settled with hardy and
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enterprising German and Scorch-Irish settlers. Norfolk was chartered a town, and Freder- icksburg, Winchester, Richmond and Peters- burg were founded. The first newspaper in the colony, the Virginia Gazette, was published in Williamsburg in 1736. The boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina was run. In 1740, on account of the unexpected death of Major-General Alexander Spots- wood, Governor Gooch assumed command of the four colonial battalions transported to join the British troops under Admiral Vernon in an attack on Carthagena in New Granada. He was absent one year, during which time Rev. Dr. James Blair, president of the college, acted as governor. The campaign proved un- successful, Gooch was severely wounded, and contracted the fever from which many of the English troops died. Upon his return to Vir- ginia in July, 1741, he resumed the govern- ment of the colony, and among other events which followed, the capitol accidentally caught on fire and was burned in 1746. On June 20, 1749, he embarked for England, to the great sorrow of all the people of his colony to whom he had endeared himself by his noble and dis- interested conduct. He died in London, De- cember 17, 1751. Governor Gooch was created a baronet November 4, 1746. His wife was Rebecca, daughter of William Stanton, Esq., of Hampshire, England. He had an only son, William Gooch, who died in Virginia. His wife survived him till 1775, and in her will left a beautiful silver gilt communion service to the college chapel. This memorial of this excellent woman, who was once the first lady of Virginia, is still preserved in Bruton Church in Williamsburg.
The family of the Gooch name in Virginia are descended from Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Gooch, who was living in York county in
1656, and was an adherent of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., in 1676. He was probably a member of Governor Gooch's family.
Keppel, William Anne, second Earl of Albemarle and titular governor of Virginia from the death of George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney, 1737, to his own death in 1754, son of Arnold Joost Van Keppel, first earl, and his wife Geertruid Johanna Quirina vander Duyn, was born at Whitehall, June 5, 1702; was baptized at the Chapel Royal, Queen Anne being his godmother, (hence his name Anne) ; was educated in Holland and on his return to England (as Viscount Bury) was appointed August 25, 1717, captain and lieutenant of the grenadier company of the Coldstream Guards. In 1718 he succeeded to his father's title and estates, and in 1722, at his family seat in Guelderland, entertained the Bishop of Munster. In 1725 he was made Knight of the Bath; in 1727 aide-de-camp to the king; and November 22, 1731, was appointed to the col- onecy of the 29th Foot, then at Gibraltar, which he held until May 7, 1733, when he was appointed colonel of the third troop of Horse Guards. He was made governor of Virginia in 1737, a brigadier-general July, 1739, major-general February, 1742, and was transferred to the colonelcy of the Coldstream Guards in October, 1744. He went to Flanders with Lord Stair in 1742, and was a general on the staff at Dettingen, where he had a horse shot under him, and at Fontenoy, where he was wounded. He commanded the first. line of Cumberland's army at Culloden, and was again on the staff in Flanders and present at the battle of Val. At the peace of 1748 he was sent as ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at Paris, and was appointed commander-in-chief in North Britain, and in
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1749 was made Knight of the Garter. The the clergy at their meeting at Jamestown in year after he was made groom of the stole and a privy councillor, and in 1752 was one of the lords justices during the king's absence in Hanover. In 1754 he was sent back to Paris to demand the liberation of some British sub- jects detained by the French in America, and died in Paris suddenly December 22, 1754. His remains were brought over and buried in the chapel in South Audley street, London. Albemarle married, in 1723, Lady Anne Len- nox, daughter of Charles, first duke of Rich- mond, and by her had eight sons and seven daughters.
Albemarle Sound in North Carolina, Albe- marle parish in Sussex county, Virginia, and Albemarle county in the same state, were named in his honor.
Blair, James, D. D., president of the coun- cil, and acting governor during the absence of Governor Gooch on the expedition against Carthagena (June, 1740-July, 1741) and first president of William and Mary College (1693 -1743), was born in Scotland in 1655. He attended the University of Edinburgh and became Master of Arts in 1673. After his graduation he was ordained as a minister of the Church of England, and having served as such for some time in his native country removed to London, where he was clerk in the office of the m. ter of rolls, Dr. Compton. Bishop of London, being much impressed with his talents and piety, suggested to him to go as missionary to Virginia. This he did in 1685. It happened that in Virginia he was given the parish of Varina, in Henrico county, where the attempt to establish a college was made in 1618. Having been made commissary of the Bishop of London in 1689, and inspired by his surroundings at Varina, he persuaded
1690 to revive the project of the college. They did so, and their recommendations received the approval of both the council and the general assembly; and in June, 1691, Dr. Blair was sent to England by the legislature with full instructions to obtain a charter from the king and queen. He remained there more than a year, and at length returned in 1693 with the much coveted document. It contemplated six professors, 100 students more or less, and three grades of instruction-the grammar school, the philosophy school, and the divinity school. The college was erected at Williamsburg according to a design of Sir Christopher Wren. Till 1712 only the grammar school was in oper- ation, but in that year the first professor of mathematics was elected. In 1729 all the schools had been established, and in that year a transfer of the management took place from the trustees to the faculty, the former retain- ing visitorial powers only. In 1694 Dr. Blair removed from Henrico to Jamestown and accepted the parish there so as to be nearer his intended college, and in 1710 he accepted the rectorship at Bruton parish at Williams- burg. He became a member of the council in 1689 and continued a member till his death in 1643. He assisted Henry Hartwell and Edward Chilton in compiling in 1697 "The State of his Majesty's Colony in Virginia," and 117 sermons and discourses, expository of the sermon on the mount, were published in four volumes 8vo. at London in 1742. Dr. Blair was an active factor in the politics of the country. When Governor Andros assumed superior authority in ecclesiastical matters, Dr. Blair opposed him, and so successfully that Andros was recalled. He was largely instrumental in the downfall of Nicholson and Spotswood. The two succeeding governors
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took warning, and Dr. Blair had the hearty cooperation of Drysdale and Gooch in all measures for the advancement of the college. When Gooch went on the expedition against Carthagena, Blair, as the oldest member and president of the council, succeeded him. The end of a useful life of 89 years occurred April 18, 1743. He married Sarah Harrison, daugh- ter of Benjamin Harrison, in 1687, but they left no issue. His nephew, John Blair, son of his brother Dr. Archibald Blair, succeeded him as heir to his property and honors.
Robinson, John, president of the council, became acting governor on the departure of Sir William Gooch for England, June 20, 1749. His grandfather was John Robinson, of Cleasby, Yorkshire, England, who married Elizabeth Potter, daughter of Christopher Potter of Cleasby. His uncle was Dr. John Robinson, Bishop of Bristol and London, who served as British envoy to Sweden, writing while there a history of Sweden, and was also British plenipotentiary at the treaty of Utrecht. His father was Christopher Robinson, a mem- ber of the Virginia council in 1691-93, and secretary of state in 1692-93, who married Judith, daughter of Colonel Christopher Wor- meley. John Robinson was born in 1683 in Middlesex county, Virginia, at "Hewick," his father's residence on the Rappahannock river. He occupied many important positions in the colony, was member of the house of burgesses in 1711 and other years, member of the coun- cil in 1720, and when Governor Gooch left for England, June 20, 1749, became as president of the council, acting governor. In this capac- ity he served but a few months only, dying September 3, 1749. He married Katherine, daughter of Robert Beverley, author of a his- tory of Virginia, and their son John was
speaker of the house of burgesses and treas- urer of the colony.
Lee, Thomas, president of the council, and acting governor from the death of John Rob- inson, September 3, 1749, to his own death, November 14, 1750, was born in Westmore- land county, 1693. He was son of Colonel Richard Lee, who was one of the council of Virginia, and grandson of Colonel Richard Lee, who came to Virginia about 1642 and was secretary of state. Thomas Lee received a common education, "yet having strong natural parts, long after he was a man he learned the languages without any assistance but his own genius, and became tolerably adept in the Greek and Latin." He was long a member of the house of burgesses and the council, and when John Robinson died became by seniority president of the council and as such acting governor. In 1744 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Gooch to serve as commissioner with William Beverley to treat with the Six Nations: At Lancaster, Pennsylvania, they made a treaty by which the Indians released their title to lands west of the Alleghanies. Thus having cleared the way, Lee became the leading factor in 1749 in the organization of the Ohio Company, which had as one of its objects the severing of the French settlements in Canada and Louisiana. The company obtained from the king a grant of 500,000 acres of land west of the Alleghanies, between the Kanawha and Ohio rivers. It established trad- ing posts, which, being seized by the French, were the direct cause of the French and In- dian war. It is said that the king appointed Lee lieutenant-governor in 1750, but he died before the commission reached him. He was married in 1721 to Hannah, daughter of Col- onel Philip Ludwell, and had by her six sons,
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five of them eminently distinguished for their services during the American revolution- Thomas Ludwell Lee, Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, William Lee, and Dr. Arthur Lee-and two daughters. His death occurred at Stratford House, in Westmore- land county, Virginia, November 14, 1750; and in the absence of a commissioned gov- ernor he was succeeded by Lewis Burwell, member of the council next in seniority.
Burwell, Lewis, president of the council, succeeded on Thomas Lee's death, November 14, 1750, as acting governor of Virginia, and remained such till the arrival of Governor Din- widdie, November 20, 1751. He was born in 1710, and was son of Major Nathaniel Bur- well, of Carter's Creek, Gloucester county, and Elizabeth Carter his wife, daughter of Colonel Robert Carter, acting governor in 1726. Nathaniel Burwell was the son of Major Lewis Burwell, member of the council in 1702, and of Abigail Smith, niece and heiress of Nathaniel Bacon, Esq., president of the coun- cil. Then Major Lewis Burwell was son of Lewis Burwell, sergeant-major of the colony in 1652, and Lucy Higginson his wife, daugh- ter of Captain Robert Higginson, who com- manded at Middle Plantation (now Williams- burg) in 1646. This last Major Burwell was the emigrant ancestor, who came to Virginia about 1642, and was son of Edward Burwell of Bedfordshire, England, and Dorothy, his wife, daughter of William Bedell, of Cats- worth. President Burwell was educated at the University of Cambridge, England, and was distinguished for his remarkable learning and scholarship. On his return to Virginia from England he was called to fill many im- portant offices ; was a burgess from Glouces- ter county in 1742; a member of the council
in 1743, and, as president of that body, suc- ceeded Thomas Lee in the administration of affairs. During his magistracy a contract was made for the repair of the governor's house or palace, and for the incoming governor a building near by was purchased of Dr. Ken- neth Mckenzie. The capitol, which had been burned in 1746, was also nearly completed. Among other incidents of his administration was the visit of Gov. Ogle of Maryland to Wil- liamsburg, and the coming of a company of tragedians who had been playing in New York and Philadelphia. On November 20, 1751, Col- onel Robert Dinwiddie arrived at Yorktown with his lady and two daughters, and the next day was sworn into the office of governor. President Burwell appears to have been in feeble health during his administration, for there is a record of his visit which he paid in the spring of 1750 to the Warm Sulphur Springs, in Berkeley county. He survived. however, till May, 1756, when he died at his seat in Gloucester county, Virginia. He mar- ried, in October, 1736, Mary, daughter of Colonel Francis and Ann Willis.
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