USA > Virginia > Historical collections of Virginia : containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c. relating to its history and antiquities ; together with geographical and statistical descriptions ; to which is appended, an historical and descriptive sketch of the District of Columbia. > Part 32
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" While the British army were spreading havoc and desolation all around thera, by their plunderings and burnings in Virginia, in 1781, Francisco had been reconnoitring, and while stopping at the house of a Mr. V ....... , then'in Amelia, now Noftoway county, nine of Tarleton's cavalry came up, with three negroes, and told him he was their pris- oner. Seeing he was overpowered by numbers, he made no resistance. Believing him to be very peaccable, they all went into the house, leaving him and the paymaster to- gether. 'Give up instantly all that you possess of value,' said the latter, 'or prepare to dic.' ' I have nothing to give up,' said Francisco, ' so use your pleasure' 'Deliver in- stantly,' rejoined the soldier, ' those massy silver buckles which you wear in your shoes.' 'They were a present from a valued Griend," replied Francisco, . and it would grieve me to part with them. Give them into your hands I never will. You have the power ; take them, if you think fit.'. The soldier put his sabre under his arm, and bent down to take them. Francisco, finding so favorable an opportunity to recover his liberty, stepped one pace in his rear, drew the sword with force from under his arm, and in- stantly gave him a blow across the scull. 'My enemy,' observed Francisco, ' was brave, and though severely wounded, drew a pistol, and, in the same moment that ho pulled the trigger. I est his hand nearly of. The bullet grazed my side. Ben V ..... (Uhr: man of the house) very ungeneronsjy brought out a musket, and gave it to one of the British soldiers, and told him to make use of that. Hle mounted the only horse they could get, and presented it at my breast. It missed firc. I rushed on the muzzle of the gun. A short struggle ensued. I disarmed and wounded him. Tarleton's troop
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BUCKINGHAM COUNTY.
. of four hundred men were in sight. All was hurry and confusion, which I increased by repeatedly hallooing, as loud as I could, Come on, my brave boys ; now's your time ; 'we will soon dispatch these few, and then attack the main body ! The wounded man
Francisco's Encounter with Nine British Dragoons.
[This representation of Peter Francisco's gallant action with nine of Tarleton's cavalry, in sight of a troop of 400 men, which took place in Amelia county, Virginia, 1781, is respectfully inscribed to him, by James Webster and James Warrell .- Published Dec. Ist, 1814, by James Webster of Pennsylvania.]
flew to the troop ; the others were panic struck, and fled. I seized V. ...... , and would have dispatched him, but the poor wretch bogged for his life ; he was not only an ob- ject cf my contempt, but pity. The eight horses that were left behind, I gave him to conocal for me. Discovering Tarleton had dispatched ten more in pursuit of me, I made off. I evaded their vigilance. They stopped to refresh themselves. I, like an old fox, doubled, and fell on their rear. I went the next day to V ....... for my horses ; he demanded two, for his trouble and generous intentions. Finding my situation dan- gerous, and surrounded by enemies where I ought to have found friends, I went off with my six horses. I intended to have avenged myself of V ... " at a future day, but Prov- idence ordained I should not be his executioner, for he broke his neck by a fall trond one of the very horses.' ".
Several other anecdotes are related of the strength and bravery of Francisco. At Gates' defeat at Camden, after running some distance along a road, he took to the woods and sat down to rest ; a British trooper came up and ordered him to surrender. With feigned humility, he replied he would, and added, as his musket was empty, he had no further use for it. He then carelessly presented it sideways, and thus throwing the sol- dier off his guard, he suddenly levelled the piece, and driving the bayonet through his ab- domen, hurled him off his horse, mounted it, and continued his retreat. Soon he overtook his colonel, William Mayo, of Powhatan, who was on foot. Francisco generously dis- mounted and gave up the animal to his retreating officer, for which act of kindness the colonci subsequently presented him with a thousand acres of land in Kentucky.
Francisco possessed strong natural sense, and an amiable disposition He was, withal, a companionable man, and ever a welcome visitor in tire first families in this region of the state. He was industrious and temperate, and always advocated the part of the weak
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. CABELL COUNTY.
end unprotected. On occasions of outbreaks at public gatherings, he was better in rush- ing in and preserving public peace, than all the conservative authorities on the ground Late in life, partly through the influence of bis friend, Chas. Yancey, Esq. hovas ap. pointed sergeant at-arms to the House of Delegates, in which service he died, in 1836, and was interred with military honors in the public Larying-ground at Richmond.
CABELL.
CABELL was created in 1809, from Kanawha, and named from Wm. H. Cabell, Gov. of Va., from 1805 to 1808. It is 35 miles long, with a mean breadth of 20 miles. A considerable portion of the county is wild and uncultivated, and somewhat broken. The river bottoms are fertile, and settled upon. Pop. 1830. 5,881 ; 1840, whites 7,574, slaves 567, free colored 22 ; total, 8,103. Barbours- ville, the county-seat, lies on the Guyandotte river, 7 1-2 miles from its mouth, and 852 miles www. of Richmond. The turnpike, lead- ing from the eastern part of the state, by the great watering-place, to the Kentucky line, passes through this village, which contains about 30 dwellings. Guyandotte lies on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Guyandotte River. It is much the most important point of steamboat embarkation, as well as debarkation, in western Vir- ginia, with the exception of Wheeling. It is a flourishing village, containing i church, 6 or 8 stores, a steam saw-mill, and a popula- tion of about 800.
Cabell county was settled at a comparatively late period. Thomas Hannon was one of the earliest settlers, having removed, in 1796. from Botetourt county to Grecu Bottom. about 18 miles above Guyandotte, when the first permanent settlement was made. Soon after Guyandotte was settled, at which place Thomas Buf- fington was one of the carliest settlers.
A. portion of the beautiful flatland of what is called Green Bot- tom, lying partly in this and Mason county, a few years since, be- fore the plough of civilization had disturbed the soil, presented one of those vestiges of a city which are met with in central America, and occasionally in the southern and western forests of the United States. The traces of a regular, compact, and populous city with streets running parallel with the Ohio River, and crossing and in- tersecting each other at right angles, covering a space of nearly half a mile, as well as the superficial dimensions of many of the houses, are apparent, and well defined. Axes and saws of an unique form-the former of iron, the latter of copper-as well as other implements of the mechanic arts, have been found. These remains betoken a state of comparative civilization, attained by no race of the aborigines of this country now known to have exist- ed. Who they were, or whence they sprung, tradition has lost in the long lapse of ages. It is a singular fact, that these remains are rarely, if ever, found elsewhere than upon the river bottoms, or flat level lands.
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CAMPBELL COUNTY.
CAMPBELL. Y
CAMPBELL, Was formed from Bedford in 1784. and named in honor of Gen. William Campbell, a distinguished officer of the American revolution. In form, it approximates to a square of about $5 miles on a side ; its surface is broken, and its soil productive. Staunton River runs on its s., and the James on its ww. bound- ary ; both of those streams are navigable for boats far above the county limits, thus opening a communication with Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound. Pop. 1830, 20,330; 18440, whites 10,213, slaves 10,045, free colored 772 ; total, 21,030.
Besides the large and flourishing town of Lynchburg, there are in the county several small villages, viz. : Campbell C. H., 12 miles s. of Lynchburg, Brookneal, Leesville, and New London.
Lynchburg, the fifth town in population in Virginia, is situated on a steep declivity on the south bank of James River, in the midst of bold and beautiful scenery, within view of the Blue Ridge and the Peaks of Otter, and 116 miles westerly from Richmond. This town was established in October, 1786. when it was enacted "that 45 acres of land. the property of John Lynch, and lying contiguous to Lynch's Ferry, are hereby vested in John Clarke, Adam Clement, Charles Lynch, John Callaway, Achilles Douglass, William Martin, Jesse Burton, Joseph Stratton, Micajah Moor- man, and Charles Brooks, gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or any six of them, laid off into lots of half an acre each, with convenient streets, and established a town by the name of Lynchburg." The father of the above-mentioned Jolin Lynch was an Irish emigrant, and took up land here previous to the revolution. His place, then called Chesnut Hill, afterwards the scat of Judge Edmund Wins- ton, was two miles below here. At his death the present site of Lynchburg fell to his son John, by whose exertions the town way established. The original founder of Lynchburg was a member of the denomination of Friends, and a plain man, of strict integrity and great benevolence of character. He died about 20 years since, at a very advanced age. At the time of the formation of the town, there was but a single house, the ferry-honse, which stood where the toll-house to the bridge now is. A tobacco warehouse and 2 or 3 stores were thereupon built under the hill, and it was some time before any buildings were erected upon the main street. The growth of the place has been gradual. In 1901, a Methodist Epis- copal church was erected upon the site of the present one, and shortly after a market was established. The first Sabbath-school in the state was formed in the church above mentioned. in the spring of 1917, by George Walker. James MeGobee, and John Thurman. The next churches built were the First Presbyterian, the Baptist, the Protestant Episcopal, the Protestant Methodist, the Second Presbyterian, and a Friends' meeting-house in the out- skirts of the town. The Catholic and Universalist churches were erected in 1843.
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CAMPBELL COUNTY.
"The Lynchburg Water Works, for furnishing the town with an unfailing supply of pure and whole- some water, were constructed in 1828-20, under the direction of Albert Stein, Esq., engineer, at an ex- pense of $50,000. The height-unprecedented in this country-to which it was necessary to raise the water, renders this one of the most interesting undertakings of the kind in the United States.
" An anın of the Junes, formed by an i Find about 2 miles in length, is crossed, a short distance above the limits of the corporation, by a d nu 10 feet high. A canal of half a mlle in length conveys the water to the promnp-house on the river bank, at the foot of 3d alley. A double forcing pump; on the plan of De la Hire, worked by a large breast wheel, Ipels the water through the ascending pipe, which is 2000 feet long, to a reservoir containing 400,000 g illons, situated between ich and 5th streets, and at the elecation of' 253 feet above the lere' of the river. Fire-pings are connected with the distributing pipes, at every in- tersection of the alleys with Sl and 3d streets. and afford an admirable security against the dinger ot fire. The height of the reservoir, above these streets, gives a jet of water by means of hove pipes, of from 60/to 80 feet elevation, and throws it, in bold and continuous streams, over the roof's of the highest houses.
"The water-power created by the dam for the water works, is amply sufficient for working a large additional amount of machinery, and waits only for a clearer perception by capitalists, of the manufac- turing advantages of this town, to be brought into extensive use. The cheapuess of labor, the abund- ance of provisions, and the extent and wealth of the country looking this way for supplies of domestic, as well as of foreign goods, unite with the vast water-power actually prepared and ready for any appii- cation, in inviting the attention of men of capital and enterprise to this important subject." These works are gradually enlarged, from year to year, to meet the wants of an increasing population.
The annexed account of the celebration of laying the corner stone of the water works, is from a news- paper of that date :-
INTERESTING EVENT .- On Saturday last, [August 23d, 1828,] an event deeply interesting to Lynchburg took place ; one in which the convenience, health, and safety of us all, are involved. The corner stone of the LYNCHBURG WATER WORKS Was laid-works, the magnitude of which exceed any ever attempted in Virginia. .. . The stone was laid with civic, masonic, and military ceremonies. About 9. A. M., the pro- cession was formed at the Presbyterian church, at the lower end of Main street, in the following order :- The military; the reverend clergy; the engineer; the members of the common council, preceded by the watering cominittee ; the judge of the General Court for the circuit, and mayor of the Corporation ; the recorder and allonson ; the Masonic fraternity ; citizens.
When the procession, under the directions of the marshals of the day -- Major James B. Risque, Col. Maurice H. Langhorne, and Captains R. R. Phelps, Samuel I. Wiat, and A. M. Gilliani-reached the ground, the artillery and riffe companies formed a hollow square, within which were the masons, the adjacent banks boing thronged with spectators.
The impressive ceremonies commenced with a prayer appropriate to the occasion, by the Rev. W. S. Reid, followed by soleum mudic. The Rev. F. G. Smith then implored of the Supreme Architect of the Universe, a blessing on the undertaking The Masonic fraternity proceeded to lay the corner stone ; the plate bears the following inscription :--
This STONE, the foundation of a work executed by order of the common council of Lynchburg. for supplying the town with water, was laid under the direction of John Victor, John Thurman, John Early, David G. Murrell, and Samuel Claytor, by the Rt. W. Howson S. White, D.D., G. Master, and the Wor- shipful Maurice H. Garland, M. of Marshatt Lodge, No. 39, of Free and Accepted Masons, on the 234 August. A.M. 5628, A.D. 1828, in presence of the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen, and Common Councilmen, of said Town : the members of said Lodge ; the Artillery and Rifle Companies, commanded by Captains J. E. Norvell and James W. Pegram, and numerous citizens. Albon MeDaniel, Esq., Mayor, John Thur- man, Esq., President of the Council, Albert Stein, Esq., Engineer.
Mr. John Vietor. the chairurin of the watering committee, delivered an address; after which the military fired a salate, and the gratified beholders returned to their homes, all, we hope, determined to use their efforts to carry on the work to a successful termination. We cordially unite with Mr. V. in saying, " Let us join hands, nothing doubting that we too can accomplish what others have so often done."
We conclude this sketch of Lynchburg, by giving its statistics, as published in a communication to the Lynchburg Republican, in 1843 :
The census of 1840, showed a population of upwards of five thousand. Since that time, there has been a considerable accession to the number of buildings ; from which we may safely assume that our present population reaches, if it does not exceed 6.000. The extent of the tobacco trade of Lynchburg may be judged of from the fact that upwards of fifteen thousand hoysheads have already been inspected here the present year -- a number which fur exceeds all previous calculation. We have about 30 tobacco factories and steinmeries, giving employment to about 1000 hand- ; three flouring-mills, manufacturing, I am told, about 20,000 barrels of flour annually ; } cotton factory, operating 1,400 spindles ; iron found- ries, which consume, probably, 100 tons pig-iron anunally. More than 100,000 bushels of wheat are sold here yearly. 300 tons bar-iron ; 200 tons pig metil, sold to the country ; 1000 tons plaster of Paris. About 50 dry-goods and grocery stores-selling, in the aggregate, more than one million of dollars worth of goods. Some of our stores are so extensive and elegant, as not to suffer by a comparison with those of Philadelphia and New York .-- 4 apothecaries and druggists ; several cabinet urinufactories ; 4 saddle and harness nrinufietories ; 18 blacksmith-shops ; several excellent hotels ; 5 jewellers' establishments ; 2 printing offices.
There are here branches of the Bank of Virginia, and the Farmer's Bank of Virginia, and also 3 Sa- vings Binks. Reven Hourishing Sibirith-schools, with from 700 tr. 1000 scholars. One debating society, with a library of several thousand volumes, &c. &c. &c. From the hasty view i have presented, and which by no means does justice to the industry and enterprise of our citizens, it will be seen that we have atready the elements of a flourishing city. Bu I have said nothing of the magnificent line of canal how in the " full tide of successful experiment," between this place and Richmond, from which we are distant 147 miles by water. This splendid work. the pride and beast of Virginia, obras to Lynchburg the brightest ere which has ever get downed upon her fortunes; securing to us a safe speedy, and cheap navigation for the innnense produce shipped annuity to Richmond and the north- and destined, as the writer believes, to furnish a great thoroughfare for the countess thousands of produce and merchandise for the western and southwestern part of our state, as well as Tennessee, Alabama, &c.
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CAMPBELL COUNTY.
Lynch Law .-- Col. Charles Lynch, a brother of the founder of Lynchburg, was an officer of the American revolution. His resi- dence was on the Staunton, in the sw. part of this county, now the seat of his grandson, Chas. Henry Lynch, Esq. At that time, this country was very thinly settled, and infested by a lawless band of tories and desperadoes. The necessity of the case involved des- perate measures, and Col. Lynch, then a leading whig. apprehend- ed and had them punished, without any superfluous legal ceremo- ny. Hence the origin of the term " Lynch Law." This practice of Lynching continued years after the war, and was applied to many cases of mere suspicion of guilt, which could not be regularly prov. en. " In 1792." says Wirt's Life of Henry, "there were many suits on the south side of James River, for inflicting Lynch's law." At the battle of Gaitford Court-House, a regiment of riflemen, rais- ed in this part of the state, under the command of Col. Lynch, be- haved with much gallantry, The colonel died soon after the close of the war. Charles Lynch, a governor of Louisiana, was his son.
The Old Court-House, ut New London.
New London is on the Salem turnpike, 11 miles sw. of Lynch- burg. It contains 2 churches, a classical academy, and a few dwellings. It was founded several years prior to the American revolution. About the period of the war, it was a place of con- siderable importance, and contained, says the Marquis de Chastel- lux. in his travels, "at least 70 or 80 houses." There was here then, an arsenal, a long wooden structure, which stood opposite Echol's tavern. The establishment has long since been removed to Harper's Ferry. There was also a long building, used as a mag- azine in the war, which was under the guard of some soldiers. In July, 1781. Cornwallis detached Tarleton to this place, for the pur- pose of destroying the stores and intercepting some light troops re- ported to be on their march to join Lafayette. But neither stores her troops were found, and on the 15th, be rejoined his lordship in Suffolk county. Early in the war, there were several Scotch mer- chants largely engaged in business here. Refusing to take the
LYNCHBURG .
The above shows Lynchburg as it appears from the northern banks of James River. On the left is shown the bridge across the river and in front, the town, which is finely situated on rising ground, in the midst of bold and romantic scenery.
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CAMPBELL COUNTY.
oath of allegiance, they were compelled to break up and leave the country. This, with the superior location of Lynchburg, gave a permanent shock to its prosperity, and it is now a broken down village, fast 'going to decay.
New London was at first the county-seat of Lunenburg. In 1753, on the formation of Bedford, it was made the county-seat of the latter. Still later, under the old district system. the superior court was held here. There is now standing in the town,an inter- es:ing relie of a more prosperous era-the old court-house -- which, in i's pristine days, was the scene of important events; but it ix now dilapidated, tumbling to ruins, and is used as a barn. Hum- ble as this building is at present, once admiring audiences, moved by the magic eloquence of Patrick Henry, were assembled within its walls. Here it was, that he delivered his celebrated speech in the Johnny Hook case, the account of which is thus given by his biographer :
Hook was a Scotchman, a man of wealth, and suspected of being unfriendly to the American cause. During the distresses of the American army, consequent on the joint invasion of Cornwallis and Phillips ia 1781, a Mr. Venable, an army commissary, had taken two of Hook's steers for the use of the troops. The act had not been strictly legal ; and on the establishment of peace, Hook, on the advice of Mr. Cowan, a gentle- man of some distinction in the law, thought proper to bring an action of trespass against Mr. Venable, in the district court of New London. Mr. Henry appeared for the defend- ant, and is said to have deported himself in this cause to the infinite enjoyment of his hearers, the unfortunate Hook always excepted. After Mr. Henry became animated in the cause, says a correspondent, he appeared to have complete control over the passions of his audience : at one time he excited their indignation against Book ; vengeance was visible in every countenance ; again, when he chose to relax and ridicule him, the whole audience was in a roar of laughter. He pointed the distresses of the American army, exposed almost naked to the rigor of a winter's sky, and marking the frozen ground over which they marched with the blood of their unshod feet ; where was the man, he said, who had an American heart in his bosom, who would not have thrown open his fields, his barns, his cellars, the doors of his house, the portals of his breast, to have re- ccived with open arms, the meanest soldier in that little band of famished patriots ? Where is the man ?- There he stands -- but whether the heart of an American beats in . his bosom, you, gentlemen, are to judge. He then carried the jury, by the powers of his imagination, to the plains around York, the surrender of which had followed shortly after the act complained of: he depicted the surrender in the most glowing and noble colors of his eloquence-the audience saw before their eyes the humiliation and dejec- tion of the British, as they marched out of their trenches-they saw the triumph which lighted up every patriotic face, and heard the shouts of victory, and the cry of Wash- ington and liberty, as it rung and echoed through the American ranks, and was rever- berated from the hills and shores of the neighboring river -- " but, hark ! what notes oi discord are these which disturb the general joy, and silence the acclamations of victory -- they are the notes of John Hook, hoarsely bawling through the American camp, beef ! bref! beef!"
The whole audience were convulsed : a particular incident will give a better idea of the effect, than any general description. The clerk of the court, unable to command himself, and unwilling to commit any breach of decorum in his place, rushed out of the court-house, and threw himself on the grass, in the most violent paroxysm of laughter, where he was rolling, when Hook, with very different feelings, came out for relief into the yard also. " Jemmy Steptoe," he said to the clerk, " what the devil ails ye, mon ?"" Mr. Steptoe was only able to say, that he could not help it. " Never mind ye," said Hook, " wait till Billy Cowan gets up : he'll show him the la'." Mr. Cowan, however, was so completely overwhelmed by the torrent which bore upon his client, that when he rose to reply to Mr. Henry, he was scarcely able to make an intelligible or audible re. mark. The cause was decided alnost by acclamaton. The jury retired for iomm bake, and instantly returned with a verdict for the defendant. Nor did the effect of Mr. Henry's speech stop here. The people were so Inghly excited by the tory audacity of
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. CAROLINE COUNTY.
such a suit, that Ilook began to hear around him a cry more terrible than that of beef, it was the cry of tur and feathers ; from the application of which, it is said, that nothing saved him but a precipitate flight and the speed of his horse.
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