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 36
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Some years since, when ventilation was less understood than at present, an explosion took place iu a neighboring mine of the most fearful character. Of the fifty -four men in the mine, only two, who happened to be in some crevices near the mouth of the shaft, escaped with lite. Nearly all the internal works of the mine were blown to atonis. Such was the force of the explosion, that a basket then descending, containing three men, was blown nearly one hundred feet into the air. 'Two fell out, and were crushed to death. and the third remained in, and with the basket was thrown some seventy of eighty feet from the shaft, breaking both his legs and arms. He recovered, and is now living. It is believed, from the number of bodies found grouped together in the higher parts of the mine, that many survived the explosion of the inflammable gas, and wero destroyed by inhaling the carbonic acid gas which succeeds it. This death is said to bo very pleasant ; fairy visions float around the sufferer, and he drops into the sleep of eternity like one passing into delightful dreams.
To a person unacquainted with mining, no true conception can be formed of the inte- rior of a large and well-arranged coal-mine, unless by examination ; and none bat a thor- ough adept can give a description of its complicated arrangements. "The art of coul- mining has progressed rapidly in this vicinity within a few years ; but, unfortunately, the trade is now depressed. The Midlothian coal has a beantifid lustre, similar to tha anthracite. It is believed that no bituminous coal unites qualities so generally adapted to all parposes. It has been extensively used in the production of gas and coke, in the manufacture of iron. glass, copper, chemicals, for locomotives, steamboat --- and for smiths and forges it has no superior. As domestic fuel it is equal to the best English coals, and far superior to them in strength and durability. It is strange, that with all these qualities, a preference should be given at the north to English coal. This is accounted for from the fact that formerly large quantities of inferior coal were shipped to the northern ports from the north side of James River, and created strong prejudices against Virginia cod! generally.
The Midlothian maines employ, in all their operations, some 150 negroes .* They are
* Shortly after we were at the Midlothian mine, the Rev. Mr. Jeter. of Richmond, made it a visit, and having heid divine worth'p there, published an interesting and graphic narration of the scene. A part of his description here follows:
The intelligence of the meeting bad spread throughout the cavern, and all had gathered for the service. The news had gone beyond the pit, and brought down several from above. By means of logs, puncheons and boxes, the congregation were mostly seated in a wide and went ventilated acitt. The small billings Inmos, of which every collier hns one, were suspended along the walls of our chapel, creating a dizzling light. The congregation consisted of about 80 colored, and 10 white persons. The blacks at my request
et Richmond ! Hned a hymn, which way sung, offied a prayer, and prearbed from John ui. 16. The
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well-fed, clothed, and treated, and in case of sickness are sent to a comfortable hospital, under the care of a steward, and daily attended by physicians. I could not but almost envy their well-developed muscular figures. The negroes prefer this labor to any other, enjoy many perquisites, and generally the labor of the week is performed in five days. Singular as it may seem, persons engaged in mining become exceedingly attached to it. I never knew a person more enamored with his profession than our conductor, Hle eloquently descanted, in a rich brogne, upon the pleasure he experienced iu the mine. Was he sick, the pure air of the pit -- the thermometer being about 60? thronghont the year-would restore him. Was he hot, there he could become cool. Was he cold, there become warm. Was he low-spirited, his employment would bring relief. In fine, "the pure air of the pit" was a universal panacea, the elixir of life, the infallible remedy for all human ills. If his opinion were general, farewell Saratoga, White Sulphur, and Rockaway --- your glories would be relipsed by the glories of this !
Our conductor, as he took us about, all zeal to show us every thing, and a determina- tion that we should not depart until all was seen, would have kept us there I know not how long, had not the cry of " All's well !" resounding from cavern to cavern, echoing in the recesses and dying in the distance, proclaimed that it was 7 o'clock, the day's work Snished, and tine for us to ascend. Glad was I, for although I had gone through but a small portion of the drifts, yet the four miles I did travel, of such " going," was enough even for as old a pedestrian as myself. I returned as I came, entered the dressing-house, and on looking in the glass, saw a face blackened with coal-dust, which, on a due appli- cation of soap and water, I recognised as an old acquaintance. Being duly washed, combed. and dressed, I leisurely wended my way to a fine old mansion on the hill, em- bowered in a grove of waving locusts, the abode of elegant hospitality. There, seated under the porch, with the delici is feeling a comfortable seat always inspires when one is greatly fatigued, I passed " twilight's witching hour,"-my senses lulled by delightful music from the adjoining parlor : anon, recovering from my revery, I listened to the amusing adventures of Col. A., Som Texas. or treasured up the particulars of mining operations, and anecdotes given by Major W. The music I must not give : heavenly sounds produced by fairy fingers, are too ethereal to be materialized by the printer's imp ! but I will give, in conclusion, an anecdote of the Major's, of a most tragical occurrence. Usually comedy, but now tragedy will be the finale, ere the curtain drops.
Some years since, a gentlearia was one antumnal evening hunting in this county in the vicinity of some old coal.pits. Straying from his companions, he accidentally slipped down the side of an abandoned pit, and caught by one arm a projecting branch on its slope. The pit was supposed to be about two hundred feet in perpendicular copth, and its bottom a pile of rocks. He heard in the distance the cries of his companions, and the yell of the hounds in the chase. He shouted for help, but no answering shont was returned, save the echo of his own voice among the recesses of the surrounding forest. Soon his companions were far away. Death awaited him -- an awful death. His mind was intensely excited, and ke.bly alive to the terrors of his situation. He thought of his friends-of all he loved or carth ! and thus to separate; oh ! 'twas agony. Hoarsely moaned the wind through the dying leaves of autumn ; coldly shone the moon and stars on high, inanimate witnesses of human frailty fast losing its hold upon this life. Nature could sustain herself no longer, he bade " farewell to earth," grew weaker and weaker, released his grasp and fell-fell about six inches ! This brought him to the bottom of the pit, as you, patient reader, are at the bottom of a long letter-all about coal too.
circumstances were impressive and awful. I desired to do good-I spoke without premeditation, and I was listened to with devont attention. When I had closed my sermon, I requested my friend N. to follow in exportation and prayer. He arese, atbed in the uncouth d'ex of the name : and solemn as was the scene, and as much as my heart was in unison with it, I could not avoid smiling at the oddity of his appearance. The diversion, however, was momentary on'y. The exhort non was pertinent and the prayer fervent. Many of us felt that God was present. The colored friends sang another sang. I was desirous of knowing how many professor of a ation there were among them; and first having Herated. I requested those who were professing Christians to arise. Thirty arose ; they are all. or nearly all, geenders of the Baptist chiach is a gratified to bean from the managers, that any of them war orderly and consistent in their depertment ; and, generally, drat there is a marked difference between those who de, and the e whe do not proti x religion. A few weeks of advice and encouragement cred des service The like had never been known in their parte. Me Starshall, who had spent many years in the English mines, atid that he had frequently heard social prayer in the pits, but had never betime known a sermon delivered in one. To address the living, on the solemn subjects of death, judgment, anu eter- nity, 800 feet beneath the sleeping-place of the dead, in a pit which bears so striking a resemblance to that region of outer darkness into which the impenitent shall be cast, cannot but interest and after the beart.
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CLARKE COUNTY.
CLARKE.
CLARKE was formed in 1836, from Frederick, and named from Gen. Geo. Rogers Clarke; it is 17 miles long, and 15 wide. he surface is undulating, and the soil not surpassed in fertility by any other county in the state. The Shenandoah runs through the east- era part, at the foot of the Blue Ridge, and the Opequon neor its western line. Pop., whites 2,867, slaves 3,325, free colored 161 ; total, 6,353.
Washington's Ofice and Lodginge at " Soldier's Rest."
Berryville, the county-seat, is 160 miles ww. of Richmond. and 12 east of Winchester. It was established Jan. 15, 1998, on 20 acres of land belonging to Benjamin Berry and Sarah Strebling, and the following gentlemen appointed trustees: DANIEL MORGAN, William M Goire, Archibald Magill, Rawleigh Colston, John Mil- ton, Thomas Strebling, George Blackmore. Charles Smith, and Bushrod Taylor. It now contains an Episcopal church, and abont, 35 dwellings. About the year 1744, (says Kercheval.) Josoph Hampton and two sons came from the eastern shore of Maryland, settled on Buck marsh, near Berryville, and lived the greater part of the year in a hollow sycamore tree. They enclosed a piece of land and made a crop, preparatory to the removal of the family.
The village of Berryville is often called Battletown. from having been the scene.of many of those pugilistic combats for which Gen. Daniel Morgan, of revolutionary memory, was remarkable, This officer resided, for a time, about half a mile N. of Battletown, at a seat called " Sollier & Kes." It is a stan two-story dwelling. originally bant by a. Mr. Morton, and afterwards added to by Morgan. It is now the residence of Mr. John B. Taylor.
Morgan subsequently built another, a beautiful seat, new star ding in this county, two miles AR. of White Post, which he very appropriately ramed Saratoga It was elected by dessians taken prisoners at Saratoga. About 200 yards from " Soldier's Rest," stands an old log hut, which well-authenticated tradition states was occupied by Watha-
30
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CLARKE COUNTY.
ington while surveying land in this region for Lord Fairfax. It is about 12 feet square, and is divided into two rooms ; one in the upper, and the other in the lower story. The lower apartment was then, and is now, used as a milk-room. A beautiful spring gushes up from the rocks by the house, and flows in a clear, crystal stream, under the building, answering admirably the purpose to which it is applied, in cooling this apartment. Many years since, both the spring and the building were protected from the heat of the sum. mer's sun, by a dense copse of trees. The upper, or attic room, which is about 12 feet sypare, was occupied by Washington as a place of deposite for his surveying instruments, and as a lodging-how long, though, is not known. The room was lathed and plas- tered. A window was at one end, and a door-up to which led a rough flight of steps ---- at the other. This rude hat is, perhaps, the most interesting relic of that great and good man, who became " first in the hearts of his countrymen." It is a memento of him in humble life, ere fame had encircled bis brows with her choicest laurels, before that nation, now among the highest through his exertions, had a being ; but the vicissitudes and toils of his youth-as beautifully described in the annexed extract from Bancroft -- combined to give energy to his character, and that practical, every-day knowledge, which better prepared him for the high and important destiny that awaited bim :
At the very time of the Congress of Aix-la-chapelle, the woods of Virginia sheltered the youthfol George Washington. the son ofa widow. Born by the side of the Potomse, beneath the roof of a West moreland firmer, alnost from infancy bis lot had been the lot of an orphan. No academy had welcomed him to its shades, no college crowned him with its honors: to read, to write, to cipher-these had been his degrees in knowledge. And now at sixteen years of age, in quest of an honest maintenance, encoun- tering intolerable toil; cheered onward by being able to write to a schoolboy friend, " Deur Richand, a doubloon is iny constant gain every day, and sometimes six pistoles ;" " himself' his own cook, having no spir but a forked stick no plate but a large chip;" roaming over centre of the Alla banks of the Shenandoih : alive to nature. and sometimes " spending the best of the day in adibiring the trees and richness of the land ;" among skin-elod savages, with their scalps and rattles, or uncouth emi- grants " that would never speak English ;" rarely sleeping in a bed : holding a bear-skin a splendid couch, glad of a resting-place for the night upon a little hay, straw. or fodder. and often camping in the forests, where the place nearet the fire was a happy luxury ;- this stripling surveyor in the woods, with no companion but his unlettered associates, and no implements of science but his compass and chiin, con. trasted stringely with the imperial magnificence of the Congress of Aix-la-chapelle. And yet Ged had selected not Kitaitz, nor Newe istle, not a monarch of the house of Hapsburg, nor of HI mover, but the Virginia stripling. to give in unpabe to human offers and. as far as eveats en depend upon ah Madi- vidal, had placed the rights and the destinies of countless millions in the keeping of the widow's son.
Col. Charles M. Thruston, a patriotic clergyman of the Episco- pal denomination, who became an officer of the revolutionary army, resided for many years on a beautiful farm in this county, called Mount Sion. one mile above the Shenandoah. For a bio- graphical sketch, see Gloucester county.
Four miles NE. of Millwood is the "Old Chapel." built in 1796, in which the Rt. Rev. Wm. Meade, Bishop of the Episcopal church in Va., officiated for many years. It is a venerable-looking stone edifice, partly in a grove, and has adjoining it a grave-yard, in which lie buried many respectable people of the neighboring country.
{ Gen. ROGERS CLARKE, from whom this county derived its name, was an officer of the revolution, of undaunted coolness and courage. In addition to the facts given on p. 116, we have a single anecdote to relate, published in the " Notes of an Old Officer." At the treaty of Fort Washington, where Clarke had but 70 men. 300 Shawnees appeared in the council chamber. Their chief made a boisterous speech, and then placed on the table a belt of white and black wampum, to intimate they were ready for either reace or war, while his 300 savages applauded him by a terrific yell. At the table sat Clarke, with only two or three other persons. Clarke, who was leaning on his elbow with ap. parent unconcern, with his rattan coolly pushed the wampum on to the floor. Then rising as the savages muttered their indignation, he trampled on the belt, and with a look of stern defiance and a voice of thunder, that made the atoutest heart quail, bade them in- stently quit the ball. They involuntarily left, and the next day sued for peace. Gea. Clarke died in Kentucky, in 1817.
The subject of the above notice had a brother, Gen. W.M. CLARKE, who was scarcely less distinguished. He was born in this state in 1770. When 14 years old. he removed with his father's family to Kentucky, where the city of Louisville now stands. It then consisted enly of a few cabins surrounding a fort, then recently established by his brother, Gen. Rogers Clarke. Ile entered the army, and was lieutenant iu 1790. He
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CLARKE COUNTY.
· was the companion of Lewis on the expedition to the Pacific. In 1806, he was ap- pointed governor of the territory of Upper Louisiana, and governor of Missouri from 1313 to 1820, when it was admitted into the Union. He held various offices, among which was that of superintendent of Indian affairs. He made many important treaties with the Indians. He well understood their character and won their most unbounded confidence. " His name was known to the most remote tribes, and his word was every. where reverenced by them. They regarded him as a father, and his signature, which was known to the most remote tribes, whenever shown was respected," He died in 1838, aged 68, at St. Louis, where he had resided for over 30 years.
Millwood, 11 miles southeasterly from Winchester, contains an Episcopal church, and about 30 dwellings. It is the centre ofa beautiful and fertile country, and enjoys a considerable trade with it. White Post,* 12 miles sE. of Winchester, contains a church, 2 mercantile stores, and 16 dwellings.
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Greenway Court, the seat of Lord Fairfax.
Thirteen miles southeast from Winchester, near the village of White Post in this county, is Greenway Court, the seat of the fate Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia : and at present the residence of the Rev. Mr. Kennerly.
Part of the immense tract among the rich valleys of the Alle- ghany mountains, were surveyed by Washington, and divided into lots, to enable the proprietor to claim his quit-rents and give legal titles. Washington set off on his first surveying expedition in March, 1143, just a month from the day he was sixteen years old, in company with George Fairfax, the eldest son of William Fair- fax. whose daughter, Washington's oldest brother, Lawrence, had married. Sparks, in his Life of Washington, gives the annexed account of the proprietor of the Northern Neck :
Lord Fairfax. a distant relative of William Fairfax, was a man of an eccentric turn of mind, of great private worth, generous, and hospitable. Ho had been accustomed to the best societe, to which his rank entitled him, in England. While he was at the
* So named from a white post which Lord Fairfax planted as a guide to his Sending -one mile distant.
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CLARKE COUNTY.
University of Oxford he had a fondness for literature, and his taste and skill in that line may be inferred from his having written some of the papers in the Spectator. Possess. . ing by inheritance a vast tract of country,* situate between the Potomac and Rappa .- hannock Rivers, and stretching across the Alleghany mountains, he made a voyage to Virginia to examine this domain. So well pleased was he with the climate and mode of life, that he resolved, after going back to England and arranging bis affairs, to re- turn and spend his days amidst this wild territory. At the time (1748 of which we are now speaking, he had just arrived to execute his purpose, and was residing with ais relatives at Belvoir. This was his home for several years ; but he at length removed over the Blue Ridge, built a house in the Shenandoah Valley, called Greenway Court, and cultivated a large farms. Here he lived in comparative seclusion, often amusing himself with hunting, but chiefly devoted to the care of his estate, to acts of benevolence amotif his tenants, and to such public duties as devolved upon him in the narrow sphere he had chosen ; a friend of liberty, honored for his uprightness, esteemed for the amenity of his manners, and his practical virtues.
The prominent building shown in the view at Greenway Court, was appropriated to the use of the steward of Fairfax. It was the commencement of a series of buildings which Lord Fairfax had intended to erect, but did not live to complete.
His lordship lived and died in a single clap-board story and a half house, which stood just in front of the modern brick dwelling of Mr. Kennerly, and was destroyed in 1834. There are now several of the original buildings standing at the place: among them is a small limestone structure, where quit-rents were given and titles drawn. of his lord. ship's domains. Fairfax had, probably, 150 negro servants, who lived in log huts scattered about in the woods.
A few years since, in excavating the ground near the house, the servants of Mr. Ken. nerly discovered a large quantity of joes and balf-joes, amounting to about $250 ; they were what is termed cob-coin. of a square form, and dated about 1730. They were supposed to have been secreted there by Lord Fairfax. Under a shelving rock, 9 feet from the surface, there was also found a human skeleton of gigantic stature ; supposed to be that of an Indian.
When Lord Dunmore went on his expedition against the Indians in 1774, he came on as far as this place with a portion of his troops, and waited here about a fortnight for reinforcements. His soldiers encamped in what was then a grove-now a meadow -- about 300 yards s. of Mr. Kennerly's prosent residence. The spot is indicated by a deep well, supposed to have been dug by them ; an old magazine, destroyed in 1843, stood near the well. Washington, when recruiting at Winchester, often visited this place.
Lord Fairfax had but little cultivated ground around his premises, and that was in sinall patches without taste or design. The land was left for a park, and he lived alna most wholly from his rents. The following, as well as much of the foregoing, respecting him, is traditionary : Ilis lordship was a dark, swarthy man, several inches over 6 fert in height, and of a gigantic frame and personal strength. He lived the life of a bache- lor, and fared coarse, adopting in that respect the rough customs of the people among whom he was. When in the humor, he was generous --- giving away whole farms to his tenants, and simply demanding for rent some trifle, for instance, a present of a turkey for his Christmas dinner. De was passionately fond of hunting, and oftea passed werks together in the pleasures of the chase. When on these expeditions, he made it a rule, that he who got the fox. cut off his tall, and held it up, should share in the jollifi- cation which was to follow, free of expense. Soon as a fox was started, the young men of the company usually dashed after him with great impetuosity, while Fairfax leisurely
* The domain of Lord Fairfax, called the Northern Neck of Virginia. included the immense territory now comprising the counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Rich. mond, Westmoreland, Stafford, King George, Prince William, Fairfax, Loudoun, Faut. quier, Culpeper, Clarke, Mushson, Page, Shenandoah, Hardy, Bangshire, Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson, and Frederick, Charles H. granted to the ancestors of Lord Fair- fax, all lands lying between the head-waters of the Rappahannock and Potomac to the Chesapeake Bay; a territory exaprising about one quarter of the present limits of Vi- ginia. For a full history of the Northern Neck, the reader is referred to Kercheval's History of the Valley of Virginia.
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CULPEPER COUNTY.
waited behind, with a favorite servant who was familiar with the water courses, and of a quick ear, to discover the course of the fox. Following his directions, his lordship would start alter the game, and, in most instances, secure the prize, and stick the tail of the fox in his hat in trinmph.
Lord Fairfax died at the advanced age of ninety.two, in the autumn of 1782, soon after the surrender of Cornwallis, an event he is said to have much lamented. He was buried at Winchester, under the communion-table of the old Episcopal church. [Sec Win- chester.]
CULPEPER.
CULPEPER was formed in 1748, from Orange, and named from Lord Culpeper, governor of Virginia from 1680 to 1683. It has an average length of about 20, with a breadth of 18 miles, and has been much reduced from its original limits. The Rappahan- nock runs upon its NE. and the Rapid Ann upon its se. and sw. boundaries. The surface is beautifully diversified. and the soll of a deep red hue and very fertile. Pop. 1830, 24,026; 1840, whites 4,953, slaves G,OC9, froc colored 491 ; total 11,393.
Besides the Court-House there are the villages of Jeffersonton and Stevensburg ; the first contains a Baptist church and about 50 dwellings, the last about 30 dwellings. Fairfax. the county- seat, was named after Lord Fairfax, the original proprietor of the county. It was founded in 1259 ; it is 98 m. from Richmond, and 82 from Washington city, and contains I Episcopal. I Presbyterian, and I Baptist church, 5 stores, and about 700 inhabitants, In one of the books in the clerk's office, in the ancient and venerable- looking court-house in this village, is the annexed entry :
20th July, 1749, (O. S.)-GEORGE WASHINGTON, GENT., produced a commis. sion from the President and Master of William and Mary College, appointing him to be surveyor of this county, which was read, and thereupon he took the usual oaths to bis majesty's person ard government, and took and subscribed the abjuration oath and test, and then took the oath of surveyor, according to law.
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