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 58
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 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83
373
MATHEWS COUNTY.
fery likewise began playing on the fleet, the enemy's camp, and works; and the fire soon became so hot that the Dunmore was obliged to cut her cables and haul off, after receiving ten shot, some of which raked her fore and aft. The Otter lay next to her, and it was expected would have taken her birth, but the first shot we gave her, took place supposed between wind and water, and she immediately slipped her cable likewise, and hauled out on a careen, without firing a gun. By this time all the fleet any way near the shore, began to slip their cables in the utmost confusion ; and had the wind set · in with a flood-tide, we must have taken great numbers of them. Our eighteen-pounders did great execution from the upper battery, which raked the whole fleet; and Captain Denny, who commanded the other battery, soon silenced the enemy at the point, knuck- ing down several tents, which put their camp into a great confusion. At half after 9 the firing ceased, which was renewed again at 12, with double vigor, from both bat- teries ; and nothing prevented our pushing to the island, during the cannonade, but the want of vessels.
The general being determined to cross the next day, gave orders for all the small crafts to be collected together from ine neighboring creeks that night, and two brass field- pieces, six-pounders, to be carried to a place called Lower Wing MBI Point, to at- lack the tender that lay there, and facilitate our crossing. Accordingly, in the morning Captain Harrison, who had the direction of those feld-pieces, began playing upon the tenders, which he galled so much, that the schooner ran up a small creek which in- dented the island, where the crew abandoned her, and the sloop got aground in reach of our cannon ; upon which the general ordered Captam Smith, of the 7th regiment, with his company, to man the canoes and board her, which was done with alacrity. How- ever, before our men came up with her. the crew got into their host, and pushed for the island. But Captain Smith, very predenly passing the tender, pursued them so close, that before they could reach the shore, he exchanged a few shot with them, and took part of them prisoners. The enemy's look-outs, perceiving our men close upon the lower part of the island, cried out, " The shirt-men are coming !" and scampered off. The pilot-boat made no resistance.
General Lewis then ordered two hundred men, under Colonel M'Clanahan, to land on the island, which was performed as expeditionsly as our small vessels would admit of. On our arrival, we found the enemy had evacuated the place with the greatest precipita- tion, and were struck with horror at the number of dead bodies, in a state of putrciac- tion, strewed all the way from their battery to Cherry Point, about two miles in length, with a shovel full of earth upon them ; others gasping for life ; and some had crawled to the water edge, who could only make known thex distress by bechoning to us. By the small-pox, and other malignant, disorders which have raged on board the fleet for many months past, it is clear they have lost, since their arrival at Gwyn's bland. near five hundred souls. I myself counted one hundred and thirty graves, or rather holes loosely covered over with earth, close together, many of them large enough to hold a corporal's guard. One in the middle was neatly done up with turf, and is supposed to contain the remains of the late Lord Gosport. Many were burnt alive in brush hats, which, in their confusion, had got on fire. In short, such a scene of misery, distress, and cruelty, my eyes never beheld ; for which the authors, one may reasonably conclude, never can make atonement in this world. The enemy left behind them, in their bat- tery, a double fortified nine-pounder, a great part of their baggage, with several tents and marquces, beside the three tenders, with their cannon, small arms, &c. Also the anchors and cables of the Dunmore, Otter, and many others, to the amount, it is sup- posed, of twelve hundred pounds. On their leaving the island, they burnt some valua- ble vessels which had got aground. Mr. John Grymes' effects on the island have fallen -into our hands, consisting in thirty-five negroes, horses, cattle, and furniture.
Major Byrd, on the approach of our oanoes to the island, was huddled into a cart in a very sick and low condition, it is said, and carried down to Cherry Point, where he embarked. The second shot the Danmore received, ont her boatswain in two, and wounded two or three others ; and she had scarcely recovered from the shock, when a nine-pounder from the lower battery entered her quarter, and bed in a leadingler. from the splinters of which Lord Dunmore got wounded in the legs, and had all his valuable china smashed about his cars. It is said his lordship was exceedingly alarmed, and roared out, " Good God, that ever I should come to this !"
We had our information from one of his people that caine ashore after the enrage. ment, and was taken by our scouts. Hle likewise said, that many were killed in the fleet, which had sustained some thousand pounds worth of damage. The Fowey and Roebuck were the lowermost ships, besides which there were one hundred and odd ball
48
378
MERCER COUNTY.
of large vessels, which took their departure on Thursday afternoon, and are supposed to have gone into Potomac.
In this affair, we lost not a man but poor Captain Arundel, who was killed by the bursting of a mortar of his own invention, although the general and all the officers were against his firing it. His zcal for the service cost him his life.
MECKLENBURG.
MECKLENBURG Was created in 1764, from Lunenburg. Its length is 36, mean width 18 miles, The Mehearin runs ou its northern line, and the Roanoke through its southern portion. On the Roan- oke is much extremely fertile land. The soul of the county is generally fertile, and although the ridges are thin and poor, yet it is a free soil, and annually produces abont four millions of pounds of tobacco. Pop., whites 7,754, slaves 11,915, free colored 1,055 ; total, 20,724.
Boydton, the county-seat, is 109 miles sw. of Richmond, and 6 from the Roanoke River. on an elevated and healthy site. It con- tains 4 mercantile stores, 17 mechanic shops, 1 tannery, I jeweller, I apothecary, J Methodist, I Episcopal, and 1 Presbyterian church, and a population of about 400. About a mile from Boydion is RANDOLPH MACON COLLEGE, an institution in high repute, estab- lished in 1839, and under the superintendence and patronage of the Methodist Episcopal church. It has & professors and about 3. hundred students. L. C. Garland, A. M., is the president. A pro- paratory school is attached to the college, under the control and management of the faculty.
Clarksville is 12 miles sw. of Boydton, at the junction of Dan and Staunton Rivers. It has increased more in the last ten years than any other village in Virginia. In 1835 it had but 14 dwell- ings : it now contains 10 mercantile stores, 90 mechanic shops, 2 tobacco inspections and warehouses, I tannery, 1 Baptist, I Meth- odist, and 1 Presbyterian church, and about 1000 inhabitants. Over 2000 hogsheads of tobacco are annually inspected here, and a large number of batteaux are constantly plying on the river, loaded with the products of the country.
MERCER.
MERCER Was formed in 1937, from Giles and Tazewell, and named from Gen. Hugh Mercer. who fell at Princeton. It is 10 miles long, with a mean breadth of about 15 miles. it is watered by New River and its branches ; the main stream being i's xe. boundary. It is a wild and thinly settled tract, and much of the surface is mountainous and hilly. It is principally a stock-raising county; the woodlands affording a fine range for cattle. Pop., whites 2,127, slaves 98, free colored d; total, 2,233.
379
MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
At the formation of the county there was not a village in it : the erection of the county buildings has formed the nucleus of a small village called Princeton, situated 28 miles from Giles C. H .. 35 from Tazewell C. H., and 12 from Monroe C. M., and containing ! Baptist and 1 Methodist church, I store, and about a dozen dwell- ing».
MIDDLESEX.
MIDDLESEX was formed in 1675, from Lancaster. This county is a long narrow strip of land lying between its two boundary rivers; its greatest length is 39 miles, its mean breadth is 5 miles. The lands immediately on the Rappahannock, Piankatank, and Dragon, are fertile. Many branches of the Rappahannock make up into the county, affording convenience to the farmer in sending his pro- duce to Baltimore and Norfolk, the usual markets for the produce of this section. Pop. in 1810, whites 2,011, slaves 9,200, frec color- ed 142 ; total, 4,392.
Urbanna, the county-seat, is a sea-port, located about 18 miles above the mouth of the Rappahannock, near the entrance of Ur- banna creek into that stream, and 84 miles northeasterly from Richmond. It wasestablished a town by law the same year with Norfolk, 1705. It is a small village, containing several stores and about a dozen dwellings. This village was the residence of the celebrated botanist and physician, JOHN MITCHELL, who emigrated to this country from England in the early part of the last con- tury, and distinguished himself by his philosophical and medical essays, and historical writings.
The prevailing religious denomination of this county is the Baptist : indeed, for the last sixty years, Virginia has been distinguished for containing a larger number of Baptists than any other state in the Union. It is not known that any of the original sotilers of Virginia were of this denomination. The first church gathered in the colony was at Burley, in the county of the Isle of Wight. about the year 1714, more than a century after the landing at Jamestown, which church is supposed to have continued 40 or 50 years, when many of its members removed to North Car- fins, and soon increased great- ly. They were all General Baptists; but in a few years after their removal they began to embrace the Calvinistic sentire ats. The next appearance of the Baptiste in this state was in the counties of Berkeley, Rockingham, and houdon, from the year 1743 to 1756. This period dates the origin of the Regular Baptists in Virginia ; but they did not flourish to any considerable extent until 1760. " Their first preachers came from the north, and some few arose in the south : all met with opposition from those in power. ' The ministers (says Leland) were imprisoned, and the disciples, buffeted.' This is but too true. No dissenters in Virginia experienced for a time harsher trentinent than did the Baptists. They were beaten and imprisoned ; and cruelty taxed its ingenuity to devise new modes of punishment and annoyance."
Outrageous inobs disturbed their congregations and preachers. A snake and a hor- net's nest were thrown into their meetings, and even in one case fire-arms were brought to disperse them. " When the Baptists first appeared in Virginia and North Carolina they were received by men in power as beneath their notice ; and in some places perse- cution in a legal shape was never resorted to. " But in many others, alarmned by their rapid increase, the men in power strained every penal law in the Virginia code to obtain ways and means to put down these disturbers of the public peace, as they were called. It
.
380
MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
wepper by no means contain, thet any law in force in Virginia authorized the imprison- ment of any person for preaching. The law for the preservation of the peace was so in- terpicted as to answer this purpose ; and accordingly, whenever the preachers were ap- prebended it was done by a peace-warrant; About thirty preachers were honored with a dungeon, and a few others beside."*
Artery the fast, if you the first Baptist preacher in this county, was John Waller. born in Spottsylvania in 1741, and a descendant of the honorable family of that name in England. In his youth he let himself loose to every species of wickedness, and ac- quired for himself the infamous appellation of Sucuring Jack Waller, and was some- times called the Devil's Adjutant. He was furious against the Baptists. He was a member of a grand jury who presented one of their ministers for preaching. The jury being dismissed, the clergyman thanked them for the honor they had done him and adaed : " While I was wicked and injurious you took no notice of me ; but since I have altered my course of life, and endeavored to reform my neighbors, you concern yourselves much about me. I shall take the spoiling of my goods joyfully." The meekness of spirit manifested by this man towards his persecutors, so touched the heart of Waller that it finally resulted in his conversion. In 1770 he was ordained pastor of a church established in his neighborhood. Accompanied by a companion he travelled into this county, preaching wherever be went. " His name sounded far and wide. By the un- godly he was considered as a bold, inexorable fanatic, that would do much mischief un- less restrained. The Baptists and their adherents looked upon him as sent for the de- fence of their cause, and with mnuch confidence rallied around him as their leader. His persecutions in several counties were of the most painful character." He was confined in the jail of Urbanna, in this county, forty-six days.
Mr. Waller continued Laboring with great success in the canse. In 1773 he removed to South Carolina, where he died in 1802, at the age of 62. He had been " a minister of God's word for about 35 years, and in that time had been in four different jails 113 days, besides receiving reproachings, buffetings, stripes, &c. Nor was his labor in vain in the Lord. While in Virginia, he baptized more than 2,000 persons, assisted in the ordination of 27 ministers, and in the constitution of 18 churches."i
. " The usual consequences followed ; persecution made friends for its victims ; and the men who were not permitted to speak in public, found willing auditors in the sympa- thizing crowds who gathered around the prisons to hear them preach from the grated windows. It is not improbable that this very opposition imparted strength in another mode, inasmuch as it at least furnished the Baptists with a common ground on which to make resistance; and such common ground was in a great degree wanting in their creed ; for, not to speak of their great division into Regulars and Separates, some ' held to predestination, others to universal provision ; some adhered to a confession of faith, others would have none but the Bible ; some practised laying on of hands, others did not ;' and in fact the only particular in which there seems to have been unanimity, was in the favorite exclusive opinion of the sect. that none but adult believers are fit sub- jects of baptism, and that immersion is the only effectual or authorized mode of admin- istering that sacrament."#
At the commencement of the American revolution, the Baptists had gained consider- able influence and power among the people. The dissenters, both the Baptists and Presbyterians, were generally republicans. The Baptists addressed the convention of the state, " and informed that body," says Hawks, " that their religioas tonets presented no obstacle to their taking up arms and fighting for the country ; and they tendered the services of their pastors in promoting the enlistment of the youth of their religious per- suasion." It was owing partly to the efforts of the Baptists that the established church was abolished in Virginia. In 1785, just previous to the passage of "the Act for establishing Religious Freedom," Mr. Madison's able remonstrance was presented to the General Assembly " against the general assessment," pointing out the dangers to reli- gious liberty and to religion that lurked in the scheme. It was not until this time that the dissenting clergymen were allowed by law to perform marriage or funeral rites ; although many, presuming on a future sanction of government, had, by the advice of Patrick Henry, done so, as being the best means of obtaining a law to that end. Many petitions had been and were presented to the legislature, in many different forms. Among the rest, the following lines accompanied the petition sent by the Baptists ... It was addressed " To the Honorable General Assembly," as
* Benedict's "History of tha Baptists." 1 Taylor's " Laves of Virginia Baptist Mimusters .* į Hawks' " History of the Prot. Ep. Ch. in Va."
381
MONONGALIA COUNTY.
" THE HUMBLE PETITION OF A COUNTRY POET."
Now liberty is all the plan,
The chief pursuit of every man, Whose heart is right, and fills the mouth Of patriots all, from north to sonth ; May a poor bard. from bashes sprung, Who yet has init to rustics sung, Address your honorable House,
And not your angry passions rouse ?
Hark ! for awhile your business stop ; One word into your ears I'll drop : No longer spend your needless pains, To mend and polish o'er our chains : But break them off before you rise, Nor disappoint our watchful eyes.
What say great Washington and Lee ? "Our country is, and must be free." What say great Henry. Pendleton, And Liberty's minutest son ? 'Tis all one voice-they all agree, " God made us, and we must be free."
Freedom we crave with every breath, An equal freedom, or a death.
The heavenly blessing freely give,
Or make an act we shall not live.
Tax all things; water, air, and light, If need there be ; yea, tux the night, But let our brave heroic minds Move freely as celestial winds.
Make vice and folly feel your rod, But leave our consciences to God : Leave each man free to choose his form Of piety, nor at hiin storm.
And he who minds the civil law, And keeps it whole without a flaw, Let him, just as he pleases, pray. And seek for heav'n in his own way ; And if he miss, we all must own, . No man is wrong'd but he alone.
: About three miles from Urbanna is one of those decayed churches so common in lower Virginia. It is called "the Middle Church." A finely written description of this old church, including monumental inscriptions from the church yard, is in the Southern Literary Mes- senger for May, 1842. We annex a single paragraph :
More than a century, yea, near two centuries have passed since the ringing of the mason's troyel broke the stillness of the surrounding forest, when the walls of this temple of the living God rose like a flower in the wilderness of Middlesex, and invited the way farer to its sacred precincts. More than half a century has gone by since last the solemn organ pealed forth its sublime symphonies, and the anthems of the choir told upon the feelings of rapt worshippers,-now the church is a desolate ruin ; and the choir, and the worshippers-where are they ! There is scarcely a vestige of the interior lett ; the pulpit, the tablets, the altar, the chancel, the ---- , all gone ! The house is roofless, windowless. The wells alone are standing. The walls surrounding the spot conerit ... ting the church-yard, are in ruins too, portions only remaining to mark their boundaries. The tombs are nearly all in a dilapidated condition ; but of many, there is enough left to mark them as having been monuments of the most exquisite sculpture.
MONONGALIA.
MONONGALIA was formed in 1776, from the district of West Au- gusta. It is 50 miles long, with a mean width of 11 miles. The county is watered by the Monongahela and its branches. Laurel Hill, the last western regular ridge of the Alleghany, lies in the eastern part; the remainder of the county is generally hilly. Much of the soil is fertile. The principal exports are stock. iron, lumber, and some flour. In 1812, its limits were reduced by the formation of Marion. Population in 1840-whites 16,962, slaves 260, free colored 146, total, 17,368.
Morgantown. the county seat, is 295 miles ww. of Richmond, 35 NNE. of Clarksburg, and about 60 s. of Pittsburg. Penn. It was established in 1785, on the lands of Zaquell Morgan, when. by the act, Samuel Hanway, John Evans, David Scot, Michael Kearnes, and James Daugherty, gentlemen, were appointed trustees. This
------
882
MONONGALIA COUNTY.
flourishing and wealthy village is handsomely situated on the Monongahela-navigable to this place in steamers ---- in a fertile country, and rich in mineral wealth, iron, coal, &c. It contains various mills, several mereamile stores, 1 or 2 newspaper printing. offices, a female academy, 1 Methodist and I Pres wardian church, and about 150 dwellings Jamestown. Granville, Backeville, rond Smithfield, are villages in the county, none of which contain over ' 35 dwellings. Jackson's iron-works, on Cheat River, are among the most valuable in the state. On the road leading from Clarks- burg and Beverly, 5 miles from Morgantown, on the plantation of Henry Hamilton, there is a large flat rock about 150 feet long and 50 wide, with numerous engravings of animals, well executed ----- such as panthers of full size, buffalo-tracks, horse-tracks, deer- tracks, turkey-tracks, cels, fish, women as large as life, human tracks, otters, beavers, snakes, crows, eagles, wild-cats, foxes, wolves, raccoons, opossums, bears, elks, &c.
An attempt was made at a settlement in the present limits of this county, as early as the French war, an account of which is here given from Withers :
Dr. Thomas Echarly and his two brothers came from Pennsylvania, and camped at the mouth of a creek emptying into the Monongahela eight or ten miles below Morgan- town; they were Dunkards, and from that circumstance the watercourse on which they fixed theinscives for awhile, has been called Dunkard's creek. While their camp con- tinved at this place, these men were engaged in exploring the country ; and nhimately settled on Cheat River, at the Dunkard bottom. Here they erected a cabin for their dwelling, and made such improvements as enabled them to raise the first year, a crop of corn sufficient for their use, and some culinary vegetables : their guns supplied them with an abundance of meat, of a flavor as delicious as the refined palate of a modern epicure could well wish. Their clothes were inade chiefly of the skies of animal, and were easily progared ; and although calculated to give & grotesque appearance te a fine gentleman in a city drawing-room, yet were they particularly suited to their situa- tion, and afforded them comfort.
Here they spent some years entirely unmolested by the Indians, although a cast.vc- tive war was then waging, and prosecuted with cruelty, along the whole extent of our frontier. At length, to obtain an additional supply of ammunition, salt, and shirting, Dr. Eckarly left Cheat with a pack of furs and skins, to visit a trading-post ou the Shenandoah. On his return he stopped at Fort Charant, on the Road. Beach, and having communicated to its inhabitants the place of his residence, and the length of time he had been living there, he was charged with being in confederacy with the Indians, and probably at that instant a spy, examining the condition of the fort. Je van the Doctor protested his innocence, and the fact that he had not even seen an Indian in the country ; the suffering condition of the border settlements rendered his account, in their opinion, improbable, and he was put in confinement.
The society of which Dr. Eckarly was a member, was rather obnoxious to a majority of the frontier inhabitants. Their intimacy with the Indians, although cultivated with the most laudable motives, and for noble purposes, yet made them objects of hast it distrust to many. Laboring under these disadvantages, it was with difficulty that.Dr. Eckarly prevailed on the officer of the fort to release him ; and when this was done. he was only permitted to go home under certain conditions-he was to be escorted by a guard of armed men, who were to carry him back if any discovery were made preju- dicial to him. Upon their arrival at Chess. the truth of his statement was awtilly cer- firmed. The first spectacle which presented itself to their view, when the party dame in sight of where the cabin had been, was a heap of ashes. On approaching the ruins, the half-decaved and mutilated bodies of the poor Dunkards were seen in the yard ; the hoops on which their sealps had been dried were there, and the ruthless hand of desola- tion had waved over their little fields. Dr. Eckarly aided in burying the remains of his unfortunate brothers, and returned to the fort on the South Branch.
383
MONROE COUNTY.
In the fall of 1758, Thomas Decker and some others commenced a settlement on the Monongahela River, at the inouth of what is now Decker's creek. In the ensuing spring it was entirely broken up by a party of Delawares and Mingoes, and the greater part of its inhabitants murdered.
There was at this time, at Brownsville, a fort then known as Redstone Fort, under the command of Captain Paul. One of Decker's party escaped from the Indians who destroyed the settlement, and making his way to Fort Redstone, gave to its commander the melancholy intelligence. The garrison being too. weak to admit of sending a de- tachment in pursuit, Captain Pant dispatched a runner with the information to Captain John Gibran, then stationed at Fort Put. Leaving the font under the connuend of Lieut. Williamson, Captain Gibson set out with thirty men to intercept the Indians ou their return to their towns.
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.