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 62
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
On the western border of the Dismal Swamp is a pine swamp, above a mile in bradth the greater part of which is covered to the depth of the knee with water: the Lo.ban, ha noien is firm, and though the pines growing upon it are very large and tall, yet they are not really blen dress by the windy so that the camp may be passed without any hinderance, save that occasioned by the depth of the water. With all these disadvantages, the Dismal Swamp, though disagreeable to the other senses, is, in many places, pleasant to the eye, on account of the perpetual verdure, which makes cvery season like the spring, and every month like May.
" Immense quantities of shingles and other jumper lumber are obtained from the swamp, and furnish employment for many negroes, who reside in little buts in jis recesses.
" Much of the lumber is brought out of the swamp, either through ditches cut for the propos, in long carre lighters, or are called out by meles, en Jorde made of poles laid across the road so as to touch each other, forming a bridge of causeway. There are very many miles of such road, The laborers carry the shingles, &c., to these roads from the trees, on their heads and shoulders. The Dismal Swamp Canal runs through it from north to south, and the Portsmonth and Roanoke Rail-road passes for five miles across its northern part.
" it looks like a grand avenue, surrounded on either hond by magnificent forests. 'The trees here, the cypress, juniper, oak, pine, &c., are of enormous size, and richest foliage ; and below is a thick entangled undergrowth of reeds, woodbine, grape-vines, mosses, and creepers, shooting and twisted spiralty around, interlaced and complicated, so as almost to shut out the sun.
" The engineer who had constructed the road through this extraordinary swamp, found it se formidable a labor as almost to despair of success. In running the line, his feet were pietred by the sharp stumps of our rende : he was continually liable to sink ankle or knee deep into a soft muddy ooze : the yell w flies and moschetous swarmed in myriads ; and the swamp was inhabited by venomous serpents and beasts of prey.
" The Dismal Swamp was once a favorite hunting-ground of the Indians ; arrow- heads, come knives, and hatchets, are yet found there ; and it still abanda in deer, bears, wild turkeys, wild-cats, &c. The water of this swamp is generally impregnated with juniper, and is considered medicinal by the people of the surrounding country, who convey it some distance in barrels. This swamp is much more elevated than the surrounding country, and by means of the Dismal Swamp Canal, might be drained, and thus a vast body of most fertile soil reclauned ; and the canal might be transformed into a rait-read-and the juniper soil, which is vegetable, might, perhaps, be used as peat.
LAKE DRUMMOND .- There is in the interior of the Dismal Swamp a body of water bearing this name. after the discoverer, who, says tradition, wandering in pursuit of game with two com- panions, was lost, and in his rambling came upon this lake. Ilis comrades failed to thread their way out. Drummond returned. and gave an account of the sheet of water, which was accordingly called after him."
This lake is much visited by parties from Norfolk and the adja- cent portions of North Carolina. There is here, exactly on the line of Virginia and North Carolina, a favorire public house, called " The Lake Drummond Hotel" which has become " the Greina Green" of this region. The poet Moore, who was in this country in 1804. has made a superstition connected with this lake the subject of & well-known poetical effusion, which we here extraet .
.
103
NORFOLK COUNTY.
A BALLAD,
THE LAKE OF THE DISMAL SWAMP. Written at Norfolk, in Virginia.
They tell of a young man who lost his mind upon the death of a girl he loved ; and who sud 'enly de mested from his friends, was never afterwards heard of. As he frequently said in his saving. (virt that He IS Man, but your to the Digital Swamp, it is supposed that he Is .. ..... . .. dreary wilderness, and had dir L of bonger, or been lost in some of its dreadful mora ..
" La Poésie a ses monstres comme la nature."-D' Alembert.
"'They made her a grave, too cold and damp Tor a soul so waon and truc ; And she's gone to the lake of the Dismal Swamp,
Where, all night long, by a fizetly kanp, She paddies her white canve.
" And her firefly lamp I soon shall see, And her paddle I soon shall hear ;
Long and loving our life shall be, And I'll hide the maid in a cypress trec, When the footstep of death is near !"
Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds- flis frith Was rugged and sore, Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds, Through many a fen, where the serpent feeds, And man never trod before !
And when on the earth he sunk to sleep, If slumber his eyelids knew, He lay where the deadly vine doth weep lis venomous tear, and nightly steep The flesh with blistering dew !
And near him the she-wolf stirr'd the brave An : The copper-snake breath'd in his ear. Till he samir. cried, from his dream awake "Oh! when shall I see the dusky lake, And the white canoe of my dear ?"
He saw the lake, and a meteor bright, Quick over its surface play'd -. " Welcome !" he said ; " my dear one's ligh And the dim shore echoed for many a night, The name of the death-cold maid !
Till he hollowed a boat of the birchen bark, Which carried him off' from shore ; Far he follow'd the meteor spark, The wind was high and the clouds were dart And the boat return'd no more.
But oft from the Indian hunter's camp, This lover and maid so true, Are seen at the hour of midnight damp, To cross the lake hy a firefly lamp, And paddle their white canoe !
On the 22d of June, 1813, a powerful British fleet made an at tack on Craney Island, at the entrance to Elizabeth River, They were signally defeated. The event, as given below, is from Per- kins' Late War :
Before the British could enter the harbor of Norfolk and approach the town, it was necessary to take possession of Crancy Island. On the morning of the 22d, they were discovered passing round the point of Nansemond River, and landing on the main land in a position where the passage was fordable, with a view to pass over and attack the works on the west side of the island, while at the same time a number of barges from the fleet attempted to land in front. These were attacked before they reached the shore, from a battery on the beach, manned by the sailors and marines from the Constellation and the gun-boats. Three of the barges were sunk, most of the men drowned, and the rest compelled to retreat to their shipping. The party which landed at Nansemond, were met and repulsed by the Virginia militia, and driven back to their ships, with the loss, including those in the barges, of upwards of two hundred in killed and wounded. The city of Norfolk, and the neighboring villages of Gosport and Portsmouth, owed their safety to this gallant defence of, Craney Island.
RICHARD DALE, a distinguished naval officer of the revolution, was born in this county in 1756. Ile early showed a predilection for the sea, and at the age of 12 made a Voy- age to Liverpool, and continued in the merchant service until the breaking out of the revolution In 1776 he was appointed lieutenant of an armed ship, which beleaged to the infant navy of Virginia. While cruising in one of the boats of this vessel in the James, he was captured by a British tender and confined on board of a British prison- ship at Norfolk. He was at this time scarce 30 years of age, and having passed his youth on the ocean, can seegeely be supposed to have been tamlin with the great prin- ciples of the revolution. An old schoolmate, named Gutteridge, who conananded a · British tender, prevailed upon him to make a cruise with him up the Rappahannock. In an engagement with a fleet of pilot-boots, he was wounded in the head by a muskel. ball.
After his recovery he sailed for Bermunda, but the vessel he was in was captured by Commodore Barry; an explanation followed, and Dale, convinced of his error, re-entered the American service as a midshipman. Not long after he was again taken prisoner by the Bench, but was soon exchanged, and was appointed to the U. S. she Hade. This vessel being captured, Date was the third time in the power of the enemy, who threw him and his companions into the Mill Prison at Plymouth. Dale escaped with a
404
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. L
companion and travelled to London, when their progress was stopped by a press-gang "They were carried back to Mil Prisen, and thrown into a noisome dungeon for forty days. Dale was then released and placed with the rest of the prisoners. He was again thrown into the Black Hole. for singing " rebellious songs." In 1779 this bold mariner escaped to France, and there making the acquaintaner of the famous Capt. John Paul Jones, waste pointed by him Ist lieutenant in the Bon Homme Richard. The fleet of Jones cruised in the North Sea, and spread terror along the western coast of Scotland. In the almost unparalleled and desperate action between the Bon Homme Richard aud the Serapis, Lieut, Dale distinguished himself and received a wound. Dale next served under Captain Nicholson, on board the Trumbull, which was soou captured, and he found himself for the fifth time a prisoner. Being exchanged, he was appointed captain of an armed merchantman, and sailed in her to the close of the war. In 1794, he was one of the six captains appointed from the merchant service to the U. S. navy. In Ja he commanded the Mediterranean squadron, which protected our commence from the Barbary corsais. Having returned to the United States in 1802, he was again ap- pointed to the Mediterranean station, but under circumstances which he conceived iu- jurious to his hover to accept. Commodore Dale, therefore, retired from the navy. The decline of his life was as peaceful as his youth had been starting and adventurous, and he died in 1826, aged 70 years.
NORTHAMPTON.
NORTHAMPTON Was originally called Accawmacke, and was one of the original 8 shires into which Virginia was divided in 1634. In March, 1642-3, its name was changed to Northampton ; and in 1672 its limits were reduced by the formation of a now county, the present county of Accominc. Northampton is the southern ex tremity of the long low peninsula forming the eastern side of the Chesapeake, and comprehending eight counties in Maryland and two in Virginia. The shore has numerous small creeks, and nu- merous islands stretch along the Atlantic. Pop. in 1840, whites 3,311, slaves 3,620, free colored 754; total, 7,715.
Eastville, the county-scat, is 151 miles casterly from Richmond. in the centre of the county. It contains about 30 dwellings, and is a place of considerable business. Capeville, 6 miles. N. of Cape Charles --- the southern point of " the eastern shore"-contains a few houses.
The subjoined description of "the eastern shore" in general, and of this county in particular, was published several years since :
Separated as these counties are from the rest of the state by the spacious bay, which the eye can scarcely see across, and being among the first settled parts of the colony, they are a more unmixed people than is often to be found in our country, and fetam more of the usages. and even language of former times, than perhaps any part of the state. The ancient hospitality of Virginia is here found unimpaired ; and the inhabit- ants have a high relish for good living, which they are also enabled to indulge by a soul and climate extremely favorable to gardening, and by an abundance of excellent fish, evapers, and crabs. They preserve great neatness in their houses es persons, Fluch is a characteristic of persons living in a sandy country. "The whole county is as level as a bowling green, and the roads are good at all seasons of the year. This circonstance has probably increased the social character and habits of the people, as it certainly bar their pleasure-carriages. The number of gigs in the county is near three hundred, which is considerably greater than that of the freeholders. It is computed that the county pays about $ 10,000 a year for its carriages.
"The soul of this county is thin, light, and always more or less mixed with sand : but as it commonly rests on a stiff clay, and the land is too level to be carried off by the
403
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY.
rains, or "to wash," to use a term of the upper country, the inhabitants are very raven encouraged to parsee an improviser course of husbandry; yet is truth the ara but indifferent farmers. They cultivate the same . land incessantly, one year in Indian corn, and the next in oats, (their two principal crops,) and their lands improve undra this severe process, provided they are not also partnered. Whenever a field is not in cultivation, it puts up everywhere a rich luxuriant crop of a sort of wild veteb, called the mungotty-bay bean, which shades the land while it is growing, and returns to it a rich coat of vegetable manure. . It is by means of this fertilizing plant, and the aliment which is plentifully furnished by the vapors from the sea, that the product of these lands is so much greater than a stranger would be led to expect from the appearance of the soil. The land is so easily cultivated that there are few parts of the guten which more is produced to the man, or the borse, though more may be produced to the acie. On the best farms, a hundred barrels to the band are often obtained. The fig and the pomegranate flourish without protection during the winter. The former attains the size of a stout tree, sometimes twenty feet high, and its delicious fruit is in grant abundance than the inhabitants can consume. They have not yet learned the art of curing it : or perhaps the species they have is not suited to that operation.
Wind-mills are in use here, but tide-mills, at the month of send inlets, are pretence when attainable. These inlets deeply indent the shore, both on the " bay and sea-side." and while they are convenient for fishing, shooting wild-fowls, and as harbors for their boats and small craft, they give a pleasing variety to the landscapes, which are, indeed. as pretty as is compatible with so unvarying a surface. Upon the whole, we know of no part of the state in which the comforts of life are enjoyed in greater number, or higher perfection. They have, too, the sea and land breeze of the Most Iadios, winch temper the sultry heats of summer ; and their only annoyances seem to be a few mos- chetoes, a good many gnats, and now and then a bilious or intermittent fever. There is here an article of culture which is not much met with in other parts of the state- it is the palma christi, called castor bean. It now constitutes a part of almost every fermer's crop, to the extent of eight to ten acres or more. The quantity of the out or bean pro- duced, is the same as the land would produce in cora. Each bushel yields about two gallons and a half of oil, and sells, at the press, for $1 25 a bushel. This plant is now cultivated in many of the counties on the western shore, and . the oil it affords has be. come a considerable article of export, being preferred to that of the West Indies.
Among the curiosities of this county are the ancient records of the county from 1640, and a marble tomb, or sarcophagus, about five feet high, and as many long, from which we transcribe the following singular inscription :
Under this martde tomb lies the body of the Hon. John Custis, Esq., of the City of Williamsburg, and Parish of Burton. Formerly of Hungar's parish, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and county of Northampton, Aged 31 years, and yet lived but seven years, which was the space of time he kept A Bachelor's home at Arlington, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
On the opposite side one roads --
This inscription put on this tomb was by his own positive orders. W'm. Cosley Man. in Fenchurch-street, lecit, London .* The Hon. ABEL PARKER UPPROR was the son of Littleton Upshur, and was born in the county, June 17th, 1790. " He received his classical education at Yale and Prince- ton colleges, and studied law under the instruction of his friend, the late Hon. Wir. Wirt. at Richmond, where he practised bis profession from 15 10 until 1524, when he removed to Vancluse, his patrimonial residence in this county. In the courts of the eastern shore, he continued the practice of his profession antil Dec. 15th, 1826, when he was appointed by the legislature to fill the vacancy on the bench of the general court, caused by the death of his maternal ancie, the late Judge George Parker. He had previously represented his native condis in the state legislature. On the 5th of Oct., 1829, bewa
* Alden, In his " Collection of Fartophe " published in 181. save the Hop. Jahr Gratis. a gentleman pi great opulence, ched about 1730, and that this monument was erected and inscribed agrecably to the directions in his will. G. W. P. Curtis, Esq. of Arlington, D. C., is one of his descendants .- H. Il.
406
NOTTOWAY COUNTY.
elected a member of the general convention of Virginia. He published a pamphlet containing a review of Judge Story's work on the constitution of the United States, and contributed many articles to the newspapers on the topics of the day. On the reorgani- vation of the judicial system of Virginia, under the new constitution. he was appointed. April 18, 1831, to a seat on the bench of the general court, and was ..... third judicial circuit. This office he continued to fill until the 13th of Sent., 1811, rh.» he was appointed by President Tyler, secretary of the nevy. On the 24th of July. 1: 1. - sluch be held ruth the time of the death. feb. seth, ic 15, which was occassted by the accident on board the U. S. steamer Princeton."
The Southern Literary Messenger says, that the ancestors of Mr. Upshur settled upon the eastern shore more than two centuries since. His family is one of the oldest in Vir- ginia, and has been remarkable for staid habits and sterling worth. Generation after generation they remained upon the eastern shore, cultivating the soil, and ornamentine society. From the same source we learn that Mr. Upshar was considered one of the most graceful and accomplished orators. His style was unexceptionably good, his argu- ments forcible, and set forth in sentences remarkable for ters and vigtions language. His speech in the Virginia convention of '29 and '30, is said to have been one of the ablest and best delivered during the sitting. He never took a leading position in politics until called to the presidential cabinet. Mr. Upshur was an able writer, and one of the most polished contributors to the periodical literature of the country.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
NORTHUMBERLAND was formed in 1648. Its length is 30, mean width 12 miles, It is situated in the cast part of the state, on Chesapeake Bay, and has the mouth of the Potomac River on its northeast boundary. It is drained by several small streams flow- ing into the Potomac and Wicomico Rivers, which empty isto Chesapeake Bay. Beside the ordinary products of this portion of' the state, about 50,000 pounds of sugar are annually produced. Pop., whites 4,034, slaves 3,243, free colored 647; total, 7,924.
Northumberland C. H .. or Heathsville, is 98 miles NE. of Rich- mond. It is a handsome village, situated near the head of Coal River, a navigable stream emptying into the Potomac. It contains a Methodist church, several mercantile and mechanical establish- ments, and about 60 dwellings.
NOTTOWAY.
NOTTOWAY was formed in 1788, from Amelia, and named from the Nottoway tribe of Indians, from whom, also, the river running on its southern boundary received its name. It is drained by tribu- taries of the Appomattox and the Nottoway. Its length is 22, breadth 12 miles. Over two million pounds of tobacco are annu- ally produced in this county. Fop. in 1810, whites 2,4490, slaves 7,071, free colored 158 ; total. 9,719.
Nottoway C. H., on the Little Nottoway, in the central part of the county, 67 mailles sw. of Richmond, contains 15 or 20 dwellings. It was at Col. V ...... 's, in the northern part of this county, that the
OHIO COUNTY.
celebrated Peter Francisco had a battle with nine of Tarl to.rs cavalry in 1781; for an account of which see Buckingham.
0310.
Orto was formed in 1776, from the district of West Augusta : it is 14 miles long, with a mean width of 10 miles. It is bounded westerly by the Obio River, into which empty several creeks of the county. The surface is much broken, but the soil, especially on the water-courses, is very fertile. Over one million bushels of' bituminous coal are annually mixed in the country. Pop. in 1810, whites 12.842, slaves 212, free colored 303; total, 13,357.
West Liberty is situated 12 miles &p. of Wheeling, and 5 from the Ohio River. It was established in Oct., 1787, and Moses Chap- laine, Zachariah Sprigg, George M'Cullock, Charles Wills, Van Swearingan. James Mitchell, and Benjamin Briggs, gentlena a, were appointed trustees for laying out the town, at which place the county buildings had been erected. It remained the county- seat until Brooke county was formed, in 1797, when the courts were removed to Wheeling.
Wheeling City, the seat of justice for the county, is situated up- on an alluvial area on the Ohio River, on both sides of Wheeling crook, 851 miles from Richmond, 201 from Washing on city. Ex miles from Pittsburg, and 31 from Washington, Pa. The city " surrounded by bold hills, containing inexhaustible quantities of bituminons coal from which the numerous manufactories of il. Town are supplied at a trifling expense. It is furnished with water from the Onio by water works. It contains a handsome court- house, a jail, county offices, 2 academies, banks and & savin institution, a fire and marine insurance company, and 1 Episco- pal, 1 Methodist, I Baptist, I Unionist, I German Methodist, I Iats theran, and > Presbyterian churches, a Friends' meeting-house. and religious societies belonging to the Reformed Baptists or Dis. ciples, Swedenborgians, and Reformed Methodists; 97 stores. " commission and forwarding houses, 4 iron foundries, 4 steam-en- gine factories, 8 glass houses, in several of which cut-glass is manufactured, 4 woollen and cotton factories, with carding ma- chines, 2 paper-mills. 4 sawapill-, 3 white and sheet lead and cop- peras factories, & daily, I weekly, and I semi-monthly newspapers. together with many floaring mills in it and vicinity. and mechani- cal and manufacturing establishments of a lesser note.
A beautiful and substantial stone bridge crosses Wheeling creek. The city contains about 1000 dwellings; over twenty steamboats are owned here, and all which navigate this portion of the Ohio stop at its wharves. The national road passes through Wheeling, which is one of the greatest thoroughfares in the Union. Zane's
. .. .. ..
408.
ODIO COUNTY.
island lies on the Ohio, opposite the city, and is crossed by the national road. Wheeling is the largest town in western Virginia
43.
i
Bridge over Wheeling Creek
In 1810 its population was 914; in 1820, 1,567 ; 1880, 5,291 ; 1810, 7,835. From the advantages of its location, &c., Wheeling must. eventually be a place of great business. The vast multitude of emigrants constantly passing through it to the far west. increase its trade, and impart to it an air of bustle and business peculiariy animating.
In 1769, says Withers,) Col. Ebenezer Zane, his brothers Silas and Jonathan, with some others from the south branch of the Potomac, visited the Ohio for the purpose of making improvements, and severally proceeded to select positions for their future resi- dence. They chose for their residence the site now occupied by the city of Wheeling,* and having made the requisite preparations returned to their fermer homes, and brought mat their families the cusning year. The Zanes were men of enterprise, tempored with madence. and directed bestand judgment. 'To the bravery and good coude tof their three brothers, the Wheeling settlement was mainly indebted for its security and pre. servation during the year of the revolution. Soon after the settlement of this place. other settlements were made at different points, both above and below Whechng, and the country on Buffalo, Short, and Grave creeks,
* " A very intelligent merchant of this city describes, that in very early the, and doubtless much an- terior to that creational wine, a rirconstant rok place which presents the strongest probability of the first notice of this spot by a while man, and the best data demonstrative of the circumstance from which the nutno of Wheeling was conferred upon this city. A European gentleman in the capacity of a Catho. Be priest, direct from Europe, of the some of Wheelan, which was his orthography of the name, who on a missionary excursion through the United States, among the aborigines of this country, on descending the thin River, pitched bis encampment at the mouth of the present well-known Wheeling creek, in or- for the the discharge of his misskomory duties there, among the red men of the forest. Aftera few months stay, he proceeded down the river, and test a mme behind him, which will distinguish this celebrated spot till the clash be no longer. The founders of the city changed its orthography, since which it is Written Wheeling."-Newen's Directory of Wheeling for 1839.
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.