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 69

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893. cn
Publication date: 1856
Publisher: Charleston, S. C. : Wm. R. Babcock
Number of Pages: 1148

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 69

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Joe now thought of the other Indian, and not knowing how far he had succeeded in killing or crippling bim, sprang to his feet. He found the crippled Indian had crawled some distance towards them, and had propped his broken back against a log, and was trying to raise his gun to shoot him, but in attempting to do which he would fall for- ward, and had to push against his gun to raise himself again. Joe, seeing that he was safe, concluded he had fought long enough for healthy exercise that day, and not liking to be killed by a crippled Indian, he made for the fort. He got in about night- fail, and a hard-looking case he was-blood and dirt from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, no horse, no hat, no gun-with an account of the battle that some of bis comrades could scarce believe to be much else than one of his big stories in which he would sometimes indulge. He told them they must go and judge for themselves. Next morning a company was made up to go to Joe's battle-ground. When they approached it, Joe's accusers became more confirmed, as there was no appearance of dead Indians, and nothing Joe had talked of but the dead horse. They, however, found a trail, as if something had been dragged away. On pursuing it they found the big Indian, at a little distance, beside a log, covered up with leaves. Still pursuing the trail, though not so plain, some hundred yards further, they found the broken-backed Indian, lying on his back, with his own knife sticking up to the hilt in his body, just below the breast. bono, evidently to show that he had killed himself, and that he had aot come to his end by the hand of an enemy. They had a long search before they found the knife with which Joe killed the big Indian. They at last found it forced down into the ground below the surface, apparently by the weight of a person's heel. This had been done by the crippled Indian. The great efforts he must have made, alone, in that condition, show, among thousands of other instances, what Indians are capable of under the greatest extremities.

Some years after the above took place, peace with the Indians was restored. That frontier, like many others, became infested with a gang of outlaws, who commenced stealing horses and committing various depredations ; to counteract which a company of regulators, as they were called, was raised. In a contest between these and the de- predators, Big Joe Logston lost his life, which would not be highly estecined in civil society. But in frontier settlements, which he always occupied, where savages and beasts were to be contested with for the right of the soil, the use of such a man 19 very conspicuous. Without such, the country could never have been cleared of ing natural rudeness, so as to admit of the more brilliant and ornamental exercises of arts, sciences, and civilization.

447

ROANOKE COUNTY.

RAPPAHANNOCK.

RAPPAHANNOCK Was formed in 1831, from Culpeper. It is named from the river which runs on its northern boundary. Its soil is fer- tile, and productive in wheat and corn. Length about 18, breadth 17 miles. Pop. in 1840, whites 5,307, slaves 3,663, free colored 287; total, 9,257.

Washington, the seat of justice, is 123 miles ww. of Richmond, and 75 from Washington city. It is a fine village, near the foot of the Blue Ridge, in a fertile country, and upon one of the head branches of the Rappahannock. It contains a church, an acade- my, 2 stores, and about 60 dwellings. Sperryville, 6 miles s. of the C. H., Woodville, 10 miles from it, and Flint Hill, contain each about 30 dwellings.

RITCHIE.

RITCHIE was formed in 1843, from Harrison, Lewis, and Wood, and named in honor of Thomas Ritchie, Esq. : it is about 25 miles long, and 20 broad. The surface is generally hilly and broken, and the soil not fertile, except on the streams, where there is considera- ble champaign country.

Harrisville, the county-seat, lies about 37 miles east of Parkers- burg, and 4 miles s. of the Nw. turnpike : it contains 2 stores, 1 tan- nery, 1 Baptist and 1 Methodist church, and about 15 dwellings. Estimated population of the county, 1,800.

ROANOKE.

ROANOKE was formed from Botetourt, in 1838. The name is probably derived from the Indian word Roenoke, or Rawrenoke, sig- nifying the Indian shell-money. It is a small county, with a mean length of about 20, and mean width of 18 miles. The Blue Ridge forms its eastern boundary ; the western parts are mountainous. Much of the soil of the county, particularly on the Roanoke River in the vicinity of Big Lick, is of almost unequalled fertility, and productive in hemp, wheat, and tobacco. Pop. in 1840, whites 3,843, slaves 1,553, free colored 101; total, 5,499.

Salem, the county-seat, is in the valley of Virginia, on the west bank of Roanoke River, 178 miles westerly from Richmond, 25 miles NE. of Christiansburg, and 23 from Fincastle. The naviga- tion of the Roanoke, from Weldon, N. C., to this place, 244 miles, is completed by canals, sluices, &c. Salem is a neat village, and contains 6 stores, I Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist church,

448

ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY.

and a population of about 450. Big Lick, 7 miles E. of Salem, on the main stage-road, contains a Baptist church and a few dwell- ings. The skeleton of a mammoth was found a few years since in this vicinity. Burlington contains a few dwellings.

The Botetourt Springs, in the northern part of the county, 12 miles from Fincastle, are quite popular, and the improvements are sufficient to accommodate a large number of visitors. The spring contains sulphur, magnesia, carbonic acid gas, &c.

ROCKBRIDGE.

ROCKBRIDGE derives its name from the celebrated natural bridge : it was formed in 1778, from Augusta and Botetourt. Its mean length is 31, mean breadth 22 miles. This county is principally watered by North River-a branch of James River --- and its tribu- taries. It flows diagonally through the county, and joins the main branch of James River at the foot of the Blue Ridge, where their united waters force a passage through. Much of the soil is of a superior quality, and highly cultivated. It is one of the most wealthy agricultural counties in the state. Pop. in 1840, whites 10,448, slaves 3,510, free colored 326 ; total, 14,284.

Brownsburg, 12 miles NE. of Lexington, on the road to Staunton, contains about 30 dwellings; near it is the old church, long known as the New Providence meeting-house. Fairfield, 13 miles NNE. of Lexington, contains a Methodist and a free church, and about 25 dwellings.

Lexington, the county-seat, 146 miles from Richmond, 188 from Washington city, 35 from Lynchburg, 35 from Staunton, and 37 from Fincastle, is beautifully situated on the west bank of North River, one of the main branches of the James. It was founded in 1778, and was originally composed almost exclusively of wooden buildings, most of which were destroyed by fire in 1794. The town speedily recovered from the effects of the catastrophe. It is now quite compact, many of the buildings are of brick, and some of the private mansions-among which is that of the ... gov. ernor of Virginia, James M'Dowell, Esq .- are beautifully situated. A recent English traveller says, "The town, as a settlement, has many attractions. It is surrounded by beauty, and stands at the head of a valley flowing with milk and honey. House-rent is low, provisions are cheap, abundant, and of the best quality. Flowers and gardens are more prized here than in most places." Lexing ton contains 13 mercantile stores, 2 newspaper printing offices .. Washington College, the Virginia Military Institute. a fine classical school under the charge of Mr. Jacob Fuller, Ann Smith academy, which is a female institution. I Presbyterian, i Episcopalian, 3 Baptist, and 1 Methodist church, and about 1,200 inhabitants.

WASHINGTON COLLEGE, AT LEXINGTON.

449

ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY.

WASHINGTON COLLEGE, one of the oldest literary institutions south of the Potomac, was established as an academy. in the year 1776, under the name of Liberty Hall, by the Hanover Presbytery, (then embracing the whole of the Presbyterian church in Vir- ginia.) Its first rector was the Rev. William Graham, a native of Pennsylvania, and a graduate of Nassau Hall, N. J. Mr. Graham was a man of extensive acquirements, great originality of thought, warm patriotism, and indomitable energy ; and to his exer- tions, more than to those of day other one man, the institution owes its establishment, and its continuance during the troublous times of our revolutionary struggle, Liberty Hall received its charter from the stale in the year 1782, still retaining the name of an academy, although its charter authorized it " to confer literary degrees, to appoint pro- fessors, as well as masters and tutors," and, in short, to perform all the acts which properly belong to a college. In the year 1796, it received its first regular endowment, from the hands of the " Father of his country." The legislature of Virginia, "as a testimony of their gratitude for his services," and " as a mark of their respect," pre- sented to Gen. Washington a certain number of shares in the old James' River im- provement, a work then in progress ; this Washington, unwilling to accept for his own private emolument, presented to Liberty Hall Academy. To perpetuate the memory of this noble act, the name of the institution was, by the unanimous vote of the trus- tees, changed to Washington Academy ; and in the year 1812, by an act of the legis- lature, still further changed to Washington College. Subsequently, John Robinson, Esq., a soldier of Washington, emulating the example of his illustrious leader, bequeathed his whole estate to the college ; and still more recently, the Cincinnati Society of Va., after having accomplished the patriotic purpose for which it was established, bequeathed the residue of its funds to the college, on condition that provision should be made for military instruction in the hutitation.

George A. Baxter, D. D., succeeded Mr. Graham. About the year 1827, he resigned the presidency, and was succeeded by Louis Marshall, M. D., of Kentucky. Mr. Henry Vethake succeeded him in Feb., 1835. His successor was the present president of the college, the Rev. Henry Koffner, D. D., who was inaugurated Feb. 22d, 1837.

Like most of the older literary institutions of our country, Washington College has had its seasons of adversity as well as prosperity. At the present time, its prospects appear more flattering than they have done at any previous period since its first estab- lishment. For the last four or five years its number of students has varied from 80 to 100, as large a number as its buildings would accommodate. Additional buildings, now just completed, will enlarge the accommodations so that it can receive about 150; probably as large a number as the region from which the college draws its patronage, will furnish for years to come. The faculty of the institution at this time consists of, Henry Ruffer, D. D., president, and professor of ethics and rhetoric ; Philo Calhoun, A. M., prof. of mathematics ; Geo. E. Dabney. A. M., prof. of languages ; Geo. D. Armstrong, A. M., Robinson prof. of natural philosophy and chemistry ; Capt. Thomas H. Williamson, Cincinnati prof. of military tactics. The bill of expenses in the college are : Treasurer's bill for tuition, room-rent, deposite, and matriculation, $42 per annum ; board 87g to 88 per month ; washing, fuel, candles, bed, &c., about $3 per month. Total, per session of 10 months, about 8140 .* With such advantages as Washington College enjoys, in its location in the midst of one of the most fertile and healthy por. tions of the great valley of Virginia, surrounded by a population, moral, frugal, and in- dustrious in their habits, and prizing highly the advantages of a liberal education, we confidently expect that its prosperity will continue ; and that it will continue a lasting monument to the wisdom, as well as the benevolence, of the illustrious man whose name it bears.

THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE .- This is a military academy, established in cou- nection with Washington College by an act of the legislature, passed during the session of 1838-39. Formerly, a gaard of soldiers was maintained at the expense of the state, for the purpose of affording protection to the arms deposited in the Lexington arsenal, for the use of the militia of western Virginia. About the year 1836, some zealous friends of education, among whom we may mention Gov. Jas. McDowell, thinking that the arsenal might be converted into an educational institution, without any increase of expense to the state, and affording at the same time equal security to the public arms, applied to the legislature to make the necessary change. After various delays, this ap- plication resulted in the estabashment of the Virginia Military Institute, in the year

* By an act of the Board of Trustees, indigent students, of good moral character, are admitted without the payment of tuition fees ; and such persons can, with prudence and economy, maintain themselves as college at from $80 to $100 per year.

450

ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY.

1839. Thus far, its success has been such as to fulfil the wishes of its warmest friends, and to render it a deservedly popular institution in the state.

The course of instruction is a three years' course, requiring for admission a good common school education. It embraces the full course of mathematics and natural science taught in our colleges, with drawing, military tactics, and engineering, and 30 much of the French and Latin languages as the student's other studies leave him time to acquire during the first two years of his course. The corps of instructors consists of Col. Francis H. Smith, A. M., prof. of mathematics ; Maj. John T. L. Preston, A. M., prof. of languages and English literature ; Capt. Thomas H. Williamson, instructor in tactics and drawing ; Geo. D. Armstrong, A. M., prof. of chemistry, &c., assisted by such cadets as are detailed, from time to time, to assist in the business of instruction. The annual expenses of a student at the institute are about the same as those of one at Washington College. The present number of students is 61, of whom 22 are main- tained at the expense of the state.

Alum Springs.

The Alum Springs are 17 miles west of Lexington, on the road to the warm and hot springs of Bath county. The improvements at this place are recent, and the springs, although but compara- tively little known, are gaining rapidly in favor with the public.

" The water contains a rare and valuable combination of materials : the principal are iodine, sulphates of iron and alum, magnesia, and sulphuric acid. The water is tonie, increasing the appetite and promoting digestion. It is alterative, exciting the secretions of the glandular system generally, and particularly of the liver and kidneys ; it is cathartic, producing copious dark bilious evacuations ; and it also effects a deter- mination to the surface, increasing the perspiration.

" From the efficacy of these waters in purifying the blood, they are invaluable in the cure of all diseases of the skin, and all indolent sores, not disposed to a healthy action. In the use of them for such diseases, if the disease of the skin appears to be irritated at first, or if the ulcers become more inflamed, and discharge more freely ; let not this circumstance alarm any one, or deter him from persevering in their use. These are the evidences of the good effects of the waters, in expelling the vitrited humors from the bloed to the surface ; and, until the blood is purified, such diseases cannot be cured In scrofalous ulcers, the use of these waters mvariably causes them to discharge more freely, and in a short time of a more healthy appearance. They are a very useful rem- edy in cholera infantum, or the sunmer bowel-complaint in children. They inmedi- ately give & goud appetite, promote digestion, and will effectually correct and cure acidity of the stomach. In amenorrhea, dysmenorrhoea, and leocorrhea, the waters

451

ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY.

are peculiarly efficacious. Most obstinate cases of scrofula, erysipelas, and dyspepsia. have been cured by these waters, which preserve their medicinal qualities when sent away in barrels."

The first settlements in this portion of the valley were made by the Scotch Irish, with a few original Scotch among them. They settled in the neighborhoods around Martinsburg, in Berkeley co .. Winchester. and almost the entire counties of Augusta and Rockbridge. The same race went on into North Carolina, and settled in the counties of Orange and Guilford,-especially in the northern and middle parts of the latter county. Rockbridge and Augusta have always been the strongholds of Scotch Irish and Presbyterianism. From the introduction to the history of Wash- ington College, a manuscript volume written by President Ruffner, we have been allowed to introduce the following graphic sketch of the settlement of the valley, and the characteristics of its early inhabitants ; some of the facts are elsewhere given in this volume,- a repetition we prefer to breaking the connection :

From the year 1606, when Jamestown was first permanently settled, it required about one hundred years for the infant colony of Virginia to extend itself upwards to the Blue Ridge. The settlements on the upper branches of the Rappahannock. and in the Northern Neck between this river and the Potomac, seem first to have approached the high mountain barrier, whose top, enveloped in a blue mist, had long since attracted the eyes of settlers in the distant plains below. Near the Potomac the ridge is less rugged and forbidding in its aspect than it is further towards the southwest. When it was sur- mounted by exploring parties of white men, and displayed to their eyes the beauty and fertility of the vale of Shenando, and of the uplands beyond it, the temptation was irre- sistible, and hardy adventurers resolved to brave every danger for the sake of a possession so alluring. They first planted themselves on the rich low grounds of the Shenando, but soon ventured upon the pleasant uplands beyond the river. Here, in a basin-shaped cavity, they founded the town of Winchester, where fountains of water proved more attractive than fine prospects from the neighboring hills. This, the oldest town in the valley, continued to be a frontier-post until the French were driven out of Canada.

The eastern part of the valley being conveniently situated for emigrants from Penn. sylvania, as well as from lower Virginia, the population there came to be a mixture of English Virginians, and German and Scotch Irish Pennsylvanians. Some of the latter were recent emigrants from Europe, who had landed at Philadelphia, and thence made their way by land to the new settlements.

The German Pennsylvanians, being passionate lovers of fat lands, no sooner heard of the rich vales of the Shenando and its branches, than they began to join their coun- trymen from Europe in pouring thewiselves forth over the country above Winchester. Finding the main Shenando mostly preoccupied. they followed up the North and South Branches, on both sides of the Massanutten, or Peaked Mountain, until they filled up all the beautiful yales of the country for the space of sixty miles. So completely did they occupy the country, that the few stray English or Irish settlers among them did not sensibly affect the homogeneousness of the population. They long retained, and for the most part de still retain, their German language, and the German simplicity of their manners. Of late years, indeed, a sensible transition has been going on about the bor- ders of their old settlements, and about the villages, where law and trade have caused a mixture of population, and nvide inroids upon the speech, maantis, and dress imported from their fatherland. This change has grieved their old people, who cannot give up the energetic language of their aires, corruptly as they speak it, nor the plain homespun dress of old times, nor see their children give them up without sorrowing for the degeu- eracy of their race. Not a few of these Germans of the valley have become anglicised by dispersion, where they have been ied, by the temptation of good farms, te plunge into the mass of their Scotch Irish neighbors.

flow far they might have originally filled up the valley, if the way had been clear. we cannot conjecture ; but, ere they had reached the head-branches of the Shenando, their immigrant columns were met by another race, who soon filled up an equal spaow beyond them in this land of promise.

452

ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY.

For the want of towns and roads, the first settlers in the valley were supplied with many needful articles by pedlers who went from house to house. Among these itinerant venders of small wares, was one John Marlin, who traded from Williamsburg to the country about Winchester. His visits to the inhabited parts of this romantic country inspired him with a curiosity to explore the unknown parts towards the southwest. In Williamsburg he got John Saliing, a bold weaver, to join him in an exploring expedition. They proceeded through the valley in safety until they reached the waters of the Roan. oke, where they were met by a roving party of Cherokees, and of course treated as spies upon the Indian territory. Marlin had the good fortune to escape from the hands of the savages, but Salling was carried as prisoner to their towns upon the upper Ten- nessee. Here he lived with his captors about three years, until he went with a party of them to the Salt Licks in Kentucky, to hunt the buffalo. Kentucky, like the valley, was a middle ground of contention between the northern and southern tribes. This party of Cherokees was attacked and defeated by some Indians from Illinois. . Salling was again captured, and carried to Kaskaskias, where an old squaw adopted him for a son. While thus domiciled in this remote region, he accompanied his new tribesmen on some distant expeditions-once, even to the gulf of Mexico-and saw many countries, and tribes of savages, then wholly unknown in Virginia. But after two years, he was bought of his Indian mother by an exploring party of Spaniards, who wanted him for an interpreter. He was taken by them on their way northwards, until he reached Canada, where he was kindly redeemed by the French governor, and sent to New York ; whence he found his way to Williamsburg again, after six years of strange and eventful wanderings.

In Wilhamsburg, two strangers from Britain, John Lewis and John Mackey, heard Salling's story with admiration. They were particularly suuch with his glowing description of the valley of Virginia, a broad space between parallel ridges of mountain ; its vales watered by clear streams, its soil fertile, its plains covered only with shrubbery and a rich herbage, grazed by herds of buffalo, and its hills crowned with forests ; a region of beauty as yet, for the most part, untouched by the hand of man, and offering unbought homes and easy subsistence to all who had the enterprise to scale the mountain barrier, by which it had been so long concealed from the colonists. Lewis and Mackey joined Salling in making an expedition to this newly-discovered land, in order first to see it, and then, if it fulfilled their expectations, of making a settlement there. They were not disappointed ; and having the whole land before them from which to choose, Lewis selected his residence near the Middle River, ou a creek which bears his name. Mackey went further up the Middle River, and settled near the Buffalo Gap ; but Sal- ling, who in his captivity appears to have acquired a taste for wild solitude, went fifty miles apart from the others, and pitched his habitation in the forks of James River, where a beautiful bottom is overshadowed by mountains.

Lewis, who was evidently a man of energy and forethought, obtained authority to locate 100,000 acres of land in separate parcels in the country around him. While he was exploring the country to select good lands, his neighbor, Mackey, would frequently accompany him for the pleasure of hunting the buffalo. The result was, that Mackey died as he had lived, a poor hunter ; but Lewis provided for his family a rich inheritance of lands. The pioneer-tribe of white hunters have generally followed the example of Mackey.

In the spring of the year 1736, Lewis, on a visit to Williamsburg, met with Benjamin Burden, who had lately come over as agent for Lord Fairfax, proprietor of the Northern Neck. Burden accepted Lewis's invitation to accompany him to his new home in the valley. He spent several months with his friend, exploring the country and hunting the buffalo, with Lewis and his sons, Samuel and Andrew. But he was a more provident hunter than Mackey. The party happened once to take a young buffalo-calf, which Samuel and Andrew Lewis turned and gave to Burden, to take with him to Williams- burg. This sort of an animal was unknown in lower Virginia ; the calf would, there- fore, be an interesting object of curiosity at the seut of government. Burden presented the shaggy young monster to Governor Gooch. The governor was so delighted with this rare pet, and so pleased with the donor, that he promptly favored his views, by enter. ing an order in his official book, authorizing Benjamin Burden to locate 500,000 acres of land, or any less quantity, on the waters of the Shenando and James River., to the conditions that he should not interfere with any previous grants, and that with'a ten years he should settle at least one hundred families on the located lends. Op these conditions, he should be freely entitled to 1,000 acres adjacent to every house, with the privilege of entering as much more of the contiguous lands at one shilling per acre.

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Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893. cn Publication date: 1856 Publisher: Charleston, S. C. : Wm. R. Babcock Number of Pages: 1148

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893. cn
Publication date: 1856
Publisher: Charleston, S. C. : Wm. R. Babcock
Number of Pages: 1148