USA > Virginia > Loudoun County > Loudoun County > History and comprehensive description of Loudoun County, Virginia > Part 11
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"1779, July: John Alexander, {18.
"1779, August: Jacob Tracey, {20 for nursing and burying Sophia Harris, the wife of a continental soldier.
"1779, Oct. Pierce Bayly, Gent, {10. Simon Triplett, {43, 9s. 10d. Robert Jamison, {30. Jonathan Davis, {32 108. Farling Ball, {61 10s. 6d. Wmn. Douglass, Gent, £51 15s.
"1779, John Orr, Gent, £93 8s. 3d. Leven Powell, Gent, {69 10s. Wm. Stanhope, Gent, {4 4s.
"1780, Jan. : Jonathan Davis, Gent, £50. Wm. Stanhope, Gent, {4 4s.
"1780, February: Thomas George, {206. Israel Thompson, £119 2s. George Emrey, £46 19s.
"1780, March: Hardage Lane, Gent, {83 8s.
"1780, April: Thomas George, {15. Farling Ball, Gent, £99 6s. Wm. Douglass, Gent, {69 10s.
" 1780, June: John Tyler, Gent, {40. Pierce Bayly, Gent, {20.
" 1780, August: John Orr, Gent, £500. Wm. Douglass, Gent, {44.
" 1780, November: Thomas George, {221. Farling Ball, £50. George Tyler, Gent, {8. George Emrey, Gent, {163 12s.
" 1781, March: John Orr, Gent, {431 16s. Wm. Cavaus, {120.
" 1782, Feb .: John Orr, as per acct., for furnishing Mary Butler, a soldier's wife, with necessaries."
45-10
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HISTORY OF
Close of the Struggle.
On the 25th of November, 1783, the British army evacuated New York. The independence of the United States had been acknowledged by the British Government and the war was ended. During the following month most of the Continental troops from Loudoun returned to their homes, many of them to spend the remainder of their days in hard-earned peace.
WAR OF 1812.
The Compelling Cause.
Following the Revolution, a number of new towns sprang into being, educational institutions multiplied, the population of the County steadily increased, and the people were indus- trious, enterprising, and happy.
A second difficulty, however, soon interrupted this tran- quillity, and the quarrel between the two governments was referred to the arbitrament of the War of 1812, fought by the United States against England for maritime independence.
The honor of the new republic was assailed on the high seas by the insistence of Great Britain of a right to search American vessels for fugitive British subjects. A doctrine which America regarded as established by the Revolution, to wit, that a citizen of a foreign country could voluntarily surrender his native citizenship and swear allegiance to another government, was disputed by Great Britain, who held that "once an Englishman was to be an Englishman always." Upon this ground American vessels were held up on the ocean by English men-of-war and searched to such an extent that within the eight years of forbearance over 6,000 men were taken from the ships of the United States and forced into the British navy.
This audacious conduct thoroughly aroused, the indignation of the American people, in which resentment it is supposed the people of Loudoun warmly concurred. Seeing that blood- shed was necessary in order to maintain the national honor,
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and spurred by urgent petitions, President Madison recom- inended to Congress a declaration of war, which was accord- ingly promulgated June 18, 1812.
State Archives at Leesburg.
When the British were on their way from Bladensburg to Washington, in August, 1814, James Monroe, then Secretary of State, had been for several days with General Winder, recon- noitering the enemy, and watching the movements of both armies. Knowing the weakness of the American forces, he believed Washington to be in great peril. He dispatched a letter to President Madison, advising the removal of the of- ficial records. Stephen Pleasanton, then a clerk in the State Department, made immediate preparation for the removal of the books and papers in that department. He had linen bags hastily made and placed in them the State archives, which were then loaded in wagons and hauled across the chain bridge, over the Potomac, to the grist mill of Edgar Patter- son, two miles above Georgetown. Not feeling sure of their safety there, he had them reloaded on wagons and con- veyed to Leesburg, where they were placed in an unoccupied building, ; the key of which was given to a recently ordained clergyman, named Littlejohn. There they remained until the last hostile Briton had reached Baltimore, when they were carefully hauled back to Washington .¿ Thus we saved the precious documents of the revolutionary war, as well as our state archives, and thus does Leesburg boast, with abstract truthfulness, that for a little more than two weeks it was the Capital of the United States.
*Anonymous.
tPerhaps the most precious of these documents was the Declaration of Independence, which it has been asserted, was deposited here.
įMrs. A. H. Throckmorton, in an interesting narrative to which allu- sion is made elsewhere in this volume, differs with the authority here quoted as to the disposition of these important papers. Shesays: "For one night they remained in the court-house here (Leesburg) and were then carried several miles out in the country to the estate of "Rockeby," now owned by Mr. H. B. Nalle, and securely locked within the old vault and remained out of reach of the enemy for two weeks."
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THE MASON-MCCARTY DUEL.
The duel, February 6, 1819, between Armistead T. Mason and John M. McCarty, both residents of Loudoun County, was the second "affair of honor" to be settled on the now famous field of Bladensburg. They were cousins, who became enemies during Mason's brief term in the United States Senate. Mason, known as "The Chief of Selma," was a graduate of William and Mary College and the commander of a cavalry regiment* in the war of 1812. He later became brigadier general of the Virginia militia. He married and took up his residence at Selma plantation, four miles north of Leesburg. Wishing to make it possible for the Quakers of Loudoun to contribute their share toward the support of the army, Mason introduced in the Senate a bill to permit, in case of draft, the furnishing of substitutes on payment of $500 each. For this McCarty branded him a coward, and thence sprung a succession of bitter quarrels, the real basis of which was a difference of political opinions. The details of both sides of the feud were published weekly in the Leesburg "Genius of Liberty," and later were issued in pamphlet forni as campaign material.
Mason's side was defeated. He earnestly wished to avoid a duel, but McCarty continued to provoke him, with the hope of compelling him to fight. This he finally decided to do. He left his home without revealing his intentions and on reaching Washington made his final preparations with great deliberation. "The Chief of Selma" fell February 6, 1819, his heart pierced by the ball of his antagonist. He was but 32 years of age. His body was borne to Leesburg, where it was buried in the Episcopal churchyard, with an imposing Masonic ritual. The grief of his slaves was painful to witness. His only child became an officer in the United States army, and was mortally wounded in the battle of Cerro Gordo.
*Many of the Germans of Loudoun served in this regiment which participated in the Battle of Baltimore.
ATA
LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA.
HOME OF PRESIDENT MONROE.
"Oak Hill," the country seat of James Monroe, ex-Presi- dent of the United States and author of the world-famed Monroe Doctrine, is situated near Aldie, in Loudoun County, on the turnpike running south from Leesburg to Aldie, about nine miles from the former and three from the latter place.
The main building, with an imposing Grecian façade, was planned by Monroe while in the presidential chair, and its con- struction superintended by William Benton, an Englishman, who served him in the triple capacity of steward, counselor, and friend. The dimensions are about 50 by 90 feet; it is built of brick in a most substantial manner, and handsomely finished ; has three stories (including basement), a wide portico fronting south, with massive Doric columns thirty feet in height, and is surrounded by a grove of magnificent oaks, locusts, and poplars, covering several acres. It has been said that prior to his inauguration he occupied a wooden dwelling of humble pretensions standing within a stone's throw of its palatial progeny. Monroe's term of office expired March 4, 1825, and soon after the inauguration of his successor he re- tired to "Oak Hill," which immediately became, like Monti- cello and Montpelier, although to a lesser degree, a center of social and political pilgrimages.
The financial affairs of its owner were seriously embarrassed from the first, and he labored in vain to obtain justice from the country he had served so long and so well, at heavy pecuniary cost and loss. His old friend, Lafayette, now once more prosperous, sent an offer of assistance with a delicacy and generosity which did him honor. A little was done at last by Congress, but not enough, and the day came when "Oak Hill " was offered for sale.
While residing here, the post of regent of the University of Virginia, which was instituted in 1826, was accepted by Mr. Monroe as not inconsistent with his view of the entire retire- ment from public life becoming an ex-President. Associated with him in the discharge of his duties as regent, as in so
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many long years of patriotic toil, were Jefferson and Madison.
When the State of Virginia called a convention for therevision of her constitution, Mr. Monroe consented to become a mem- ber. He took an active interest in the affairs of his own neighborhood, discharging the duties of a local magistrate.
"Mrs. Monroe died at " Oak Hill" on September 23d, 1830, ..! and after her departure the old man found his lonely farm life insupportable. He had previously visited much with his daughters, and he now went to live with Mrs. Gouverneur, in New York. He wrote to Mr. Madison, April 11, 1831:
" It is very distressing to me to sell my property in Lou- doun, for besides parting with all I have in the State, I indulged a hope, if I could retain it, that I might be able occasionally to visit it, and meet my friends, or many of them, there. But ill health and advanced years prescribe a course which we must pursue.
GENERAL LAFAYETTE'S VISIT .*
The greatest social event in the history of Leesburg was the visit of General Lafayette, August 9, 1825. The great Frenchman, accompanied by President John Quincy Adams, had visited ex-President Monroe at "Oak Hill," from which place the august procession, headed by two troops of cavalry, made the eleven mile journey to Leesburg. Lafayette, the President, the ex-President and the chairman of the Town Council, rode in the first carriage, drawn by four white horses. On reaching Leesburg, they were greeted by six companies of militia, among them a few old soldiers of the Revolution. At the flring of the national salute, Lafayette descended from his carriage and shook hands with those veterans and heroes.
*This account of General Lafayette's visit, save for a few minor altera- tions and one or two supplementary facts, is from the pen of Mrs. A. H. Throckmorton, of this County, having formed part of an historical sketch of Leesburg contributed by her to the old Richmond Times, July 19, 1902.
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LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA.
Standing on his front porch, Dr. McCabe, the town's Mayor, delivered an address of welcome to which Lafayette responded. Across the street at Osborne's Hotel* a reception was tendered him, after which the distinguished visitor was driven through the principal streets of the town. On reach- ing the court-house square, then, as now, a large inclosure shaded by giant trees, Lafayette, ou alighting from the coach, kissed a tiny maiden upheld in the arms of her negro nurse. The little girl was Mrs. Wildman, who after reaching a venerable age departed this life in the summer of 1901.
Lafayette passed up an avenue formed on the right by boys and girls and the young ladies of Leesburg Female Academy, and on the left by the youths of the Leesburg Institute. The former wore white, with blue sashes, and their heads were tastefully adorned with evergreens. They held sprigs of laurel with which they strewed the great guest's pathway. The lads wore red sashes and white and black cockades.
One of them pronounced an address of welcome, and was amply rewarded by a grasp of the hero's hand. As Lafayette ascended the portico of the court-house a little girl stepped. forward, holding a wreath of laurel, and said:
Hail Patriot, Statesman, Hero, Sage! Hail Freedom's friend, hail Gallia's son, Whose laurels greener grow in age, Plucked by the side of Washington.
Hail, champion in a holy cause, When hostile bands our shores beset; Whose valor made the oppressor pause, Hail, holy warrior, Lafayette?
She, too, was honored by a grasp of Lafayette's hand as well as a kiss. After an oration by Ludwell Lee, the distin- guished party returned to the hotel where they were enter- tained by a delegation of the ladies of the village, while an- other delegation superintended the spreading of a banquet on court-house square. Two hundred persons participated in
*A fine stone mansion, still standing, and the residence of the late Colonel John H. Alexander, during his lifetime one of the foremost lawyers of the State.
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HISTORY OF
this banquet. The numerous toasts were remarkable for lofti- ness of thought and elegance of diction. President Adams launched the following sentiment:
"The living records of the war of Independence like the prophetic books of the Sibyl, increasing in value as they diminish in numbers."
Lafayette toasted General Bolivar, "who has felt true patriotism, and understood true glory." Another toast was "To the memory of Washington, fresh as the passing moment, lasting as eternity."
It is estimated that 10,000 persons witnessed the festivities. Lafayette, after a brief sojourn at the plantation of Ludwell Lee, departed for a visit to Madison at "Montpelier," and Jefferson, at "Monticello."
MEXICAN WAR.
Scarcely a generation had passed, during which the whole country passed through several years of financial distress, when the United States became involved in a brief successful war with Mexico, caused chiefly by the resistance of that country to the "annexation of Texas." But it is not within the scope of this sketch to follow the history of that foreign struggle. It is sufficient to say that the people of Loudoun favored most heartily the annexation of Texas, and responded, indirectly of course, to the small quota of men and money required by the Government.
The entire United States force employed in the invasion of Mexico was composed of 26,690 regulars and 56,926 volun- teers, not including those serving in the navy. The losses of men by death from disease and wounds were about 11,000, and the number killed in battle, about 1,500. The cost in money amounted to $150,000,000. The gain consisted of the cession of extensive territory stretching to the Pacific Ocean, several thousand miles of valuable sea coast and an immense bound of the United States into international power. In the accomplishment of this general result Loudoun sent many of her sturdiest sons, who served from the State in various bodies throughout the war.
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SECESSION AND CIVIL WAR.
Loudoun County in the Secession Movement.
The election of Lincoln and attendant success of the Republican party revived the determination of the South to secede from the Union.
Just at this juncture the prosperity of Loudoun was unpre- cedented, and the threatened dissolution was a serious menace to her progress. General trade had recently been greatly stimulated, and the resources of the County were being daily multiplied.
Following the resolute lead of the other southern States, the legislature of Virginia, on January 14, 1861, authorized a State convention to consider the advisability of secession, and the members elected in pursuance thereof met in the capitol, at Richmond, at 12 o'clock m., on Wednesday, the 13th day of the February following. They constituted what was perhaps the ablest body of men that ever assembled in the State, and the friends and foes of secession were alike repre- sented. The delegates from Loudoun were John Janney and John A. Carter, both of whom had represented her in the con- stitutional convention of 1850,51.
Roll call was followed by the election of a permanent chair- man, Mr. Janney, of Loudoun, receiving a majority of the whole number of votes cast. Two of the members were then designated a committee to wait upon the president of the con- vention to inform him of his election and conduct him to his seat. Whereupon he addressed the convention as follows :*
"Gentlemen of the Convention: I tender you my sincere and cordial thanks for the honor you have bestowed upon me by calling me to pre- side over the deliberations of the most important convention that has assembled in this State since the year 1776.
* The unabridged publication in this work of Mr. Janney's speech of acceptance has seemed specially appropriate. It is the plea of a Loudoun man for conservative action boldly put forth at a time when men's pas- sions were inflamed almost beyond human credulity, and while he him- self was the presiding officer of a body which had met to decide the destiny of the Old Dominion and whose deliberations were to be watched with breathless interest by the people of both hemispheres.
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"I am without experience in the performance of the duties to which you have assigned me, with but little knowledge of parliamentary law and the rules which are to govern our proceedings. and I have nothing to promise you but fidelity and impartiality. Errors I know I shall commit, but these will be excused by your kindness, and promptly cor- rected by your wisdom.
"Gentlemen, it is now almost seventy-three years since a convention of the people of Virginia was assembled in this hall to ratify the Con- stitution of the United States, one of the chief objects of which was to consolidate, not the Government, but the Union of the States.
"Causes which have passed, and are daily passing, into history, which will set its seal upon them, but which I do not mean to review, have brought the Constitution and the Union into imminent peril, and Virginia has come to the rescue. It is what the whole country ex- pected of her. Her pride as well as her patriotism-her interest as well as her honor, called upon her with an emphasis which she could not disregard, to save the monuments of her own glory. Her honored son who sleeps at Mount Vernon, the political mecca of all future ages, pre- sided over the body which framed the Constitution; and another of her honored sons, whose brow was adorned with a civic wreath which will never fade, and who now reposes in Orange county, was its principal architect, and one of its ablest expounders-and, in the administration of the government, five of her citizens have been elected to the chief magistracy of the Republic.
"It can not be that a Government thus founded and administered can fail, without the hazard of bringing reproach, either upon the wisdom of our fathers, or upon the intelligence, patriotism, and virtue of their descendants. It is not my purpose to indicate the course which this body will probably pursue, or the measures it may be proper to adopt. The opinions of today may all be changed tomorrow. Events are thronging upon us, and we must deal with them as they present themselves.
"Gentlemen, there is a flag which for nearly a century has been borne in triumph through the battle and the breeze, and which now floats over this capitol, on which there is a star representing this ancient Commonwealth, and my earnest prayer, in which I know every member of this body will cordially unite, is that it may remain there forever, provided always that its lustre is untarnished. We demand for our own citizens perfect equality of rights with those of the empire States of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, but we ask for nothing that we will not cheerfully concede to those of Delaware and Rhode Island.
"The amount of responsibility which rests upon this body can not be exaggerated. When my constituents asked me if I would consent to serve them here if elected, I answered in the affirmative, but I did so with fear and trembling. The people of Virginia have, it is true,
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reserved to themselves, in a certain contingency, the right to review our action, but still the measures which we adopt may be fraught with good or evil to the whole country.
"Is it too much to hope that we, and others who are engaged in the work of peace and conciliation, may so solve the problems which now perplex us, as to win back our sisters of the South, who, for what they deem sufficient cause, have wandered from their old orbits? May we not expect that our old sister, Massachusetts, will retrace her steps? Will she not follow the noble example of Rhode Island, the little State with a heart large enough for a whole continent? Will she not, when she remembers who it was who first drew his sword from the scabbard on her own soil at Cambridge, and never finally returned it, until her liberty and independence were achieved, and whence he came, repeal her obnoxious laws, which many of her wisest and best citizens regard as a stain upon her legislative records ?
"Gentlemen, this is no party convention. It is our duty on an occa- sion like this to elevate ourselves into an atmosphere, in which party passion and prejudice can not exist-to conduct all our deliberations with calmness and wisdom, and to maintain, with inflexible firmness, whatever position we may find it necessary to assume."
The proceedings were dignified, solemn, and, at times, even sad. During the entire session good feelings prevailed to a remarkable degree. For these harmonious relations credit is principally due the secessionists. Very often their actions were regarded with suspicion by their opponents who, at such times, pursued a policy of obstruction when nothing was to be gained thereby. But they were given every privilege and shown every consideration.
On April 17, 1861, the convention, in secret session, passed the ordinance of secession by a vote of 88 to 55 on condition that it should be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection at an election to be held the 23d of May for that purpose. Loudoun's delegates voted solidly against the measure.
In the convention opinions varied as to whether peace or war would follow secession. The great majority of the miem- bers, as of the people, believed that peaceful relations would continue. All truly wished for peace. A number expressed themselves as fearing war, but this was when opposing seces- sion. Yet in nearly all the speeches made in the convention
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there seemed to be distinguishable a feeling of fear and dread lest war should follow. However, had war been a certainty secession would not have been delayed or defeated.
There was warm discussion on the question of submitting the ordinance to the people for ratification or rejection. Many, both before and after the passage of the ordinance, favored its reference to the people in the vain ;hope that the measure would in this way be frustrated. They declared that, in a matter of such vital importance, involving the lives and liberties of a whole people, the ordinance should be submitted to them for their discussion, and that secession should be at- tempted only after ratification by a direct vote of the people on that single issue.
Affecting and exciting scenes followed the passage of the ordinance. One by one the strong members of the minority arose and, for the sake of unity at home, surrendered the opinions of a lifetime and forgot the prejudices of years. This was done with no feeling of humiliation. To the last they were treated with distinguished consideration by their opponents.
Shortly after the convention began its deliberations a mass meeting was held in Leesburg, where the secession sentiment was practically unanimous, for the purpose of adopting reso- lutions to be sent to that important body recommending the immediate passage of the ordinance of secession. The citizens were addressed by Col. J. M. Kilgore and others.
'The vote in Loudoun for the ratification or rejection of the ordinance of secession, while not close, was somewhat spirited and marked by slight disturbances at the polls. In practically every precinct outside the German and Quaker settlements a majority vote was cast in favor of secession.
No county in the State eclipsed Loudoun in devotion to the principles on which Virginia's withdrawal from the Union was based, and the courage displayed by her in maintaining these principles made her the acknowledged equal of any community in the Southland.
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Loudoun's Participation in the War.
A discussion in this volume of the great Civil War and its causes has at no time been contemplated, and vain appeals addressed to surviving Confederate soldiers and Government record keepers long ago demonstrated the impracticability of a thorough account of the part borne by Loudoun soldiers in that grand, uneven struggle of 1861-'65. Their exact num- bers even can not be ascertained as the original enlistment records were either lost or destroyed and duplicates never completed.
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