USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > History of Augusta County, Virginia > Part 42
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REV. JAMES WADDELL, D. D.
James Waddell was born in Ulster, Ireland, July, 1739, of Scotch paren- tage. Shortly after this event, his parents emigrated to America, and set- tled, in the Autumn of 1739, in Pennsylvania. Here he remained until 1753, during which period the foundation of a liberal education was laid at the "log college " of a Dr. Finley, at Nottingham. His proficiency in the ancient languages caused him, while yet a lad under fifteen, to be se- lected as a tutor in the school, and afterwards in that of Dr. Robt. Smith. While a member of Dr. Finley's school, he embraced religion, and "a
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constraint was on him to preach the Gospel." When nineteen years of age he left Pennsylvania for South Carolina to open a school, and passing through Virginia, made the acquaintance of Rev. Samuel Davies, of Han- over. They soon became devoted friends, and Waddell abandoned his purpose of going south, and became a teacher in the school of Rev. John Todd, of Louisa, and here commenced the studies preparatory for the sacred ministry. In 1760, he offered himself to Hanover Presbytery as a candidate for the Gospel ministry, then meeting at the Stone church, in Augusta, and was licensed and appointed to preach the Gospel as a candi- date for the holy ministry, January, 1761. His ministerial talents were so remarkable that during this year he received numerous calls, among them one from Brown's meeting-house (Hebron), and another from Jenning's Gap, Augusta. All of these he declined. In June, 1762, he was regularly ordained, and accepted a call from Lancaster and Northumberland coun- ties. Colonel James Gordon, a wealthy and influential merchant, whose daughter he subsequently married, was the principal Presbyterian in the community to which Mr. Waddell now removed, and to which he devoted the most active part of his ministerial life. He, in fact, continued here until 1778, when, on account of ill health and the inroads of the Revolutionary war, he removed to Augusta. There was much persecution of Dissenters in those colonial days, and Mr. W. was assailed from the pulpit and by the press, Rev. William Gisberne, of Richmond county and parish, making himself conspicuous by calling Mr. W., in one of his sermons, "a pickpocket, dark lantern, moonlight preacher and enthusiast," at the same time raising a hue and cry for the arrest of " the new light, instigated by folly, impudence, and the devil, and bringing him to the whipping post " (Foote. p. 373.) Mr. Waddell vindicated himself from these scurrilous attacks in a dignified and truly Christian letter, of date July 21st, 1768, addressed to his calumniator, in which he advised him, above all things, to abstain from bitter invectives and scurrilous language against others, and bidding him farewell, assured him. with grim humor, that in all things wherein he, Mr. Gisberne, thought him his enemy, he, Mr. Waddell, was his friend and most humble servant.
In April, 1774, Mr. Waddell was called to Timber Ridge, which call he declined. In 1778, he removed to his estate of Spring Hill, near Waynes- boro, Augusta, where he resided seven years, acting continuously as min- ister of Tinkling Spring and sometimes at Staunton. During this time he animated the soldiers by his patriotic addresses, urging them to go forth in defence of their native or adopted land. To the forces of Campbell, McDowell and Moffett. assembled at Midway before marching to North Carolina to oppose Lord Cornwallis, he preached stirring sermons on the great principles of the Gospel, and bade them a pastor's affectionate fare- well. In 1785, he returned to his plantation of Belle Grove, in Louisa,
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where he resided until his death, in 1805. He was first buried at Hope- well farm, his former residence, but in 1881 his remains were removed to the memorial church, which bears his name, near Rapidan Station, on the Virginia Midland railroad. His preaching places were Hopewell, near Gordonsville, the D. S. meeting-house, about five miles from Charlottes- ville, at the Brick church, near Orange Courthouse, and occasionally at other points. Here he opened his classical school, in which so many Augusta boys were educated, and which acquired such a deservedly high and extended reputation. The great affliction of Dr. W.'s life was his blindness, caused by cataract. He suffered also from a nervous complaint, which for some years previous to his blindness deprived him of the use of the pen. He was devoted to books, and after his loss of sight, his wife and other members of the family spent hours daily reading to him. His heavy bodily afflictions did not impair his spirits. He was always not only composed, but cheerful, happy and resigned. His powers of conver- sation were extraordinary, and his sermons rather in the style of a conver- sation than declamation. His voice was melodious, his gestures simple and dignified, and his eloquence irresistible. In 1798, he visited Mary- land, and submitted to an operation for cataract. It was successful, and the blessed light of heaven was restored to him for a brief period. The cataract, however, returned, but the good man stood at his post, like the true minister of Christ, and preached Him crucified faithfully "unto death."
The great lawyer and statesman, William Wirt, thus describes Mr. Waddell in the "British Spy." His description immortalizes the writer and his hero :
"It was one Sunday, as I traveled through the county of Orange, that my eye was caught by a cluster of horses tied near a ruinous, old, wooden house, in the forest, not far from the roadside. Having frequently seen such objects before in traveling through these States, I had no difficulty in understanding that this was a place of religious worship
"Devotion should have stopped, to join in the duties of the congregation ; but I must confess, that curiosity to hear the preacher of such a wilderness, was not the least of my motives. On entering, I was struck with the pre- ternatural appearance ; he was a tall and very spare old man ; his head, which was covered with a white linen cap, his shriveled hands, and his voice, were all shaking under the influence of a palsy ; and few minutes ascertained to me that he was perfectly blind.
"The first emotions which touched my breast, were those of mingled pity and veneration. But ah ! how soon were all my feelings changed. The lips of Plato were never more worthy of a prognostic swarm of bees, than were the lips of this holy man! It was a day of the administration of the sacrament ; and his subject of course, was the passion of our Saviour. I had heard the subject handled a thousand times-I had thought it exhaust- ed long ago. Little did I suppose, that in the wild woods of America, I was to meet with a man whose eloquence would give to this topic a new and more sublime pathos, than I had ever before witnessed.
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" As he descended from the pulpit, to distribute the mystic symbols, there was a peculiar, a more than human solemnity in his air and manner which made my blood run cold, and my whole frame shiver.
"He then drew a picture of the sufferings of our Saviour ; his trial before Pilate ; his ascent up Calvary ; his crucifixion, and his death. I knew the whole history ; but never, till then, had I heard the circumstanaes so select- ed, so arranged, so coloured ! It was all new : and I seemed to have heard it for the first time in my life. His enunciation was so deliberate, that his voice trembled on every syllable ; every heart in the assembly trembled in unison. His peculiar phases had that force of description that the original scene appeared to be, at that moment, acting before our eyes. We saw the very faces of the Jews : the staring frightful distortions of malice and rage. We saw the buffet ; my soul kindled with a flame of indignation ; and my hands were involuntarily and convulsively clenched.
"But when he came to touch on the patience, the forgiving meekness of our Saviour ; when he drew, to the life, his blessed eyes streaming in tears to heaven ; his voice breathing to God, a soft and gentle prayer of pardon on his enemies, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do'- the voice of the preacher. which had all along faltered, grew fainter and fainter, until his utterance being entirely obstructed by the force of his feelings, he raised his handkerchief to his eyes, and burst into a loud and irrepressible flood of grief. The effect is inconceivable. The whole house resounded with the mingled groans, and sobs, and shrieks of the congre- gation.
"It was some time before the tumult had subsided, so far as to permit him to proceed. Indeed, judging by the usual, but fallacious standard of my own weakness, I began to be very uneasy for the situation of the preacher. For I could not conceive how he would be able to let his audi- ence down from the height to which he had wound them, without impair- ing the solemnity and dignity of his subject, or perhaps shocking them by the abruptness of the fall. But-no ; the descent was as beautiful and sub- lime, as the elevation had been rapid and enthusiastic.
"The first sentence which broke the awful silence, was a quotation from Rousseau,-'Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ like a God !'
"I despair of giving you any idea of the effect produced by this short sentence, unless you could perfectly conceive the whole manner of the man, as well as the peculiar crisis in the discourse. Never before did I complete- ly understand what Demosthenes meant by laying stress on delivery. You are to bring before you the venerable figure of the preacher ; his blindness constantly recalling to your recollection old Homer, Ossian and Milton, and associating with his performance the melancholy grandeur of their geniuses ; you are to imagine that you hear his slow, solemn, well ac- cented enunciation, his voice of affecting trembling melody ; you are to re- member the pitch of passion and enthusiasm to which the congregation were raised ; and then the few minutes of portentous, death-like silence which reigned throughout the house ; the preacher removing the white hand- kerchief from his aged face, (even yet wet with the recent torrent of his tears,) and slowly stretching forth the palsied hand which holds it, begins the sen- tence,-'Socrates died like a philosopher'-then pausing, raising his other hand, pressing them both clasped together, with warmth and energy to his breast, lifting his 'sightless balls' to heaven, and pouring his whole soul into his tremulous voice-'but Jesus Christ-like a God !' If he had been indeed and in truth an angel of light, the effect could scarcely have been more divine.
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"Whatever I had been able to conceive of the sublimity of Massillon, or the force of Bourdaloue, had fallen far short of the power which I felt from the delivery of this simple sentence. The blood, which just before had rushed in a hurricane upon my brain, and in the violence and agony of my feelings, had held my whole system in suspense, now ran back into my heart, with a sensation which I cannot describe-a kind of shuddering, delicious horror ! The paroxysm of blended piety and indignation to which I had been transported, subsided into the deepest self-abasement, humility and adoration. I had just been lacerated and dissolved by sym- pathy for our Saviour as a fellow-creature; but now, with fear and trem- bling. I adored him as-' a God !'
" If this description give you the impression that this incomparable minister had anything of shallow, theatrical trick in his manner, it does him great injustice. I have never seen, in any orator, such a union of simplicity and majesty. He has not a gesture, an attitude or an accent, to which he does not seem forced, by the sentiment which he is expressing. His mind is too serious, too earnest, too solicitous, and, at the same time, too dignified to stoop to artifice. Although as far removed from ostenta- tion as a man can be, yet it is clear from the train, the style and substance of his thoughts, that he is not only a very polite scholar, but a man of ex- tensive and profound erudition. I was forcibly struck with a short yet beautiful character which he drew of our learned and amiable countryman, Sir Robert Boyle. He spoke of him as if ' his noble mind had, even be- fore death, divested herself of all influence from his frail tabernacle of flesh', and called him, in his peculiarly emphatic and impressive manner, ' a pure intelligence : the link between men and angels.'
" This man has been before my imagination almost ever since. A thou- sand times, as I rode along, I dropped the reins of my bridle, stretched forth my hand. and tried to imitate his quotation from Rousseau ; a thou- sand times I abandoned the attempt in despair, and felt persuaded that his peculiar manner and power arose from an energy of soul, which nature could give, but which no human being could justly copy. In short, he seems to be altogether a being of a former age, or of a totally different nature from the rest of men.
"Guess my surprise when, on my arrival at Richmond, and mentioning the name of this man, I found not one person who had ever before heard of James Waddell ! Is it not strange that such a genius as this, so accom- plished a scholar, so divine an orator, should be permitted to languish and die in obscurity, within eighty miles of the metropolis of Virginia ?"
HON. DANIEL SHEFFEY.
Daniel Sheffey was born at Frederick, Md., in 1770. He was bred a shoemaker in his father's shop. His educational was inconsiderable, but possessing an ardent desire for knowledge, he passed his leisure in read- ing, and became particularly fond of astronomy and mathematics. Arriv- ing at manhood, he travelled on foot, with his " kit" on his back, to Win- chester. From thence he walked through the Valley of Virginia, earning sufficient money by his trade to pay his expenses, until he arrived in Wythe county. Here he commenced his trade as a shomaker. The novelty
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and originality of his character, and the flashes of genius which enlivened his conversation, often compelled his new friends to look on the eccentric youth as a wonder. Becoming popular, he studied law in the office of Alex. Smyth, and was admitted to the Bar, and obtained business. After some years he located in Staunton, where he enjoyed a lucrative practice. He often represented Augusta in the House of Delegates, and in 1811, was elected to Congress. His speech in favor of a renewal of the charter of the first United States Bank was a masterly combination of sound judgment and conclusive facts ; for three hours profound silence reigned, and all were astonished at his talents. He opposed the war of 1812. On one occasion he gave John Randolph, whose bitter sarcasm few could withstand, a severe retort. In commenting on a speech of Mr. Sheffey, he said, " the shoemaker ought not to go beyond his last." In an instant, Mr. Sheffey retorted, " If that gentleman had ever been on the shoe- maker's bench, he never would have left it."
Mr. Sheffey was a plain man ; his accent German, his pronunciation not agreeable, yet the most refined audience always paid him profound atten- tion. He died in Staunton in 1830, leaving no son, but five daughters, one of whom married Rev. E. Boyden, of Albemarle, and they have a large family ; a second, Oliver P. Baldwin, of Cleveland, Ohio, and they have numerous children, a third, Serena, married Hon. John F. Lewis, and they have a number of children-the eldest son of J. F. Lewis, Hon. D. S. Lewis, being United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia in 1882, and a daughter, who married Mr. Davis, of Lewisburg, West Virginia. The remaining daughters of Hon. D. Sheffey are Ann E. and Mrs. Celestine Hanson, widow of the late Capt. Hanson, U. S. A.
HON. JOHN HOWE PEYTON,
was born in Stafford county, Virginia, April 3d, 1778, of colonial descen- dants of the ancient English Peytons of Isleham. After completing his preliminary studies at Fredericksburg, he proceeded, in 1794, to the Uni- versity of New Jersey (Princeton), where he graduated M. A. in 1797 with distinguished honors, taking the lead in all his classes. --- Returning to Virginia, he studied law under Judge Bushrod Washington, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. and was admitted to the Bar in 1799. He immediately obtained a considerable practice, to which he devoted himself with laborious assiduity. In 1806, he was elected the representative for Stafford to the House of Delegates of Vir- ginia, and was regarded from the first as a brilliant debater, and at the end of the session it was conceded that he had no superior in the Common- wealth as a parliamentary orator. Popular in the House, he was more so in society, from his agreeable and instructive conversation and many ac-
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complishments. During the years he continued a member of the General Assembly, he was a leading spirit, and his labors were crowned with uni- form success. He was the author of the celebrated report and resolutions on the subject of a tribunal for settling disputes between the State and Federal judiciary, adopted by the Senate and House, January 26th, 1810. This report and resolutions terminated the matter of a proposal from the State of Pennsylvania to amend the Constitution of the United States. In this document it was declared that " a tribunal is already provided by the Constitution of the United States-viz .: the Supreme Court-more emi- nently qualified, from their habits and duties, from the mode of their se- lection, and from the tenure of their offices to decide the disputes afore- said in an enlightened manner than any other tribunal which could be created " * . and that "the creation of a tribunal such as is proposed by Pennsylvania, so far as we are able to form an idea of it, from the de- scription given in the resolutions of the Legislature of the State, would, in the opinion of the committee, tend rather to invite than prevent collisions between the Federal and State courts."
In 1808-'9, so widespread was his legal reputation, he was appointed public prosecutor for the Augusta district, and removed to Staunton. He now gave his entire energies to the law, and the distinguishing peculiarities of his intellect made themselves more manifest. It was observed that in all of his investigations his philosophical mind rose above the technicalities of the common law to the consideration of general principles, and he was never more eloquent than when expatiating upon those principles which lie at the foundation of all duty and are equally applicable to all its forms. He was not unmindful of other duties which devolve upon the citizen, and in 1812, when war was declared against Great Britain by the United States, was commissioned a major of volun- teers and marched with the Augusta troops to Camp Holly, and served until the end of the war, in 1815, when he resumed the practice, and was elected mayor of the city of Staunton. He was at the same time appointed Deputy United States, or Federal, Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. His success at the Bar, and he was now considered one of the most learned and ablest Virginia lawyers, and the ablest criminal lawyer and public prosecutor Virginia had ever known, did not engross his intel- lectual activity. He contributed to the reviews papers rich in lessons of truth, wisdom and faith; on literary, social and political subjects, and maintained a correspondence with President Jefferson, Gov. Randolph, Chief Justice Marshall, James Monroe, James Madison, John Tyler, and other eminent men of the time.
In 1824, when he had attained the height of his fame, his friends urged him to accept a position on the General Court of Virginia, but as this would have required his removal to another district, he peremptorily de-
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clined. In 1836, he was elected Senator for the Augusta and Rockbridge district, and in 1840, was reelected. In the Senate, he occupied a commanding position of influence, and gave a general support to the Whig party. He opposed the annexation of Texas, a revenue tariff, and a war with England on the question of the Oregon boundary line. In the course of an exhaustive speech on the subject, he said: " In regard to Oregon, while our title to the whole of that vast region, extending west- ward from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and from the 42° of north latitude to 54° 40', was certainly as good as that of any other nation, and probably better, we had ourselves, on repeated occasions, virtually admitted that it was not so complete and unqualified as to preclude all other claims to any portion of it; and that, therefore, a war for Oregon, unless an attempt be made to wrest it forcibly from our possession, would be not only a blunder but a crime."
The annexation of Texas he opposed on many grounds : 1. America was already, in 1840, too vast to be national and too rich to be democratic, and any extension of her borders would only increase the evils ; 2. He objected to a clause in the Constitution of Texas which refused to the Legislature power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves. No one had a deeper or more inextinguishable thirst to promote human liberty and happiness. All his ambition for personal, professional or literary suc- cess was controlled by this master passion of his nature; 3. He was op- posed to the American Government assuming the debt of Texas, and 4. Because he thought annexation would lead to useless wars as to boundary, &c. On the question of the tariff, he held that direct protection was a legitimate object of legislation and he opposed any tariff which gave merely incidental protection. He derived his doctrine on the question both from the justice and necessity of the case, and from the explicit avowal of those who framed the Constitution, and of those who sat in the first Congress under it, that it was designed and desired to lay duties for the encouragement and protection of domestic manufactures, and he would allow no arguments of expediency to induce him to abandon his ground and to fall in with the friends of a tariff for revenue giving inciden- tal protection. This phraseology he denounced as a device of dema- gogues who were willing to conceal or abandon their principles in order to secure success.
He expressed the opinion that the independence of the American conti- nent from the control, political and physical, of European nations, was of paramount importance, and had any European government aided Spain in her efforts to subdue her revolted American colonies, seeking to secure their independence and establish republican governments, he favored armed intervention by the United States. In other words, he was a sup- porter of the " Monroe Doctrine." He opposed nullification and seces-
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sion, favored a United States bank, believing that the success of the thir- teen colonies was due largely to the financial facilities afforded by the " Bank of North America," at Philadelphia, and that two banks, char- tered by the United States Government-the first in 1791 and the second in 1816-enabled America to pay off the Revolutionary debt, and to pass through the war of 1812-1815, and to restore, in 1816, mercantile credit. He advocated popular education, by means of State aid, and a generous system of internal improvements. On all of these questions his speeches were able and eloquent, exhibiting a soundness of view, an extent of re- search, a manliness of principle, an accuracy of learning, and a vigor of style never surpassed in Virginia.
In 1840, he was appointed by President Harrison a visitor to the United States Military Academy at West Point, and wrote the interesting and in- structive report of the Board of Visitors for that year. In 1844, owing to impaired health, arising from a fall from his horse while hunting on Isle- ham, one of his estates in Alleghany, he resigned his seat in the Senate, the office of Public Prosecutor, and all public employments.
In person, he was tall and handsome, with large piercing blue eyes, and a countenance of majestic benevolence. Very attentive to his attire, he dressed usually in blue broad cloth with gold buttons. He enjoyed among his contemporaries the reputation of being a metaphysician, a logician, and a political economist of the first order ; a profound and comprehen- sive lawyer and general scholar ; a man of massive intellect without affec- tation, and of genius without conceit. He kept up a large establishment at Montgomery Hall, and dispensed a generous hospitality, contributed liberally to all public works, was open as day to melting charity, and left at his death, April 3rd, 1847, the reputation of being a perfect gentleman and one of the best of men.
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