USA > Virginia > City of Norfolk > City of Norfolk > History of Norfolk County, Virginia and representative citizens, V.1 > Part 25
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
162
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
verted eyes only the writhing horror of her own brow; hears only the hiss, and shrinks from the kiss of her serpent locks, gazing into no living eves but those of her own damnable strands. The lake of the Dismal Swamp is a victim waiting for deliverance. Release her and she is no longer Medusa; the snake lair will give place to bands of gold and light; the region contaminated by her oppression will re- joice and blossom like a garden."
O'Reilly, who made a canoeing tour through the Dismal Swamp. wrote as follows to a friend, the letter being published in the Boston Herald :
IN THE DISMAL SWAMP.
Wednesday Morning. May 16, 1888.
Dear Ned: I write this from near the heart of the Dismal Swamp, and send it by an obliging canal man to Norfolk.
This place is wonderful and beautiful. It is a desolate land crying for attention and reclamation.
The story of the Dismal Swamp is a tragedy of nature and a disgrace to civilization.
Mr. Moseley and I have had twenty-four hours of continued amazement and enjoyment.
This is the most defamed land on the earth. The Dismal Swamp is the greatest sanitarium on the Amer- ican continent
In two hours-we start for the lake, at the very centre where they dug for the lady
"A grave too cold and damp. For a heart so warm and true. And all night long by her firefly lamp She paddles her light canoe."
Faithfully yours, JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.
Last night we stopped at Mr. Wallace's, in the Dis- mal Swamp,-one of the largest and most beautiful farms in America. Last winter he killed on his farm 30 bears.
O'Reilly sent the following telegrams to some of his Boston friends :
"The most wonderful and beautiful sheet of water on the continent."
"This message is sent to Suffolk by canal-chance- boatman."
"The greatest fishing I have ever seen. Mr. Mose- ley shot a bald-headed eagle last night-a splendid bird." "Every hour unfolds new beauties and interesting sights."
JUNIPER WATER.
Have you ever tasted juniper water? It is nature's own remedy for kidney and other troubles of the human system. It is found in unlimited quantities in the recesses of the great Dismal Swamp, and the Disinal Swamp Canal and Lake Drummond are bodies of juniper water. Its medicinal virtues come from the vast quantity of juniper roots and juniper berries that have been soaking for ages in the recesses of the great Dismal Swamp. This water is of a light brown color, pleasant to the taste and keeps for years.
Its virtues were known long ago to the toilers of the sea and for more than a hundred years it has been in much demand for "ship's use" on account of its health-giving and long- keeping qualities.
The juniper water is here in immense quantities and fortunes are awaiting the men who will put it on the market and ship it all over the world. Capital and enterprise have long overlooked this wealth given us so prod- igally by nature, but the day will probably come when our juniper water will take its rightful place among the great medicinal waters of the world.
The excavations for the canal though the swamp showed varied material, but it consisted chiefly of hard clay mixed with sand. The deepest excavation extended to a depth of 171/2 feet below the normal surface of the water. It is interesting to note that at this depth a large number of fossils and oyster shells, together with coral and other calca- recus matter, were brought up by the dredges. "The specimens belong to a deposit of the Miocene age, and include ovster shells weigh- ing as much as five pounds apiece and fully 12 inches in length." There are many very productive farms on the peninsulas in the Dis- mal Swamp, but perhaps the finest is the Dover farm, which is almost a square block, em- bracing a thousand acres of cleared land and reaching nearer the lake than any other culti- vated land. The agricultural resources of the
.
163
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
Dismal Swamp are just beginning to be ap- preciated. The chapter is concluded with the following interesting article on the Dismal Swamp, by Nathaniel Southgate Shaler. taken from the tenth annual report of the United . States Geological Survey :
GEOLOGY.
The Dismal Swamp is the northernmost part of the characteristic swamp country which borders the southern Atlantic Coast. It belongs altogether to that group of inun- dated lands where the lack of drainage is due to an original deficiency of slope, combined with the flow-retarding influence of vegeta- tion on the movement of water from the land.
-Although swamps of a similar character are imperfectly developed in the region north of the Potomac. they do not take on a con- spicuous aspect until we pass southward of that stream; and this for the reason that the surface of the country north of it is consider- ably higher than in Southern Virginia and the Carolinas and has developed a stronger topog- raphy. The stream's are sufficiently incised to permit almost everywhere the ready drainage of the water despite the obstructing effect of vegetation. Moreover. in the region north of the Potomac the ordinary cane and. other plants which obstruct drainage make but a scanty growth.
The principal determining cause which has led to the formation of the Dismal Swamp is found in the character of the surface on which the marsh accumulation rests. The whole of this coast from New York southward has the form of an ancient sea-bottom more or less modified by river action, the measure of the modification being determined by the average height to which the sea-floor has been elevated above the level of the ocean and the steepness of the slope toward the sea. In New Jersey the plain is tolerably elevated and the slope from the interior toward the shore is steep enough to insure a swift discharge of the wa- ter. In Northern Virginia the height of the
plain is somewhat reduced and the slope pro- portionately diminished. From the James River southward the elevation of the plain at equal distances from the shore is still further lowered, the incisive action of the streams hav- ing yet further reduced it, leaving parts of the surface m the form originally belonging to the sea-bottom. In this condition the surface for a considerable distance from the coast rises at an average rate of about 18 inches to the mile. It is not a perfect inclined plane, for it is cast into slight elevations and depressions in a manner that reminds one of the ocean after a time of great storm, when the waves have fallen to a height of two or three feet, re- taining at the same time their original hori- zontal amplitude. Within the limits of a square mile the variations of the surface of this inclined plane amount to not more than two or three feet. There is no distinct order in the elevations, but in general their major axis seem parallel to the existing and former shore lines.
Turning to the field in which the Dismal Swamp lies, we find that on the west, in the Dismal Swamp district, this billowy plain is sharply bounded by an escarpment formed by the sea when the surface of the continent was about 28 feet below its present level. This old sea-bench. to which I shall give the name of the Nansemond shore-line, extends from near Suffolk, Virginia, where it is rather ob- scurely indicated, having been somewhat effaced by erosion, southward with extreme distinctness of front to Albemarle Sound.
The eastern boundary of the swamp dis- trict is determined by certain low elevations, apparently dune-like in their nature, which lie in the county of Princess Anne, east of the railway extending from Norfolk to Elizabeth City.' This latter system of elevations, which attain a height of only a few feet, serve in a measure to retain the swamp waters npon the surfaces on which they lie. They are, how- ever. of relatively small importance compared with the effect produced by the vegetation of this district. Although a large part of the
164
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
area occupied by the swamps of this section of the shore is without distinct marks of sub- aerial erosion, the surface is considerably divided into the region next the sea by the curious, fiord-like indentations which char- acterize the whole of our southern coast, but- which are more marked in Virginia than else- where. These indentations extend for some distance into the inundated areas, where they terminate rather abruptly within the wide field of swamp deposits. These streams are deeper in most instances than the open waters of the great bays into which they discharge. Thus, in Albemarle Sound the water is in most cases not half as deep as it is where the branches of the sound penetrate into the swamp district.
It is difficult to obtain any satisfactory in- formation concerning the beds below the level of this district for the reason that the unac- cented topography fails to reveal good natural sections and the artificial cuttings, such as wells and ditches. extend only to a trifling depth. On the northern border of the swamp deposits composed of stratified sand. contain- ing occasional beds of shells, are exhibited from point to point. The following species determined by Dr. W. H. Dall. paleontologist of the United States Geological Survey, indi- cate in a general manner that the beds are of Pliccene age. Of the 29 species which appear in my collection. a list of which is given be- low. 24, according to Dr. Dall, belong to liv- ing forms. and five are extinct. The extinct species are found in the so-called Pliocene of Florida and South Carolina and Virginia. There can be no question that the deposit is of preglacial age.
LIST OF SPECIES FOUND IN BEDS EXPOSED BY A ROAD-CUTTING NEAR THE JERICHO CANAL, TWO MILES EAST OF SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA.
Crepidula. convexa. Say. Turritella apicalis. Hp. (var.) Scalaria clathiratula. Adams. Eulima sp. Turbonilla interrupta. Totten. Liomesus Stimp-oni, Dall. Anachis avara, Say. Ethalia sp. fragm.
Cadulus carolinensis, Bush.
Ostrea virginica, Gmel. Pecten eboretts, Conr.
Arca incile, Conr. Cardium islandicum, Lin.
Crassatella undulata, Say.
Eriphyla lunata, Conr. Mactra congesta, Cour.
Abra aqualis, Say. Tellina tenta, Say.
Tellina modesta. Verrill.
Lucina crenulata, Conr.
Gouldia cerina, Ad. Callista convexa, Say. Pecten exasperatus, Sby.
Leda acuta, Conr.
Yoldia limatula. Say. Nucula tenuis, Mtg. Chione albida, Gmel.
Dosinia elegans, Conr.
Balanus sp.
Traces of this same deposit occur for a few miles south of Suffolk and I suspect the exist- ence of similar beds near Elizabeth City. From certain comminuted fragments taken from the bottom of the main Dismal Swamp Canal, it seems to me not improbable that the beds were touched at several points in making that excavation. I am, therefore, disposed to believe that the foundation rocks beneath the swamp district consist mainly of the beds indi- cated by the foregoing list of fossils.
It is evident that the strata of Pliocene age which underlie the swamp were accumulated in shallow but quiet water. This is shown by the character of the species as well as by the fact that many of them are delicate forms. vet have suffered no wear from the action of currents. The deposit in which these fossils occur has apparently suffered no other dislo- . cation than that which attended its elevation above the ocean, which has brought it to a height of about 35 feet above the present sea- level. As the species are of a littoral nature. we may assume that the total elevation re- quired to bring them to their present position may not have exceeded 100 feet. It may liave been somewhat less. It is evident, however, that the surface of these beds was for a time at a higher level than that to which they now attain, as is shown by the fact that they are deeply incised by streams which have created
4
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
165
a tolerably accented topography, the elevations of which have been obscured by subsequent accumulations.
This irregular form of the surface of the Pliocene strata is only proved for the region about Suffolk. Faint traces of the same series of beds at other points lead me, however. to the conclusion that it is probably character- istic of the whole field. The character of the surface must have been given to the Pliocene beds at a time when they were more elevated above the sea than they are at present. After the erosion of this surface came the subsidence which formed the terrace in which the Nanse- mond bench is excavated, which lies consider- ably above the level of the Dismal Swamp. This requires a subsidence of more than 50 feet after the Pliocene deposits were carved by streams. The bench on which the Dismal Swamp deposits lie was afterward formed dur- ing another period of elevation when the sea lay at about 30 feet above its present level. The sands worn from the escarpment which I have termed the Nansemond bench were dis- tributed over the new sea-floor in such fashion as to level off the inequalities brought about by subaerial or marine erosion.
The true measure of the inequalities which characterize the bed-rock surface of this dis- trict is not readily apprehended by an inspec- tion of the area within the field of the swampy districts; the peaty accumulations have un- questionably done much to destroy such topog- graphy as may have existed in the region. Even on the higher level of the upper Nanse- mond bench, which foris the sunnuit of the old Nansemond shore, bounding the western mar- gin of the main Dismal Swamp, there are numerous original hollows now filled in with peaty matter of a consolidated sort on which ordinary forest trees have found a lodgment. I am informed by farmers that they frequently discover places in these fields which contain a peaty deposit many feet in depth. In some cases the accumulation is quite profound. per- mitting a sharp stick to be passed down to the depth of eight or ten feet. There may thus be
----
1
within the limits of the Dismal Swamp a num- ber of stream valleys which have been so en- cumbered by the accumulation of vegetable matter that they are no longer evident to the eye. .
TOPOGRAPHY.
In its original condition, before this region had been affected by tillage, the area of iu- undated- lands in the Dismal Swamp district was considerably greater than it is at the pres- ent time. If we include in the swamp lands in this part of Virginia and North Carolina fields which have been won to the plow by ditching, the original area of the morass was perhaps one-third greater than at the present time. Near to its northern, eastern and south- ern boundaries the wetter parts of the swamp passed outwardly into fields where the inun- dations were less considerable. and in conse- quence the surface less incumbered by peaty matter. It appears tolerably evident that when the subjugation of the land began the swamp was extending its margin, taking possession of the lower land. the swales between the bil- lowy elevations of the plain, and climbing up the gentle elevations between these low places. The process of artificial drainage went on rap- idly until the drainage power of the small canals, dug to unwater the surface, was lost as they were extended into the swamp. The greater portion of this peripheral drainage work was finished before the middle of the present century. The lands won from the margin of the morass and from swamps more or less distinctly connected with the main area. probably amounted to somewhere near 700 square miles ; the area of swamp lands remain- ing between the waters of Albemarle Sound and those of the James River probably amount to not far from 1.500 square miles. In the last century the Dismal Swamp Canal Company constructed a canal in a general north and south direction from the waters of James River. at Deep Creek, to the waters of Albemarle Sound, near, South Wills, North Carolina.
166
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
This canal was intended to afford a line of ship communication suited to the vessels of that age between the bay district of North Carolina and that of the Chesapeake. It was expected to furnish a passage for merchant- men and war vessels between these great sys- tems of inland waters, and this expectation was realized. It was designed, morcover, to provide a means of access to the vast and then untouched forests of juniper, cypress and pine which abounded in this field. . This important waterway was one of the most considerable hydraulic works which had been undertaken in that century.
---
For the time when it was executed the Dis- mal Swamp Canal was a costly and well-con- trived work. For three-quarters of a century or more it was an important means of transit between Albemarle Sound and Chesapeake Bay. Of late its use for this purpose has been in the main superseded by another canal nearer the coast.
The effect arising from its construction through the swamp upon the general condition of the region has evidently been considerable. Its course is about at right angles to the gen- eral slope of the country. The first canal was originally designed to afford 12 feet of water and had a width of 50 feet or more; the amount of excavated material heaped upon the banks was considerable. As no pains were taken to provide channels of escape through the barrier for the swamp water coming from the west, the western dike of the canal serves to retain the waters in all that region, and at the same time to fend these waters from the region east of the excavation. The water has, no doubt, been retained in the part of the swamp lying west of the canal in order to keep the several ditches which feed the canal or which provide the ways of floating its tim- ber from the recesses to the navigable depth. By a system of locks which have a total lift of 20 feet the water in the canal is maintained at a little higher level than it had before the canal was constructed.
natural drainage of swamp has been that the western section of the morass is probably. rather wetter than it was before the barrier was constructed, while the section to the east of the canal, deprived of the water which originally flowed into it, has become partially desiccated. In the section to the west of the canal, within the limits of the morass. there are probably no areas which in an ordinary season are sufficiently dry to permit tillage, though in periods of peculiar drought a large part of the surface may attain this measure of desiccation. In the section to the east of the canal the higher parts of the ground at many places are in an ordinary summer season so dry that they might be tilled without incon- venience from water. In that part of its area considerable portions of the surface have been improved by ditching, the swamp covering re- maining only in the lower grounds adjacent to the sluggish streams which traverse the district. Something of this relative difference in the measure of the desiccation has doubt- less come about in consequence of the barrier imposed by the embankments of the Dismal Swamp Canal.
An interesting feature in the topography of the Dismal Swamp is the presence of a con- siderable lake occupying a tolerably centrai position in the part of the morass which lies to the west of the main canal. The basin it occupies is everywhere shallow: probably in its natural state the maximun depth was not over six feet. At first I purposed to make careful study of the depth and form of the basin, but a little observation showed me that the depth of water had been much affected by retaining dams. The measure of the effect produced by the obstructions to natural drain- age not being determinable, it did not seem worth while to make a careful study of the basin.
There is a tradition, which appears in its origin mythical, to the effect that this basin was formed by fires which occurred in some remote time. Intelligent local observers, in
The result of this interference with the | proof of this hypothe is, note the fact that,
.
-
Lr
THE MANSION HOUSE ON THE PLANTATION OF COL. WILLIAM CRAFORD, THE FOUNDER OF PORTSMOUTH, LOCATED AT SWIMMING POINT.
LAKE DRUMMOND IN THE DISMAL SWAMP.
169
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
during dry seasons, patches of the swamp a few acres in extent have been seen to burn to such a depth as to form a place for the accumu- lation of permanent water. Not only is proof wanting to justify the supposition that Lake Drummond was thus formed, but there are good reasons why its origin must be other- wise explained. It is difficult to believe that in the course of a single dry season a forest fire could burn over an area as large as is occu- pied by this lake, or that the conflagration could so completely have removed the whole deposit of peaty matter. Moreover, even in the dryest season, it appears to be the only peripheral portions of the swamp which become suffici- ently desiccated to burn to any depth, this cen- tral portion remaining wet at any depth be- neath the surface even in the periods of great- est droughts.
If Lake Drummond were an unparalleled feature of our swamp areas, it might be reason- able to explain its origin by the hypothesis of an extensive forest fire in a period of great drought, but there are numerous instances in which similar lakes occur in the central por- tion of our greater swamp areas. I have been, therefore, leld to the conclusion that this cen- tral lake of the Dismal Swamp was formed in : basins. the following way, viz: The gently sloping platform on which the Dismal Swamp rests evidently emerged from the sea in a somewhat rapid manner; the absence of any marine bench on its surface appears to be conclusive evidence of this. At first we may assume that the sterile character of the soil would have pre- vented the simultaneous growth of forest trees and other plants of a higher order over the greater part of the plain. The growth of such plants would naturally have begun on the periphery of the district. either on the western border, where the soil had already been formed. . or next to the sea. where the humidity would favor the growth of plants even on barren sands. I conceive that begin . ning on the margin the forest would advance toward the center of the field. and the fallen trees and other entanglements would serve to
: form an obstruction to the outflow of the water, and thus to retain the central part of the area in the condition of a shallow lake. The area of this basin would be gradually narrowed by the growth of the cypresses, black gums and other trees which can maintain their roots beneath the level of permanent water. Not- withstanding the fact that the level of the water of Lake Drummond has been raised since the construction of the Dismal Swamp Canal, the forest is still slowly gaining upon the area of the lake at several points. Leaves and drifted wood accumulate next the shore and shallow the basin so that gradually trees can find a foothold in what was recently open water.
If this view be correct, Lake Drummond must be considered as belonging to the type of peat-inclosed lakes which are so common in the small morasses of the glaciated area. To the same group we shall probably have to refer the numerous other lakes in the region of swamps south of Albemarle Sound. Lake Phelps, Pingo Lake, Mattamuskeet Lake. Alli- gator Lake and other basins on the more southern part of North Carolina probably be- long to the same type of swamp-inclosed
VEGETATION. -
Although the physical conditions of the Dismal Swamp district are extremely uniform, the vegetation exhibits a considerable diversity in its distribution in different parts of the area. The higher land, lying not more than three feet above the lowest adjacent levels, is gener- ally occupied by a growth of pines, altogether composed of the common species of southern pine so far as observed. These pine-clad ele- vations often rise so little above the surface of the swamp that the eye fails to detect the difference in level. Yet the lessened moisture due to the perceptible elevation is sufficient to give over the field to the possession of conifer- ous trees. The lower levels of the swamp are mainly occupied by three species of trees,
10
170
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY
which are greatly, though somewhat diversely, tolerant of water about their roots. These are the taxodium or bald cypress, the juniper and the black gum. The juniper occupies areas which are commonly somewhat desiccated through the dry season. The tupulo, or gum. and the cypress. can inhabit areas which are in most cases water-covered even during the growing season. The cypress is the most tol- . erant of water of these species, often attaining its best development in places where summer droughts at no time remove the water far from the surface of their roots.
1
The peculiar tolerance of these two species to water about their bases -- a feature which is somewhat sharply contrasted with the other forest trees of this country-is probably to be explained by the fact that in both forms we have provisions by which the roots are enabled . the slight prominences just mentioned.
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.