USA > Virginia > Washington County > Washington County > History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 > Part 59
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"And be it further enacted, That the purchasers of the lots in the said town, so soon as they shall have built upon and saved the same according to the conditions of their respective deeds and convey- ances, shall be entitled to and have and enjoy all the rights, privi-
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leges and immunities which the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns in this state, not corporated by charter, have, hold and enjoy.
"And be it further enacted, That if the purchasers of any lots sold by the said trustees shall fail to build thereon within the time before limited, the said trustees, or the major part of them, may thereupon enter into such lot, and may either sell the same again, and apply the money towards repairing the streets, or in any other way for the benefit of the said town, or they may appropriate the said lot, or any part of it, to any publick use for the benefit of the inhabitants of said town.
"And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the trustees of the said town, and their successors, for the time being, shall, and they are hereby authorized and empowered by that name to sue and implead either in the court of the said county, or the general Court, any person or persons who shall commit a trespass on the streets of said town, or lands which may have been appro- priated for the use of the inhabitants thereof. All sums of money recovered by virtue hereof shall be applied by the said trustees towards repairing the streets of the said town.
"Provided, always, That nothing herein contained shall be con- strued to affect the legal rights of any person holding lands adjoin- ing the said town."*
BRISTOL, VIRGINIA.
It is with delicacy that we undertake to write of a locality that at the present time is attracting the attention of a considerable part of the business world and that is destined to become a great city.
There has been something in the location of Bristol that attracted the attention of the carly explorers of our country, and afterwards many of our best and noblest citizens.
Some time after Colonel James Patton had obtained from the Governor and Council of Virginia a grant for one hundred and twenty thousand acres of land to be located in this section of Vir- ginia, John Buchanan, a deputy surveyor of Augusta county, with a company of explorers, visited this section of Virginia and from the
*9 Hen. S., p. 55.
Bristol, 1856.
Bristol, 1903.
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Washington County, 1777-1810.
year 1:46 to the year 1250 surveyed made tracts of the choicest land to be found on all the waters of the Indian river .*
Among the lands surveyed by John Buchanan were three tracts in the immediate vicinity of Bristol.
The three tracts in question were surveyed for John Taylor, of Caroline county, Virginia, and are described as follows :
1,946 acres, Shallow Creek, t waters of Indian river.
1,000 acres, Shallow Creek, waters of Indian river.
720 acres, Shallow Creek, waters of Indian river.
The first tract was surveyed on the 22d of February. 1219, and to it was given the name of "Sapling Grove"; the second tract was sur- veved on the 23d of February. 1149, and to it was given the name of "Timber Grove," while the third tract was surveyed on the 19th of March, 1:49, and was given the name of the "Forks."
From this time until about the year 1265, the close of the French- Indian war, no efforts were made to settle the lands in question. so far as can be ascertained.
In the year 1765, or shortly thereafter, Evan Shelby and Isaac Baker left their homes in Maryland+ and came to the Holston coun- try, and soon thereafter purchased the "Sapling Grove" tract of 1,946 acres from John Buchanan, who, by assignment from John Taylor, had become the owner thereof. This tract of land was divided between Shelby and Baker by Robert Preston. Shelby own- ing 973 acres, the western end thereof, and Baker 923 acres, the eastern end thereof.
Soon after the purchase Evan Shelby erected his residence upon the lots now occupied by Dr. John Ensor and John H. Caldwell. in South Bristol, while Isaac Baker erected his residence on Beaver Creek, about 300 yards north of the present residence of A. A. Hob- son and north of the creek. The location of his residence is pointed out at the present time in an old field in which stand a few apple trees.
John Buchanan died before a patent issued for said land and before he had executed a deed for same to Shelby and Baker, and William Preston and William Campbell, the executors of John
*Now Holston.
¡Beaver Creek.
# Now Washington county, Md.
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Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786.
Buchanan, for some reason, did not convey said land during their lifetime.
Colonel William Preston, by his will, appointed John Preston, Francis Preston, John Breckenridge and John Brown his execu- tors, and on the 2d of May, 1796, John Preston, one of the executors of William Preston, executor of John Buchanan, deceased, executed a deed to Isaac Baker, Jr., for the 973 acres of land contracted to his father, Isaac Baker, deceased, and on the 22d of November, 1798, Francis Preston, one of the executors of William Preston, executor of John Buchanan, deceased, conveyed to Isaac Shelby, as executor of Evan Shelby, deceased, the 973 acres of land contracted to Evan Shelby by John Buchanan. The consideration paid by Isaac Baker was 304 pounds, and by Evan Shelby 304 pounds. This 1,946-acre tract of land was patented to William Preston and William Camp- bell, executors of John Buchanan, deceased, on the 2d of November, 1.779.
Evan Shelby and Isaac Baker were intimate friends before their emigration to the Holston, as evidenced by the fact that Shelby had named one of his sons Isaac for Isaac Baker, while Baker had named one of his sons Evan for Evan Shelby. Isaac Shelby won dis- tinction at King's mountain and was several times Governor of Ken- tucky, while Evan Baker took an active part in the cause of the Colonies and served during the Revolutionary war as deputy com- missary on the waters of the Holston.
Isaac Baker by his will devised his moiety in the "Sapling Grove" tract of land to his sons, Isaac Baker, Jr., and William Baker.
Evan Shelby and Isaac Baker, in their lifetime, conveyed small portions of their respective properties to Henry Harkleroad, William Bolton and John O'Brian.
It is worthy of mention at this point that Evan Shelby and Isaac Baker, in their old age, were bereft of their wives, and subsequently remarried-the former, Isabella Elliott; the latter, Mary Head, a young widow-and each was required by his prospective wife to make a settlement upon her before marriage, Evan Shelby con- ferring upon his second wife a considerable interest in his personal property, which was large, and of which a considerable number of slaves formed a part, and in his real estate at "Sapling Grove," while Isaac Baker made a similar provision for his second wife, and in
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Washington County, 1777-ISTO.
addition thereto conveyed to the two sons of Mary Head by her for- mer marriage one hundred acres of land each.
Stirring scenes were often witnessed in the "Sapling Grove" com- munity from the date of the settlement made by Shelby and Baker until the year 1800. The armies of the State and large delegations of Indians were many times visitors to this community.
Colonel Evan Shelby was one of the great men produced by the conditions existing upon the frontiers in those days. He was well educated, patriotic and a very wise counsellor, and many times did he command expeditions against the Indian tribes living south of the Tennessee.
The Virginia Government greatly appreciated his worth, and prior to 1781 conferred upon him numerous (very valuable) tracts of land within her territory, and subsequent to 1781 the Govern- ment of North Carolina showered upon him every honor that could be thought of.
Colonel Shelby departed this life in the year 1794, leaving Isaac Shelby, Moses Shelby, Evan Shelby and James Shelby, sons, and several daughters.
His remains were interred in a grove of very fine trees and within view of his former residence, and remained there until the growth of Bristol required their removal to the present cemetery. The lo- cation of his grave previous to this removal is now pointed out as being on Fifth street immediately in front of the First Presbyterian church, Bristol, Tennessee. Isaac Baker was buried in this same graveyard.
Isaac Baker, Sr., at the time of his death, left six sons, to-wit : William Baker, Isaac Baker, Joshua Baker, Evan Baker, John Baker and Thomas Baker and several daughters, to-wit: Hatchy Baker, Susannah, who married Thomas Worley, Mary, who married Thomas Van Swearingen and Catharine, who married Ephraim Smith.
William Baker, who obtained an interest in the "Sapling Grove" by the will of his father, removed to Knox county, Tennessee, and on the 10th of September, 1799, conveyed his interest in said land, being three hundred and forty-eight acres, to John Goodson, for the sum of $3,000, and this tract of land afterwards became the property of Colonel Samuel E. Goodson, and the location of a large part of East Bristol.
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Southwest Virginia, 17.46-1786.
Isaac Baker, Jr., conveyed part of the lands devised to him by his father to William Bolton, Solomon Sell, Henry Harkleroad, David Worley, John Cornett, Ephraim Johnson, John Cuff, Simeon Ely and Jacob Susong, while Colonel Isaac Shelby, as executor of Evan Shelby, conveyed the lands owned by Evan Shelby at "Sapling Grove" to James King, Jr., on the 26th of November, 1814, for the sum of $10,000. James King, immediately after his purchase, built a residence on Solar Hill, near Sullins College and near the present location of the late residence of H. E. McCoy, while the former residence of Isaac Baker was occupied by John Goodson.
Some years previously to this an iron furnace was built on Beaver Creek about three and a half miles below the present location of Bristol at the Sulphur Springs. James King and John Goodson for many years exercised great diligence in farming their respective properties, and persons now living often speak of King's Meadows as a beautiful farm.
In the year 1842, James King conveyed six acres of the "Sapling Grove" tract to Campbell Galliher, and on the 18th of June he con- veyed to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Company, in addition to an eighty-foot right of way, ten acres of land for the use of the company, and on the 12th of April, 1854, he conveyed to his son-in- law, Joseph Anderson, four acres of land.
By the year 1850 the building of the Virginia and Tennessee rail- road had become an assured fact, and in view of the fact that the terminus of that road under the Virginia charter was the State line, the building of a town at this point was begun.
Colonel Samuel E. Goodson had a part of his lands surveyed, and offered the same for sale. He gave to the proposed town the name of "Goodsonville," which name it retained until the incorporation of Goodson in the year 1856.
He also gave to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Company a right of way through his lands, and transferred to the said company for a consideration, in the years 1851-1852, eleven acres of land for the use of the said company. Among the first conveyances executed by Colonel Goodson was to John G. King, Jacob H. Susong and J. P. Hammer, as trustees for the Independent Order of Odd-Fel- lows, and to John Fleming, John Moore, Fleming Crumbly, D. W. Crumbly, W. W. James, William F. Bolton, Wm. H. Snodgrass,
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Washington County. 1777-1870.
Jesse Aydlott and Hardy Pool, as trustees for the Methodist Epis- copal church.
The lot last conveyed was Lot No. 103 in the plan of Goodson- ville, as surveyed by Edmund Winston, and this lot is now occupied by the Colored Methodist Episcopal church on Lee street.
Some time previous to the 1st of April, 1855, A. K. Moore, from Pennsylvania, arrived in Bristol and decided to make it his home, and ever thereafter until his death, in the year 1863, he was a most enthusiastic believer in the future of Bristol. He was a real estate agent by profession and an accomplished gentleman, and his views in regard to the future of Bristol were so convincing that the early settlers of the town were confident that it was a question of only a few years when Bristol would monopolize the trade and business of all the surrounding country. And having this object in view, the projectors of the town so named the streets thereof that by the year 1860 we find the principal streets having the following names: Vir- ginia street, in honor of the Commonwealth; Washington street, in honor of Washington county; Russell street, in honor of Russell county ; Lee street, in honor of Lee county; Scott street, in honor of Scott county: Cumberland street, in honor of the mountain of that name; while Moore street, King street, Shelby street and Spencer street were named for James King, A. K. Moore, Evan Shelby and Geo. M. Spencer, and Edmund street in honor of Edmund Win- ston, who first surveyed the lots and streets of the town.
In the year 1855 the Magnolia House was built upon the location of the present Hamilton House, and a number of small houses were erected on both sides of Main street. James King about this time moved from his residence on Solar Hill to his home in South Bris- tol, where he subsequently died in 186%, and his former home on Solar Hill was occupied and used as a boarding house and as an office by Dr. J. P. Hammer and Walter Willoughby.
A storehouse and hotel were built at the corner of Washington and Main streets on the corner now owned by John R. Dickey, and was occupied by Wilson & Loyd, merchants, and the hotel was con- ducted by J. H. Everett.
Jos. R. Anderson occupied the brick building on the southwest corner of Main and Fourth streets, and conducted a store therein.
In the fall of the year 1855 it was found necessary to have local government in the town, and all the citizens of Bristol, Tennessee,
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Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786.
and Goodson, Virginia, were called to meet upon the present loca- tion of the St. Lawrence Hotel, and at this meeting the Rev. James King presided. The meeting decided that it was necessary that the town should have local government, and after petitioning the Gen- eral Assembly of Virginia to incorporate the town of Goodson, they proceeded to select one of their number to act as Mayor until a . charter could be obtained. William L. Rice, a citizen of Goodson and at that time a member of the County Court of Washington county, and having the power in that capacity to administer oaths, to issue warrants for, and try, offenders against the law, was selected by the meeting to act as Mayor, tax collector and sergeant of the town.
Pursuant to this authority, Mr. Rice proceeded to discharge his duties, and wishes the fact to be recorded that V. Keebler was the first man in the town to voluntarily pay one dollar to be used in discharging the costs of the government thus organized.
Pursuant to the petition of the citizens of the two towns, the General Assembly of Virginia, on the 5th of March, 1856, incor- porated the town of Goodson, and directed that the officers of the said town should consist of seven trustees and a sergeant, and their term of office was fixed at one year and until their successors were appointed, and it was directed that an election should be held for the selection of the trustees and sergeant therein provided for on the first Saturday in April, 1856, and James Fields, John N. Bosang and A. T. Wilson, or any two of them, were directed to conduct said election.
It will be observed that this Act contemplated the government of the town by a Board of Trustees, and nothing was said as to a Mayor, but the citizens of the town thereafter selected a Mayor until the charter of the town was amended, among the number thus selected being A. K. Moore, A. M. Appling, William L. Rice, Philip Rohr and others, whose names I have been unable to obtain.
The persons thus selected to act in the capacity of Mayor also acted as sergeant of the town.
It is a matter of regret that no record has been preserved of the early trustees of the town of Goodson.
The boundaries of the town of Goodson, as set out in the Act of incorporation, were as follows : Beginning at a sycamore tree on the west side of the said town; running thence north 22 east one hun-
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Washington County, 1777-1870.
dred and ten poles; thence due east one hundred and fifty poles ; thence due south 22 east one hundred and forty poles ; thence south 56 west one hundred poles; thence north 37 west one hundred and fifty poles to the beginning.
The sycamore tree mentioned in this Act stood about two feet south of the middle of Main street, and in front of the storehouse formerly occupied by T. F. Wood.
The Virginia and Tennessee railroad reached Bristol in the fall of the year 1856, and at the time the following merchants were doing business in the town, to-wit : Seneker & James, on Main street between Fourth and Water streets at the place now occupied by Bunn's store ; Jos. R. Anderson, at the corner of Fourth and Main streets, as before described ; Rosenheim Bros., on southwest corner of Main and Fifth streets, the present location of the drug store ; Martin Bros., on the location of the National Bank of Bristol, and Wilbar Bros., on the southwest corner of Main and Sixth streets : Smith & Wilson, at the corner of Main and Washington streets, and I. F. Johnson, in a brick building south of the Norfolk and Western railway and near the west bank of the creek.
J. N. Bosang kept a bar-room on the lot now occupied by the Dominion National Bank and Williams Walters a bar-room at the present location of the Stanley House, and in addition thereto whiskey was retailed at several of the stores above enumerated. Three hotels were found in the town at that time, the Caywood House, kept by Ezekiel Caywood, at the present location of the Thomas House; the Magnolia House, kept by Peck & Langhorne, at the present location of the Hamilton House, and the Virginia House, kept by John H. Everett, at the corner of Main and Wash- ington streets on th'e Dickey lot. In addition to the places named several small houses were found along the Virginia side of Main street from Fourth to Moore, and one brick residence on Main street between Fourth and Water streets, east of Bosang's bar-room, and known as the Zimmerman House. A portion of this house is now occupied by Col. J. B. Peters, President of the Board of Health. as an office.
In the year 1855, upon the application of William L. Rice, the county court of this county appointed John F. Preston, Wallace Maxwell. Moses H. Latham, William B. Campbell, E. R. Rhea and Jonathan T. Hanby commissioners to view a location for a road
618
Southwest Virginia, 17.46-1786.
from the town of Goodson to the Jonesboro road at or near the lands of John L. Bradley, three miles west of Abingdon. The commis- sioners thus named made their report, and the main Bristol road was opened in the following year.
In December of this year the county court of this county ap- pointed the following citizens living in the vicinity of Goodson to patrol in the neighborhood of Goodson : Roland T. Legard, captain, James T. Preston, Henry A. Wilds, William A. Preston, E. L. Brooks, John P. Buchanan, Joseph Rhea, Alexander, James, and Jacob Carmack.
In the following year Nunley & Fuqua and Booker & Trammel were licensed to conduct business in the town of Goodson.
Early in the year 185? a number of the citizens of Goodson and Bristol, recognizing the importance of a newspaper, formed a joint stock company and purchased a printing press in Philadelphia, and in the month of May, 1857, began the publication of the Bristol News. The head lines of this paper presented a very suggestive scene. To the left of the page was placed an engine and car and to the right was placed a man on horseback, the train and horseman facing to the centre of the page. This paper was edited for a short while by A. K. Moore, who was succeeded by J. Austin Speery. Speery continued to edit this paper until the year 1862, in which vear he became the editor of the Knoxville Register, and the News was discontinued until 1865. In 1858 Lafayette F. Johnson and Andrew Manonie were licensed to transact business in Goodson by the county court of Washington county.
On the 10th of May, 1858, at about 1 o'clock A. M., in the night time of that day, the Magnolia Hotel was destroyed by fire and Minor Boler and George Ligon, free men of color, were arrested and tried, charged with having fired said building, but were ac- quitted.
Soon thereafter the county court of this county appointed the following citizens to patrol in the town of Goodson : Robert B. Moore, captain, Lucian Johnson, J. F. II. Ledbetter, Edward Johnson, John C. Carner, Samuel G. Booker, Hardy Pool, John Hammit, James Williams and Joseph Barnes.
About this time two lawyers came to Bristol and decided to make it their future home, John S. Mosby* and Gideon Burkett.
*The since celebrated Colonel John S. Mosby.
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Washington County. 1717-1870.
Burkett located on the Tennessee side of the town and had his office in the frame building that stood upon the lot occupied by Rosen- heim Bros., while Mosby settled on the Virginia side and had his office in a building, owned by James King, that stood upon the lot now occupied by the Tip-Top Restaurant, at the corner of Cumber- land and Fourth streets.
Bristol, Virginia, should be proud of the fact that her first lawyer afterwards distinguished himself in the defence of his State.
In the year 1859 Raine & Megginson, Jos. W. Jones. Lafayette F. Johnson and Raine & Jamison were licensed to transact busi- ness in the town of Goodson, and John S. Mo-by qualified as a notary public.
By the year 1860 Col. Goodson had sold and transferred lots in the town of Goodson to the Following citizens: Reuben H. Crabtree. J. N. Bosang. Thos. E. Bibb, Morgan & Thomas, James H. John- son, J. C. Hayter. Samuel Sells, John B. Wagoner, M. T. & James W. Morgan, Jane G. Wilds. Thos. Lanahan, Stephen Connelly, A. T. Wilson, Ella Shelor, Sarah A. Howard, Henry Rosenheim, David Rust, John OBrian. Elijah Coman. John Rhea, George M. Spencer, Mary A. Hammit, David P. Jamison, Alex. Morgan, James Johnston, H. D. Shell. I. N. McQuown. Thos. J. Morrison, Wm. Rencher (colored barber ), John Dulaney, Cordle Harmeling. L. F. Johnston. W. E. Eakin, Wm. Trammel. I. B. Dunn. S. H. Milliard, James A. Apling, D. J. Ensor, and many others.
The Rev. James King had sold to David F. Scranton and Joseph Johnston, of Savannah, Georgia, sixty-five and a half acres of land. and they had conveyed parts thereof to W. L. Martin, James A. Apling, W. F. Moon. M. W. Jones. Alexander Lazenbay, Jesse Aydlott, V. Keebler, Samuel E. Philips, Bridget Powers, Sparrel Askew. John H. Newman. Thos. E. Lancaster. Jos. W. Jones, and several others.
Such was Goodson, as best it can be described. at the opening of the war between the States.
In the spring of the year 1861 Philip Rohr was elected Mayor, V. Keebler Recorder and Treasurer. Campbell Gallihier. Sergeant, and J. N. Bosang. J. E. Pepper, John Johnston and W. H. Tram- mel aldermen of said town, and the officers thus elected served with but few changes until the year 1870.
Immediately upon the declaration of war a company was or-
-
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ganized at Goodson, to which was given the name of the Goodson Rifles, of which company John F. Terry was elected captain. This company was assigned to the Thirty-seventh Virginia Regi- ment, commanded by Col. Samuel V. Fulkerson, and many brave deeds are recorded as having been performed by the members of this company.
On the 23d of July, 1861, Campbell Galliher, Sergeant of the town of Goodson, appeared before the county court of Washington county and represented to the court the need of firearms in said town, whereupon the county court directed the sheriff of this county to lend to the said Galliher, for use in the town of Goodson, ten guns, the property of the Commonwealth.
In the month of February, 1862, Martin L. Comann and Rev. W. W. Neal purchased from Henry W. Baker the outfit of the Abingdon Democrat, and on the 27th of March, 1862, the first issue of the Southern Advocate was published in the town of Goodson, the Bristol News having passed out of existence at this time. The headline of this paper was such as to be worth recording. Between the words Southern and Advocate, which were printed in large let- ters, were placed the seal of the State of Virginia and the seal of the State of Tennessee, and above the seals was printed in small type "Virginia & Tennessee." From this paper I ascertain that Jos. B. Palmer was at that time practising law in the town of Goodson, that L. A. Womack and W. W. Nickels were the pro- prietors of the Exchange Hotel, afterwards the Nickels House, and that the Bank of Philippi was temporarily transacting business in Goodson, .with L. D. Morall as president and J. W. Payne as cashier. The Provost Marshal stationed at Bristol in the year 1862 was Joshua H. Pitts, but he was shortly thereafter succeeded by Wil- liam D. Gammon.
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