USA > Virginia > Washington County > Washington County > History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 > Part 61
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GREENDALE.
Greendale is situated six miles northwest of Abingdon on the Russell turnpike, in the Rich Valley. The name of this town was suggested by the location, and the town boasts of an excellent high school, several stores, two mills, several churches and many good citizens.
Boundaries of Washington County.
The boundaries of Washington county, with the exception of the southern boundary, between this county and the State of Ten- nessee, formerly the State of North Carolina, have been fully given at other places in this history, and as to them there has been no serious controversy.
The southern boundary of Virginia, extending from Steep Rock creek, now the Laurel Fork of Holston river, to Cumberland Gap, has been the subject of controversy since the coming of the first settlers to this portion of Virginia, and, therefore, it is deemed proper that a history of this controversy should be preserved.
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The first charter of Virginia was granted by King James in the year 1606 to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hackluit, Edward Maria Wingfield, Thomas Hanham, Robert Gil- bert, William Parker and George Popham, and embraced all the lands lying and being all along the sea coast between 34° of north latitude from the equinoctial line, and 45° degrees of the same latitude, and in the main land between the same 34 and 45 degrees of latitude and the islands thereunto adjacent or within one hun- dred miles of the coast thereof.
The second charter of Virginia was granted by King James in the year 1609 to the treasurer and company of adventurers and planters of the city of London for the first Colony of Virginia.
The territory thus granted was described as follows: "All those lands, countries and territories situate, lying and being in that part of America called Virginia, from the point of land called Cape or Point Comfort all along the sea coast to the northward two hundred miles, and from the said point of Cape of Comfort all along the sea coast to the southward two hundred miles, and all that space and circuit of land lying from the sea coast of the precinct aforesaid up into the lands throughout from sea to sea west and north west, and also all the islands lying within one hun- dred miles along the coast of both seas of the precinct aforesaid.
"In the year 1663, Charles II., King of England, granted a charter to Edward, Earl Clarendon, George, Duke of Albemarle, William, Lord Craven, John, Lord Berkley, Anthony, Lord Ash- ley, Sir George Carteret, Sir William Berkley and Sir John Col- leton, of all that territory or tract of ground situated, lying and being within our dominions of America, extending from the north end of Lucke Island, which lyeth in the southern Virginia seas and within six and thirty degrees of the northern latitude, and to the west as far as the South seas, and so southerly as far as the river St. Mathias, which bordereth upon the coast of Florida and within one and thirty degrees of northern latitude, and so west in a direct line as far as the South seas aforesaid."
A second charter was granted by King Charles II. in the year 1665 to the same persons, and by this charter the northern boun- dary of Caroline was fixed at 36° and 30 minutes north latitude and so west in a direct line to the South seas.
Considerable difficulty was experienced by the two colonies in
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Washington County, 1777-1870.
agreeing upon the true location of this line previously to the year 1116, but, notwithstanding these difficulties, the line was extended as far west as Steep Rock creek, now Beaver Dam creek, in this county, by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, commissioners upon the part of Virginia, and Daniel Weldon and William Chur- ton, commissioners on the part of North Carolina.
It will be observed that the lands included in the Carolina charter had been previously granted by King James to the treas- urer and company of adventurers and planters of the city of Lon- don for the first Colony in Virginia, and a similar condition ex- isted as to the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania.
When the delegates and representatives from the several coun- ties in Virginia met in Williamsburg and adopted a Constitution for the Commonwealth on the 5th, day of May, 1776, section 21 of that Constitution contained the following provision :
"The territories contained within the Charters, erecting the Colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, are hereby ceded, released and forever confirmed to the people of these colonies respectively, with all the rights of property, juris- diction and government, and all other rights whatsoever, which might, at time heretofore, have been claimed by Virginia, except the free navigation and use of the rivers Patomoque and Poke- moke, with the property of the Virginia shores and strands, bor- dering on either of the said rivers, and all improvements which have been or shall be made thereon. The Western and Northern extent of Virginia shall in all respects stand as fixed by the Char- ter of King James I., in the year one thousand six hundred and nine, and by the public treaty of peace between the courts of Britain and France, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three; unless, by Act of this Legislature; one or more gov- ernments be established westward of the Alleghany mountains. And no purchases of lands shall be made of the Indian natives, but on behalf of the Public by authority of the General Assembly."
Thus Virginia disposed of all her rights in and to the large ter- ritory included within the State of North Carolina.
By this time the lands west of the mountains and extending far into the present State of Tennessee were being rapidly settled, and disputes were frequent and oftentimes resulted in violence.
The first controversy as to the true location of this line in this
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section of Virginia arose out of the election held for members of the House of Delegates from Washington county, in the spring of the year 17%.7.
The right of Anthony Bledsoe and William Cocke, the delegates receiving the majority of votes in that election, was contested by Arthur Campbell and William Edmiston, the principal ground of their contest being that Bledsoe and Cocke were elected by citizens living in North Carolina.
The contention of Campbell and Edmiston was not sustained, and the citizens living as far down as the Long Island of Holston were accepted as legal voters in said election.
In the following year Arthur Campbell and Anthony Bledsoe were elected to represent this county in the House of Delegates of Virginia and, upon the assembling of the General Assembly, Anthony Bledsoe presented a bill for extending the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, which bill became a law at the same session of the General Assembly.
The bill as thus passed was as follows :
Whereas, the inhabitants of this commonwealth and those of the State of North Carolina have settled themselves farther west- ward than the boundary between the said two states hath hitherto been extended, and it becomes expedient in order to prevent dis- putes among such settlers, that the same should be now farther extended and marked. Be it therefore enacted by the General As- sembly, that two commissioners shall be appointed by joint ballot of both houses of assembly, who shall have authority to meet with others to be appointed on the part of said State of North Caro- lina, and proceed to extend and mark the line between this Com- monwealth and the State of North Carolina, beginning where Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, commissioners from Virginia, together with others from North Carolina, formerly appointed to run the said line, ended their work, and, if that be found to be truly in the latitude of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north, then to run from thence due west to Tenasee river, or, if it be found not truly in the said latitude, then to run from the said place due north or south into said latitude, and thence due west to the said Tenasee river, correcting the said course at due intervals by astronomical observations. If either of the commissioners so to be appointed shall decline or be unable to go through the duties
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of his appointment, the governor and council shall appoint some other to act in his stead; The said commissioners shall nominate such skillful surveyor to execute their directions and such other attendants as shall be necessary, and shall endeavor to procure the most accurate instruments, which, if injured in said service, shall be made good at the public expense, or wholly paid for, at the election of the proprietor, if borrowed from an individual, or of any such other person or persons, as shall have authority to make such election, if borrowed from any seminary of learning. Each commissioner shall be allowed for his trouble herein fifty shillings per day for every day he shall attend. Each surveyor with the chain carriers and other attendants, shall be allowed such sums as the commissioners shall certify they respectively ought to receive and be paid by the treasurer of this commonwealth out of any publick money in his hands, together with the allowance to the commissioners as aforesaid ; and the said commissioners are hereby directed to make a report of their proceedings to the general as- sembly.
And whereas, from the hostile disposition of the Indian na- tions, it may be unsafe for the commissioners and attendants to proceed on the business hereby directed, without a sufficient guard to protect them, Be it further enacted, That the governor, with the advice of the council, shall, on application of the commission- ers so appointed direct and order a sufficient number of officers and men to be raised for that purpose, by voluntary enlistment, or if that cannot be done, then to be furnished from the militia of such counties as shall be convenient, to attend the said commis- sioners as a guard, and, for their safe conduct in the prosecution of the business by this act directed shall order them a sufficient number of tents and camp utensils, and shall appoint a commis- sary to furnish necessary provisions during the time they shall be employed for the purpose aforesaid; which commissary shall, previously to his entering on the execution of his office, give bond with sufficient security for the faithful performance of his duty, and shall receive for his services such allowance as is given to other commissaries of this commonwealth.
In the year 1779, the Legislature of North Carolina concurred in the action of the Legislature of Virginia and passed the fol- lowing Act :
"Whereas, the inhabitants of this State and those of the com-
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monwealth of Virginia, have settled themselves farther west- wardly than the boundary between the said two States hath hitherto been extended; and it becomes expedient in order to pre- vent disputes among such settlers, that the same shall be further extended and marked. 2 Be it therefore enacted, &c., that Oroon- dates Davis, John Williams (Caswell), James Kerr, William Bailey Smith and Richard Henderson, or any three of them, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners with full power and authority to meet with other commissioners from the common- wealth of Virginia, and to proceed to extend and mark the line between that commonwealth and this State, beginning where Joshua Frye and Peter Jefferson, commissioners on the part of Virginia, together with Daniel Weldon and William Churton, from North Carolina, formerly appointed to run the said line, ended their work; and if that be found to be truly in the latitude of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north then to run from thence due west to Tennessee or the Ohio river ; or if it be found not truly in said latitude, then to run from the said place due north or due south, in the said latitude, and thence due west to the said Ten- nessee or Ohio river; correcting the said course at due intervals by astronomical observations. If either of the commissioners by this act appointed shall decline, or be unable to go through the duties of his appointment, the Governor and Council shall appoint some other to act in his stead.
And the said commissioners are hereby directed to make report of their proceedings to the General Assembly"*
The Governor of Virginia, pursuant to the authority vested in him, directed Thomas Sharp and a company of militia to act as guard to the commissioners while running the boundary line as directed, and designated Anthony Bledsoe to act as commissary to the commissioners and the guard while running said line.
The Governor of Virginia, pursuant to the authority vested in him, appointed Dr. Thomas Walker and Daniel Smith commis- sioners upon the part of Virginia, and the Virginia commissioners, in the summer of 1779, met the North Carolina commissioners at Steep Rock creek, and proceeded to discharge the duties di- rected by the General Assemblies of the two States.
As to what occurred at this time and upon this undertaking, the
*Revised Statutes of N. C., Vol. II., page 82.
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Washington County, 1777-1870.
report of Dr. Walker and Daniel Smith is the best evidence, and is here given :
To the Honorable, the Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Delegates :
"In obedience to an act of the assembly entitled "An act for extending the boundary line between Virginia and North Caro- lina."
We, the subscribers, proceeded to run the said Line.
The gentlemen from North Carolina did not meet us so soon as had been agreed; and after they came many accidents happened which protracted the business. The place where Messrs. Fry and Jefferson ended their line, on Steep Rock creek, could not be found, owing, we suppose, to so much of the timber thereabout being since dead! We proceeded to observation in order to fix upon the spot on Steep Rock creek, where we should begin. On Monday, 6th September, 1779, having agreed with the Carolina gentlemen in Observation, the following Memorandums were en- tered on their Journal as well as ours, as proper preliminaries agreed upon, necessary for fixing this line, Viz. "That the Sun's Meridian Altitude was this day fifty-nine degrees fifty-two minutes-that this place of observation was one minute and twenty-five seconds north of the proper latitude, or one mile, two hundred and one poles and a half-That at Steep Rock we were in superficial measure 329 miles West of Currituck Inlet: That there should be an abatement of twelve miles for mountainous and uneven ground, or that we were 317 miles or five degrees and forty-two minutes west of Currituck Inlet; That a degree of longi- tude in this latitude is 48.23 geographic miles, or of statute miles 55 and 1,083 yards. That Currituck Inlet was in 75 degrees 30 minutes west Longitude, this being the average of three differ- ent accounts, and of course that the Longitude we were then in was 81 degrees 12 minutes west of London. We measured off the one mile and 20116 poles a due south course, and the beginning of the line was thus fixed to the satisfaction of all. We should not have troubled you with these particulars, but for some subso- quent events which make us think it our duty. After running the line as far as Carter's valley 45 miles west of Steep Rock creek, the Carolina gentlemen then conceived the line was farther South than it ought to be, and on trial it was found that the va-
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riation of the needle had altered a little, which must have hap- pened very lately, and was owing, we believe, to our being just then near some Iron Ore: because on observing the Sun's Meri- dian Altitude the line was not too far South. As the Carolina gentlemen, by their Observations, made out otherways, they pro- posed that the surveyors on each side should observe and fix the latitude. This was agreed to by one of us, influenced by a knowl- edge of a small change of the variation, and was not dissented to by the other, as most of the observations on the part of Virginia had been made by him. But, quite contrary to our expectations, they agreed that we were more than two miles too far South of the proper latitude, which distance was measured off directly north and the line run eastward from that place superintended by two of the Carolina gentlemen, and one of us; while from the same place it was continued westwardly, superintended by the others for the sake of expediting the business. The instruments proper for ascertaining the latitude, were mostly taken back on the east- ern part of the line, in order that those who superintended it might be farther satisfied; but after going back more than twenty miles, and observing every day on this line, his judgment was un- alterably fixed that this line was wrong, although the Carolina gentlemen could not seem to be of this opinion, and he returned and overtook his colleague on the Western part of the line on Blackwater creek or thereabouts, to whom he imparted his senti- ments, proposing that he should also observe for some days- which he did-The result was that we concluded our first line right, and we brought it up accordingly from Carter's valley where it had been left and continued on with it to the westward.
It was once after this proposed by us, and agreed to by the Carolina Gentlemen, that as we differed so much in Observation we would each run his own line, encamp as near together as we could and let future observers hereafter to be appointed, de- termine which was right, which might be done at a small expense. But this they afterwards declined, although they carried their line as far as Cumberland mountain, protesting against our line. This protest was received in a letter after we had crossed Cumber- land mountain. We continued however as far as Clear fork, being 1233/4 miles from Steep Rock creek, marking a Poplar and two Hackberry trees with initials of our names and with November
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22, 1779, and had serious thoughts of going no further. But when we considered that, perhaps, three-fourths of the whole expense was already incurred, that a number of People were settling to the Westward, who imagined they were in North Carolina, while we thought they were on the lands reserved for our officers and soldiers :- These and some more of the like considerations, made us think it more conducive to the good of the State in gen- eral that we should keep on, than that we should return. But as the season was far advanced and the Country before us, as far as it was known, was very mountainous and barren, not yielding a sufficient quantity of Cane for our pack horses, which for some time had been their principal support : these, among other reasons, made us judge it best to leave off running the line here, and go farther to the westward, into a better Country, where, by reason of many people being about to settle, it might be of importance to run the line speedily. The map will show our route to a place on Cumberland River, where we built canoes to carry our luggage and rest the pack horses, which were too much reduced to do ser- vice that way. And here, to add to the number of our difficulties and misfortunes, we were frozen up more than forty days in a river never known to be frozen before. We went by water from this place until we got into the proper latitude (as we judge one hun- dred and nine miles west of Clear Fork) and began the line on two Beech trees marked with our names and Feb'y 25, 1780, on the West bank of Cumberland River, a creek coming in about a mile above us on the West side, and another one somewhat smaller about half a mile below us on the East side. From this place we extended the line across the heads of Green River and Red river, through a country called the Barrens, from there being little or no timber in it, in many places, crossed the Cumberland again at 131 miles, where there is a cliff on the Northeast side, and a bot- tom about three quarters of a mile broad on the other side, and at the end of one hundred and forty miles. one quarter and eight poles from the two Beech trees, on the 23rd day of March found ourselves on the Bank of the Tennessee River, and of course had run the line as far westward as we were authorized to do, not- withstanding the hardships and difficulties we had to contend with-One of us kept through the woods with the surveyor while the other went down by water, by which means a tolerable map of
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Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786.
the Cumberland River is taken, a fine river, being navigable at least 700 miles from the mouth upwards. When we had returned homewards about 160 miles we met with orders from his Excel- lency the Governor to do another piece of service, which we sup- pose he has made you acquainted with.
"We have also since seen Col. Henderson, one of the North Carolina commissioners who with another of his Colleagues has been examining our line, and he has repeatedly given us more reason to believe their state will establish the line as we ran it.
"THOMAS WALKER. "DANIEL SMITH."
This report of the Virginia commissioners accompanied the Governor's communication to the Virginia House of Delegates in the year 1780, and was received by the Legislature and ratified, and, at the same time, Anthony Bledsoe, who had acted as com- missary to the commissioners, and Thomas Sharp and his com- pany of militia, who had acted as guard to the commissioners, were allowed compensation for their expenses, etc.
If Richard Henderson and his associates made a report to the General Assembly of North Carolina, I have not been able to ob- tain it. The disorder that prevailed upon the failure of the com- missioners to agree was alarming. The criminals of the country found a place of security between the lines as run by Walker and Henderson, and the people living between said lines refused to pay taxes or perform military services in either State.
The Virginia Legislature, on the 6th of June, 1781, adopted the following resolutions :
"Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee that another and more pointed representation may be made to the General As- sembly of North Carolina, in support of the title of the citizens of Virginia as well as the title of others, circumstanced as they are, to lands which, previous to the late extension of the boundary line between this State and that of North Carolina were supposed to be in this commonwealth, but since have been proved to lie in the said State of North Carolina.
"Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee, that such other parts of the said memorial as pray that a public agent may be ap- pointed to present the same to the General Assembly of said State of North Carolina, and receive their final answer thereupon, are
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reasonable and that the Governor, with the advice of the Council, be authorized and required to appoint such an agent."
And on the 15th of December, 1783, when the situation was pre- carious indeed. the General Assembly of Virginia adopted the fol- lowing resolutions :
"Resolved. That the Governor, with the advice of his Council, be authorized and required to propose to the State of North Caro- lina, either to confirm the boundary line extended by the Virginia commissioners between the States of Virginia and North Caro- lina, or to choose able commissioners from some other of the United States, who shall begin where Joshua Fry and Peter Jef- ferson, commissioners from Virginia, together with others from North Carolina, formerly appointed to run the same line, ended their work: And if the termination of the old line be found truly in the latitude of thirty-six degrees 30' north, to extend the same to the river Mississippi, and should the tereination of the old line not be truly in the latitude aforesaid, then i run from thence due north or south to the same, and from thence ave west to the river Mississippi ; and that all necessary expenses incurred in car- rying this resolution into execution be paid out of any money in the hands of the treasurer, not otherwise appropriated."*
But the General Assembly of North Carolina, for some reason, delayed action as to the confirmation of the Walker line until the year 1:89. In the meantime the authorities of Washington county were exercising all their energies in keeping the peace and preserving order in the disputed territory.
Colonel Arthur Campbell. the county lieutenant of Washing- ton county, in answer to an inquiry, addressed the following letter to the Governor of Virginia in the year 1787:
"Sir .- If I recollect right. about the year 1249. the boundary line betwixt Virginia and N. Carolina was extended by Col. Fry and Jefferson as far west as a place called Steep Rock creek, since known by the name of Laurel Fork of the Holston River. This line being extended on the true latitude by commissioners on both sides, and mutually agreed to was returned and recorded in Public Offices in both States.
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