USA > Virginia > History of the colony and ancient dominion of Virginia > Part 50
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ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA.
sessions as he could not carry with him, and started with his family to return and settle in Kentucky. Some cows, horses, and household utensils formed his baggage. His wife and chil- dren were mounted on horseback, their neighbors regarding them as doomed to certain destruction. On the route he was re- enforced by five families, and forty armed men at Powell's Val- ley. In October the young men who had charge of the pack- horses and cattle in the rear, were surprised by Indians, and of seven only one escaped; six were slain, and among them Boone's oldest son. This occurred near the gap of the Cumberland Mountains, whose dark gorges, rocky cliffs, and hoary summits strike the mind of the beholder with awe. The Indians were repulsed with heavy loss; but the whites retired forty miles to the settlement on the Clinch River, where Boone with his family remained for some time. Virginia in vain demanded of the Cherokees the surrender of the offenders. One of Boone's party, in retaliation, afterwards slew an Indian at a horse-race on the frontier, in spite of the interposition of the by-standers. In 1774, at the request of Governor Dunmore, Boone, leaving his family on the banks of the Clinch, went to assist in conveying a party of surveyors to the falls of the Ohio. He was next em- ployed in the command of three garrisons during the campaign against the Shawnees. In March of the ensuing year, at the solicitation of some gentlemen of North Carolina, Boone, at the treaty of Watauga, purchased from the Cherokees of North Carolina the lands claimed by them, lying between the Kentucky River and the Tennessee. But Kentucky being within the char- tered limits of Virginia, she* declared this treaty null and void, and proclaimed her own title. The North Carolina grantees, however, received in compensation a liberal grant of lands on Green River. Boone also undertook to mark out a road from the settlements to the wilderness of Kentucky; during this work several of his men were killed by the savages. In 1775 he erected a fort at Boonsborough, near the Kentucky River, and he removed his family there, and his wife and daughter were sup- posed to be the first white women that ever stood upon the banks
* See Journal of Convention of '76.
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ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA.
of the Kentucky River; and Boonsborough was long an outpost of civilization.
The remainder of Boone's career, full of stirring adventure, belongs rather to the early history of Kentucky. When the settlements around him began to grow too thick for his taste, he removed farther westward. This extraordinary man, who could neither read nor write, in 1792 dictated a brief account of his life to some youthful writer, whose attempt to enhance the inte- rest of the narrative by rhetorical embellishments afforded no little satisfaction to the unsophisticated old voyager of the woods, and nothing pleased him better than to sit and listen to the read- ing of it. He would listen attentively, rub his hands together, smile complacently and ejaculate, "All true, every word true ! not a lie in it." Solitary hunting, as it had been the charm of his earlier years, afforded him the solace of his old age; and when too old to walk through the woods, he would ride to the edge of the salt-licks and lie there in ambush for the sake of get- ting a shot at the deer. He was in person rough and robust; his countenance homely but kind; his manner cold, grave, taciturn; his conversation simple and unobtrusive; he never speaking of himself but when questioned. He was withal brave, humane, prudent, and modest .* He died in 1820, aged nearly ninety years.
* McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure, 92.
CHAPTER LXXIX.
1775.
Lord Dunmore-Second Convention-St. John's Church-Henry's Resolutions- His Speech-Measures adopted.
IN the beginning of 1775 the people of Virginia were in a state of anxious suspense, expecting an outbreak of civil war. Dunmore remained in gloomy solicitude in his palace, tenacious of authority, but fearful of resisting the popular will. Intelli- gence was now continually received of commotions among the people; resolutions, essays, and speeches added new fuel to the excitement.
The second Virginia convention assembled at Richmond, on Monday, the twentieth day of March. St. John's Church, in which the sessions were held, stands on Richmond Hill, com- manding a panorama of Richmond, (then a few straggling houses,) hills, and fields, and woods, and the James, with its rocks and islands, flashing rapids and murmuring falls, and poetic mists. The convention approved of the proceedings of congress, and of the conduct of the Virginia delegates. Resolutions were adopted thanking the assembly of Jamaica* for their petition and memorial to the king in behalf of the colonies; and expressing Virginia's ardent wish for "a speedy return of those halcyon days when they lived a free and happy people." The too abject tone of these resolutions aroused the patriotic indignation of Patrick Henry, and he introduced resolutions for putting the colony immediately into a state of defence against the encroach- ments of Great Britain, and for embodying, arming, and dis- ciplining a force of well-regulated militia for that purpose. They were supported by Henry, the mover, Jefferson, the Lees, Pages, Mason, and others; but many of the members recoiled with hor- ror from this startling measure; and it was strenuously resisted
* Jamaica and New York were acquired by conquest.
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by Bland, Harrison, Pendleton, Nicholas, and Wythe, who held such a step premature, until the result of the last petition to the king should be more fully known. They still flattered them- selves with the hope that the breach might yet be repaired in some way, either by the influence of the opposition in England, of the manufacturing interests, or the relenting of the king. They urged that Virginia was unmilitary, unprovided for war, weak, and defenceless, and insisted that desperate measures should not be resorted to, until hope herself had fled. Henry replied: "What has there been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify hope? Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? These are the implements of subjugation sent over to rivet upon us the chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them ? Shall we try argument ? We have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we any- thing new to offer? Shall we resort to entreaty and supplica- tion? We have petitioned-we have remonstrated-we have supplicated; and we have been spurned from the foot of the throne. In vain may we indulge the fond hope of reconciliation. There is no longer room for hope. If we wish to be free we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the God of hosts, is all that is left us!
"They tell me that we are weak; but shall we gather strength by irresolution ? We are not weak. Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. We shall not fight alone. A just God presides over the destinies of nations, and will raise up friends for us. The battle is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. The war is inevitable-and let it come ! let it come !
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."
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ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA.
Henry's voice, calm in his exordium, rose gradually to a higher and yet higher pitch, until the very walls of the church seemed to rock and tremble, as if conscious of the tremendous vibrations. The listeners, forgetful of order and of themselves, leaned for- ward in their seats, magnetized by the voice and look of the speaker, whose pale face and glaring eye assumed an appearance of preternatural emotion. His last exclamation, "Give me liberty, or give me death," sounded like the shout of the warrior in the tempest of battle .* When Mr. Henry sat down every eye remained still fixed on him, entranced and spell-bound.}
Richard Henry Lee supported Mr. Henry in a masterly review of the resources of the colonies and their means of resistance, exhorting the convention to remember that "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, and that he is thrice armed whose cause is just." "But," says Wirt, "his melody was lost amid the agitations of that ocean which the master-spirit of the storm had lifted up on high." It would, however, be a wide mistake to believe that a melodious voice was Mr. Lee's highest qualification as a speaker. Plain, solid, common sense was the distinguishing characteristic of his mind as it was of Mr. Henry's.
The overweening caution of those who opposed Henry's reso- lutions perhaps served the purpose of the breaks in a train of railroad cars-while they endeavored to retard the movement, they made it eventually safer. The resolutions were carried, and a committee was appointed to prepare a plan of defence.}
In conformity with a plan reported by the committee, the convention unanimously determined on the establishment of a well-regulated militia, by forming in every county one or more
* Randall's Life of Jefferson, i. 101.
¿ The expression, "after all, we must fight," had been used four months be- fore by Joseph Hawley, of Massachusetts, in a letter to John Adams, which he showed to Patrick Henry while they were together in the first congress. Henry, upon reading the words, raised his hand, and with an oath exclaimed, "I am of that man's mind."
į The committee consisted of Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Robert C. Nicholas, Benjamin Harrison, Lemuel Riddick, George Washington, Adam Stephen, Andrew Lewis, William Christian, Edmund Pendleton, Thomas Jeffer- son, and Isaac Zane.
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ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA.
volunteer companies and troops of horse, to be in constant train- ing and ready to act at a moment's warning, and hence called "minute-men." Mr. Nicholas, hitherto an extreme conservative, now proposed to raise an army of ten thousand regulars; the proposition evinced his enthusiasm in the cause; but the kind of force which he recommended still displayed his distrust in means of defence resting immediately on the body of the people. Measures were adopted by the convention to promote the raising of wool, cotton, flax, and hemp, and to encourage domestic manufactures of gunpowder, salt, iron, and steel; and the mem- bers agreed to make use of home-made fabrics, and recommended the practice to the people. The former delegates to congress were re-elected, with the substitution of Mr. Jefferson in lieu of Peyton Randolph, in case of his non-attendance. Mr. Randolph, being speaker of the house of burgesses, did not attend that congress, and Mr. Jefferson accordingly took his place.
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CHAPTER LXXX.
JEFFERSON.
THOMAS JEFFERSON was born at Shadwell, in the County of Albemarle, on the 2d day of April, 1743 .* According to family
* Randall's Life of Jefferson gives the following extract from Colonel Peter Jefferson's Book of Common Prayer :-
BIRTHS.
Jane Jefferson
1740, June 27.
Mary
1741, October 1.
Thomas
1743, April 2.
Elizabeth.
1744, November 4.
Martha
1746, May
29.
Peterfield
1748, October
16.
Ason
1750, March 9.
Lucy
1752, October *10.
Anna Scott Randolph. 1755, October 1.
MARRIAGES.
Jane Jefferson
Mary
1760, June 24.
Thomas
1772, January 1.
Elizabeth
Martha
1765, June 20.
Peterfield
Ason
Lucy
1769, September 12.
Anna Scott Randolph
1788, October.
DEATHS.
Jane Jefferson
1765, October 1.
Mary
Thomas.
Elizabeth.
1773, January 1.
Martha
Peterfield
1748, November 29.
Ason
1750, March 9.
Lucy
Anna Scott Randolph (603)
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HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND
tradition his paternal ancestors, among the early settlers of Vir- ginia, came from near Mount Snowden, in Wales, and one of them was a member of the first house of burgesses that met in 1619. The grandfather of Thomas lived at Osborne's, in Ches- terfield. Peter, (father of Thomas,) a land surveyor, settled at Shadwell, where he had taken up a tract of land, including Monticello. Shadwell was called after the parish in London in which his wife was born. He was born in February, 1708, and married, in 1738, Jane, daughter of Isham Randolph, of Dunge- ness, in Goochland. "The Randolphs," says Mr. Jefferson, "trace their pedigree far back in England and Scotland, to which let every one ascribe the faith and merit he chooses." Peter Jefferson's early education had been neglected, but being a man of strong parts he read much, and so improved himself that he was chosen,* with Joshua Fry, professor of mathematics in Wil- liam and Mary College, to continue the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, and was afterwards employed, with Mr. Fry, to make a map of the colony. This was the first regu- lar map of Virginia ever made, that of Captain Smith, although remarkably well delineated, considering the circumstances under which it was made, being, of necessity, in large part conjectural.
Peter Jefferson was one of the first persons who settled in Goochland, since known as Albemarle, about the year 1737. That county was formed in 1744 out of a part of Goochland, which had been carved out of Henrico in 1727.
Thomas Jefferson's earliest recollection was of his being handed up and carried on a pillow on horseback by a servant when his father was removing, in 1745, from Shadwell to Tuckahoe. Peter Jefferson was a man of extraordinary physical strength; he could "head up," that is raise up from their sides to an upright position, at once, two hogsheads of tobacco weighing near a thou- sand pounds each. He was a favorite with the Indians, and they often made his house a stopping-place, and in this way Thomas imbibed an uncommon interest in that people.
Peter Jefferson dying in 1757, left a widow (who survived till 1776) with six daughters and two sons, of whom Thomas, then
* 1749.
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ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA.
fourteen years of age, was the elder. He inherited the lands on which he was born, and where he lived. When five years of age, he was placed at school at Tuckahoe, and when nine, upon the return of the family to Shadwell, at a Latin school, where he continued until his father's death. His teacher, the Rev. Wil- liam Douglas, a native of Scotland, taught him the rudiments of Latin, Greek, and French. At his father's death he was put under the care of the Rev. James Maury, of Huguenot descent, a good classical scholar and thorough teacher, with whom he con- tinued for two years at the parsonage, fourteen miles from Shad- well .* The student found recreation without in hunting on Peter's Mountain, within doors in playing on the violin. In the spring of 1760 he went to William and Mary College, and remained there for two years. Dr. William Small, a Scotchman, was then professor of mathematics there: a man of engaging manners, large views, and profound science. He shortly afterwards filled, for a time, the chair of ethics, rhetoric, and belles lettres. He formed a strong attachment to young Jefferson, and made him the daily companion of his leisure hours, and it was his conversa- tion that first gave him a bent toward scientific pursuits. Small returned, in 1762, to Europe. Before his departure he had pro- cured for Jefferson, from George Wythe, a reception as a student of law under his direction, and had also introduced him to the acquaintance of Governor Fauquier. At his table Jefferson met Dr. Small and Mr. Wythe, and from their conversation derived no little instruction. It was in 1765 that, while a law-student, he heard the "bloody debate" on Henry's resolutions. In May of the following year he made a northern trip, in a one-horse chair, by way of Annapolis, where he found the people rejoicing at the repeal of the stamp act. At Philadelphia he was inocu- lated for the small-pox by Dr. Shippen. At New York Mr. Jefferson became acquainted with Elbridge Gerry.
Jefferson, now twenty-four years old, entered upon the practice of the law in the general court, and continued in it until the Re- volution closed the courts of justice. He was not fitted for the office of advocate, owing to a defective voice, and he never spoke
* Where now stands the mansion of the late William F. Gordon.
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ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA.
more than a few sentences at a time .* In 1769 he became a member of the assembly, and so continued, patriotic, active, and ardent, until the meetings were suspended by the war. He made an unsuccessful effort in that body for the emancipation of the slaves in Virginia. January the 1st, 1772, he married Martha, widow of Bathurst Skelton, and youngest daughter of John Wayles, born in Lancaster, England, a lawyer, who lived at "The Forest," in Charles City County. She was then twenty- three years old .; In 1773 Mr. Jefferson contributed to the for- mation of committees of correspondence between the colonial legislatures. In the year following he was elected member of the convention which met in August. Unable to attend, owing to sickness, he communicated his views in the form of written instructions, for the Virginia delegates in Congress.
* Randall's Jefferson, i. 50.
¡ Her father, who had married three times, dying in May, 1773, left issue three daughters, one of whom married Francis Eppes, (father of John W. Eppes, who married Maria, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, ) and the other, Fulwar Skip- with, afterwards American consul in France. The portion that fell to Martha was encumbered with a debt, which ultimately, by the depreciation of paper money, resulted in a heavy loss .- Randall's Jefferson, and Memoirs and Corr. of Jefferson, i. 1, 3.
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CHAPTER LXXXI.
1775.
Dunmore's Proclamation-Removal of Powder-Disturbances at Williamsburg- Military Movements-Volunteers at Fredericksburg-Governor and Council- Hanover Volunteers and Henry-He extorts compensation for Powder-Dun- more's Proclamation-Henry's popularity.
ON the twenty-eighth of March Dunmore issued a proclama- tion, by command, as he said, of the king, for the prevention of the appointment of deputies from Virginia to the congress which was to assemble in May. And in compliance with instructions received from England, the governor ordered Captain Collins, with a party of marines and sailors from the Magdalen, lying at Burwell's Ferry, to remove the powder from the magazine at Williamsburg, and it was carried on board of that vessel secretly, between three and four o'clock A.M., of Thursday, April the twentieth, the day following the collision at Lexington and Con- cord. It had been rumored some days before in Williamsburg that Lord Dunmore had taken the locks off from most of the guns in the magazine, and that he intended to remove the powder. The people of the town were alarmed, and the volunteers for several nights kept guard over the magazine; at length growing negligent, and disbelieving the report, on Thursday night the guard was discharged at an early hour. Thus. Collins with his party, who had been secreted in the palace, seized the powder without opposition. Dunmore, anticipating the resentment of the people, armed his servants and some Shawnee hostages, and muskets were laid on the floor, loaded and primed, and the cap- tains of the ships of war lying at York were ordered to have in readiness an armed force for the defence of the palace. As soon as these proceedings became known, the Williamsburg volunteers flew to arms, and were with difficulty restrained by Peyton Ran- dolph and Robert C. Nicholas from assaulting the palace and seizing the governor. The authorities of the town, in accordance
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HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND
with a resolution of a meeting of the people, solicited the governor to restore the powder immediately, urging among other reasons which demanded it, the apprehension of a servile war, instigated by "wicked and designing men." Dunmore, in his reply, pre- tended that he had removed the powder from the magazine as being an insecure place in case of such an insurrection ;* declared that it should be returned as soon as it should appear that the precaution was unnecessary; that in case of an insurrection he would, upon his honor, return it in half an hour; but he expressed his surprise that the people were under arms, and said that he should not deem it prudent to put powder into their hands under such circumstances. The reply was considered evasive and false. When he had first heard that the people were in arms, he 'swore, "by the living God," that if any violence should be offered to him, or to the officers who had acted under his directions, he would proclaim freedom to the slaves, and lay the town in ashes. Some of the citizens, in consequence of this threat, sent their wives and children into the country.
The citizens of Williamsburg resolved unanimously to continue their contributions for the relief of the inhabitants of Boston. Intelligence of these occurrences at the capital soon spread through the country. More than six hundred volunteers met at Fredericksburg by the twenty-seventh of April, and were ready to march to Williamsburg. Gloucester and Henrico demanded the restitution of the powder, the Gloucester men threatening, in case of refusal, to seize the governor. Bedford offered a premium for the manufacture of gunpowder; the independent company of Dumfries and the Albemarle volunteers were ready for action. Dunmore renewed his threats, and was confident, as he wrote to Lord Dartmouth, the English minister, that "with a small re-en- forcement of troops and arms he could raise such a body of In- dians, negroes, and others as would reduce the refractory people of this colony to obedience."t
Three citizens, deputed by the troops assembled at Fredericks- burg, repaired to Williamsburg for the purpose of ascertaining
* There had been an alarm of one from Surrey County.
+ Bancroft, vii. 277.
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ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA.
the real state of affairs, and to offer military assistance if desired. Peyton Randolph, in behalf of the corporation, in replying to the committee, stated that: "Besides what has been said in his public answer, the governor has given private assurances to several gen- tlemen that the powder shall be returned to the magazine, though he has not condescended to fix the day for its return. So far as we can judge, from a comparison of all circumstances, the gover- nor considers his honor at stake; he thinks that he acted for the best, and will not be compelled to what, we have abundant reason to believe, he would cheerfully do, if left to himself." "If we then may be permitted to advise, it is our opinion and most earnest request, that matters may be quieted for the present at least; we are firmly persuaded that perfect tranquillity will be speedily restored. By pursuing this course we foresee no hazard, or even inconvenience that can ensue. Whereas we are appre- hensive, and this we think upon good grounds, that violent mea- sures may produce effects which God only knows the conse- quence of."*
Upon this reply being reported to the volunteers at Fredericks- burg, styled "The friends of constitutional liberty in America," they declared that it was dictated by fear, and resolved to march at all events to Williamsburg, under command of Captain Hugh Mercer, who was eager to redress the indignity which Virginia had suffered at the hands of the governor.
At this juncture Peyton Randolph happened to reach the house of Edmund Pendleton, one of his colleagues, on his route to Philadelphia, where the congress was about to meet. These two eminent men sent to Fredericksburg, on Saturday, the twenty- ninth, a letter advising that further action should be deferred until the congress should adopt a plan of resistance. Mercer, who had written to Washington for advice, received a reply to the same effect. One hundred and two deputies were appointed a council to consider this advice, and after a long and animated discussion it was assented to by a majority of one vote only.t
* Letter dated at Williamsburg April 27th, 1775, to Mann Page, Jr., Lewis Willis, and Benjamin Grymes, in S. Lit. Mess., 1858, 26.
+ Burk's Hist. of Va., iii. 406.
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HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND
The military, consisting of fourteen companies of light-horse, for several days were encamped in the fields near the town, armed and equipped, and they acquiesced reluctantly in the determina- tion not to march at once to the capital. The Virginians were at the same time arming in other parts of the country to re-en- force, whenever necessary, those who had first taken up arms; troops were collected at the Bowling Green, and others on their march from Frederick, Berkley, Dunmore, and other counties, were arrested, by information that the affair of the gunpowder was about to be accommodated. The council of one hundred and two, before adjourning, adopted an address pledging themselves to re-assemble whenever necessary, and by force of arms to de- fend the laws, liberties, and rights of Virginia, or any sister colony, from unjust and wicked invasion. This address was read at the head of each company, and it concluded with the significant words, "God save the liberties of America !"
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