USA > Virginia > King and Queen County > King and Queen County > King and Queen County, Virginia (history printed in 1908) > Part 6
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Early in the nineteenth century there was a consider- able town of West Point, but it gradually decayed owing to the unhealthfulness of the location. When the rail- road was built to the point there was only one house standing, and that unoccupied and dilapidated. I saw it when the land now occupied by the town was in culti- vation. It was then owned by Hon. William P. Tay- lor, who sold a part of his farm to the West Point Land Company, at the time that the railroad came to West Point. It is likely that he was mainly instrumental in building the West Point Colonial Church, which stands, though in a dilapidated condition, with but few altera- tions from its original construction. It ought by all means to be repaired and restored to its original state. It is a shame on the State to allow such splendid build- ings to fall to decay and become the home of moles and bats.
REMINISCENCES
It is well for us to ask now and then what others think and say of us; and Burns's couplet is still in force :
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"Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us, To see oorsels, as ithers see us!"
The writer, not long since, came across a book by Wil- liam Kyle Anderson, of Detroit, Mich., which relates to the Robertson, Taylor, and Anderson families, for- merly of King and Queen. In 1897, desirous of gain- ing information regarding these families, of one of which he was a member, he made a trip from Detroit to Virginia. Beginning on page 27 of his book, we read as follows :
"Three years ago we made a journey to the Old Dominion with the intention of running down to King and Queen and of having a look at the old stamping grounds, and locating the very spot where our ancestors lived and died. How best to reach there was a ques- tion, for means of locomotion are still in a primitive condition down that way, and very much as they were a century ago. There is no railroad in the County. The Mattapony River extends along the southern border, and occasional boats from Norfolk and the Chesa- peake ascend it, but that was too roundabout to our Mecca. The way we had to take was across country and the means of locomotion such as we might find. By the aid of friends in Richmond, the way was mapped out. Taking a train on the York River Railroad, we alighted at a station, or rather a siding, known as Sweet Hall, which we found absolutely devoid of humanity either white or black. After some search, we found a pickaninny who for a slight subsidy went in search of a neighboring farmer, who owned a good buggy and team and consented to drive us to Frazier's Ferry on the Mattapony, a distance of some seven miles. There we were ferried in a skiff across the river, and some two miles down stream to what is known as King and Queen Court-House landing. A warehouse once stood there, but now there is only a dilapidated shanty and a broken-down dock. No human being greeted our arrival. It was a broiling hot day, and we looked in vain for any means of transportation to the Court- House, three-quarters of a mile. [Would it have hurt him to walk ?]
" Seeing the dilemma in which we were placed, the ferryman offered, for a small fee, to take our bag and guide our steps to the Court House, by a shady path and through piny woods. In this primitive fashion we journeyed to our destination.
" We found the village to consist of the following buildings: Court House and Clerk's office-both substantial brick buildings of one story- a diminutive ten- or twenty-foot jail in which one lone prisoner lan- guished, a general country store, and a farmhouse of moderate size,
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dignified as "the Hotel." No hospitable landlord greeted us as we crossed the threshold. It looked like Goldsmith's 'Deserted Village'. An ancient, rheumatic dog wagged us a welcome, and soon a colored woman, bearing a pitcher of fresh water, informed us that 'de white folks soon be here, and glad to take care of yo'.
" The aged county clerk, who had held the office more than fifty years, had gone fishing, but we invaded his office, impatient to have a look at the records. Greatly to our dismay we could find none earlier than 1864. In that year, a raid from Norfolk (Gloucester Point) made by the Union force, burned the old Court House and clerk's office with all the old records. It was a sore disappointment, for we had hoped to find deeds of the Rogers, Robertson and Semple families. Also wills, marriages, etc.
" Balked in our expectations thus far, we determined, nevertheless, to prosecute our journey, and get some information. We were not al- together disappointed.
"Rosemount, the old Semple home, was easily found. It was a beautiful and extensive farm on a high plateau one mile back from the Mattapony River, but overlooking it, and much of King William on the opposite shore. It is about three miles northwest of Walkerton Village, and is now owned and occupied by Mr. William Dew, a gen- tleman who welcomed us with true Virginia hospitality. He pointed out the spot where the Semples were buried, but if there were any stones to mark the graves, none now remain.
" The residence stood in part on the foundation of a storehouse, and an immense spreading oak overshadowed the house. An old man of 80 years pointed out the site of the old Robertson place on the Mattapony River, four miles above Dunkirk. Nothing is now left to recall the very ancient homes of the Rogerses in the immediate neigh- borhood. The old Park Church is a pile of ruins, but we visited St. David's and (Old Cat Tail?) beyond the river; it must look back many years." (Pp. 27-31.)
So writes William Kyle Anderson, Esq., himself a descendant of Mr. Robertson. This is an unvarnished statement, and it is true, as he saw it. Our people and their fathers before them were poor, being aloof from marts and markets; but they bred what is better than gold-intelligence, virtue, and contentment.
Copy of an old paper saved from fires, furnished by Col. S. F. Harwood, June, 1905 :
" The land at King and Queen C .- H. granted to Richard Tunstall
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1667 was bounded by Mattapony river to the south, east by Apastocock branch, and on the west by Quintanoco creek. Edmund Tunstall and wife conveyed one acre for the use of the county where the C. H. now stands. In 1707 the land was divided, Richard Wyatt, in right of his wife who was the widow of the said Edmund, took the land next the river. Mary, the oldest daughter, took the land on the creek; Catharine, who was Mrs. Matthews, took the middle part; Barbary took two acres adjoining the C. H. land, and the residence on Apas- tocock swamp. 1713 Barbary conveyed to R. D. Wyatt all her right except the two acres above. Thos. Fox and Mary his wife conveyed to John Wyatt 134 acres, her part except the dower. 1720 John Baylor bought two acres at C .- H., and 404 acres from R. D. Wyatt. 1722 John Wyatt sold to Thos. Courtney 134 acres, also 66 acres, one-third of the widow's dower. 1728 John Matthews conveyed to Thos. Harwood 200 acres. 1739 Thos. Harwood willed (?) to his son John. 1739 John Baylor sold to Christopher Harwood two acres bought of John Wyatt. 1744 Christopher Harwood devised to his son William the same."
Attached to this paper is a cut showing the lands ad- joining the Courthouse.
Smithfield was one thousand acres of land given to the county by Mrs. Mariott. She was a Miss Baylor of King and Queen or Essex County, and first mar- ried John Walker, who left two sons, John and Baylor, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Susannah, one of whom married Semple of Rose Mount, and was the mother of Bishop Robert Baylor Semple; the other daughter married Fleet, the father of Captain William Fleet, who was the father of Dr. C. B., Colonel Alex., and James R. Fleet. After the death of her first hus- band, Mrs. Walker married Captain Mariott, a Scotch- man, who lived at upper Beudley on the Mattapony River. They had no children. She donated one thou- sand acres of land to St. Stephen's parish, the income from said land to be applied to the education of the poor children in the said parish.
Governor Lumpkin of Georgia was originally from King and Queen.
Also Hon. Alex H. Stephens was originally from King and Queen, and Stevensville was named for his family.
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Colonel Robert M. Spencer, who lived at Clifton, was a prominent and highly esteemed man. Captain Robert H. Spencer, one of the best of men, served in the Confederate army. Alexander Dudley, a talented lawyer, was the founder of the Richmond and Y. R. R. R., and its president when he died.
There were many other worthy and valuable old citi- zens in the neighborhood-among them J. W. Court- ney, Samuel Tunstall, Dr. and Thomas W. Garrett, Joel E. Bray, W. B. Bird, Samuel F. Harwood.
The Old Church, a half-mile below Plymouth, was built in colonial times. This house is about nine miles below the Courthouse.
Speaker Robinson built a magnificent home at Pleas- ant Hill, near Little Plymouth. Tradition tells us that as one approached from the highway, a noble colonnade with pilasters aloft, greeted him; and as he entered the colonnade, a tesselated floor, and doors and windows wrought in splendid mahogany delighted his taste and excited his wonder.
Richard Corbin, Esq., at one time Treasurer of the Colony, erected a commodious house, 150 feet in length, some miles above Pleasant Hill, at Laneville. They tell us that his wine cellar was kept filled with choice Madeira, and there seems reason to believe that a sub- way led out to the sloping bank near the river. This was his home in 1775, when Patrick Henry compelled a return of the value of powder removed by Governor Dunmore from the magazine in Williamsburg. Fine dwellings graced the river bank at Clifton, Melrose, Mantua, Newington, and various other places.
The following is from dictation by Captain R. H. Spencer : " Miss Polly Robinson, a daughter of Speaker Robinson, owned and lived at Clifton. Colonel Boyd married her. Dr. James T. Boyd owned and lived at Gainesboro, while Colonel R. H. Spencer lived at Clif- ton, in after times.
" Pleasant Hill was about four miles below Clifton, one mile back from the river. In Speaker Robinson's day Pleasant Hill was a place of great splendor. I think Governor Spotswood married a Miss Moore,
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sister to Mrs. Robinson. The house was magnificent. Tall, huge columns to greet the coming guests, porch floors wrought in mosaic, doors and windows of im- ported mahogany. Chelsea, Melrose, and Rural Fe- licity were old homes of the Rowes. The last named was sold afterwards to Colonel Spencer. Boardly was the old home of James Govan and Richard Raines. By the waste of time and of its adjutants, natural decay and destructive fires, many of our old homes have disap- peared, and only the sites remain to tell their story. Pleasant Hill, Clifton, Melrose, Boardly, Mantapike, Newington, Mantua, Rickahock, Bunker's Hill (the old Bagby home), Locust Cottage, Spring Farm, have all suffered from one or all of these causes, though in some cases new buildings have taken the place of the old, notably at Clifton, Mantua, Melrose, Newington, Rickahock, and Locust Cottage."
The following interesting letter was written by James Southgate, Esq. :
In looking over some old papers a few days ago I came across some notes that I made in 1900 when I went through King and Queen in a visit to eastern Virginia, and among them I find the following in regard to Newington, about which we were talking when I saw you in Richmond and about which you had been unable to get any information from Mr. Harwood who lives there. If it will be of any use to you in getting up your book on King and Queen you are welcome to it. I don't know how how I secured this information, but probably from Robt. Spencer.
I never was there but once, and when a boy I went home with one of the Harwood boys on Friday afternoon to spend Saturday and Sunday, and the inducement held out for my going was that the water was to be drawn off from a fish pond in the neighborhood and we could get a good lot of fish. We went and rode a mule and arrived too late to get any of the best fish and had to take cat- fish, and you know they have terrible fins. We put a good string of them on the pommel of the saddle and both of us got up on this mule but we found the fish were too near so we moved them over on the neck of the beast, and, as the fish were fluttering still, the said shoulders got the benefit of these terrible fins, which so irritated the animal that he relieved himself of the fish and also the boys that were on his back. But as we fell in deep sand there were no bones
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broken, and we got the fish home and had to cook them for a late dinner, and I remember it was the most delicious dinner I ever par- took of, but I have always thought that the keenness of the appetite was the reason. Newington was the original seat of the Lumpkin family. It was then owned by George Braxton, the father of the Carter Braxton who signed the Declaration of Independence. He died in 1736. It passed from the Braxtons to the Roanes, a family which were aristocratic and proud of their English descent. A son, John, married a Miss Frazier, a beautiful woman (from whose family Frazier's ferry is now called), but beneath him in point of family connections and standing in society. He so grieved over the mistake he made, that in a fit of desperation he killed his wife and the house servant, who tried to save the wife from the brutal attack of the husband. He was tried, convicted of murder, and sentenced to be hung, but before the time arrived he committed suicide in prison by drinking laudanum. This fine estate, of nearly one thousand acres, was afterwards purchased by the Harwoods, about 1810 or 1820, and is still in the hands of this family.
SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES
The people of King and Queen were among the first in the State to give attention to the very important mat- ter of the mental culture of their children.
Thomas Jefferson, after retiring from the office of President of the United States, set the pace for our people by starting a great university at Charlottesville. The Presbyterians had previously founded Washington College, now known as Washington and Lee Univer- sity. In 1834 Richmond College was inaugurated by the Baptists. Up to that time the schools of King and Queen were few and, in the main, of low grade. But the people of the county in general (some exceptions, of course) have always shown great interest in the literary training of their children. Many of the youths of both sexes have had collegiate education, some of the boys going to William and Mary, some to Columbian Uni- versity at Washington, to Randolph-Macon, and to Richmond College; and the girls to Hollins, Staunton, Charlottesville, etc. These and other high-grade schools, as the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, etc., have rendered us good service. We know of one resident of the county-we use the incident simply as an
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illustration-who, having five sons and eight daughters, educated all his boys at Columbian University, and the girls at schools of corresponding grade. We do not mention the name-modesty forbids-but it must be recorded to his everlasting honor.
A number of private schools were kept in different sections of the county, whose teachers in several cases made high reputations.
In the year 1753, Donald Robertson, a Scotchman quite thoroughly equipped, came over and began to teach, first as a private tutor. By and by, having bought land on the Mattapony River ten miles above Dun- kirk, he there opened an academy for young men, and soon secured a patronage honorable to himself, drawing students from all quarters. He taught literature, math- ematics, rhetoric, Latin, and perhaps Greek. It is likely that no teacher of his day deserved better of Virginians than did Donald Robertson. He taught the youth, James Madison, who said, after a distinguished and beneficent career, " All that I have been in life I owe largely to that man." It seems probable, also, that he taught General George Rogers Clark, whose aunt he married; as also other noted men.
About the year 1839, a Scotchman of culture and wise forecast, Mr. Oliver White, came to us and estab- lished an academy at Fleetwood, some six miles above Bruington Church. Mr. White deserves the everlast- ing gratitude of our people, within and beyond the bor- ders of the county. He erected a standard which is telling to-day upon a number of pupils who do him honor, while he sleeps in his quiet grave, some four miles from Bruington and the same distance from Fleetwood.
About the same year (1839), Mr. John Bagby and Colonel John Pollard started an academy at Stevens- ville, near the center of the county, for the teaching of English and the classics and mathematics, and Major James G. White was employed as headmaster, followed by Rev. R. H. Bagby, D. D., W. J. Berryman, and others. These schools were largely efficacious in the preparation of the youth of the county for college train- ing and business life.
COL. J. C. COUNCILL Twenty-sixth Virginia Regiment, Army Northern Virginia.
FACING 86
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At Bruington, Captain Thomas Haynes opened an academy, of which Judge J. H. C. Jones was principal. Mr. Jones was a Marylander by birth, and came to us first from Columbian College. He did a good work in the schoolroom, afterwards studying law under James Smith, Esq., and by and by coming to be one of our most valuable and noted citizens. His invaluable wife -a daughter of Mr. James Smith-survives him, being now (1904) venerable in age and in honors. Judge Jones will long live in the memory of his pupils and his fellow-citizens, whose courts he presided over with so much of grace and skill, holding the scales of justice always evenly balanced.
About 1850 a very successful school was conducted at Newtown by Mr. Lewis Kidd, and in 1857 by Spen- cer Coleman. It was closed at the breaking out of the Civil War.
About 1856, an academy was established at Centre- ville, conducted by Prof. Gogerty, who was afterwards slain by a brother of a pupil he had disciplined in the school. Rev. A. F. Scott succeeded him in years after the war, and rendered a service highly efficient.
The training of our girls, also, was not forgotten. Miss Fannie Hughes, who taught a school in Glouces- ter, was largely patronized by our citizens. About the year 1837, Miss Myra A. Muse taught a school at Plainview, near the Dragon, for the Gaines family. She afterwards married Mr. James Southgate, and re- sided at Locust Cottage near Stevensville. Here she opened a school, which secured a large patronage and was highly approved. Rev. Robert Stubbs taught a school for girls some twelve miles below the Court- house. A female school was kept at Newtown by E. Payson Walton. Also a private school, one of "Old Field " type. There was also a school for girls at Buena Vista, some miles below Centreville.
LOCUST COTTAGE
A female seminary was established at this place, situ- ated about one mile east of Stevensville, in the late thir-
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ties, say 1836 or 1837, by Mrs. Mira Ann Southgate, wife of James S. Southgate, who moved her school from Little Plymouth. They were married in Gloucester County in December, 1828, and when they came to Locust Cottage had three children, Mary Anna, James, and Llewellyn, the two former having been born at Edge Hill, near Upton, now called New Upton, in Gloucester County, about ten miles north of the Court- house, and the latter at Little Plymouth, in King and Queen. After locating at Locust Cottage, Thomas Muse and Cordelia Hunter were born, making in all five children. Mrs. Southgate was educated at a high school for young ladies in Richmond, Virginia, where she grad- uated with the highest honors. She at once chose teach- ing for a support, and in this way aided in the education of her brothers and sisters, who were left in dependent circumstances by their father, Colonel Thomas Muse, who for many years was clerk of the court in the county of Middlesex. Of her children, two only are now liv- ing, viz. James and Thomas Muse. Mary Anna mar- ried Richard Inge Wynne of North Carolina in 1861, and died in the town of Louisburg, N. C., April 27th, 1867, leaving one daughter, who grew to womanhood, married, removed to Texas, and died. Her four chil- dren soon followed.
James Southgate married Delia Haywood Wynne, sister of Richard Inge Wynne of North Carolina, in 1858, and six children were born of this marriage. Two boys died in infancy; one daughter, Annie, died in Durham, N. C., aged twenty-five and unmarried. James Haywood Southgate, the oldest child, is living (1904) in Durham, N. C. He married Kate, daughter of Bartholomew Fuller of Fayetteville, N. C., and four children were born to them, two dying in infancy and a daughter at the age of thirteen of appendicitis; the one left being a son, Thomas Fuller, aged eleven years. Lessie, the third child of James and Delia, married Prof. Simmons of North Carolina, and with her hus- band, the president, is teaching at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia. There are no children by this mar- riage. Mattie, the youngest daughter, married Thomas
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D. Jones, a native of Virginia, though he was a citizen of North Carolina when he married; he lived in Dur- ham and died there in 1889. There were three boys by this marriage, viz. Decatur, Southgate, and Lile. The first died suddenly at the age of six years; the others are living, their ages in 1904 being eleven and thirteen years.
Llewellyn Southgate married Miss Elvina Courtney, who died of pulmonary consumption shortly after her marriage; her husband soon followed her to the grave, by consumption of the bowels. He died at Boardly, a farm on the Mattapony near Gainesborough, May 23d, 1871, aged thirty-six years. He was a great sufferer, but met death bravely and with hope of a blessed im- mortality. There were no children by this marriage.
Thomas Muse Southgate married Miss Mary Port- lock of Norfolk, Virginia, and has lived in that city ever since. By this marriage there were born four boys and four girls. The oldest two (sons) died in childhood. Mira, the oldest daughter, is married to Hiram H. Grandin, and they live on Staten Island, the family con- sisting of father, mother, and three children, one son (the oldest) and two daughters. A son, Thomas S., lives in Norfolk, and is a prosperous merchant. He married Miss Nettie Norsworthy, and there have been born to them four children, two now (1904) living, a daughter and a son, aged five and two years respectively. The second daughter married recently Mr. H. H. Brad- ley of Stateburg, S. C .; they now reside in Savannah, Ga. The two younger daughters, Frances Baylor and Helen Hunter, are unmarried, while Hugh, the youngest child, is a youth of eighteen years, living with his parents in Norfolk.
Cordelia Hunter Southgate, the youngest, who was the pet of the household at Locust Cottage, grew to be a woman of great worth, was proficient in music, and chose that for a support. She never married, but de- voted her life to the good of others, and especially to work for the church. She died at the home of her brother James, in North Carolina, November 18th, 1894; at her request her remains were taken to Norfolk
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and laid by the side of her father and mother, to both of whom she was devoted, and by whose bedside she watched when they died.
We have been thus explicit in giving a history of this estimable family, because they were so well known and loved by hundreds of girls who went to this excellent school during the years previous to 1852, when they removed to Norfolk, Virginia.
Locust Cottage wielded a powerful influence for good in eastern Virginia, and there are scores of families now living whose mothers have sat at the feet of Mrs. South- gate to learn lessons of wisdom which have served them a good purpose in their lives. She was a teacher who taught because she loved to teach, and her thorough in- struction and firm, though mild, discipline, endeared her to her pupils and made a telling influence upon their characters and lives. James S. Southgate, or, as he was familiarly called by the girls, " Marse Jeems," ex- ercised on this great school a moral influence which was beautiful and healthful. While his estimable wife stored the minds of her pupils with useful knowledge, he looked after the commissariat, and his table was known far and near as " par excellence " for a boarding school. His influence for good was felt in King and Queen all the years he lived among this people. His walk was that of the true Christian, a "living epistle known and read of all men." His great desire was to preach the Gospel, but the school took so much of his time and attention that he had to be content with the license to exhort. He was powerfully gifted in prayer and most effective as an exhorter. Old Providence, in King and Queen, was the scene of his abundant labors in his Master's cause, and doubtless many are now liv- ing in that vicinity who can testify to the great work he accomplished among that people as superintendent of their Sabbath school and general director in all things pertaining to their spiritual welfare.
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