USA > Virginia > Frederick County > Frederick County > Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants: A History of Frederick County, Virginia. > Part 3
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Hite located the Irish immigrants on the Opecquon. This was known as the Irish immi- grant party that arrived between 1737 and 1740. This is somewhat misleading; for the ships' lists show the English, Irish, French, Scotch and Welsh made up the list; and those who sought homes in the Shenandoah under the guidance of Hite's son, were John Bruce, Patrick Berry, Denis Dough, Patrick Daugherty, Thomas Dos- ter, John Littler, John Fitzsimmons, .. O'Guillon, and three Riley families representing the Scotch, English and Irish, the Morgans from Wales; Louis Dumas and his two sons, Charles and Thomas, the French ;- many more of this class, eighty in all: not a German among them.
CHAPTER II
The Minor Grants
In the preceding pages, mention has been made of Minor Grants. The author finds in unravel- ling many incidents of the early settlement of Frederick County, that so much inconsistency is revealed in writings claiming to be historical facts that it becomes necessary to give the his- tory of these minor grants, and thus prove who were the first settlers. It must be remembered that the reigning English Monarch always claim- ed the right to create colonies in the New World; and form colonial governments, and did so exer- cise this right; and Virginia being the colony with which we are now treating, these notes ap- ply to this colony. Large grants emanating from the Crown direct, were chiefly to that part of the colony known as Tidewater. One large grant, known as the Colepepper Grant, embraced what is generally called the Northern Neck. As al- ready stated, the Crown always reserved the right to make special grants to certain companies or individuals who could give some assurance of becoming actual settlers; and when this was shown, such persons were even allowed to enter the domain of the large grants. There had to be some tribunal in the colony to regulate this : so at an early day, the Governor was associated with certain gentlemen to be known as his coun- cil; and persons desiring to locate in the new country, must secure from the Governor and Council an order to have surveyed for settle- ment, a certain number of acres of land, stating the locality; and this order required that fam- ilies should be located within a specified time; and when so proven to the Governor and Coun- cil, a grant or deed should be made to the ap- plicant or his assigns, or such persons as he would name. These individual grants or deeds were known as the Minor Grants.
We find that Isaac and John Van Meter as- signed their order, dated 17th of June, 1730, to Joist Hite in 1731, who was required to seat his requisite number of families; and when this was done, Hite filed his surveys with the Secretary of the Council, and a list of persons to whom he desired patents, deeds or grants to issue; and thus we have a number of such grants, that will receive fuller mention later on: Hite had grants made to himself for many thousand acres; and
from these tracts he made many deeds himself to certain families. A list of such will be given later on. In executing the order of Governor and Council, Hite was not required to locate his surveys and families in one tract of forty thous- and or one hundred thousand acres, but allowed to make selections from Cohongoruta on the North, southward through the Shenandoah Val- ley. There were large intervening tracts, left as ungranted land, afterwards granted by Lord Fairfax to other immigrants, after 1744. We now approach an interesting period in the his- tory of the early settlers, for when Hite entered upon the subdivision of his grant of one hun- dred thousand acres of land, to be entered by actual settlers on tracts not heretofore granted in the special grants already mentioned, for be it remembered, Hite held no such grants as has often been stated by persons not fully informed, "that he had a grant of one hundred and fifty thousand acres in one body, and this had as its southern boundary the Shenandoah river." This is mere fallacy; yet many believe it. He found obstacles that were almost as troublesome to the pioneer as the Indian. He found "blazed trees," planted monuments, and other marks, in the forests and along rivers and creeks, which indicated to him at once, that some surveyor had 'been on the ground before his entry. This was appalling to Hite and his people, but he was equal to the occasion; and as stated in the early part of this subject of Hite and his grants, we find him diligently at work repairing his fortune. He soon found from other immigrants coming in, who had run these strange lines; for these new people carried with them deeds from Isaac Van Meter, for tracts of land to be measured out of his grant. Hite at once saw from reci- tals in these deeds, that some one had the prior right; and when he saw that Isaac Van Meter was the man to deal with, he knew what course to pursue. He had known Van Meter back in old Salem, New Jersey, where Isaac was a prominent resident. How, when, or where Hite had his first interview with Van Meter as to what was apparent to him: (A dispute over their titles), is not known. Sufficient for our purpose, however, we can assert they had an in-
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II
THE MINOR GRANTS
terview in some way; and as evidence of this, we find a compromise settlement between them in 1731, by which Hite became the purchaser of the celebrated grants, which he takes in regular conveyances from the Van Meters, and also as- signment for grants to issue from the Governor and Council, and enters them for record at Williamsburg and Orange Courthouse, seven years before the court of record was organized in Frederick County. Hite, in order to carry out his original plans, began the work in 1736 of making deeds to certain of the settlers who either came with him in 1732 or soon followed
in his wake. Such deeds are to be found re- corded in the Clerk's Office of old Orange, thus giving the names of many of these first settlers which will appear in these pages, so as to show clearly who many of the people were who first settled West of the Blue Ridge and North and West of the Sherando River. We have stated, under the head of Hite and his family, that he found it necessary to purchase the Van Meter Grants. In the next Chapter, we will show what these grants were, and more fully prove that Hite was not the first white man to plant his foot on the soil.
CHAPTER TII
The Van Meter Grants, their History and the Proof that Van Meter preceded Hite - as the First White Man to Cross the Potow-mack
The records of the two grants of forty thous- and acres each, to John and Isaac Van Meter, as will be seen in this Chapter in the original grants to both are dated 17th June, 1730, and are of record on page 363 of the Mss. Journal of the Governor and Council of Virginia, 1721-1734. Isaac Van Meter at this time lived in Old Salem, New Jersey, (as heretofore stated), while his brother, John Van Meter, was living on a tract of two hundred acres granted him by Lord Bal- timore, November 3rd, 1726, which he located at or near what is now Monocacy Junction, near Frederick, Maryland. Lord Fairfax's grant from the crown ante-dated these and all other grants; but at that date it was supposed that the great Colepepper Grant, which had been curtailed to the Northern Neck, then Fairfax's grant, did not extend beyond the Blue Mountains, and that the Potow-mack River was wholly East of these mountains; and it was not until about 1736-7, that Lord Fairfax, the father of our Lord Thomas through his agents, discovered by sur- vey that his grant covered an empire, more than he supposed. This will be better understood by a study of his map made at that time, a photo copy of which the writer has and hopes to have appear later on. From a careful study of this question, the writer has no doubt but that the Van Meters well knew what Lord Fairfax and Governor and Council of Virginia did not know at that time, as to what was the extent of the Fairfax Grant; hence Van Meter resorted to what would be called to-day "sharp practice," by transferring his entire grant into the posses- sion of an innocent third purchaser, Joist Hite, and then to become holders of such portion as they desired for themselves by transfer and purchase from Hite. This became later, as Van Meter no doubt anticipated, a subject of litiga- tion,-and it was not finally settled until after principals and their children had been dead many years. The courts sustained Van Meter, and confirmed title to all assigns for interest in the Van Meter grants purchased from "Jost Heitd," the legal battles were fought to a finish
in 1800, which the author hopes to treat fully if space will admit. There are many details in this transaction that could be more fully set forth in this work, which would lend a tinge of romance to this interesting period, but we must avoid ro- mancing, and try to state facts in a brief and plain way. But, inasmuch as Van Meter is to be proven an actual first settler, though it has often been asserted that Van Meter never lived on his grants, it might be well to sketch his movements at this point, trusting to give them more prom- inence in another Chapter. John Van Meter was an interesting character he and his family,-his own ancestry and his descendants, will make a most interesting chapter, giving the details of his life, leading as they do from Marbletown, Ulster County, New York, where he was born in 1683, following his removal down through New Jer- sey into Maryland in 1726, and his final settle- ment in the Valley of Virginia soon after 1730, where he died in 1745. "Jost Heyt" is also traceable in like manner, almost year by year, with such minute detail as to show conclusively that he followed John Van Meter, who led him into this land of promise.
(Here follows the copy from the original Van Meter Grants). MSS Journal of the Governor and, Council of Virginia, session 1721-1734, page 363.)
"On reading at this board the petition of John Van Meter setting forth that he is desirous to take up a tract of land in this colony-on the west side of the great Mountains for the settle- ment of himself and eleven children and also divers of his relations and friends living in the government of New York are also desirous to move with their families and effects to settle in the same place if a sufficient of land may be assigned them for that purpose and praying that ten thousand acres of land lying in the fork of the Shenado River including the places called by the names of Cedar Litch and Stony Lick and running up between the branches of said river to complete the quantity and twenty thousand acres not already taken up by Robert
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THE VAN METER AND HITE GRANTS
Carter and Mann Page, Esqus. or any other lying in the fork between the river Shenado: and the river Cohonguroota and extending there- to to Operkon and up the South branch thereof- may be assigned for the Habitation of himself his family and friends.
The Governor with the advice of the Council is pleased to give leave to the said John Van Meter to take up the said first mentioned tract of ten thousand acres for the settlement of him- self and family; That as soon as the petitioner shall bring on the last mentioned tracts twenty families to inhabit: or that this board is satis- fied so many are to remove thither: Leave be and it is hereby granted him for surveying the last mentioned tract of twenty thousand acres within the limits above described in so many several Dividends as the petitioner and his part- ners shall think fit; and it is further ordered that no person is permitted to enter for or take up any part of the aforesaid Land in the mean- time: Provided the said Van Meter and his family and the said twenty other families of his Relations and friends do settle thereon within the space of two years according to his proposal."
("MSS: Journal of the Governor and Coun- cil of Virginia, 1721-1734, page 364.)
"Isaac Van Meter of the Province of West Jersey having by petition to this Board set forth that he and divers other German families are desirous to settle themselves on the West side of the Great Mountains in this colony; he the petitioner has been to view the lands in those parts and has discovered a place where further such settlement may conveniently be made and not yet taken up or possessed by any one of the English Inhabitants and praying that ten thous- and acres of land lying between the lands sur- veyed for Robt. Carter, Esq., and the fork of the Shenado river and the river Operkon in as many several tracts or Dividends as shall be necessary for the accommodation and settlement of ten families (including his own) who pro- poses to bring to the said Land :
The Governor with the advice of the Council is pleased to order as it is hereby ordered that the said Isaac Van Meter for himself and his partners have leave to take up the said quantity of ten thousand acres of Land within the limits above described and that if he bring the above number of families to dwell there within two years; Patent be granted him and them for the same in such several tracts or Dividends as they shall think fit and in the meantime the same be referred free from entry of any other per- son : Dated at Williamsburg, 17th June, 1730." These Van Meter grants in themselves prove
that they preceded Hite and his colony. Since the best we can do for Hite is, that he started from his last stopping place in Pennsylvania in 1731, and as the grant to Isaac Van Meter re- cites conclusive proof, the Council sitting at Williamsburg from 1721 to 1734 expressly sets forth in their order dated 17th June, 1730, that Isaac the Petitioner had been to view the lands in those parts-"those parts"- are described in the survey made within the two years-as lying along both sides of the Shenandoah-one to John and one to Isaac. And these surveys embrace forty thousand acres each, and were confirmed to these brothers, May 12th, 1732-(See old files in State Library, Richmond, Virginia). John must have spied out the land about the time of its first discovery by the Spottswood expedi- tion,-for in tracing John from Ulster County, New York to his stop on the Monocacy River in Maryland, the writer finds him in 1727, over in Old Spottsylvania, lending his advice to the German settlers at Germania,-"skilled artisans" who had come in answer to the scheme adopted by the Governor. And it is barely possible that John, in his desire to roam and find new places, was tempted to try the summit of the Blue Mountain lying to the West, and see what was beyond. Tradition tells us that he blazed his way through the dense forests, so as to point his way of return to the Germana settlement; and, as he and Isaac represented to the Council afterwards, that they viewed the lands. They surveyed their lands chiefly from the forks of the Shenandoah (near Front Royal) westward; thus showing that they entered the valley through the gaps of the Blue Ridge at that point, hugging the line forming the northern boundary of the Robt. Carter and Mann Page grant. This set- tles the question as to whether he or Hite was the first white man to visit the country South of the Cohongoroota; so while giving Van Meter credit for this honor, it leaves the impression, then, that Hite was the first man to cross the Potomac. We would be glad to give him this honor without further question, but, as we are trying to state facts in relation to these old pioneers, all bent upon finding the promised land, the writer must confess that in all his investigations and careful study, he finds some circumstantial evidence that almost settles the questions. We have seen that Hite purchased large portions of the Van Meter grants, and the records show that Hite in 1734 conveyed land to purchasers for tracts in the vicinity of Shep- herdstown, and recites that the lands conveyed by him were parcels embraced in the Isaac Van Meter Patent; thus showing that Van Meter's
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CARTMELL'S HISTORY
grant also embraced land near the Potomac,- and the question naturally arises, how did Van Meter first reach that point-Did he cross the Potomac West of the Blue Ridge in the vicin- ity of Shepherdstown, and there locate part of his patent? If so, he crossed the Potomac be- fore Hite; thus leaving Hite with a doubt as to whether he is entitled to what we hope to give him,- the credit of being the man who first stood on the South banks of the Potomac West of the Blue Ridge. And may we not pass this and record it as a fact; for we have this lan- guage in the survey of Isaac Van Meter's grant : "Survey extended from the north bank line of the Sherando river northward to the Operkon river then following its flow embracing the land and prairies, forests and streams and their sources lying betwixt thereof-said Operkon and ye said Sherando: Both lines showing monuments for courses and measures." This certainly is the patent referred to in Hite's first deed to settlers ; and we may conclude that when the Van Meters entered the Valley at the forks of the Shenan- doah, that Isaac proceeded northward to lay off his patent; and ultimately found himself on the Potomac near the site of Shepherdstown, having "followed the flow of the Operkon river." As already stated, it has been the desire of the wri- ter to settle this moot question; but to do so and give sufficient proof, required the most dili- gent search and investigation, with the assis- tance of old Virginia Clerks, Librarians of sev- eral states, Secretaries of Historical Societies, and welcome access to the files of the colonial days. And these aids, helping to verify the hun- dreds of incidents recorded in various forms in the old County Clerk's office, where the writer has spent more than a quarter of a century, is his reason for submitting the foregoing to the casual reader, or to the student of history of this part of the Valley known as Old Frederick County, as satisfactory proof as to who should have the credit for blazing the first tree in the Virginia forests or crossing the Potomac. While many may feel disappointed that the case has been so proven against the claim so long made for Hite, we hope they will find in these pages full proof that he was ever at the front, and did more than any one in planting colonies and bringing civilization out of the newly discovered country; and to prove this, we will now pro- ceed to state who composed his colonies, start- ing with those whom he first located on land through the deeds he executed.
We find in the old records of Orange County, that Hite started the work of parceling out to the families who claimed to belong to his colony,
tracts of land all located West of the Blue Ridge, making forty-six conveyances, and all admitted to record in March, 1736. Some refer to his own grants, dated June 12th and Oct. 3rd, 1734; some to his grants through his Van Meter purchase, dated 17th June, 1730; in the proper place, will appear names and location of families who came with Hite and also those who followed and en- tered the Country about that time, and awaited grants to come through him, no grant being made to any one prior to 1734, at which time Hite and the Van Meter Grants having matured, the seating of the one hundred families and even more, is fully proven by the records.
We must take it for granted that many of these conveyances were made to the sixteen families so often spoken of as coming with Hite; as it was understood by the terms of Hite's grant that he would be required to locate twenty families and convey to them the tracts of land they could select and have surveyed, and as this was done, the same must be certified to the gen- eral Council at Williamsburg.
The first deed from Hite referred to, was to one of his German friends, Stephen Hansonbella (afterwards written in the Frederick County Records, Hotsinpeller) and four hundred and fifty acres near head of Opecquon Creek, next to Christian Nisswanger, four hundred and thirty five acres to Thomas Wilson for one hundred and sixty-seven acres on Operkon Run to John Van Meter for four hundred and seventy-five acres, being the lowermost part of that tract whereon John Lilburn resided on Operkon Creek, part of the Van Meter Grant; to Thomas Chester one hundred acres on North side of North River; to Louis Stuffey for three hundred and thirty-nine acres on West side of Sherando River near head of Crooked Run to Robt. Desarfe for three hundred acres near place called Long Meadows adjoining Isaac Hite, son of Joist Hite, to Christian Blank, for sixty acres on North side of North branch of Sherando River, "being within the bounds of ten thousand acres granted to John Van Metre on June 6th, 1730, and sold to Hite, Oct., 1734;" from Hite to Hendery Hunt for one hundred and twenty acres on West side of Sherando River "being part of the forty thousand acre grant purchased by Hite from John Van Meter, (Note: part of the sixteen families and Hite's six families and the full number of sixteen is obtained.) This brief mention of the conveyances by Hite at that period, is given here for two reasons: it settles one point, that Hite actually purchased the Van Meter grant which ante-dated his by four years, and that he also found it necessary
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THE VAN METER AND HITE GRANTS
to use the same to give title to his fellow- and his family coming direct from the North colonists. As has been stated elsewhere, the specific terms of the original Hite grant required him to make a settlement in the new country of not less than twenty families; and having this accomplished, he must allow them to make selection for their habitations such parcels of land not theretofore granted to actual settlers, and then convey to them, out of his grant, good title for their home. When some of these selec- tions were made and reported to the Council at Williamsburg for approval, Hite was informed that his grant could not embrace many of these tracts,- as they were either within the Van Meter grants already surveyed, or they were parts of tracts leased by agents of the Fairfax estate. These leases were to run twenty years in most cas- es; and just at that point began the question of who was owner. Some of the colonists preferred to take their chances with the Fairfax claim; and held on to their selection, and became what was known after as squatters; and they and their descendants were at law with Lord Fair- fax after his arrival in 1749. Many of these suits were pending in our courts after Lord Fairfax's death, many of them losing their homes.
The names of the grantees from Hite, as has been stated, were familiar in that day, and are given to show who composed the twenty families. No record was ever made by Hite, who his colonists were, except by such convey- ances mentioned; and we have sufficient of these to prove that he had more families on the ground as settlers in 1736,-and they West of the Blue Ridge than his grant required,-most of them taking their deeds through the Van Meter Grant, the conveyances to Christian Blank and Hendery Hunt were dated and admitted to record in February, 1739. These conveyances disclose to us some interesting facts. Several writers on the subject of the coming of Joist Hite and, as they stated it, "with his sixteen families, fixed his settlement on the Opequon in the vicinity of Bartonsville and Kernstown; and this seemed reasonable enough. As we have already shown, Hite and many of the people coming to the Valley about that period, settled on land along the Opecquon Creek principally to- wards its source. This, then, would embrace the Cartmell and Glass family with their large grants of land lying on either side of the stream, beginning at the head and following its course eastward to the Bartonsville neighborhood, where Hite had chosen his home. But we can- not claim that Hite settled the two last named families in 1735,-the emigrant, Samuel Glass,
of Ireland,-and Nathaniel Cartmell and his large family coming from Westmoreland Coun- ty, England, who at once entered upon their lands and were entirely independent of the Hite emigration. But it must be admitted that they followed in the wake of Hite. Glass secured a minor grant through Hite for nine hundred acres of land at the head springs of Opecquon Creek; Cartmell relied upon his entry, and was never disturbed but once by suit of ejectment by Fairfax, and then won the case. The convey- ances referred to show where the families were located, extending from the junction of the North and South branches of the Shenandoah, near the present site of Front Royal,-westward towards the Little North Mountain and along the Opecquon towards its mouth near Shep- herdstown. This indicates that the twenty fam- ilies were not settled in close proximity for mutual protection from attacks from Indians, but they were locating in good sections on good lands, and willing to take their chances with the denizens of the virgin forests, whether wild ani- mal or Redskin. It is fair to claim, however, that the first conveyances made by Hite in March, 1736, and recorded in the old Orange court, were made to his colonists, who compris- ed his twenty families; and for this reason the names of the grantees have been given. We will give the names of the grantees at this point who subsequently received deeds for their tracts, as their surveys had been reported to the Governor and Council; they having made their selections and reported that they "were seated." All of the following deeds were recorded in the Orange Court prior to the holding of the first term of court in Frederick County, and are from Joist Hite :
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