USA > Virginia > City of Suffolk > City of Suffolk > The history of Nansemond County, Virginia > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
In the Virginia Convention of 1776, which gave to the new state its first constitution, which was at the same time the first written constitution of a free state in history, and which put forth Geo. Mason's Bill of Rights, the county was represented by Col.
43
Willis Riddick, who was commandant of the county militia, and by Wm. Cowper, who had won popularity by his action in expelling Farson Agnew from the Bennett's Creek Church. In the conven- tion of 1788, which ratified the constitution of the United States, the county was represented by Willis Riddick and Solomon Shep- herd.
After the burning of Norfolk in January, 1776, numbers of the houseless and distressed fugitives from that place fled to Suffolk. The people of Suffolk threw open their doors to them and every building was soon crowded with them. When Col. Howe, of the Virginia forces retired to Suffolk in February, bringing with him 650 men, the town was threatened with serious distress by a lack of provisions for her many guests, but the country folk came to their aid and all were at last cared for.
During the Revolution, whenever Chesapeake bay happened to be blockaded by the British, the only direct foreign trade of the colony was conducted by way of Albemarle sound and its tribu- taries. The depot of this trade was at South Quay, in the upper portion of Nansemond county. Government supplies came by this route. These supplies were then carried by wagon train to Suffolk. Several attempts were made by the British to capture or destroy these stores at Suffolk, but the vigilance of the Virginia troops, aided by the militia, prevented the British from advancing as far as Suffolk.
In 1779 Sir Henry Clinton determined to make an attack upon Virginia. He sent a powerful fleet, which anchored in' Hampton Roads, landed a large force under Gen. Matthews, which took pos- session of Portsmouth and Norfolk, and committed extensive de- vastations in the surrounding country. It was on this expedition, May 13th, that Suffolk was burned.
As soon as the news of the arrival of the British in Hampton Roads was received, the militia of Nansemond were called to arms. Suffolk was appointed as the meeting place. Only 200 men re- sponded to the call, and these were poorly armed. Few had muskets, and still fewer ammunition. These, however, they obtained from Capt. Bright, who commanded the letter-of-marque brig Mars, that was lying in the river. Bright also furnished two cannon, which were immediately mounted on cart wheels. This little army, under Col. Willis Riddick, marched about eight miles on the Nor- folk road and went into camp on the 11th of May in the field in front of Capt. James Murdagh's house. Three young soldiers, Josiah Riddick, Thomas Granbury and Thomas Brittle, were sent on ahead to get information of the enemy's advance. They were
44
captured by the British just below Hall's Mill, in Norfolk county, and carried to New York, where they were prisoners for a year and a half. The militia under Col. Riddick, getting no news from the scouts, remained in ignorance of the approach of the British. Two officers, Captains King and Davis, went off to a tavern about a mile from camp to pass the night. While there, they were sur- prised by the enemy. Davis was killed, but King escaped and informed his comrades in camp of the enemy's proximity. Col. Willis Riddick was so confident that the enemy was still at a great
Chapel, Chuckatuck, Va.
distance that he had retired to his house for the night. The com- mand developed upon Col. Edward Riddick, and he ordered a re- treat to Suffolk. Next morning two officers were dispatched to learn the position and force of the enemy. They came in sight of the British four miles below Suffolk, and counted 600 infantry. The little force of militia had become demoralized during the night, and only 100 answered to the call to arms next morning. Resist- ance was useless, and every man was told to look out for himself. Some delayed long enough to gather their property together, only to be captured by the British; the rest escaped. The royal troops entered the town and set fire to the buildings. The court house,
45
the clerk's office, with all the county records, and many other build- ings were destroyed. The government stores were captured. Sev- eral hundred barrels of tar, pitch, turpentine and rum were on the wharves awaiting shipment. The heads of the barrels were knocked in and their contents poured into the river and then set on fire. The wind and tide carried the burning tar and pitch across the river to the wide marshes, and soon the sheet of fire extended for many miles.
During the next two years Nansemond had good cause to remember the British. Gen. Tarleton, returning from his famous raid and attempt to capture the legislature, joined the royal troops encamped at Suffolk. Some time during 1781 a detachment of British troops under Capt. Saunders came up from Portsmouth, crossed the river at Sleepy Hole and carried off horses and other property, and returned by way of Suffolk. Lord Cornwallis, hav- ing crossed the James from Williamsburg, marched through Nanse- mond, crossing the river by the Sleepy Hole ferry. Among the British troops who were at Suffolk during this year were the Queen's Rangers, of which troop Parson Agnew was chaplain, and in which his son, Stair Agnew, was a captain.
After the destruction of Suffolk by the British an act of as- sembly authorizes the justices of the county to hold court "at such convenient place as they shall appoint" until a new court house could be erected. Tradition points to a spot adjoining the parish church yard in Chuckatuck as the ancient site of a county clerk's office. As the British were in possession of the region around Suffolk for two years, it may be that the court house and clerk's office were moved to Chuckatuck during that period.
In 1778 David Barrow, pastor of the Mill Swamp Baptist church in Isle of Wight, and Mr. Mintz, another Baptist, preached by invitation at the house of a gentleman who lived on Nansemond River in Lower Parish. A platform was erected and a crowd assembled. After the expulsion of Agnew, the parish church re- mained vacant, though the vestry had advertised for a minister. With the exception of the gatherings at the two Quaker meeting houses, the parish, for three years, had had no preacher in their preaching of the two Baptists stirred up some ill-feeling, and a midst, tho' the clerk still read the services in the church. The crowd of about twenty men determined to break up the meeting. They jeered and sung songs, and finally captured Barrow and Mintz and carried them to the river and ducked them. Barrow was the chief sufferer, as they thrust his face down into the mud of the river. Mintz, who had given less occasion for ill feeling,
46
was let off more easily. The affair was evidently the outcome of the reckless mood of a crowd of young rowdies, who resented the preacher's criticism of them. Only the fevered imagination of a. pious chronicler could make it appear as a part of a systematic per- secution by the established church. The first Baptist church in the county was Western Branch church. It was at first but a mission of the Mill Swamp church. The date of its founding is uncertain. In 1787, nine years after his unpleasant experience in Nansemond River, Mintz returned to the scene of his former labors and or-
County Clerk's Office, Suffolk, Va.
ganized Shoulder's Hill church. The sentiment of the community had condemned the act of rowdyism and Mr. Mintz met with much encouragement. A strong church was soon established. The church building was finally sold and another built at Sycamore Hill, in Nor- folk county.
In 1779 Asbury, the great leader of Methodism in Virginia, labored in Nansemond. He was accorded a warm welcome. In his diary for 1779 Asbury mentions that he preached in "the great preaching house at Nansemond." This preaching house had been converted from a store into a church. The established church was sadly crippled by the Revolution. A few of its ministers had re- mained loyal to the British government; others were forced into secular pursuits in order to live; some entered the American army.
47
Of the ninety clergymen in Virginia when the Revolution began hardly more than twenty were in charge of parishes when the war closed. The Church of England shared the hatred heaped upon all things English in name or character. The vestry who had been the twelve great men of the parish and had excited the envy of the less fortunate, became also objects of open dislike. The vestry levied the tithes, and the agitation against the church had its economic as well as social, religious and political significance. Every force in the colony was against the church and even those who loved her felt that the times were hopelessly against her. The church in many counties became extinct. In Nansemond the church still held to the parish churches at Bennett's Creek, Chuckatuck and at Suffolk. The church in Suffolk seems to have been badly injured during the period of the British occupation. An effort to raise funds by subscription for repairs in 1791 failed, and the church gradually fell to pieces. It was pulled down in 1820 and the bricks sold. The church at Bennett's Creek was in a dilapidated condition as early as 1812, but was remodeled and repaired in 1854. The chapels in Upper Parish passed out of the possession of the church after the Revolution. The people in the neighborhood of these churches being without a minister, offered the buildings to the Methodist preachers, who were very active in missionary work. Cy- press chapel became a Methodist church. This church was in the circuit of the Rev. James O'Kelly, an eloquent and zealous Metho- dist preacher. In 1793 O'Kelly, with several other ministers, se- ceded from the Methodist church and organized the Republican Methodists. His Cypress chapel congregation went with him. In 1801 the name of the new church was changed to the Christian church.' Holy Neck chapel has a similar history. Some time about 1800 a meeting-house was built in Suffolk by popular subscription. This meeting-house stood on the present site of the cemetery. It was free to all who desired to use it. Baptists, Methodists, Episco- palians and O'Kellyites all held services there.
By an act of legislature all glebe lands belonging to the estab- lished church, except those lands which had been a private dona- tion, were ordered to be sold and the proceeds turned over to the overseers of the poor. The glebe in Upper Parish passed from the hands of the church, but when the overseers of the poor claimed the glebe in Suffolk Parish, Parson Jacob Keeling fought the case in the court, proved the fact that it had been a private gift and won his case. The valuable Glebe farm is still held by the trustees of the Episcopal church in this parish.
The county passed through a long period of agricultural de-
48
pression from 1820 to 1835. standstill during these years. The population was almost at a The chief industries of the county were the manufacture of tar, turpentine and staves. The Dismal Swamp was the largest source of revenue. In 1835 three mil- lion shingles were brought down the canals. It was about 1835 that the farmers began to utilize the marl that is so widely dis- tributed. An immediate improvement was manifested. Indian corn remained for a long time the staple product. The county fur- nished its quota of soldiers in the war of 1812 and some of its citizens fought in Mexico, but during the period from 1835 to 1860
Public School Building, Whaleyville, Va.
the county enjoyed a normal development in the midst of unevent- ful times.
Looking back upon those days the words, "Blessed is the land that has no history," seem something more than a jest, for the days when history was being made within her boundaries have ever been lays of suffering and distress to our citizens. During the time of peace and quiet the county still took an interest in military affairs. The malitia was well organized. The Nansemond malitia composed the 59th Regiment. In 1844 Col. Hugh H. Kelly was Col. Comd't, and Wiley Parker, Jr., R. R. Smith, E. D. B. Howell, Nathaniel E. Pruden, John Oberry and Edmund Riddick captains of light infantry. Nansemond also had a company of light artillery and one or more companies of cavalry. The Nansemond cavalry was commanded in 1849 by Capt. B. D. Smith. In that year Capt. Smith petitioned the legislature for new arms for his command.
49
This petition was granted, and when this company entered the ser- vice of the Confederacy and became Company I of the 13th Va. Cavalry they carried into service the old flint and steel pistols granted to the company in 1849.
Muster day was a great day in the county, but, unfortunately, there was no chronicler of the doings on the muster-ground. Only dim legends survive of the revels and combats of the green where many a political aspiration first voiced its desire, and where the acknowledged victor of many a neighborhood fight thirsted for new glory as champion of the county. The muster-ground was situated about three miles southwest of Suffolk. The event that stands out during this period was the great fire that, in 1837, nearly de- stroyed the town of Suffolk. The court house and jail were burned, but the newly erected clerk's office escaped. About 130 houses were burned. In 1849 the first newspaper in the county was published. This paper was the Suffolk Intelligencer. Its editor was John R. Kilby, and it was Whig in politics.
Among the legends of the county are stories of runaway slaves who had fled to Dismal Swamp, and lived there for many years in a state of almost complete savagery. In the Virginia convention which passed the ordinance of secession, the county was repre- sented by John R. Kilby. Virginia's call to her sons to come to the defense of her honor met with a quick and hearty response in Nansemond. Nine companies entered the Confederate service from the county.
Prior to the evacuation of Norfolk, May 10th, 1862, Suffolk was occupied by the Confederate troops. After the fall of Norfolk the Confederates withdrew to the other side of Blackwater River. On May 12th, 1862, Col. Dodge's N. Y. Cavalry rode into Suffolk and took possession. A large force of Federals soon arrived and encamped in the neighborhood of the town. In September Gen. Peck assumed command of the Federals and, fearing an attack from the Confederates, who were massing troops beyond the Black- water, commenced to throw up entrenchments. Every preparation was made for a prolonged siege. In his official report Peck states that "ten miles of batteries, covered ways and rifle-pits have been thrown up. Most of the artillery is protected by embrasures; the parapets are from 12 to 15 feet in thickness, while the covered ways are from 8 to 10 feet." Several gun-boats arrived and lay in the Nansemond to assist in the defense of the Federal position. About 17,000 troops were in Peck's command. On Nov. 14th, 1862, there was a skirmish at Providence church between a party of 300 Con-
50
federates under Col. Claiborne and the N. Y. Mounted Rifles. The Confederates were forced to retire to Blackwater.
In the spring of 1863 Gen'l Longstreet, then in command of the forces at Petersburg, crossed the Blackwater River with the double purpose of obtaining forage and provisions from Nansemond, Isle of Wight, and adjacent portions of North Carolina, and of mak- ing a demonstration against Suffolk with a view of preventing the forces there from joining Gen. Hooker's army, which Gen. Lee was trying to draw into battle. On April 11th, 1863, Longstreet advanced upon Suffolk. There was a skirmish on South Quay Road and the Federal pickets were driven back. Next day there were skirmishes on the Edenton, Providence Church and Somerton roads. The Confederates pushed on to the north bank of the Nansemond, and planted a battery near the Norfleet house, a few miles below Suf- folk. The battery at Norfleet's opened fire on the gun-boats; and disabled the Monmouth Washington and the West-End. They drifted on the flats but were towed off by the Stepping Stones, and fell down the river. Another Confederate battery was planted at Hill's Pt. at the mouth of Western Branch.
On April 19th Lieutenant Lamson of the Federal navy sug- gested and successfully executed a plan for taking Huger's Bat- tery at Hills Pt. by surprise. A storming party of 500 landed and attacked the fort in the rear. The Confederate infantry in the neighborhood, under command of Gen. French, had failed to establish a picket line, and Capt. Stribling, who was in command of Huger's Battery, was ignorant of the approach of the storming party until they were close on the fortifications. The battery had been hastily constructed at night, and the guns faced the river and could not be turned inland. The battery was captured and 125 made prisoners. On April 23rd there was a skirmish at Chucka- tuck. Next day the Federals made two attacks on the Confederate picket lines south of Suffolk and there was brisk fighting for a time, but the casualties were slight. On May 3rd Longstreet be- gan to withdraw his forces and retire to his old lines beyond Blackwater, and the siege of Suffolk was over. There was skir- mishing that day near Hills Pt., at Reid's Ferry and Chuckatuck, but they were all small affairs. The main purpose of Longstreet's inove had been accomplished, though his correspondence with Gen. Lee and the Secretary of War make plain that he was very anx- ious to make an attack on Suffolk. The presence of the gun- boats in the Nansemond made it impossible to flank the enemy, and Longstreet persistently urged the Confederate authorities to send the Confederate gun-boat Richmond down the James to Nanse-
51
mond River. The obstructions in the James prevented the send- ing of the Richmnod, and Longstreet wrote to Lee that while he thought that he could certainly take the works at Suffolk by assault that it would probably be a the cost of 3,000 men, and that the game was not worth the candle. In this opinion Gen. Lee concurred, adding: "If you were to capture Suffolk, I could not spare men to garrison it."
One event of the siege of Suffolk was so tragic that in the mem- ory of old inhabitants it still stands out as of peculiar sadness, even in the midst of the anguish of those terrible days of civil war. This incident was the death of Mrs. Geo. R. Smith, the wife of a prominent citizen, whose home was about a mile from Suffolk.
On April 13th the Federal pickets on the Somerton road were driven in by a force of Confederate infantry and cavalry. Long- street's artillery then opened on the Federals, and immediately the guns from Fort Union, Fort Nansemond, and Fort McClellan responded. The Federal shells riddled the residence of Mr. Smith, and he. and his family were forced to seek shelter in the cellar of an outhouse. The Federals sent out a party of skir- mishers under Col. Foster. They posted sharpshooters in a small house some distance from the main dwelling, and established a line of pickets along the lanes in the front and rear of the house. Col. Magruder ordered a force of Confederates to dislodge the sharpshooters. They were driven out and the Federal picket line forced back to the woods in the rear of the dwelling. The fighting was all around the house in which the Smith family had taken refuge; and they thought it best to seek shelter in the woods. They had almost reached the woods when Mrs. Smith was struck by a bullet and bled to death before medical aid could be obtained. So active was the skirmishing for the next few days that the four little children, one of them an infant, were compelled to remain in the woods from Monday until Thursday. It was impossible to deter- mine whether the party was fired on by the Federals, or whether the fatal shot came from the advancing Confederates.
During the Federal occupation of Suffolk the civil govern- ment of the county was practically suspended. The first session of the County Court was held in South Quay church on Feb- ruary 8th, 1864. It was not until August, 1865, that the court again held its sessions at the court house in Suffolk. During the war the county clerk, Mr. Peter Prentis, was arrested by the Fed- eral authorities and imprisoned at Point Lookout. Fearing lest the county records might be destroyed, they were carried to Norfolk
52
and deposited in the Customs House. The records were returned to Suffolk at the close of the war. On the night of February 7th, 1866, the clerk's office caught fire and was totally destroyed. For the third time in the history of the country the official records were burned. The loss of these records has made the task of the his- torian a hard one, and explains the fragmentary character of the history of a community that played an important role in the early days of the colony and state. Nansemond deserves a fitter tribute than the broken narrative compiled from a hundred different sources.
The county was in possession of the Federals for nearly three years, and her resources were exhausted by the support of an im- mense army of her foe quartered in her midst.
The meat of the peanut-fed hog is highly prized in all markets. South, only the quiet of desolation. Gradually, however, there was evidence of a renewed life, and for many years now the county has been excedingly prosperous. With the development of her agricultural resources has come the enhanced value of farming lands, the building of comfortable farm houses and the improve- ment of stock. This prosperity of the farmers has aided. in large measure in the upbuilding of the town of Suffolk.
Suffolk is a progressive town of 7,000 inhabitants. Six rail- roads enter the town, and it is the terminus of the Suffolk & Caro- lina Ry. Suffolk is at the head of navigation of Nansemond River, and ships drawing fourteen feet of water can enter its port. It has varied and very extensive factories and manufacturing plants. Suffolk is the largest peanut market in the world. Seven large factories for the cleaning and shelling of peanuts have an annual output of more than three million dollars. ' It has three banking establishments. One of these banks has the peculiar distincion of ranking first in the list of state banks in the United States in respect to the relation of capital and surplus.
Nansemond county is 35 long and 19 miles wide, extending from Hampton Roads on the north to the North Carolina line on the south, and contains 393 square miles. There is striking variety of soil within the county, the heavy black soil of the reclaimed lands along the swamp, the wide stretch of sandy loam with clay sub- soil that responds readily to fertilization and the rich alluvial lands along the river. Corn, cotton and peanuts are widely and suc- cessfully cultivated. The lower portion of the county is largely devoted to truck farming. Vast quantities of potatoes, cabbage, kale, peas, beans, beets, squashes, cucumbers, spinach, melons and berries are raised here. The upper portion of the county is the ideal soil for peanuts, which is a sure and exceedingly profitable
53
crop. The vines of the peanut afford forage for the cattle, and the nuts that remain in the earth when the crop is dug afford the best possible food for the numbers of hogs that are raised. The merit of the peanut-fed hog is highly prized in all markets. The peanut itself commands a good price and its cultivation has largely increased the wealth of the community. The average price for improved land is $25 an acre, but there are still large tracts that can be bought for less that need only the expenditure of small capital and slight labor to transform them from profitless old fields to smiling gardens.
An increasing industry in the county is the utilization of the vast clay beds for the manufacture of brick. This clay is of the finest quality and is widely distributed. It varies in color from red to blue. The depth ranges from four to twenty feet and is excellent material for the manufacture of red or gray building brick, tiles, terra cotta, and pressed brick. There are large deposits all over the county, mostly underlaid with sand and with marl beneath this.
The county has within her bounds a source of wealth as yet unutilized. Inexhaustible deposits of marl are scattered widely. With the increasing demand for cement in building, this marl will some day find a discoverer. A large cement concern has already bought an extensive marl deposit near Chuckatuck.
The Nansemond River, besides affording to the county a speedy and cheap means of transportation, adds to the wealth of its citi- zens by the fish and oyster industries. The Nansemond River oyster compares favorably with the best products of the tributaries of the Chesapeake, and the growing demand for these oysters is indication of the public's recognition of the fact.
ـشهـ
ابور
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.