USA > Virginia > City of Fredericksburg > City of Fredericksburg > The history of the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia > Part 4
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IV. AND be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that after the said Lots shall be so laid out and disposed of, as aforesaid, the said Directors, or any four of them, shall have full Power and Authority to apply all the overplus Money which shall be raised by the Sale of the said Lots to such publick Use; for the common Benefit of the Inhabitants of the said Town, as to them shall seem best.
V. AND be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that the Grantee or Grantees of every such Lot or Lots, so to be conveyed and sold in the said Town, shall, within two Years next after the Date of the Conveyance for the same, erect, build, and finish, on each Lot so conveyed, one House, of Brick, Stone or Wood well framed, of the Dimensions of Twenty Feet square, and nine Feet Pitch at the least, or apportionably thereto, if such Grantee shall have two Lots contiguous; and the said Directors shall have full Power and Authority to establish such Rules and Orders, for the more regular placing the said Houses, as to them shall seem fit, from Time to Time. And if the Owner of any Lots shall fail to pursue and comply with the Directions herein prescribed, for the building and finishing one or more House or Houses thereon, then such Lots upon which such Houses shall not be so built and finished shall be revested in the said Trustees, and shall and may be sold and conveyed to any other Person or Persons whatsoever, in the Manner before directed, and shall revest, and be again sold, as often as the Owner or Owners shall fail to perform, obey, and
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
fulfil, the Directions aforesaid; and if the Inhabitants of the said. Town shall fail to obey and pursue the Rules and Orders of the said Directors, in repairing and amending the Streets, Landings, and publick Wharfs, they shall be liable to the same Penalties as are inflicted for not repairing the Highways of this Colony.
VI. AND for the continuing the Succession of the said Trustees and Directors, until the Governour of this Colony shall incorporate. some other Persons by Letters Patents, under the Seal of this Col- ony, to be one Body Politick and Corporate, to whom the Govern- ment of the said Town shall be committed, Be it further enacted, that in Case of the Death of the said Directors, or of their Refusal to act, the surviving or other Directors, or the major Part of them, shall assemble, and are hereby Empowered, from Time to Time, by Instrument in Writing, under their respective Hands and Seals, to nominate some other Person or Persons, being an Inhabitant or Freeholder of the said Town, in the Place of him so dying or refus- ing; which new Director or Directors, so nominated and appointed, shall from thenceforth have the like Power and Authority, in all Things relating to the Matters herein contained, as if he or they had been expressly named and appointed in and by this Act, and every such Instrument and Nomination shall from Time to Time be re- corded in the Books of the said Directors.
VII. AND whereas William Livingston is possessed of a Lease under the said 'John Royston, for certain Years to come, of Part of the said fifty Acres of Land, and hath erected buildings and made several Improvements thereon, which will be taken away when the said Town shall be laid out: For making Satisfaction for which,
VIII. BE it further enacted, that the two Lots to be assigned to the said John Royston, pursuant to this Act, shall include the Dwelling-House and Kitchen of the said William Livingston, and shall be held and enjoyed by him for the Residue of the said Term, and at the Expiration thereof shall revert unto, and be vested in, the said John Royston, as aforesaid; and, moreover, the said Trustees are hereby enjoined and required to pay unto the said William Livingston the Sum of twenty Pounds current Money out
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of the Monies arising by Sale of Lots, as a Consideration and Com- pensation for the said Lease.
IX. AND be it further enacted, that the Town aforesaid shall be called by the Name of Fredericksburg.
This act of incorporation which elevated the Lease Land into the town of Fredericksburg, was signed by William Gooch, Esq., Gov- ernor, and John Holliday, Speaker.
By the authority conferred upon the trustees of the town by the sixth section of the above act, the following paper was issued by the board of trustees, appointing Augustine Washington, the father of General George Washington, one of the trustees of the town. The original was presented to the town some years ago by one of the descendants of Augustine Washington, and is now preserved in the clerk's office :
"Whereas, at a meeting of the Trustees of the town of Fredericks- burg, April 6th 1742, according to directions of act of Assembly, Intitled an Act for erecting a Town in both of the counties of Spotsylvania and King George, To Supply the number of Trustees in the Room of those Gentlemen deceased, we have Unanimously made Choise of, and Elected, Augustine Washington, Gent., to be one of the Trustees or Feoffees for the town of Fredericksburg, i .: Spotsylvania county to fill up and compleat our full number and for confirming of the same We have according to Directions of the Sd Act, set our hands and seals, this 20th day of April, 1742.
John Taliaferro, John Waller, Ira Thornton,
John Allen,
Rob Jackson.
In the year 1732 the seat of justice, which had been located Germanna, where Governor Spotswood had settled, and where started and operated the first iron works in this country, heretof ; mentioned, was removed to Fredericksburg as a more convenir place. That change did not continue long, for, in 1749, the ] was again changed and the court was moved back to German". where it was held for several years, and until it was located
Princess Anne Street looking East.
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
Holidays, thence to the old Courthouse and finally to Spotsylvania Courthouse, where it was held until abolished by the new Consti- tution.
In 1732, five years after the town was established by law, Col. Byrd, then living on the James river, where Richmond now stands, made a visit to Fredericksburg. This visit was made at the time he made his trip to Germanna to see his old friend Governor Spots- wood. While here Col. Byrd wrote a description of the new town to a friend as he saw it, as follows :
"Colonel Willis walked me about his new town of Fredericksburg. It is pleasantly situated on the south shore of the Rappahannock river, about a mile below the falls. Sloops may come and lie close to the wharf, within thirty yards of the public warehouse which is built in the figure of a cross. Just by the wharf is a quarry of white stone that is very soft in the ground, and hardens in the air, appearing to be as fair and fine grained as that of Portland. Be- sides that, there are several other quarries in the river bank, within the limits of the town, sufficient to build a large city. The only edifice of stone yet built is the prison, the walls of which are strong enough to hold Jack Sheppard, if he had been transported thither. Though this be a commodious and beautiful situation for a town, with the advantages of a navigable river, and wholesome air, yet the inhabitants are very few. Besides Colonel Willis, who is the top man of the place, there are only one merchant, a tailor, a smith, an ordinary-keeper, and a lady, Mrs. Livingston, who acts here in the double capacity of a doctress and a coffee-woman. It is said the courthouse and the church are going to be built here, and then both religion and justice will help to enlarge the place."
The church spoken of was built soon after Col. Byrd's visit. It was located on the lot where St. George's church building now stands. It was a wooden structure, about thirty by forty feet, to which two additions were made as the town increased in population. The first addition was made to the side of the church, which gave the building the shape of a capital T, and the second one was made a few years afterwards on the opposite side, giving the building the form of a cross.
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
The first rector of the new church was Rev. Patrick Henry, uncle- of the great Virginia orator, Patrick Henry. Mr. Henry remained rector for a short time, and was followed, in 1734, by Rev. James Marye, of Goochland county, who was the great great grandfather of our late honored fellow citizen, Gov. John L. Marye. Mr. Marye had charge of two churches within the parish, one located on the Po river and the other at Fredericksburg. His salary for the first year for the entire parish was discharged with sixteen thousand pounds. of "farm tobacco." St. George's church is noticed more at length under the head of churches.
CATTLE AND MERCHANDISE FAIRS.
In the year 1738 a law was passed by the House of Burgesses: authorizing and directing that "fairs should be held in Fredericks- burg twice a year for the sale of cattle, provisions, goods, wares, and all kinds of merchandise whatever." The act provided that all persons at such fairs, going to or from them, were privileged from arrest and execution during the fairs, and for two days before and' two days after them, except for capital offences, breaches of the peace, or for any controversies, suits and quarrels that might arise during the time. These fairs were continued from time to time, by various acts and amendments, until 1769, when the right of holding them was made perpetual, they having proved a benefit to both town and county. We have no record as to when they ceased to be held and no citizen now living remembers to have attended one. They may have been changed into agricultural fairs, which are mentioned elsewhere.
ANOTHER SURVEY OF THE TOWN.
In March, 1739, the trustees of the town found it necessary to have another survey and plat of Fredericksburg made. This work was done by William Waller, Surveyor of Spotsylvania county. By this new survey it appears that the lots and buildings of the town had not only occupied the original fifty acres, but had also en- croached upon the lands of Henry Willis and John Lewis; and, as this gave rise to controversies and threatened law suits, the Lieu-
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
tenant-Governor, Council and Burgesses of the General Assembly passed an act in May, 1742, which was declared to be "for removing. all doubts and controversies," and which declared that these lands, belonging to the estate of Henry Willis and John Lewis, should be held and taken to be part of Fredericksburg and vested in the trustees, and purchasers claiming under them; provided, that the trustees should pay to the executors of Henry Willis five pounds, and to John Lewis fifteen pounds. The area of the town, as ascer- tained by this survey, was not quite fifty-three acres.
The irregularity of the buildings having necessitated an enlarge- ment of the original fifty acres, the style of buildings must have caused serious apprehensions of danger from fire, as we find that, in 1742, it was represented to the General Assembly that the people were often in great and imminent danger of having their houses and effects burned by reason of the many wooden chimneys in the town, and, therefore, it was made unlawful to build any wooden chimneys in the town thereafter, and unlawful, after the expiration of three years, to use any wooden chimney already built ; and, in case the owners did not, within three years, pull down and destroy these wooden chimneys, the sheriff was authorized to do so, at the expense of the owners thereof.
CHAPTER IV
Encouraging Home Industries-Further Extension of the Town- Tobacco Inspectors-Modes of Punishment-Prosperity-Mili- tary Ardor-Under the United States.
In 1759 an act was passed by the General Assembly to encourage the "Arts and Manufactures in the Colony," but wine and silk making seemed to have predominated all others, wine having the decided preference as will readily be seen. In the act it was set forth that five hundred pounds should be paid as a premiun to the person who should, in any one year, within eight years from the date of its passage, make the best wine in quantity not less than ten hogsheads, and one hundred pounds should be paid to the per- son making the second best. It was provided that the money for these premiums should be raised by the annual subscriptions of public-spirited gentlemen who were willing to encourage the under- taking; and it was further provided that, if the subscriptions would justify it, a handsome premium should be given for silk making. It was also stipulated that if there was an "overplus of money," after the premiums on wine and silk making were provided for, it was to "be given for the encouragement of such other articles as should appear to the committee most advantageous to the colony." Among those who contributed the first year for this purpose, who were then, or had been, citizens of Fredericksburg, were the fol- lowing gentlemen who subscribed two pounds each: Robert Car- ter, Pressley Thornton, George Washington, James Mercer, William Bernard, David Ker, Philip Rootes, Thomas Reade Rootes, Alexan- der Ross, John Champ.
FURTHER EXTENSION OF THE TOWN.
In 1763 an act was passed by the General Assembly extending the corporate limits of the town, but to what extent we do not know, as we have been unable to find the act or any of its provisions.
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
REGULATING TOBACCO INSPECTORS.
In 1764 the General Assembly passed an act for "Amending the Staple of Tobacco and for Preventing Frauds in his Majesty's Cus- toms." It was a very lengthy bill, having seventy-seven sections, ten more than any other act ever before passed by that body, and severe penalties were prescribed for its violation. The bill was necessarily long and severe penalties were prescribed because it had reference to the raising, curing, packing and sale of tobacco, which was one of the principal products of Virginia, and the duties and responsibilities of tobacco inspectors and their proper management of tobacco warehouses. Besides tobacco being one of the important crops raised in the colony, if not the most important one, large quantities of it were shipped to the old country and sold for good prices. In addition to this, tobacco was used in the colony as a sub- stitute for money, as all debts between private individuals, as well as those due the colony, were paid in tobacco. The bill provided for public warehouses, for the proper inspection of tobacco and for public inspectors, appointed by the Governor and his Council, not less than two at each warehouse, who, besides taking an oath of office, were placed under heavy bonds with security, the penalty being five hundred pounds sterling for the faithful performance of their duties. One of these public warehouses was located in Fred- ericksburg, and may have been the old stone house on Water street, just below the free bridge. The oath required to be taken by these public inspectors was as follows :
"You shall swear that you will diligently and carefully view and examine all tobacco brought to any public warehouse or warehouses where you are appointed to be inspector, and that not separately and apart from your fellow, but in his presence; and that you will not receive any tobacco that is not in your judgment sound, well conditioned, merchantable and clear of trash, nor receive, pass or stamp any tobacco, hogshead or cask of tobacco, prohibited by one act of Assembly, entitled an act for amending the sample of tobacco, and preventing frauds in his Majesty's customs; and that you will not change, alter or give out any tobacco, other than such hogs-
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
heads or casks for which the receipt to be taken was given; but that you will in all things well and faithfully discharge your duty in the office of inspector, according to the best of your skill and judgment and according to the directions of said act, without fear, favor, affection, malice or partiality. So help me God."
The receipts given by the inspectors of the public warehouse in Fredericksburg, according to the provisions of the act, were to pass and be current in the town and county of Spotsylvania for the pay- ment of all quit-rents, county and town levies and for officers' fees. As this provision of law made them current for public dues, the public also adopted them as currency and they were used for the payment of all obligations. These receipts were protected by severe penalties against counterfeiting and forgery, and each one repre- sented so many hundred pounds of tobacco deposited at the public warehouse.
MILITARY ARDOR OF THE TOWN.
Fredericksburg continued to grow in population and material prosperity, and also improve in the intelligence and public spirit of its inhabitants, until the year 1775, when the affairs between Great Britain and the American Colonies were verging to a crisis. Her leading citizens were among the very first in Virginia to adopt the principle that the American Colonies ought not only to be exempt from taxation by the Mother Country, but should be free and inde- pendent States. The battle of Lexington was fought on the 19th day of April, 1775, and on the 20th, the following day, Lord Dun- more secretly removed twenty barrels of gunpowder from the public magazine in Williamsburg to the Magdalen Man-of-war, which anchored off Yorktown. When the news of the battle of Lexington, and of the removal of the powder, reached Fredericksburg, great excitement prevailed. Over six hundred men armed themselves, from the town and surrounding country, assembled at the Court- house in town and offered their services to George Washington, who was then in Williamsburg, to defend that city from Lord Dunmore's threatened attack, and the country from his tyranny.
After assembling they dispatched delegates to Richmond and
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
Williamsburg to ascertain the condition of affairs and to what point they should report for duty. In the meantime, those ardent pa- triots, George Washington, Peyton Randolph and Edmund Pendle- ton, transmitted their advice to the people of Fredericksburg, and especially those who had formed the military organization, to abstain for the present from hostilities until a congress, then called or soon to be called, should decide upon a general plan of resistance.
On the receipt of this advice, these patriots held a council, consist- ing of more than one hundred men, representing fourteen companies, who, by a majority of one vote, decided to disperse for the present They were burning with indignation at the murderous attack made upon their brethren of Lexington, Mass., by the armed soldiers of Great Britian, and the unlawful arrests, and retention as prisoners, of some of the leading citizens of Massachusetts by British military officers. And this feeling of indignation was intensified when they saw that this outrage was followed the next day by another per- petrated in their own colony and by their own Governor; and when he threatened to return from Yorktown, whither he had fled for safety, and attack Williamsburg with, a man-of-war they were con- vinced that the enemies of the Patriots, the British and Tories, understood each other and were acting in concert. Yet, upon the advice of those whose lead they were willing to follow, and whose commands they were ready to obey, they agreed to disband for the present. Before dispersing, however, they drafted an ad- dress, which was tantamount to a declaration of independence, in which they firmly resolved to resist all attempts against their rights and privileges, from whatever quarter they might be assailed.
They went further than to just pass resolutions ; they pledged themselves, solemnly and firmly one to the other, to be in readiness, at a moment's warning, to reassemble, and, by force of arms, to de- fend the laws, liberties and the rights of this or any sister colony, from unjust and wicked invasions. They then sent dispatches to patriots assembled in Caroline, Berkeley, Frederick and Dunmore counties, thanking them for their offer of service and acquainting them with the condition of public affairs and their determination to be ready at a moment's notice to respond to any call that might
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be made by the patriotic leaders, who were then holding a council in Williamsburg. The resolutions and pledges were read at the head of each company of patriots encamped at Fredericksburg, and unanimously approved and adopted. The address concluded with the impressive words, "God, save the liberties of America," which were a substitute for the off-repeated words, "God, save the King."
These resolutions were passed twenty-one days before the cele- brated Mecklenburg resolutions in North Carolina were, and more than a year before the Declaration of Independence by the Ameri- can Congress, which showed the intense patriotic fervor of the people of Fredericksburg at that early period, many of whom bore a heroic part in the subsequent struggle of the Seven Years' war that fol- lowed. Among the number assembled with these lovers of liberty, and most prominent, were Gen. Geo. Weedon, who served on Gen. Washington's staff, commanded with distinction a division at the surrender of Yorktown, and afterwards for several terms served as mayor of the town; Gen. Hugh Mercer, who rose to the rank of Major-General and was killed at Princeton, New Jersey, on January 3, 1777, and Gen. Gustavus B. Wallace, who served gallantly through the war, attaining to the rank of Brigadier-General.
FREDERICKSBURG UNDER THE UNITED STATES.
The long tobacco act of the House of Burgesses was the last act passed by that body that affected the commercial interest of the town or the agricultural interest of the surrounding country that we have any knowledge of. The Revolutionary war soon followed and our independence and new government was the result. It is not considered necessary in this work to attempt to give the part Fredericksburg bore in that struggle-the generals she furnished to command the armies and navy of the country, the line officers and soldiers she sent forth to meet and repel the invader, the statesmen she gave to provide for the armies or to form the new government and to guide it to a successful, permanent and solid establishment. All of these things are told by the records and histories of the State and country more accurately and in a more pleasing style than we can narrate them. We therefore pass to the new order of things.
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
FREDERICKSBURG IN THE REPUBLIC.
The first act of the Legislature of Virginia in reference to Fred- ericksburg, after the establishment of the young republic, was to grant it a charter, which bill was passed in 1781. It provided for the town a Mayor, Recorder, Board of Aldermen and a Common Council, and required that all of them should be freeholders. They were made a body politic by the name and designation of Mayor and Commonalty of the town of Fredericksburg, and by that title were to have perpetual succession. The Mayor, Recorder and the four Aldermen were ex-officio Justices of the Peace, and had power to hold a court of hustings once a month, and to "hold pleas in all cases whatsoever originating within the limits" of the town and to "low water mark on the northwest side of the Rappahannock river and half a mile without and around the other limits of the said town." They were given the sole authority and power of "licensing tavern keepers and settling their rates," to appoint a sergeant with the powers of sheriffs, a "constable and other necessary officers of court and surveyors of the streets and highways." A surveyor of the streets was appointed at the first hustings court held by the Mayor and his fellow magistrates, but he was known as the "Geographer" of the town for more than half a century, and was often so entered upon the court records.
In civil cases the hustings court was not to have jurisdiction where the amount in controversy exceeded one thousand pounds of leaf tobacco, or its value in money, unless both parties to the suit were citizens of the town when the suit was instituted.
The corporate authorities were authorized to assess the inhabi- tants and all property within the actual bounds of the town for all the charges of repairing the streets, and other matters of muni- cipal expense. They were empowered to erect workhouses, houses of correction, prisons and other public buildings, and to pass all necessary ordinances for the good government of the town. They were to have two market days in each week, and appoint a clerk of the market, "who shall have assize of bread, wine, wood and other things," and perform all the duties of Clerk of the Market. The
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
market days were fixed by law on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It was also provided in the charter that if any person elected to an office failed or refused to serve, he was to be fined. The fines were regulated as follows : "For a Mayor-elect, fifty pounds ; for the Re- corder, forty pounds ; for any Alderman, thirty pounds ; for any Common Councilman, twenty-five pounds ; for the City Sergeant, one hundred pounds ; for the Constable, fifty pounds ; for the Clerk of the Hustings Court and the Clerk of the Market, each fifty pounds; the Surveyor of Streets or Roads, each thirty pounds." These several fines were to be imposed by the hustings court, and "to be levied by execution against the goods and chattles of the offender."
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