USA > Virginia > City of Fredericksburg > City of Fredericksburg > The history of the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia > Part 5
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The charter also provided that in case of "misconduct in the office of Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen or Common Councilmen, or either of them, the others, being seven at least, shall have power to remove the offenders," and in case the other officers were guilty of mis- conduct, the power appointing them was clothed with the authority of revoking the appointment. It was provided that if the office of Mayor should become vacant, the Recorder was to succeed to the office, the oldest Alderman was to become Recorder, and "so on according to priority."
It was further provided "that all the property, real and personal, now held and possessed by the trustees of the said town of Freder- icksburg, in law or equity, or in trust, for the use and benefit of the inhabitants thereof, and particularly the charity donation of Archi- bald McPherson, deceased, now vested in the trustees of said town in trust, for the education of poor children, shall be and the same are hereby transferred and vested in the Mayor and Commonalty of said town, to and for the same uses, intents and purposes as the trustees of the town now hold the same."
At the session of the Legislature in 1782 the charter of the town was amended and the jurisdiction of the hustings court was extended one mile without and around the former limits of the town on the south side of the Rappahannock river, and made a court of record and as such was authorized to receive probate of wills and deeds and grant administrations in as full and ample manner as the county courts could or might do. But no will was to be admitted
"Rising Sun Tavern," kept by Gen. Geo. Weedon prior to 1775; now the property of the A. P. of V. A. (See page 148)
Mary Washington Monument, erected by the Women of America; Wm. J. Crawford, architect. (See page 157)
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to proof and no administration was to be granted unless the parties were citizens and residents of the town at the time of their death, and no deeds for conveyance of land were to be admitted to record unless the lands conveyed lay within the limits of the corporation. The court was empowered and authorized to appoint a person skilled in the law to prosecute for the Commonwealth and pay him a reasonable salary for his services, and when the Attorney for the Commonwealth was appointed for the town, it was to be exempt from paying any part of the salary of the Attorney for the Com- monwealth of Spotsylvania county.
RAPID GROWTH OF THE TOWN.
On the petition of sixty-four of the leading citizens of the town, property owners and tax payers, complaining that certain provisions and requirements of the original charter of the town, granted in 1727, had not been enforced by the Council and complied with by lot owners, the Common Council, in 1782, passed an order which resulted in great benefit to the town in the way of improving vacant lots, erecting buildings and furnishing per- manent homes for artisans, mechanics and laboring men. In the memorial submitted to the Council, these property owners com- plained of "being frequently subjected to the payment of many heavy Taxes and charges for the general benefit and improvement of the said Town of which many proprietors of unimproved Lotts pay no part, although their property is thereby daily rendered more valuable; That the proprietors of said Lotts, although wealthy, will neither build on them, nor sell to those who would, unless for exorbitant prices, by means whereof Rents are high and many use- ful tradesmen are prevented from residing in the said Town, to remedy which your petitioners pray that you, as Guardians of the said Corporation, will take into your consideration an Act of Assem- bly, passed in the year of our Lord One thousand, seven hundred and twenty seven, entitled an Act for erecting a Town in each of the counties of Spotsylvania and King George* or so much of the
* The town referred to in the county of King George is the town of Fal- mouth, on the opposite side of the river, and a mile and a half above Fred- ericksburg. The act that made Fredericksburg a town also gave Falmouth a legal existence. At the time of the passage of the act that territory belonged to King George county, but now to Stafford county.
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said Act as may relate to the said Town of Fredericksburg. A due execution of said Law, your petitioners Conceive, will be productive of many real and very essential advantages to the said corporation ; by encouraging the peopling of it and increasing its Trade and Navigation. Your petitioners do not wish that any immediate advantage may be taken of failures or defaults already heretofore suffered, by noncompliance with the above mentioned Act, but that Public notice may be given to the proprietors of such unimproved Lotts that a strict execution of the above mentioned Act of Assem- bly will be observed with all such as shall, in future, fail to perform, fulfil and comply with the rules and directions therein set forth."
In consideration of the complaints of these citizens and the wise suggestions made in their communication, as well as the require- ments of the act referred to, the Council ordered "that notice be given to the Proprietors of unimproved Lotts within this corpora- tion, by advertisement in the Public News Papers, that they im- mediately pay up the Taxes due on said Lotts within this Town and that they be informed that they must build on their unim- proved Lotts, agreeable to the Act of Assembly, passed in One thousand seven hundred and Twenty-seven, for establishing a Town in the County of Spotsylvania, otherwise the Lotts will be sold agreeble to the said Act."
In consequence of the enforcement of this order of the Common Council, both the taxable values, and the inhabitants of the town, increased rapidly. Instead of an empty treasury, as the town then had, and the necessity it found itself under of appealing to the public for subscriptions for money with which to repair and enlarge the church, to repair the market house, the courthouse and jail, so they could be used, the town soon had money for ordinary pur- poses, and also for repairing the public buildings, many of which had been used during the war by the soldiers of General Washing- ton's army, leaving a good balance in the treasury, after the work was done. Nor was that all; in 1791, under the "Domestic Loan Act" of Congress, the town loaned to the general government $3,500. This loan was evidenced by four certificates, issued by the
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"Loan office" of the Government in Washington and are duly re- corded in the record book of the Common Council.
METHODS OF PUNISHMENT.
It may be interesting to note that in the olden times there were other methods resorted to for punishing criminals besides fines, jails and penitentiaries, which are not used in this day and time. The Common Council, in 1785, passed a resolution ordering Ser- geant John Richards to "erect immediately a whipping post, stocks and ducking stool." The whipping post was used mainly for the slaves who were guilty of small infractions of the law, but for aggravated offences, the penalty was "thirty-nine lashes on his bare back, well laid on," to which was added "burning in the left hand, in the presence of the court." The whipping post is said to have been used for habitual persistent absence from church, but it was very seldom used for that purpose, and never in Fredericksburg so far as we have discovered from the records.
The stocks were used to punish white persons for petty offences, such as vagrancy, trespassing and similar infractions of the law. The stocks consisted of a frame of timber, with holes in which the ankles and wrists of the offenders were confined. The stocks were erected in the public square and it is said the passers-by, and those who had gathered around them, through curiosity, would taunt and jeer at the criminals thus confined for punishment.
The ducking stool was used for punishing common scolds, re- fractory women and dishonest tradesmen, especially brewers and bakers. The ducking stool for Fredericksburg was erected on the bank of the Rappahannock river, at the foot of Wolfe street, near where the old Stafford bridge spanned the river. There are several of our old citizens now living who remember when it was in use, and when it was dispensed with, nearly seventy years ago. A "ducking" always brought together a large crowd, most of whom were rude and disorderly, and jeers at and ridicule of the party "ducked" would rend the air, while the sentence of the court was being carried out. It is said that some of the "scolding women," as they would emerge from the water would send forth volumes of
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abuse at the disorderly crowd, while the officer waited for the next bath, and this was kept up until the order of the court was fully executed. It seemed to be the wish of the authorities that the whole population would turn out and witness these different modes of punishment, with the hope that it would deter others from com- mitting similar offences.
CHAPTER V
The Lease of the Market-House Lots-The First Serious Fire- Fredericksburg an Important Center-An Act Concerning Elections-Half of the Town Destroyed by Fire-Fredericks- burg an Important Postal Point-How the Mails were Carried -A Congressional Investigation-Amendatory Act of 1821- The Great Fire of 1822-The Trade of the Town-Conta- gious Diseases-The Town in 1841-Acts of Extension, 1851, 1852, 1858, 1861, &c.
In the year 1789 an enactment was passed by the Legislature em- powering the Mayor and Commonalty of the town of Fredericks- burg to lease for three lives, or twenty-one years, such unimproved parts of the market-house lots as to them shall seem most proper, and apply the rents arising therefrom for the benefit of the cor- poration. In the same year an act was passed authorizing the Trustees of the Fredericksburg Academy to raise, by way of lottery, the sum of four thousand pounds to defray the expenses of erecting a building on the academy lands for the purpose of accommodating the professors and the rapidly increasing number of students. We could not learn the result of this latter scheme.
THE FIRST SERIOUS FIRE.
In 1799 the first serious fire the town ever had occurred. It took place in the night time and quite a number of houses were de- stroyed. By many persons it was supposed to have been the work of an incendiary, but others believed that it was caused by a "wooden chimney or a stove pipe, run through a window or through the side of a wooden house, without being properly protected." The Council decided to meet both views, and offered five hundred dollars for the arrest and conviction of the incendiary, and issued an em- phatic condemnation against wooden chimneys and stove pipes projecting through windows or the sides of houses without having them "fire proof." This nuisance was thereby abated.
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
FREDERICKSBURG AN IMPORTANT CENTER.
As early as 1796 Fredericksburg was an important commercial center, and manufactories of various kinds were in operation. Iron works and mills and other industries were successfully prose- cuted, and the trade of the town, in the general merchandise department, was in the hands of public-spirited, energetic mer- chants ; and it would no doubt surprise the merchants of the pres- ent day to read the advertisements and note the extent and variety of stocks of goods kept here at that period. The growth and development of the trade was gradual and decided in all depart- ments, the leading article being tobacco, which up to and during the War of 1812 and 1814, was increased heavily and necessitated the employment of vessels of great tonnage to carry it. And, though strange as it may appear to our present population, in those days of prosperity in manufactories, farms and workshops, and when nearly all merchandise and supplies reached our town in said vessels, large three-masted ships were moored at our wharves; and, until large cities sprang up along the coast, that diverted trade by reason of railroad transportation, our leading merchants carried on a direct trade with the West India Islands, as well as with many of the European countries. Our wharves then were a scene of busy activity and the river was crowded with vessels from all quarters of the country.
AN ACT CONCERNING ELECTIONS.
In 1806 an act of the Legislature was passed providing that on the next annual election day for members of the "Common Hall of the Town," which term was used to denote the Common Council, a Mayor and Recorder and eight persons should be elected by ballot to act as Justices of the Peace for the town, who should "continue in office during good behavior." Three of these justices were em- powered to hold a hustings court, except in cases of the examina- tion or trial of free persons or slaves charged with felonies, in which case five of the eight justices were necessary to constitute the court. This court had the same power and jurisdiction that the hustings court had under the act of 1781, but the members were ineligible
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for the Common Council and they had no power to lay a tax for the support of a night watch.
At this election the voters were also to elect by ballot twelve per- sons as members of the Common Council of the town, who were to continue in office for one year and until their successors should be elected and qualified. The powers of the Common Council should be the same as had been previously conferred upon the Mayor, Re- corder, Aldermen and Common Council of the town "in Common Hall assembled." The Common Council, at their first meeting, were to elect one of their number to the office of Mayor and another to the office of Recorder. It was the duty of the Mayor to preside over the deliberations of the body, and, in his absence, the Recorder was to discharge that duty. The Mayor, or in his absence, the Recorder, or any two members of the Council, could call a meeting of the body, but it required seven members present to constitute a quorum. After the Council assembled in the first meeting after the election of the members, and elected the proper officers, the body then consisting of the Mayor, Recorder and the other ten members elected as common councilmen, constituted the "Common Hall" of the town, and all ordinances were adopted by that body.
HALF OF THE TOWN DESTROYED BY FIRE.
In the year 1807 Fredericksburg was visited by a terrible con- flagration which destroyed nearly one-half of the town. It was in October of that year, when the town was almost depopulated, the citizens, old and young, having left their homes to attend and wit- ness the horse racing just below town, on "Willis's Field" farm. The fire broke out in the dwelling house of Mr. Stannard, which was located on the lot where the residence of Mr. George W. Shep- herd now stands, on the north corner of Princess Ann and Lewis streets. A high wind prevailed at the time, the house was inflam- mable, the weather very dry, and in a short time the fire swept down Main street, the flames leaping from house to house to Henderson's store, on the south corner of Main and Amelia streets ; thence down both sides of Main to George street, destroying every building in its track except Henderson's corner, which alone escaped destruc-
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tion. The Bank of Virginia, which stood on the spot where Shiloh Baptist church (old site) now stands, on Water street, although more than a quarter of a mile from where the fire originated, was the second house to take fire and was entirely consumed. Mr. Stan- nard, at whose residence the fire started, was lying a corpse in the house at the time of the fire, and his remains were rescued from the flames with great difficulty.
Preparations to rebuild the burnt district were at once com- menced, and buildings of a more substantial character took the places of those destroyed and prosperity again smiled upon the town. Yet strange to say the square on the west side of Main street, from Lewis to Amelia, then in the business part of the town, and now in the residential part, although before the fire was lined with buildings, was without a building until some five years ago. A tool chest, saved from destruction in this fire, by the debris of the building falling upon it and covering it up, and which escaped the destruction wrought in town by the Federal soldiers in Decem- ber, 1862, is now in the possession of Police Officer Charles A. Gore. It was the property of his grandfather, Jacob Gore, who had been working at Mr. Stannard's a few days before the fire occurred and left it there temporarily.
FREDERICKSBURG AN IMPORTANT POSTAL POINT.
Fredericksburg, as early as 1820, was a very important point for mail distribution, and the mail matter of not less than five States was assorted here and sent on to its destination. About the break- ing out of the War of 1812 mail matter to Fredericksburg rapidly increased, and continued to increase, for several years, which neces- sitated a change in the method of transporting the mails from Washington, an increase of pay, and finally scandalous reports were put in circulation which resulted in a congressional investigation.
A paper on this investigation, prepared by Henry Castle, Esq., Auditor, from the records in the Postoffice department, and kindly furnished us, will prove interesting.
"The year 1820 had arrived; James Monroe was President and
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History of Fredericksburg, Virginia
Return J. Meiggs, Jr., of Ohio, was Postmaster General. There were then over three thousand post offices, and the revenues had increased to $1,000,000 per annum, a sum considerable in excess of the expenditures, a feature which seldom characterized the ser- vice after that date. It appears from the records that vague rumors of certain irregularities had been afloat throughout the coun- try and in the 'public prints' for some time, and that they finally assumed such a tangible shape that a resolution was introduced into the United States Congress providing for an investigation of the charges.
"A committee of the House of Representatives, of which Hon. Elisha Phelps was chairman, proceeded in accordance with instruc- tions of the House, in due form and great deliberation, to investi- gate the general conduct of the office under Postmaster General Meiggs, and especially the features which had been subjected to more immediate criticism. Mr. Meiggs's service, as Postmaster General, extended from March 17th 1814, to June 26th 1823, a period of more than nine years. The gravest of the charges made against his administration were substantially as follows :
"First. That he had introduced an irregular financial system which had led to serious losses of the public funds.
"Second. That he had illegally and improperly increased the compensation of certain contractors for carrying the mail.
"With slow formality and tedious reiteration of assurances of dis- tinguished consideration, the solemn committee of the Honorable House of Representatives, and the Honorable Postmaster General, finally reached a point where questions were asked and answered and a tolerably clear understanding of what had really occurred may be gained. The statement of the Postmaster General, divested of all its superfluities and reduced to its simplest form, showed no dereliction in either case, but read at this late day gives an almost ludicrous insight into the diminutive transactions which then suf- ficed for this great, free and intelligent Republic.
"Postmaster General Meiggs's answer to the second charge was perhaps even more interestingly significant as a revelation of the day of small things. He admitted that he had increased the compen-
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sation of contractors for carrying the mails, but justified his action on the ground of an imperious necessity.
"The case as he explained it was this: His predecessor in office had about the year 1813, let a contract to certain parties for trans- porting mail from the Seat of Government at Washington to Fred- ericksburg, Virginia, a distance of seventy miles. This great mail route, which would now be termed a trunk line, carried substan- tially the mail for the five States of Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The contract provided that these mails should be carried by stage coach in summer and, as the roads were impassable in winter, they were to be carried on horse- back.
"But," says the Postmaster General, "by the increased popular interest in the war of 1812, correspondence was greatly stimulated and the circulation of the public journals was enormously increased. Consequently, it was found impracticable to transport all this heavy mail for five States, on horseback from Washington to Fredericks- burg; therefore contractors were authorized to place a sulky, or curricle service thereon and the remuneration was increased accord- ingly.
"This explanation was apparently satisfactory to the Honorable Committee as it certainly appears very reasonable on its face, and will appeal to man's inherent sense of justice, even in this exacting era. The final action of Congress is not contained in the records, but it was no doubt exculpatory since, as shown above, Postmaster General Meiggs, continued to discharge the duties in his high office for several years thereafter."
AMENDATORY ACT OF 1821.
Under the previous acts of the Legislature, extending the limits of the town and providing for laying out streets, and the amend- ments thereto, it was claimed that mistakes had occurred and ir- regularities had resulted therefrom. In order to correct these mis- takes, and provide for the better government of the town, an amendatory act was passed by the Legislature in the year 1821. In that act the Common Council was authorized and empowered to
The St. George's Episcopal Church. (See page 203)
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elect the Mayor from their own number or from the body of the citizens, and in case he was elected from the Council, thus creating a vacancy in that body, it was to be filled by the Council. Under this act the Mayor was eligible to reelection from year to year as long as the Council was pleased to elect him, was made custodian of the corporation seal, and was to keep an office in the town where he should transact the public business, and where the citizens could call upon him and present any grievance or complaint they might have to make.
When the hustings court was not in session the Mayor was to act as a Justice of the Peace and superintend and control the police and night watch. He was to qualify in ten days after his election, and was to preside at the sittings of the hustings court; and in his absence the Recorder, upon whom all the powers and authority of the Mayor were conferred, was authorized to perform his duties. The Common Council had to regulate and fix the salary of the Mayor, which could not be increased or diminished during his term of office. The same act extended the jurisdiction of the hustings court to high water mark on the Stafford side of the Rappahannock river, and exempted the citizens of the town from the assessment and payment of all taxes and levies to Spotsylvania county, to which they were subject under the former laws.
By the provisions of the act of 1821 the Common Council was authorized to assess and levy a tax on the inhabitants of, and prop- erty within, the town for the purpose of repairing and keeping in order the streets and alleys and for other purposes and charges as to them might seem right and proper, and for the improvement, convenience and well being of the town. They were authorized to provide a night watch for the protection of the town and for the "better execution of this duty the power and authority, now exer- cised by field officers of the militia concerning patrols, shall here- after be vested in and exercised by the said Mayor, Recorder and Common Council over the militia of the said town," and the militia of the town were, by the same act, exempted from patrol duty be- yond the city limits.
In order to correct defects in laying out streets under the former
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acts, by this act a Commission, consisting of John W. Green, John Mundell, George Cox, Silas Wood and David Briggs, was appointed to survey and locate the streets of the town according to existing laws and authentic ancient surveys. This Commission was to lo- cate the streets by metes and bounds, making such alterations as its members might think expedient, with the consent of the proprietors of lots effected by such alterations, but not otherwise. It was also required to mark the boundaries of the streets by stones or otherwise, which were to be designated on the map of the town made by it. These Commissioners were to report their plan, with explanatory notes, to the Common Council, and if approved by that body it was to be taken as the authentic plan of the town.
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