USA > Virginia > Virginia and Virginians; eminent Virginians, executives of the colony of Virginia, Vol. I > Part 30
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VIRGINIA UNDER THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT.
There was but little change made in the government of the colony. This was not the object of the king when he canceled the charter of the company; his action was directed against the corporation, and not against the State, and ere the few proposed changes could be made King James died-March 27, 1625-and was succeeded by his son, who came to the throne under the title of Charles I. He paid very little attention to his American subjects. Governor Wyatt was continued in office until 1626, when he went to England to attend to the private affairs of his father, who had recently died, and Sir George Yeardley was appointed to fill the vacancy. His previous liberal administration was remem- bered by the colonists, and Charles could not have performed an act that would have met with greater approbation on their part. Yeardley's career was closed by death, November 14, 1627, and in obedience to instructions to the council, they elected Francis West, governor, the day after the burial of Yeardley. He continued in office until March, 1628, when John Pott was chosen in his stead, who in turn was, in a few days, relieved by John Harvey, who arrived from England and assumed the goverment early in the year 1630.
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VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
VIRGINIA AND CHARLES I.
Four years had now passed away since Charles began his reign, and during all that time he had been engaged in the domestic affairs of his kingdom; but he now turned his attention to Virginia as a fruitful field from which to reward his courtiers. This he did by granting them patents for large tracts of land, regardless of location, improvements, or anything else, and finally, in utter disregard of the protestations of the colonists, set a limit to his recklessness by granting to Sir Robert Heath a patent for one-half the territory of Virginia, extending from the 36° north to Florida. But as all that part, including the present Carolinas, was not settled until long after, and the charter finally became void be- cause of Heath's failure to comply with its conditions, the colonists could not consider themselves so badly damaged after all, though the act was an evidence of the way in which they might at any time be divested of their rights.
THE MARYLAND CHARTER -- GOVERNOR HARVEY.
Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in 1632, obtained a patent for all that part of Virginia embraced within the present limits of Maryland, and at once proceeded to colonize it, notwithstanding the fact that there were already several settlements of Virginians within the territory, to whose remonstrances he gave no heed. William Claibourne, who had been a member of the council and also colonial secretary of state, had obtained a license from the king "to traffic in all American ports where there was no license," and these permits had been approved by Governor Harvey. Claibourne settled upon Kent Island, in Chesapeake Bay, not far from the present city of Annapolis, and when ordered to abandon it by the Maryland authorities he defended it by force. He was finally arrested, tried, found guilty of murder, piracy and sedition. He escaped to Virginia, and when demanded by the authorities of Maryland, Har- vey refused to give him up, but sent him to England for trial. The Virginians were highly incensed at Harvey for not protecting Claibourne and keeping him in the colony, for they regarded the Marylanders as nothing more than an infringement upon their rights. Harvey was tried on a charge of malfeasance in office. Of the trial we know but little. The first entry upon the records relating to the subject is as follows: "An assembly to be called to receive complaints against Sir John Har- vey, on the petition of many inhabitants, to meet 7th of May, 1635;" and the next one is : "On the 28th day of April, 1635, Sir John Har- vey thrust out of his government, and Captain John West aets as gov- ernor until the king's pleasure is known." When Charles I. heard of the action of the colonists, he regarded it as unwarrantable insolence-little short of treason. He reinstated Harvey in the government, and we hear of no more dissatisfaction during the remainder of his administra-
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EN.DAT:
RGINIA
AR
Virginia Council Chamber,
SEAL OF THE COUNCIL CHAMBER Of the Colony of Virginia, with the arms of the Virginia Company of London.
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tion, which came to an end in 1639, when Sir Francis Wyatt again assumed the government.
ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST COUNTIES.
Virginia was the first State in the world, composed of separate polit- ical divisions, based upon the principle of universal suffrage. It was in the year 1634 that the territory of Virginia was divided into eight shires. or counties, similar to those of England, and named as follows : James City, Henrico, Charles City, Elizabeth, Warwick River, Warosenoyoke, Charles River and Acomac. Lieutenants were appointed for each dis- trict, whose business it was to supervise the military affairs. Sheriff's. sergeants and bailiff's were to be elected as in England, and commis- sioners were appointed to hold county courts in the different shires. This was the origin of the county court system in Virginia.
FIRST PUBLICATION OF THE ACTS OF THE LEGISLATURE.
Wyatt continued in office for nearly two years, and was then suc- ceeded by Sir William Berkeley-a name destined to become notorious in the history of Virginia-who arrived and assumed the government in February, 1642. The assembly convened in March, and its first act was to pass a solemn protest against a petition which Sir George Sandys was having numerously signed, to be presented to Parliament, praying for the restoration of the London Company. Much important business was transacted at this session of the assembly. The punishment of ten- porary slavery, which had existed from the foundation of the colony, was abolished. The trials of causes were made to more nearly conform with those of England. Laws were passed regulating land titles. 1 treaty was made with Maryland respecting trade on the Chesapeake Bay. Taxation was rendered more uniform, and the tax for the support of the governor was abolished. This was the first meeting of the assembly the acts of which were published.
THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION OF 1642.
The war clouds which had darkened the political horizon of England for many years now broke forth in a storm of uncontrolled fury. Civil war drenched the island in blood. The Royalists were defeated; Charles went to the scaffold; monarchy was overthrown, and Oliver Cromwell declared Protector of the Commonwealth of England, the destinies of which he controlled until the year 1658, when he was succeeded by his son, Richard, who held the reins of government until the restoration of monarchy in 1660.
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VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
Throughout the period of the revolution the Virginians continued loyal to the royal cause, not because they loved monarchy, but because they cherished the liberties secured under the constitution which Charles I. had given them, and after the execution of Charles I. they recognized his fugitive son as their rightful sovereign-then an exile in Holland. The loyalty of Virginia to the father did not escape the notice of his son, and from a foreign shore he transmitted to Berkeley a commission as governor, signed by his royal highness. Thus the fugitive from England, the refugee to Holland, was still the sovereign of Virginia.
In the meantime the last opposition to the Parliamentary army in Britain had been overcome, and Cromwell now turned his atten- tion to his distant colony, determined to force it to submit to the new government.
Virginia was now rapidly becoming a nation. Under the influence of her salutary laws, the products of a virgin soil, wrought by willing hands, and the advantages which her foreign trade had given her, she had increased her population from a few hundred to twenty thousand, and there were trading to her ports ten ships from London, two from Bristol, twelve from Holland, and seven from New England. Such was the colony which Cromwell now proposed should submit to the govern- ment of the Commonwealth.
A fleet, together with a considerable land force, sailed for Virginia, and cast anchor before Jamestown. But the colonists, in anticipation of the projected conquest, had not been idle. Many veterans from the shattered royal army had taken refuge in Virginia. The colonial army, thus augmented, was a power of which the Commonwealth was ignorant. In addition, several Dutch merchant ships were lying in the river, trading in violation of the acts of Parliament, and of course were armed, that they might defend themselves against the fleets of the Common- wealth. They now allied themselves with the colonial forces. The commissioners of Cromwell, surprised at such a show of resistance, hesitated, and offered fair and honorable terms to the colonists. By them was insured a continuation of their liberties, the preservation of their constitution intact, and a full and complete pardon for all past offenses. Thus the colonists could gain by treaty all that they could hope to gain by the most successful resistance. The articles were signed by the commissioners on the part of the Commonwealth, and the council on the part of the State of Virginia, "as equals treating equals."
From this time to the Restoration, Virginia governed herself, and ob- tained unlimited liberty of commerce, which was regulated by inde- pendent laws. The famous Navigation Acts of Cromwell were not designed for her oppression, and were never enforced on her shores. A trade was opened between Virginia and Denmark, and finally with
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"every Christian nation in amity with England." When the colony recognized the authority of Cromwell, Berkeley, who held his commis- sion from the exiled king, was too loyal to continue in office, and Richard Bennett, one of the commissioners, was chosen to succeed him. A council was also chosen to act in accordance with instructions from Parliament, and to exercise such powers as the assembly might delegate to it. Bennett retired from office in March, 1655, and Edward Digges became his successor. He served two years, when an election was held, and the choice fell upon " worthy Samuel Mathews, an old planter of nearly forty years' standing, a most deserving Commonwealth's man. who kept a good house, lived bravely, and was a true lover of Virginia."
He, like most Virginians since, was opposed to long sessions of the legislature, and in the spring of 1659, threatened to dissolve that body unless it speedily adjourned. The worthy Samuel had forgotten that it was the legislature that made the governor. His attention was, how- ever, called to the fact by the reply of the Speaker to the effect that "the House of Burgesses, the representatives of the people, were not dissolvable by any power yet extant in Virginia, except their own; and, that the former election of the governor and council was void." The old governor thus learned that Virginia, then-as well as now-regarded her officers as servants and not dictators.
VIRGINIA AT THE TIME OF THE RESTORATION.
Richard Cromwell resigned the Protectorate in 1660. Virginia, too, was without a head. The assembly at once convened and again elected Berkeley governor, with the understanding that he should call the assembly together at least once in two years, and that it should not be dissolved save by its own consent. The old monarchist, now aware that Charles, his beloved prince, would shortly be placed upon the throne, accepted the office and acknowledged himself the people's servant.
Virginia now had a population of thirty thousand. She had estab- lished upon her soil the supremacy of the legislative branch of repre- sentative government; had secured freedom of trade, security against foreign taxation, and a universal elective franchise. Prosperity kept pace with freedom. The social condition of the emigrants now coming to her shores was vastly improved, and her hospitality was already pro- verbial. Such was Virginia in the year 1660.
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BACON'S REBELLION.
No sooner had intelligence of the Restoration reached Virginia than Berkeley issued a proclamation calling for the election of a new assembly, declaring that the acts of that body during the existence of the Protec- torate, were illegal and no longer in force. The people still indulged the hope that all would yet be well ; but they had yet to learn that Charles II. was the worst monarch of modern times, and that in enforcing his tyrannical edicts he would find in Berkeley a most willing tool.
The new statute was a death-stroke at colonial liberty. It provided that all trade should be restricted to English ports and carried only in English vessels. A heavy tax was imposed for the support of the gov- ernment. The colonists remonstrated and petitioned, but the king turned a deaf car to complaints, and the oppressive laws were rigorously en- forced.
But legislative tyranny sank into insignificance when compared with the recklessness of granting large tracts of land to the ignoble and prof- ligate courtiers who thronged his court. No matter whether these lands were on the distant frontier, or the best and most highly cultivated in the colony. Whole hamlets and entire counties were thus given away, and in 1673 the king became a bankrupt in the matter of lands by grant- ing to Lords Culpeper and Arlington a patent for the entire State of Virginia, together with all its rights and privileges for a period of thirty- one years.
At the gay court of Charles II. this may have been regarded a small bounty to a royal favorite, but to the forty thousand Virginians thus transferred to a proprietor from whom nothing was to be hoped, and everything feared, it appeared in a very different light. Messrs. Lud- well, Moryson and Smith went to England and presented a remon- strance, but to no purpose.
In the meantime a war broke out with the Susquehanna Indians. The legislature raised and equipped an army of five hundred men for service in the war, but just as they were ready to march they were disbanded by the governor, who refused to assign any reason for the act. Volun- teers then flocked to Jamestown and offered to serve without any re- muneration if the governor would only appoint a leader. This he refused to do. Then they determined to march to the defenseless frontier with- out the governor's consent, and looking about for a leader, they found a young man from Henrico county who had just returned from England, whither he had gone to complete his education. The name of that young man was Nathaniel Bacon. When he took command of the volunteer army he made application to Berkeley for a commission, but it was refused, and Bacon marched to the frontier authorized only by the will of the people and the danger of his country. No sooner had the army began its march than Berkeley declared Bacon a rebel and his followers traitors, and col- lecting as great a foree as he could raise among the wealthy aristocrats
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residing in and about Jamestown, he marched in pursuit of Bacon, wit !! the proclaimed intention of suppressing the rebellion. Bacon continued his march to the frontier, defeated the Indians, drove them far into the interior, and was returning homeward when he heard of the action ot the governor. Leaving the greater part of his army, he continued by forced marches towards Jamestown, to which place the governor had fallen back; but he was made prisoner by one Gardiner, and carried be- fore Berkeley. He was finally pardoned and allowed to take his seat in the assembly on condition that he would confess the impropriety of his conduct, and promise obedience for the future. His soldiers, however, were not satisfied with the humility to which their leader was subjected. and marched to Jamestown and compelled the governor to give him a commission, and he again marched to the frontier. But no sooner was he gone than Berkeley retired into Gloucester and a second time declared Bacon a rebel; who when he heard the news, fell back towards Glouces- ter, and forced the governor with his forces to retreat -into Acomae. This county, located on the eastern shore, was considered a distinct ter- ritory, although tributary to Virginia. Bacon once more marched up the Potomac, and Berkeley crossed the bay and entered Jamestown. No sooner had Bacon heard of the governor's movements, than he wheeled his van and shortly appeared in front of Jamestown, attacked the place and drove Berkeley on board the ships in the river. The torch was applied, and in twelve hours the oldest town in British America was in ruins.
We know little of Bacon after this, more than that he died of disease contracted during his campaigns. With him died the cause for which he fought. The patriots disbanded, and Berkeley's authority was soon restored, and his vengeance glutted by hanging twenty-three of the fol- lowers of Bacon.
Thus ended Bacon's rebellion. The only difference between that struggle and the one of a hundred years later being that the first was an effort to establish a free government subject to Great Britain, which could not be done; and the second was an effort to establish a free government independent of Great Britain, which was done.
Berkeley resigned his commission and went to England, where he found his actions towards the colony universally disapproved, even by the king himself. This the governor could not withstand, and he soon sank beneath his load of crime, and died, despised in England and exe- crated in Virginia.
From this time onward, for a period of nearly fifty years, there is little of interest in the history of Virginia, save the succession of governors, and a desultory Indian war carried on upon her western frontier.
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VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
Sir Herbert Jeffries came over as the successor of Berkeley, but was in a short time relieved by Sir Henry Chichely. In 1678 Lord Cul- peper, who, together with Lord Arlington, held a patent for the entire State, came over and assumed the government, made many fair promises, one of which was to secure the redress of grievances demanded by the colony; then leaving the government in the hands of Chichely, he returned to England. In 1683 Arlington surrendered his claim to Cul- peper, who thus became sole proprietor of Virginia. He came over and began his government on the principle that he owned Virginia, and the Virginians were his slaves ; but before his acts could accomplish much mis- chief, Charles II. revoked his charter because of a failure to comply with its terms. Thus, in 1684, Virginia again became a royal province, with Lord Howard of Effingham as royal governor.
James II. came to the throne in 1685, but there was no change in the government of the colony for the next three years, when William, Prince of Orange, drove James from the English throne and mounted it himself. He referred all complaints of the Virginians to his privy council, with orders that they should receive prompt attention. Sir Francis Nicholson came over and assumed the government. By his mild and conciliatory administration of the affairs of the colony he be- came more popular than any of his predecessors.
REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL OF VIRGINIA.
In the year 1698 the seat of government was removed from Jamestown to Williamsburg, seven miles distant from the old metropolis. The his- torian of that day assigns as the reason of the removal the fact that Williamsburg was "in a healthier and more convenient location, and freer from moschetoes."
Nicholson was succeeded in 1693 by Sir Edmund Andros, but was restored in 1698, and served until 1705, when Edward Nott became governor. He died shortly after receiving his commission, and the government devolved upon Edward Jennings, the president of the coun- cil, until the king's pleasure became known. The Earl of Orkney received the commission, but sent out Brigadier-General Hunter to rule in his stead. He was captured by the French while on his way to America, and the illustrious
COLONEL ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD
became governor. He was the most distinguished individual that con- trolled the destinies of Virginia prior to the Revolution. He had won distinction on many bloody fields during the campaigns of Marlborough, and thus secured the appointment of colonial governor of Virginia.
W
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VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS.
THE UNKNOWN REGIONS OF THE WEST.
One hundred and three years had passed away since the founding of Jamestown, and the little colony of one hundred and five souls had grown to nearly one hundred thousand. Hardy pioneers had extended the domain of civilization far into the interior. There were now twenty- four counties in Virginia, and settlements were approaching the eastern base of the Blue Ridge, but of the country beyond the "rocky barrier" nothing whatever was known, The most daring adventurer had not dared to penetrate this unknown wilderness. But the conquest of the wilderness was the mission of those determined spirits who had fled from oppression in the Old World to find a home of freedom on the shores of the New. . Governer Spotswood determined to know something more of this region, and accordingly equipped a company of horsemen, and head- ing it in person began his march from Williamsburg through a dense wilderness inhabited by wild beasts and savage men. Toiling on for several days, the expedition at last reached the base of the Alleghanies, and pushing upward through the narrow defiles the intrepid governor and his little party reached the summit and stood upon one of the lofti- est peaks of the Appalachian range. What a spot ! Never before, per- haps, had the footsteps or the voice of civilized man been heard amid this mountain fastness. As that little band stood there gazing westward into an illimitable wilderness, they there resolved that its vast extent should be peopled, redeemed from the sway of savage men, and the for- est be made to blossom as the rose. How well that resolution has been carried into effect, let the fifteen millions of happy and prosperous people who now throng the great valley of the Mississippi answer.
The party returned to Williamsburg and gave the most glowing de- scription of the country which they had visited. Amid forests of fra- grant trees and perfumed alcoves, spots more enchantingly beautiful than were ever graced by Calypso and her nymphs, they had discovered those mysterious hygeian fountains from which flowed these life-giving waters which have since obtained a world-wide fame. In order to induce emi- gration to the West, the governor established the "Transmontane Order, or Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," giving to each of those who ac- companied him a miniature golden horseshoe bearing the inscription, "Sic Jurat transcendere Montes" (thus he swears to cross the mountains). These were given to whoever would accept them, with the understanding that he would comply with the inscription. (See De Hass, page 35.)
iding of
Delanunkies
SILVER MEDAL PRESENTED THE INDIAN POTENTATE, THE "KING OF PAMUNKIE,"
By the Colonial Authorities of Virginia.
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FIRST SETTLEMENTS WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS-"WESTWARD THE STAR OF EMPIRE TAKES ITS WAY."
Many daring adventurers crossed the rocky barrier during the suc- ceeding years, but it was not until the year 1732 that a permanent set- lement was made west of the mountains. In this year sixteen families from Pennsylvania came over and began a settlement near where Win- chester now stands. They were guided to the location by a gentleman named Joist Hite, and to them is due the credit of having first planted the standard of civilization in Virginia, west of the mountains. (Ker- chevel, page 65.)
The second settlement was made in 1734 by Benjamin Allen and three others on the north branch of the Shenandoah, about twelve miles south of the present town of Woodstock. Other adventurers pushed on and settlements gradually extended west, crossing the Capon river. North Mountain and the Alleghany range, until finally they reached the tributaries of the Monongahela (MS. volume of Dr. Ruffner). For twenty years after the settlement about Winchester, the natives inhabit- ing the mountains and intervening vales remained in a state of com- parative quiet ; but abont this time a circumstance occurred which led to a much better acquaintance with the vast and unexplored regions of the West. Two men, Thomas Morlen and John Salling, determined to explore those unknown regions, and accordingly set out from Winches- ter. They journeyed up the Shenandoah, crossed the James river near the Natural Bridge, and had progressed as far as the Roanoke, when they were attacked by a party of Cherokees, and Salling was made prisoner. Morlen made his escape from them and returned in safety to the settle- ment. Salling was carried captive into what is now called Tennessee, where he remained with them for several years. While on a hunting expedition with some of his tribe, they were attacked by a party of Illi- nois Indians, who were the deadly enemies of the Cherokees, and Salling was a second time borne off a prisoner.
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