USA > Virginia > Virginia colonial decisions : the reports by Sir John Randolph and by Edward Barradall, of decisions of the general court of Virginia, 1728-1741, v. I > Part 11
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 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
As to the opinion, so long and so generally held, that this charge of disloyalty of "the great majority of the clergy " was true, it is a fair conclusion to think that these religious adversaries were not exactly impartial judges of each other, that the provocation of the discriminations against them and in favor of the privileged establishment was impossible to be submitted to serenely, though it was merely the ancient law, that the age was not one of large and tolerant thinking; and it is true that in the midst of arms it is not alone the laws of the land that are silent, but also those of reason and fair judgment. The boys who pelted the statue of the representative of King George III,1 that stood before the old Capitol at Williamsburg, were understood as metaphorically throwing rocks also at the representative of the Church of which the King was the head, and the overturning of the one of such issues was regarded as the necessary destiny of the other.
No other count than that made by Mr. Thomas on the question of morals, seems ever to have been under- taken, and besides that striking piece of testimony, all the corroborating circumstances seem to indicate that it was only the few who were guilty of any acts of immorality or irreligion, although naturally the few gave a bad name to the whole body.
As to a freer way of living,-an occasional game of cards, a glass of wine, a ride after the hounds, or even
'Lord Botetourt. The very fine, though mutilated, statue stands now in front of the main building of William and Mary College.
110
VIRGINIA COLONIAL DECISIONS
the casual observing of a horse race, called in latter days, under similar circumstances, a trial of speed,- these seemed, and probably were, harmless to those accustomed to them, while to those who not only observed the weightier matters of the law but also " tithed the mint, anise and cummin," these things were strong cause of offense. The lay and clerical people of the old order had never fixed their standards so that they would have been shocked, as were the good people of "Timber Ridge Church," at seeing their fine old pastor, the Rev. Samuel Davies, " carrying a gold-headed cane and wearing a gold finger ring," or scandalized as was the Staunton Church, when the Rev. James Waddel,1 the blind preacher, was guilty of " flagrant Sabbath breaking by drinking hot coffee on a Sunday morning."2 But whether the church de- served destruction for all this or not, it got it. Of over ninety parishes with ministers at the beginning of the Revolution, at its close there were but twenty- eight.
The Revolution, and the disestablishment that fol- lowed, deprived the clergy of both parishioners and income; and a state of war, or its aftermath, was no time in which to reconstruct upon a new basis. At first the church was incorporated and her pro- perty secured to her, but by the Act of January 9,
'The Loyalty of the Clergy, 18. Annals of Augusta County. Waddel, 197, 416.
'On page 118 of his Journal, Fithian says of Rev. James Waddel, " There is also in these Counties one Mr. Waddle a presbiterian Clergyman, of an irreproach- able character, who preaches to the people under trees in summer & in private Houses in Winter. Him, however, the people in general don't more esteem than the Ana-baptist Preachers, but the People of Fashion in general countenance and commend him. I have never had an opportunity of seeing Mr. Waddle, as he is this Winter up in the Country, but Mr. & Mrs. Carter speak well of him, Mr. & Mrs. Fambleroy also, and all who I have ever heard mention his name."
A note to this extract states that Dr. James Waddel resided in Lancaster and Northumberland counties from 1762-1788, spending a part of each year in the upper country, where in his later years he lived constantly. Foote's Sketches of Virginia, 1, 367, 387. He died however at his home in Orange County, and is buried about one mile southwest of Gordonsville. History of Orange County. Scott, p. 180.
111
THE CHURCH
1787, the Incorporating Act was repealed, and by the further act of January 24, 1799, all acts of any kind securing the property of the church were repealed. On January 12, 1802, the glebe lands held by the church were ordered to be sold for the benefit of the public. This act was contested in the courts and at first decided by the Court of Appeals in favor of the church by a vote of three to one, but before the opinion was written one of the three judges died, and his successor, siding with the minority, made a divided court, which affirmed the decision of Chancellor Wythe1 who had decided in the Lower Court against the church. And this seemed to be the end of the church which had held its first service beneath the shelter of an old sail on Jamestown Island near two hundred years before.
Chief Justice Marshall said that he thought the Episcopal Church in Virginia so dead that it was not worth while to attempt to revive it; and though not a member of any church, he loved the liturgy and ser- vices and methods of the Episcopal Church and wor- shipped in it, as did all of his large connection. But even the judgment of so sagacious a man as Marshall could in such a case be at fault; for the church was revived and then freed from its uncongenial yoke- mate, the state, from the burden of favoritism and unfair discrimination against other religious bodies, and from a priesthood fed at the public crib, which the protection of the state imposed upon it, it was given new life and took its place among the workers for good, far higher than it ever enjoyed when upheld by the favor of royalty or the special privileges of the law. And more than to any other man, in Virginia at least, this result is due to the courage, character and
'Turpin v. Locket. 6 Call. 113. Selden v. Overseers. S.C. xi Leigh, 127.
.
1
112
VIRGINIA COLONIAL DECISIONS
ability of that brave and gentle old bishop, its accom- plished historian and defender, who was its leader through its most trying days,- the Rt. Rev. William Meade.
-
£
CHAPTER VI THE CITY
Conditions in Virginia have never favored the building of large cities. At the beginning of the revolutionary war the colony was about one hundred and seventy years old, and yet there was in it no collection of houses worthy of being called a city. But so far as the acts of their representatives in the General Assembly can be taken as indicative of the wishes of the people, this lack of cities was not due to any want of ambition on the part of the people to have them. Mr. Lodge1 quotes Col. William Byrd as saying that the system of life, the country, and the popular habits were all opposed to them; and other writers, while admitting that the popular aversion to towns was very strong, yet say that this was due " to indolence, jealousy, and the desire of every planter to have the port of entry at his own door."
Although great efforts were made to induce cities to be built, and encouragements of all sorts held out to secure inhabitants for them, it was yet true that the popular wish of the planters seems to have been not themselves to constitute any part of their population. From the beginning the political divisions of the country seemed to anticipate only a bucolic life and agricultural industries. The plantation was the unit, while a certain aggregate of plantations constituted the hundred.2 Later, shires were formed, and then counties, but, except in the case of Jamestown, there was little talk of cities and less real expectation of them.
'English Colonies in America, 52.
"Sir Thomas Dale's plan. Economic History of Virginia. Vol. I, 210.
114
VIRGINIA COLONIAL DECISIONS
But later still, in 1662,1 because "his sacred majestie by his instructions hath enjoyned us to build a town, to which "- with some degree of disingenuousness, the preamble adds-"our own conveniences of profit and securitie might urge us, yett encouraged by his ma- jestie's royall commands, to which in dutie wee are all bound to yield a most readie obedience, this grand assembly taking into their serious consideration the best means of effecting it, have in reference thereto enacted."
All of which seems to be an admission that while they personally did not desire, nor see the need of towns, yet, as his " sacred majestie " so desired, they would have them if acts of the assembly could procure them.
This particular town, by way of a commencement, was to be at James City, for which, although after fifty five years trial the laws of trade had failed to accom- plish that dignity, the laws of the General Assembly were now to be tried to see what could be done by them. Thirty-two brick houses, and more of wood, of a certain dimension were to be built, of which each of the seventeen then existing counties was to erect one. For this purpose they were to impress laborers who were to be paid a certain wage fixed by the act, and "for avoideing the exaction of workemen " the price of bricks was fixed at a certain price per thousand. Then, when the city should be built, all the tobacco of certain of the counties, under penalties for refusing to do so, was to be brought by the planters and stored in the city. There the ships were all to ride at anchor, and merchants were to " keep their stores only at this towne;" and here numerous other provisions are made for the concentration by law of all trade at this city, and sharp penalties are imposed for their violation.
'Hening Vol. II, 172.
-
1
1
115
THE CITY
That nothing might seem to be left undone, or rather unenacted, a system of rewards is also proposed, and the statute offers exemption for two years from liability for arrest, execution or process of law, to such persons as should live within the limits of the town, or while coming to or going away therefrom, except in cases of debts contracted within the town limits, or of persons accused of capital crimes.
Doubtless the burgesses themselves did not regard these provisions as being in any wise personal to them, for they had no idea of leaving the sweet countryside and the gentlemanly occupation of planting, to take up in a town, trade or merchandise or com- merce, but whether their hearts were in the matter or not they did not cease passing laws on the subject.
In 16801 and again in 1691,2 acts " for cohabitation and encouragement of trade and manufacture " were passed, which provided for the establishment, at numer- ous points in the colony, of storehouses, in which was to be accumulated tobacco for transportation, and for the sale and disposal of goods imported or exported. As was customary, prices were fixed, penalties imposed and restrictions directed against purchases and sales at any other place except at those thus appointed. But the pursuits and occupations of the people and all their habits and instincts, as well as their pleasures and their profits, being against these devices, they did not work, and the mandates of the legislature were wholly ineffectual to compel them.3
-------
The cities did not come, nor any towns then. Here and there, where country stores had been located, were small villages, but for the legislated towns there was only the storehouse, erected by authority of the
'Hening. Vol. II. 471.
"Hening. Vol. III, 16, 30, 50, 121.
3Old Virginia and Her Neighbors. Vol. II, 512.
-
116
VIRGINIA COLONIAL DECISIONS
law, and a small office for the transaction of small retail trade, and what were afterwards called the county towns were planted in the midst of the forest, and usually consisted of the courthouse, the prison, stocks, pillory, whipping post, and a poor little inn1 which might reasonably have been regarded as a part of the penal equipment of the shire or county. Here and there quite good country stores grew up, with very respectable men for merchants, but with what reads now as curious and remarkable assortments of merchandise.
It was these stores, says Mr. Fiske,2 which served to the planter and other country population all the purposes of large centres, without their disadvantages, and which had successfully competed with the town building idea. Indeed the whole scheme was dead against both the natural conditions of the country and the strong inclinations of the people, whose affections were set on country life and the attractive pursuits of agriculture.3
The rivers, great and small, the many navigable creeks, and the bay with its great estuaries reaching back into the fertile lands, flowing together, making the splendid harbor of Hampton Roads,-the river sides and points of land with deep water up to the very edges, fixed by nature for holding great cities and floating at their very docks the commerce of the world, and all these looking out safely through the gateway of the capes at the rolling sea beyond, appealed in vain against the seductive sweetness of the country, the mild prosperity, the peace and quiet of a land undis- turbed by the alarming headlines of daily papers, the horrors of suffering humanity through all the world,
'English Colonies in America, 51, 52.
2Old Virginia and Her Neighbors. Vol. II, 213.
3Economic History of Virginia. Vol. II, 523.
117
THE CITY
the fluctuations of stocks and bonds, and the wild panics of financial centres, or wars or rumors of war, near or distant.
Against these things, undreamed of, but yet to come, against the name or fact of city or town, the planter opposed the conditions of his happy life upon his many acres by the river side, where the ships that sailed across the sea might tie up along the banks, in sight of the growing products which were to make the cargoes home again. There could be no argument, and no prophetic vision that could overcome the logic of conditions such as these.
Jamestown never was more than a little village. Norfolk, more ideally placed than any other spot in Virginia for a city, or, as it then seemed, than any spot on the long coast of North America, had at the time of the Revolution attained only to the dignity of a population of six thousand, while Richmond, as late as 1790, had but three thousand seven hundred and sixty-one inhabitants. At that time Philadelphia had a population of thirty-five thousand, with New York a close second, with twenty-five thousand people, although the total population of Virginia was then about equal to that of New York State and Pennsyl- vania combined.1
But in those days the volume of trade was not dependent either upon cities or upon the concentration of large bodies of people in any form. Dr. Curry says2 that " in the ten years before the revolutionary troubles (1760-69) the southern colonies, with a population of one million two hundred thousand, exported produce to the value of $42,297,705, while the exports of New England, New York and Pennsylvania, with a popu-
'Old Virginia and Her Neighbors. Vol. II, 211.
"The South, 84
3
118
VIRGINIA COLONIAL DECISIONS
lation of one million three hundred thousand, were only $9,350,035, or less than one-fourth; . . . Virginia and Maryland exported five times as much as New England, eight times as much as New York, and over thirteen and a half times as much as Pennsylvania;" and he further says that at the end of the confederation time, and the beginning of the government under the Constitution, Norfolk had a greater trade than New York, and that for the first quarter of the century the South took the lead of the North in commerce.
Shortly before the Revolution Norfolk was the most considerable town in Virginia and held its ascendency for many years. Williamsburg, the capital, is de- scribed1 as " a straggling village of about two hundred houses, ... a pleasant little town, with wooden houses and unpaved streets."
Petersburg, Fredericksburg and Alexandria owed their existence to the system of government ware- houses for the inspection of tobacco and were built up by it; "but these places were, after all, mere unpaved straggling villages, with no business outside the tobacco houses, and inhabited chiefly by liquor dealers, small shopkeepers, and smaller lawyers, who preyed upon the country people of the neighborhood."2
The Rev. Mr. Fithian describes Winchester in 1776 as " a small village half a mile in length, and several streets, broad and pretty full. The situation is low and disagreeable. ... The land is good, the country is pleasant, the houses in general large."
Twenty-two years before, a Moravian missionary4 mentions this little town in his diary, as consisting " of about sixty houses, which are rather poorly built,"
1English Colonies in America, 51.
"English Colonies in America, 52, City-Rochefoucauld, 1-21.
3The Planting of Presbyterianism, 3.
"Virginia Historical Magazine. Vol. XII, 141.
119
THE CITY
and " Augusti Court House " (Staunton) as " a little town of some twenty houses, surrounded by mountains on all sides."1
Thus far had the city building scheme progressed in Virginia about the time of the Revolution. Seventy- five years before, Jamestown, left to the bats and the owls, had been abandoned as the seat of government, and the capital transferred to the Middle Plantation, now called Williamsburg, after King William. This was the only official city in Virginia and here our in- terest must centre for the rest of this chapter.
But for a little while, as germane to the city question, let us look a little more closely into the industrial and commercial conditions of the colony. The planters shipped direct from their own plantations, because it was much more convenient and profitable to do this than it was to load their products in boats and float them to the paper cities and towns, and there unload and load again, besides complying with all the various requirements of the law enacted merely for the purpose of forcing the building of cities and towns and with little regard to the sacrifices exacted on that account from the planter. Where the necessity existed for hauling overland, because of the absence of possible roads, it could not be considered at all.
As there was little or no commerce except directly with the consumer, so there were no manufactures, worthy the name, carried on by middlemen. Such articles needed on a plantation as were not brought to the planters on the incoming ships, as all articles of luxury were, were generally made on the plantation by the slaves. Cloth was woven and the clothing of the slaves cut and made up there. Carpenters, black- smiths, painters, shoemakers, coopers and tanners,
WVirginia Historical Magazine. Vol. XII, 146.
-
120
VIRGINIA COLONIAL DECISIONS
from among the slaves, were taught these trades and worked at them for their masters. Even barbers were among the house slaves, and learned to do their work quite satisfactorily.
But house building, except the simple and rough quarters and outbuildings needed on the estate, was beyond the capacity of the plantation mechanics. For this work, when mechanics from the country around, living in the villages which grew up around the country stores, could not be had of sufficient numbers and skill, others were imported from England,1 and as the need for their services increased, privileges and exemp- tions from levies were offered by law to such of them as would settle in the country and continue there at their trades.2 Even tailors were sometimes imported to serve the wealthy planter,3 although generally he had his fine clothes made in London.
Iron-making was an industry entered into early in colonial times, with much enthusiasm, and much money was lost in impracticable experiments. Laws enough were passed to regulate and control this in- dustry too, but little or nothing came of them, and the industry was a failure, although the raw material of all kinds, and in close conjunction, was abundant. But the methods were crude, transportation was almost impossible, and at that time the richer beds of ore had yet to wait very many years before they were to be discovered.
Other industries, 4 such as the manufacture of linen, silks and woolen goods were tried, but except on the plantation (and then only of linen and wool) and for
'Economic History of Virginia. Vol II, pp. 403, 406.
2Id., 411.
3Id., 448. 471.
4Gunpowder was made in Frederick County before the Revolution.
Fithian, page 214.
٤
.
121
THE CITY
plantation uses, these manufactures did not succeed. Two powerful influences worked against all such interprises,-the strong disinclination of the planter to do anything except cultivate the land, whereby a mere exchange of his products for all the articles he needed procured for him all the manufactures that his wants suggested; and perhaps the even stronger desire of the English government to discourage manufactures, so that, as far as possible, the necessities of the colonists could minister to the prosperity of the manufacturers at home.
So everything combined to dispense with this at- tempt at city making; and at no time during the colonial period was there ever a town of any considerable size, Norfolk, with its six or seven thousand inhabitants, being the largest.
Williamsburg might be called a city by brevet, for the act of Assembly1 which established it is entitled "An Act directing the building the Capitol and the City of Williamsburg." Its population sixty years after it became the capital was only about one thou- sand, and at no period did it exceed between two and three thousand. Its streets were without paved sidewalks, and the houses were generally small and principally of wood and separated from each other, doubtless from fear of fire,-an apprehension which experiences at Jamestown fully justified. Nor had it any trade or manufactures, for there was none of either that such a town could have. But it was the capital, where the State House, now called the capitol, the palace, the largest church, and, later, the college, were. It was the seat of government and the centre of fashion, and then probably the gavest place on the American continent, with much good
'Hening. Vol. III, 419.
- --
-
.
ـت
ارشا
-
122
VIRGINIA COLONIAL DECISIONS
company at all times, and especially when the General Assembly was in session. And when there was a popular Governor who entertained liberally, it was hard to deny to the little town the complimentary title which the General Assembly had given it even before it was born.
About sixteen years after the landing at Jamestown, a pale, or fortified fence, had been built across the peninsula at the narrow part where creeks from both the James and the York make into the land nearly opposite to each other, thus making the distance across the land from one water to another only about six miles.1 Hence the palisade of that length cut off from the forest all of the peninsula south of it, an area about forty miles long by twelve miles broad. The fence had houses along it at intervals, and a force of men to defend it sufficient to protect all the country south of it from attacks of Indians, and to afford a refuge to persons living beyond the pale in time of danger.
The Middle Plantation was along this palisade, nearer to Jamestown than to the York River, and upon a well- drained ridge, healthy and free from mosquitoes. A little settlement had grown up here, and at the time of Bacon's rebellion it was the centre of his operations, and after the failure of that enterprise the scene of Governor Berkeley's vengeful and murderous execu- tions. An English regiment sent out to suppress Bacon, but arriving after this affair was all over, camped there and the Governor, Jeffreys, who suc- ceeded Berkeley, held important conferences with the Indians at that point.
At the end of the seventeenth century, when Francis Nicholson2 was Governor, the State House at Jamestown
'Williamsburg. Tyler, 10.
?The Lover. Ante page 100.
123
THE CITY
had burned down, and the government and people at length convinced of the impossibilities of that un- healthy place, the act,1 already mentioned, was passed for the removal of the seat of government to the Middle Plantation, now to be called Williamsburg, after King William, and there to be erected a building " by the name of the Capitol " for the use of the General Assembly and the courts.
The act prescribed with great exactness and detail the style and dimensions of the building, and the sum of two thousand pounds sterling was appropriated to pay for it.
Two hundred and eighty-three acres, thirty-five and a half poles, were set apart for the city to be built upon; roads to the ports or creeks on either side were to be constructed and ports established there; the city was to be laid off in streets and lanes, and very careful instructions for the building of the city were given in the act.
Trustees, whose names were given, were to hold the title to the land on which the city was to be located, and these trustees were required to make conveyances of lots to such persons as should wish to purchase, with the condition that dwellings of certain dimensions should be erected on them within a limited time.
The Governor was to incorporate the city, and the corporation was to establish laws, rules and ordinances for the city government. To the Governor and Council and a committee of burgesses was intrusted the laying off of the city and the building of the ports, but all was subject to certain express directions contained in the act.
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.