USA > West Virginia > Hampshire County > History of Hampshire County, West Virginia : from its earliest settlement to the present > Part 29
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"Then suddenly turning we were on the brow of a steep precipice of no ordinary height. At our feet lay a beauti- ful scene. The Capon, running with fine stream, was in full view, making a semicircular bend of more than a mile, the land within the bend, level, and in beautiful cultivation, little plots of plowed land, of grass, of orchards scattered over it, a few buildidgs, and near to us a little mill. The Capon almost surrounded the little spot in the shape of a. horse shoe, and was itself hedged in by a higher precipice of similar form. At our feet the Capon, at our left a con- tinuation of the precipice on which we stood, beyond the. little plot of land a high ridge of rocky mountains, and as. far as the eye could reach all round tops of ridges, wild
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and fierce, and dark as the clouds that lowered about them. 'That house is mine,' said he, pointing to one whose smoke seemed to come near us, almost overhung by the precipice, as it stood on the brink of the river. He led me along down a winding horse path. 'Are there any religious people here?' 'Yes, a few.' Fit retreat thought I, for persecuted religion; a residence becoming the Waldenses. Busy in gazing around I felt my horse stumbling; and by a fortunate fall up the precipice side felt thankful my fall had not been on the other side of my horse as it must have probably landed me in the stream below, so near were we to the edge of the shelving projecting rocks. I walked to the bottom, feeling more secure on my feet than on my pony's back. I could not keep my eyes from running to the immense precipice of rocks that surrounded me as I approached the house which stood near the horse shoe neck of land and which was above half surrounded by it. Says the old man as we entered the house: 'This is a missionary come to preach; put away your work, clear the room, get something to eat, and send out word to the neighbors.' The house was small, one room sufficed for eating and cooking and working. The spinning wheels were laid aside, and the cooking commenced. I took one seat in the corner of the ample chimney, near me were some cooking utensils. I observed in the other corner the remaining cooking furniture and various preparations of the family. The chimney had its supply of choice sticks of various timber taking the smoke, drying for use. 'Go, son,' said he to a stout young lad, 'go, son, and tell neigh- bor -, and tell him to tell his neighbor there will be preaching here, and go by neighbor -- and tell him the same, and if you see any one tell him the same, and I will give notice at the mill.'
"Towards middle of the afternoon I looked out and saw persons coming in different directions down the moun- tains. I had seen so few places of residence I could not
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contrive whence they came. Looking to the old man, half in jest. 'Where do these people come from? from the rocks?' 'No, from their houses,' half angry at the ques- tion. But his frown soon passed away. I preached from the words, 'Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' After the congre- gation had dispersed I found that the old man had fulfilled in part his duty as an elder in the church by assembling his neighbors and reading to them and praying with them, some few of whom are religious. . My father and grand- father,' said he, 'were pious. My grandfather came here and chose this spot in preference to any of the Valley of Virginia, because he thought it more healthy. There he was driven away by the Indians-here he lived-here my father lived. They taught me my duty. They were French Protestants. '
"Something was said about his children. 'Some are in the western country, some are here at home, and one is dead. He was my best son;' here he paused, and I saw by the flashing light that tears were stealing down his cheeks. 'I never liked that war. I liked peace. But when a draft came they took my son. He came home and told me he was taken and must go to Norfolk. I never liked that war. I went out and prayed for him. He was a good boy; he never disobeyed me in his life. I came in and took down my best rifle-a true shot-"Here, " said I, "my son, take this, be a good soldier; your grandfather fought the In- dians, and you must go and fight the British; be a good boy; if you go to fight don't run." The first I heard of him after he got to camp at Norfolk was that he was dead.' "'
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CHAPTER XXXV.
LANDS AND LAND OWNERS.
BY HU MAXWELL.
There was a time when every acre of land in what is now Hampshire county belonged to one man, Lord Fairfax. The purpose of this chapter is to give a brief account of his lands and the manner by which they passed into the possession of others, together with the names of some of the early land-owners, and where their possessions were situated. Before proceeding to do this, it is proper to state, once more, that Hampshire county was once larger than at present, and that lands, now beyond the county borders, were once within the county, and in this chapter will be so considered. Lord Fairfax's estate consisted of the territory now contained in the following counties of Virginia and West Virginia: Lancaster. Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, Stafford, King George, Prince William. Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier, Culpeper, Clarke, Madison, Fage, Shenandoah, Frederick, Jefferson, Berke- ley, Morgan, Mineral, Hampshire, Hardy and Grant, twenty-three in all. The total number of acres was little short of six millions. This estate was not granted to Lord Fairfax in person, but to Lord Hopton, Lord Germyn, Lord Culpeper, Lord Berkeley. Sir William Morton, Sir Dudley Wyatt and Thomas Culpeper. This grant was made by Charles II. The lands were bounded by the Rap- pahannock on one side, by the Potomac on the other, and by a line drawn from the head of the Rappahannock to the head of the Potomac, then called the Quiriough. This name was given to the Potomac below its confluence with
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the Shenandoah; above the mouth of the Shenandoah it was called Cohongoroota; and the South branch was called Wappacomo. In granting this large body of land, King Charles expressed the hope that it would be speedily set- tled by Christian people. The king reserved one-fifth of all the gold and one-tenth of all the silver which might be discovered on the grant. The proprietors were required to pay a yearly rental equivalent to thirty-three dollars. This was to be paid at Jamestown "on the day of the feast of St. John the Baptist." Lord Hopton sold his interest to John Frethewey. There was some misunderstanding concerning the grant, and the king expressed his willing- ness to give a new charter, if the old one were surrendered. A new one was accordingly granted, authorizing the pro- prietors to found schools, colleges and courts. There was one condition, however, which was not satisfactory. The king stipulated that the patent should cease on any part of the land "not possessed and occupied" within twenty-one years. This condition was subsequently modified. The proprietors were strictly forbidden to meddle with military affairs. Virginia had full power to levy taxes upon the land, and it was subject to the laws of that state the same as any other lands. Receiving a good offer for their hold- ings the other proprietors sold all of them to Lord Cul- peper, son of Lord John Culpeper. Thus the entire estate came into the possession of one man, and from him de- scended by inheritance to Lord Thomas Fairfax. The title to the land was questioned, and adventurers took pos- session of large tracts. Law suits resulted, some of which were in the courts fifty years, long after the parties to the original suits were dead. Some of these suitors had the title to their lands confirmed by the assembly, but the transaction appears to have been in the nature of a com- promise to which both parties consented, for it was or- dered that such persons might hold their lands, but must
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pay the yearly rent to Lord Fairfax, the same as those who had purchased their lands of him.
Lord Fairfax never married. He was a scholar and man of letters, tall, dark of complexion, usually greedy for money, but at times giving away farms to those of his ten- ants or servants who pleased him. He made a trip from England to America to see the land which had fallen to him by inheritance. He was so well pleased with it that he de- cided to make his home in Virginia and enjoy his vast estate. He arranged his business in England, and about. 1747 came to Virginia. He lived awhile at Belvoir. He was a middle-aged man, about fifty-seven years old at that time. Lawrence Washington, a brother of General Wash- ington, had married a near relative of Lord Fairfax and this brought the Fairfaxes and the Washingtons into close friendship, and to this friendship great events in history may be traced. George Washington at that time. 1748, was sixteen years of age, educated only in the rudiments of reading, writing, arithmetic and surveying. Lord Fair- fax had such confidence in him that he employed him to survey the vast estate. 'Washington's salary for this work ranged from seventeen to twenty-two dollars & day. In addition to this, both he and his brother Lawrence obtained valuable tracts of land within the former limits of Hamp- shire county on the most favorable terms. In this work Washington laid the foundation of his fortune; built up a robust and powerful constitution, and gained that acquaint- ance with the wilderness west of the Blue Ridge which caused him some years later to be sent with important dis- patches to the French forts above Pittsburg. This led to his military career, and all its grand achievements followed. Washington, the youthful surveyor, climbed the mountains and crossed the valleys of Hampshire, mapping the estate and setting landmarks, and the accuracy of his work has been a marvel to surveyors ever since. Speaking of his occupation at that time, and comparing it with the great
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congress in Europe, in session at the time Washington was in the woods of Hampshire, George Bancroft, the venera- ble historian, speaks thus:
"At the very time of the congress of Aix-la-chapelle, the woods of Virginia sheltered the youthfal Washington, the son of a widow. Born by the side of the Potomac, beneath the roof of a Westmoreland farm, almost from infancy his lot had been the lot of an orphan. No academy had wel- comed him to its shades; no college crowned him with its honors; to read, to write, to cipher-these had been his degrees of knowledge. And now, at sixteen years of age, in quest of an honest maintenance. encountering intoler- able toil; cheered onward by being able to write to a school- boy friend: 'Dear Richard, a doubloon is my constant gain every day, and sometimes six pistoles,' himself his own cook, 'having no spit but a forked stick, no plate but a large chip;' roaming over spurs of the Alleghanies, alive to nature, and sometimes spending the best of the day in ad- miring the trees and the richness of the land; among skin- clad savages, with their scalps and their rattles, or un- couth emigrants 'that would never speak English;' rarely sleeping in a bed; holding a bearskin a splendid couch; glad of a resting for the night upon a little hay, straw, or fodder, and often camping in the forests, where the place nearest the fire was a happy luxury-this stripling sur- veyor in the woods, with no companions but his unlettered associates, and no implements of science but his compass and chain, contrasted strangely with the imperial magnifi- cence of the congress of Aix-la-chapelle. And yet God had selected, not Kaunitz nor Newcastle, not a monarch of the house of Hapsburg, nor of Hanover, but the Virginia strip- ling, to give an impulse to human affairs, and, as far as an event can depend upon an individual, had placed the rights and the destinies of countless millions in the keeping of the widow's son."
Fairfax had the best lands of his large estate laid out in
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manors. Two of these were in Hampshire county, prior to the formation of Hardy and Mineral; but now there is little of the manor land in Hampshire. The Wappacomo manor, containing fifty-five thousand acres, lay along the the South branch, mostly in the present county of Hardy. The Patterson creek manor, of nine thousand acres, was in what is now Mineral county. George Washington, after he was president of the United States, owned land in Hampshire. These manors were subsequently bought by John Marshall, chief justice of the United States, Raleigh Colston, and General Henry Lee.
Lord Fairfax had an eye to money-making, and resolved to realize as much as possible from his property. It is not necessary in this place to enter fully into his plan of deriv- ing revenue from his possession. Suffice it to say that his desire was to provide a perpetual income. It amounted to the same thing as renting his land forever at a fixed yearly rental. He required a small sum, usually two and one half cents an acre, or even less, to be paid down. He called this "composition money." He required a sum of about an equal amount to be paid every year "on the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel." He did not always charge the same sum yearly per acre. He was greedy and overbearing, and if a person settled and improved his lands without title, and afterwards applied for title, he took advantage of it, and charged them more, thinking they would pay it sooner than give up their improvements. Had he succeeded in disposing of all his lands on his regu- lar terms, his perpetual income would have been about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars yearly. This would have enabled him and his heirs to live in royal style. But it was to be otherwise, as will be shown in this chapter.
Lord Fairfax took up his residence at Greenway court, in the present county of Clarke, about twelve miles from Winchester. He had a large manor laid off there, and planned a number of buildings, only one of which he ever
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completed, and he never lived in it, but made it the resi- dence of his steward. Fairfax lived in a small cabin near by, fared like the country people around him, and appeared satisfied. He had about one hundred and fifty slaves who lived in log houses scattered about the woods. As early as 1747 he began to sell his real estate. Land within Hampshire county was sold in 1749, and perhaps earlier, but that is the earliest record found here. This county was not organized till 1755, and the first instrument admit- ted to record in Hampshire county was at a term of court held June 11, 1755. On December 13, 1757 the first deed signed by Fairfax was recorded. It had been executed in 1749, but for eight years had remained unrecorded. It was made to John Cunningham, and in its preamble these words occur: "The Right Honorable Thomas Lord Fair- fax, Baron of Cameron, in that part of Great Britain called Scotland, Proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia, in the nineteenth day of August in the twenty-third year of the reign of our sovereign George the Second, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, by the Grace of God defender of the faith, etc." The land conveyed was "on the Wappa- como or great South branch of Potowmack." In making these early deeds it was stipulated that the person who bought should "never kill elk, deer, buffalo, beaver or other game," without the consent of Fairfax or his heirs.
Land along the South branch in those days was not so valuable as at present; yet it found ready sale. Four hun- dred acres, near Moorefield, sold for one hundred and twenty-five dollars in 1758. Prior to the Revolutionary war a method of conveying land was in vogue, both in this county and in England, which is not now often met with in this state. It was resorted to as a means of deeding land, because, under the old English laws, an ordinary deed was usually defective because few people absolutely owned their land, which was also the property of heirs yet to follow. By the system of a lease, and a release im-
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mediately following, a valid deed could be made. In the oldest book of records in Hampshire county, there are ten leases and releases to one deed in fee simple. This book contains all deeds, mortgages, bonds, powers of attorney, bilis of sale, leases and releases recorded in this county from June 11, 1755 to November 12, 1766. During this interval there were placed on record fifteen deeds, two bonds, two powers of attorney, three mortgages, two bills of sale, one hundred and fifty leases and an equal number of releases. Thus, there were one hundred and seventy deeds recorded in the first twelve years of the county's history. A list of the first fifteen deeds in fee simple recorded in Hampshire county may be of interest, with date of record: Lord Fairfax to John Cunningham, Lot thirty-eight, South branch, 1757. James Simpson to Thomas Waggoner, one hundred acres on South fork of South branch, 1757. John Elswick to Rachel Elswick, two hundred acres near Hanging Rocks, 1759. William Bowell to Joseph Craycroft, ninety-two acres, on Capon, 1760. William' Bowell to William Craycroft, ninety-five acres, on Capon, 1760. Stephen Ruddell to Daniel Wood, three hundred acres, on Lost river, 1761. Stephen Rud- dell to Robert Denton, two hundred and sixteen acres on Great Capon, 1761. Rachel Elswick to John Keplinger, two hundred acres. on Lost river, 1761. George Horner to John Owens, fifty acres, on North river, 1761. Francis McBride to Robert Denton, two hundred and twenty-two acres, on Lost river, 1761. Hugh Murphew to Thomas Cresap, land in "French's Neck, " 1762. John Johnson to Daniel McGlolin, one hundred and thirty-two acres, on Great Capon, 1765. Thomas McGuire to Robert Parker, one hundred and thirteen acres, on New creek, 1765. Job Pearfall to Luke Collins, three hundred and twenty-three acres, on the South branch, 1766.
The history of the Revolutionary war is given elsewhere in this book. No county felt immediately the change from
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a monarchal government to a republic any more forceably than Hampshire. Under British rule the land all belonged to Fairfax, and all who occupied it must pay hini perpetual rent; and had the British arms been successful in that war, most probably the lands would still be paying rent to the heirs of Fairfax. No man could have felt that he abso- lutely owned his land. But the British armies were de- feated and Fairfax lost his grip on his possessions. As this is an important matter in the history of Hampshire it is proper to consider it more fully.
Lord Fairfax always considered himself a British sub- ject, although he remained quietly on his estate near Win- chester during the revolution. His sympathies with the royal cause were well known; and had he been an ordinary person he would have been roughly treated by the patriots in the valley of Virginia. But the great friendship that existed between him and General Washington saved him. Out of respect for Washington, Fairfax was spared. When the great general was in that part of the state he always visited Fairfax, for whom he had much respect. The old Englishman earnestly hoped that England might retain its hold on the colonies. But when Cornwallis sur- rendered at Yorktown, October 19, 1781, Fairfax saw that all was over. It may be said that it was his death blow. He took to his bed and never again left it, dying soon after in his ninety-second year.
Prior to this the Virginia legislature had been passing laws to break up such estates as that of Fairfax, for the good of the people. Thomas Jefferson was the leader in this movement. As early as October 17, 1776, he intro- duced a bill in the Virginia legislature to abolish estates in tail; that is, he wanted a law that would prevent a man from selling land and still keeping it, and prevent him from collecting rent forever. Estates should be held in fee simple. This was a blow at the Virginia aristocracy. That class of people were obnoxious to the ideas of liberty
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and equality for which the Americans were then fighting. It was not thought best for large estates to remain in one family forever. The result was, the law against estates in tail was passed. This in itself did not at once break up the Fairfax estate, but it stopped the rent on land already sold. However, the final blow fell at last, and the Fairfax estate was confiscated, because it belonged to a tory dur- ing the revolution. The land became the property of Vir- ginia, except such tracts as had been already sold, and the purchasers of these received clear titles.
This was a great event for the people of Hampshire as well as of the other counties formerly owned by Fairfax. The land was thrown open to the public, and the best parts of it were soon taken. That which was more remote re- mained state land longer, but the last acre of it was finally bought, and within a reasonable time thereafter fully two hundred thousand people possessed homes in a country in which one man formerly controlled everything. It is said that not one acre remained in the possession of any mem- ber of the Fairfax family. This chapter will be closed with a list of about two hundred persons who early availed themselves of the opportunity to possess Fairfax lands which had been confiscated by the state. The first entry on the commonwealth land, of which there is any record in Romney, was in 1788. There may have been older records, but they cannot be found. From January 14, 1788, to August 21, 1810, there were 1,986 land entries made in this county. The records are missing from February 4, 1804, to January 29, 1808, and it is unknown how many entries were made during that interval. The 1986 entries were probably made by not more than three hundred persons. As many as fifty entries were made by one person, proba- bly for speculation. Half dozen entries by one person was not unusual. In the list which follows will be found names of persons whose descendants now constitute many of the most prominent families of the county. The date when 28
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they took up their land, the number of acres, and the loca- tion are given:
1788. James Machan, 400 acres, "adjoining Lawrence Washington's land on Knobly."
1788. John Dawson, 80 acres, on North branch.
1788. Andrew Cooper, 100 acres, on Painter's run.
1788. David Hunter, 79 acres, on North branch.
1788. William Bell. 120 acres, on Patterson creek.
1788. Thomas Collins, 800 acres, on North branch.
1788. Hugh Malone, 300 acres, on the waters of Mill creek.
1788. Thomas Bryan Martin, 400 acres, on the waters of South branch.
1788. Thomas Whittecher, 150 acres. on Knobby.
1788. Marion McGraw, 300 acres on Capon.
1788. Rees Pritchard, 400 acres, on North run.
1788. Isaac Means, 400 acres, in Mill creek gap.
1788. William Adams, 400 acres, on the waters of Pat- terson creek.
1788. Samuel Boyd, 20 acres, on the North branch, and 800 acres on Capon.
1788. Nathaniel Parker, 300 acres, on Patterson creek.
1788. Henry Hawk, 400 acres, on the waters of Millcreek.
1788. William Armstrong, 400 acres, on the North branch, adjoining Michael Cresap's land.
1788. Andrew Wodrow, 100 acres, on Capon.
1788. William Keeder, 100 acres, on Capon.
1788. John Jones, 50 acres, on Patterson's creek.
1788. Eben Williams, 300 acres, on Patterson creek.
1788. Ezekiel Whitman, 150 acres, on Cat Tail run, and 180 acres at the head of Green Spring valley.
1788. Andrew Cooper, numerous tracts in all parts of the county. He was, apparently, the largest land holder at that time in Hampshire.
1788. Richard Stafford, 400 acres, near Cross roads on the waters of South branch.
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1788. Frederick Metheny, 100 acres, on Limestone run, "including the sugar camp."
1788. Adam Hall, 150 acres, on Sonth branch, "at Hall's mill."
1788. Elisha Collins, 309 acres, on Clay Lick run.
1788. Joseph Bute, 100 acres, on Buck Island run,
1788, William Young, 50 acres, on South branch.
1788. Peter Walker, 100 acres, in Green Spring valley.
1788. David Holmes, 2,400 scres, on the waters of Capon, and 900 on the waters of Lost river.
1788. David Williams, 100 acres, on Patterson creek.
1788. Henry Kuykendall, 91 acres, on Buffalo run.
1788. John Peyton, 115 acres, on Captain John's run: also 319 acres near the foot of Sidelong hill; also 800 acres on Watt run; also 400 acres on Capon.
1788. John Wolleston, 100 acres, on Buck Island run.
1788. Abraham Johnson, 100 acres, on Patterson creek; also, 200 acres on Cabin run.
1788. Joseph Mitchell, 405 acres, on the waters of Pat- terson creek.
1788. James Fleming, 150 acres, on the waters of Mill creek; also 500 acres on Lick run.
1788. Joshua Calvin, 400 acres, on the waters of Little Capon. 1788. John J. Jacob, 212 acres, on Sonth branch moun- tain.
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