USA > West Virginia > Myers' history of West Virginia (1915) Volume II > Part 3
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27
History of West Virginia
being the principal varieties shown. The apples come from many counties, including Hancock, Brooke, Wood, Lewis, Berkeley, Jefferson, Preston, Mineral, Pocahontas and Mon- ongalia, each of which has its peculiar merits. Berkeley County, however, heads the list in the matter of successful apple culture, not because of any surpassing excellence of soil. perhaps, but because of longer experience in the business as a business and of the greater acreage. And the story is almost romantic in its interest and unexpectedness.
"Fifty years or more ago W. S. Miller, a farmer of that county, established a nursery for apple trees and acquired a business of considerable extent in furnishing young trees to the farmers throughout that general section. Meantime, prob- ably to show his faith in his own wares, he put out a few trees each year until he had an orchard of thirty-five acres. Along about the middle seventies, when it was in full bearing, a New York buyer heard about it and made Mr. Miller a visit. The result was that he purchased the entire crop, paying for it something like $17,000, which was 'quite some' money for a farmer of that time and place. That was the starting point for commercial orcharding in West Virginia on an extensive scale. Soon Mr. Miller's neighbors began putting out trees, and from that time on there has been a steady growth in the industry.
"The most conspicuous success in the matter of money has been achieved by John Miller, a son of W. S. Miller. He was quite a young man at the time of his father's first big sale ; in fact, he had just about rounded into his majority, but he did what so few very young men are willing to do-went into a business for the first returns from which he had to wait 8 or 10 years. In 1878 he set out 36 acres of trees, and 12 years later he put out 23 acres more. Then in 1897 he increased his acreage by 133 acres, so that now he has 182 acres in trees, ranging from 14 to 33 years of age. Last year he sold 25,000 barrels of apples and this year he will sell 20,000 barrels, this being the 'off' year. Next year he will have at least 30,000 barrels, as the largest part of his trees are just reaching their fun bearing period. It is said that $500,000 is a conservative estimate of his wealth, accumulated principally from 50 acres
28
History of West Virginia
of apples. Others have done as well proportionately with smaller orchards.
"About 10 years ago the first orchard company in Berke ley County was formed. It is known as the Mt. Vernon Orchard Company, and has 7,000 trees eight and nine years old. It is now putting out 100 acres additional, or about 3,600 trees. This is probably the largest of the companies, of which there are now about twenty-five in the county.
"The best of the apple territory in Berkeley County is on what is known as 'Apple Pie Ridge,' a sort of double-backed ridge that runs through the county from north to south, from the Potomac River to Frederick County, Virginia. This ridge took its name from the fact that early in the last century there were many apples raised on it which the owners dried in large quantities and which the people from far and near came to buy for pies.
"The favorite soil for apples is a combination of lime- stone, soapstone and sandstone, though in one part of the county success is being had in a red shale formation.
"On my way here last week I visited the orchard of the J. N. Thatcher Company on 'Apple Pie Ridge,' a few miles out from Martinsburg. This company has 13 acres of trees 15 years old that two years ago produced a crop which brought $0,500 cash, and last year one that sold for $4,500. This year it will probably beat the 1909 mark. This company also has 20 acres of younger trees.
"There are many fortunes yet to be made in apples in these West Virginia counties. Even along the Ohio River old orchards are being bought up, trimmed, cultivated and cared for, only to yield undreamed of returns to those who show their faith by their works. This is notably true of some of the fine old bottom farms in Wood and other counties be- low Wheeling.
"One fine thing about this fruit business is that it is not weaning the farmer away from other crops. Too often the lure of an easy-money crop causes the farmer to turn his at- tention to it exclusively, going to town for his simplest sup- plies, and thus subtracting the potentiality of his acres from the general sum. The West Virginia orchardist is not doing
History of West Virginia
this. When he puts a few acres in fruit trees he realizes the fact that he must work his other acres all the harder during the time his orchard is progressing to its bearing period, and the consequence is that by the time his orchard is ready to bring returns he has his other land in better condition than ever before, finds it yielding more richly because of new methods picked up as he studies orchard culture, and he is in no mood to abandon its cultivation. As a rule the best orchards are found on the best cultivated farms, and the ten- dency is to increase the yield of other products as the orchard yield increases. The money from their orchards will be clear to most of the owners, who have learned to 'live at home' the while their trees were growing. And that is the real basis of good farming-to make the farm support itself, so that the 'money crop' will be clear gain.
"The showing of potatoes, while not so large by far as that of apples, is a most notable one. From Preston County come sample tubers of such size that one would make a full meal for an ordinary family. They are smooth, white and sound as a dollar. Bake one, and when the skin is broken out falls a plateful of snowy substance, rich, dry and delightful. Potatoes equally fine in quality, though not so large, are also shown in Pocahontas County. These things are full of sug- gestion for profitable farming, and there is no reason why thousands of bags of potatoes should not go from West Vir- ginia into the big markets each year. Instead of this thou- sands of bags go into West Virginia each year from other States to supply the local demand. Look at this contrast :
"West Virginia has very little home market for its great coal production, and almost every ton it sends to other mar- kets must pass through some other coal field on its way, yet her people are digging 60,000,000 tons of coal a year.
"West Virginia has hundreds of thousands of acres of soil unsurpassed for the production of potatoes, yet the products of the Michigan and Minnesota fields-far inferior in quality-travel hundreds of miles to reach West Virginia markets. or to pass through her boundaries on their way to markets farther cast.
"Fortunes await those who apply approved methods of
30
History of West Virginia
potato culture to the lands of Preston, Tucker, Randolph, Pocahontas and a full dozen other West Virginia counties.
"The land show is making a number of these things stand out like the famous 'handwriting on the wall."
Mr. Byrne could perhaps with equal truth have included the whole Ohio Valley and all its tributaries as being adapted to potatoes.
In Wetzel County the writer knows from personal obser- vation potatoes do well. He has seen them growing from the very river's edge to the top of the highest hill, and where properly cultivated yielded an abundant harvest. As for sweet potatoes, there is probably no place on earth better adapted to their successful growth than the Ohio River bottoms.
CHAPTER XXX.
MINERALS AND MINERAL PRODUCTS.
OLDEST AMERICAN MINES.
The first recorded account of the discovery of coal in the United States is contained in Hennepen's narrative of his ex- plorations in the West, between 1673 and 1680, when he saw the coal outcrop in the bluffs of the Illinois River, not far from Ottawa and LaSalle.
In New Mexico and Arizona there are silver mines which were operated by the Toltecs and Aztecs years before the Spanish invasion. So there are copper mines in the Lake Superior region in which the tools and mining marks of the ancient miners of prehistoric times were found by the pioneers of the present American mining companies. In 1608 the colo- nists of Virginia shipped a quantity of iron ore from James- town, which yielded seventeen tons of metal-the first pig iron ever made from American ore. In North and South Caro- lina and Georgia there are diggings, now overgrown with for- ests, which are supposed to have been excavated by the fol- lowers of De Sota and his immediate successors between 1539 and 1600.
The oldest mining enterprise of the United States, still active, is generally conceded to be the mine La Motte, in the lead district of Eastern Missouri, which was opened about 1720 under Renault of Law's notorious Mississippi Company. It was named after La Motte. the mineralogist of the expedi- tion, and has been worked at intervals ever since it was opened.
West Virginia University Libraries
32
History of West Virginia
COAL AND COKE.
The coal field of West Virginia embraces about 15,000 square miles, of which about 11,000 is of commercial thickness.
"The shape of the field," says State Geologist White, "is that of a rude canoc, the two prows of which lie in Pennsylva- nia and Alabama, respectively, while the broadest portion of its body is found in West Virginia."
The distance traveled through the field by the following railroads will afford some idea of the coal area in the State: B. & O. Railroad, Piedmont to Benwood. 162 miles
C. & O. Railroad, Hinton to Huntington. 147 miles N. & W. Railroad, Bluestone Junction to Kenova. . 194 miles W. Va. C. and Little Kanawha Railroads, Western-
port to Parkersburg. 245 miles
The actual distance across the coal field from the eastern edge to the Ohio River is about 100 miles. This is known as the Appalachian field, and embraces all or a part of 45 out of the 55 counties in the State.
COAL AND COKE PRODUCTION IN WEST VIRGINIA, 1911.
In 1911, 819 mines, embracing 33 counties, produced 54,033,186 gross tons of coal, the value of which at the mines was $52,954,522.28.
The value of the coal that was loaded onto the railroad cars and shipped from the mines was $46,870,788.30
Owing to the market conditions, there was a heavy fall- ing off in coke production, the net tonnage for 1911 being 2,694,047, as compared with 4,217,381 the preceding year.
Manufacturing coke at the mines in this state is gradually being discontinued, as the various by-product plants through- out the country can manufacture coke, even after shipping the coal from the mines to the by-product plants much cheaper than it can be produced at the mines, in consequence of which the manufacturing of coke at the mines is gradually being dispensed with. The coke manufactured at the West Virginia mines in 1911 was valued at $5,037,867.89.
33
History of West Virginia
The following table shows the number of mines operated and the amount of coal produced in the several counties named, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1911 ; also num- ber of accidents :-
County
Number Mines
Coal Produced, Tons
Fatal Accidents
Non-Fatal Accidents
McDowell
98
11,9-15,763
82
219
Fayette
117
9,019,395
62
152
Kanawha
107
5,753,470
25
58
Marion
30
4,084,822
23
56
Harrison
65
3,974,058
8
50
Raleigh
42
3,335,417
31
69
Logan
26
2,663,155
10
18
Mercer
20
2,533,728
11
66
Mingo
28
2,036,223
17
16
Tucker
16
1,083,881
11
30
Presion
17
888,202
3
10
Barbour
13
868,757
1
11
Randolph
13
712,173
3
6
Taylor
9
634,462
5
11
Mineral
18
615,059
25
4
Brooke
5
608,087
1
1
Putnam
6
529,588
3
8
Marshall
7
509,850
3
3
Monongalia
8
464,319
2
9
Ohio
7
301,811
>
1
Granı
3
221,462
0
5
Mason
5
209,807
1
7
Braxton
3
175,846
2
5
Nicholas
7
98,257
0
2
Clay
7
92,205
0
2
Boone
4
69,305
0
0
Hancock
2
65,207
0
0
Lincoln
3
65,045
0
0
Upshur
3
56,189
0
0
Greenbrier
1
48,819
0
0
Gilmer
1
35,029
0
0
Wayne
1
30,111
0
0
Lewis
1
3,684
0
0
Totals
693
54,033,186
332
819
Note: There are several small mines in the state which do not come under the mining laws. It was estimated that these mines produced, all told, about 300.000 gross tons in 1911. This amount is included in the above of 54,033,168 tons.
34
History of West Virginia
OIL.
The life of an oil well varies with the location and the quantity produced from a good pay streak-a seam or stratum of rock containing oil-in West Virginia, it is figured, will yield about one gallon to the cubic foot of rock, or "sand", as it is called in oil language. Therefore, when the area of a field and the thickness of the oil rock or "sand" is known a tolerably correct estimate may be had of the amount of oil a given area will produce.
It is said the "pay" streak seldom exceeds five feet in thickness. Using these figures as a basis an acre of oil rock will produce about 5,000 barrels of forty-two gallons each. If the rock is dense in structure it will yield less ; if very porous, it will exceed the average.
In the early days of oil production in West Virginia crude oil was sometimes shipped in barrels, the same as refined oil is now shipped to the retail trade.
Where production happened to be close to a railroad, oil was piped to a side track and loaded into large iron tanks built on flat cars for that purpose, similar to those now in use for refined oil.
The largest producing oil wells in West Virginia are found in deep sand-usually from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, the aver- age depth being, perhaps, 2,500 feet.
In shallow sand territory, where the production is usually light, producing wells are usually found at a depth of from 400 to 1.500 feet, depending upon the elevation of the ground where well is located-as, for instance, the "Cow Run" sand between Williamstown and Sistersville, along the Ohio River.
Perhaps the depest producing oil well in the world was drilled two miles from Amos, Monongalia County, the depth being 3,631 feet, and producing twenty barrels of oil a day.
In 1908 a well was drilled near Pittsburgh, Pa., to a depth of 5,575 feet, where the cable broke and the tools were lost beyond recovery. It was a dry well and is supposed to be the deepest hole ever drilled in the country.
The amount of oil produced in West Virginia from 1859 to 1903, inclusive, is estimated to have been 144,601,296 barrels,
35
History of West Virginia
of which 13,603,135 were produced in 1903. We have not been able to procure even approximate figures on amount of oil production in West Virginia since 1903, but it is safe to say the amount of oil produced in 1913 exceeded that of 1903, since a number of new fiells have developed during the last ten years which would probably more than offset the decline in production in the oil fields.
The most important discovery of oil in West Virginia in recent years was at Blue Creek, in Kanawha County. Some large producing wells were also recently drilled in near Shinnston, Harrison County.
Oil, or gas, or both have been found in practically every county in the state west of the Alleghany Mountains.
The assessed valuation of pipe lines in West Virginia for 1912 was $89.530,311.
As strange as it may seem, it is a historical fact that prac- tically all of the modern drilling tools, jars, casing and oil well machinery in present use were invented by David and Joseph Ruffner, more than one hundred years ago, while boring for salt at Buffalo Lick, near Charleston, in the Great Kanawha Valley. They began their operation in 1806, and succeeded in their efforts on January 15th. 1808.
NATURAL GAS.
West Virginia is the banner state in the production of natural gas, and has maintained its lead for the past four years in the quantity produced for consumption.
According to David T. Day of the U. S. Geological Sur- vey, this production could be greatly increased, as many wells are closed for future use.
The total quantity of natural gas produced in West Vir- ginia in 1912 is estimated at 239.088,068.000 cubic feet, valued at $33,349,021.
The quantity of gas piped out of West Virginia in 1912 to supply customers in other states amounted to 120,382,779,- 000 cubic feet, valued at $22,063.637.000. Of the total quantity of gas exported from the state in 1912, about fifty billion cubic feet was piped to Pennsylvania.
36
History of West Virginia
At the present time (1913) Wetzel County probably pro- duces more natural gas than any other county in the state. The Hope Natural Gas Company's pump stations at Hastings, on the West Virginia Short Line, is said to be the largest of its kind in the world.
GLASS SANDS.
The glass sands of West Virginia are noted for their exceptional purity and adaptability to the manufacture of the finest grade of products.
In 1909 the output from its glass sand deposits was the amount of production, it was second in value of output thus bearing out the claims made for its purity.
The report of the West Virginia Geological Survey says : "West Virginia, on account of its natural gas fuel, has become one of the leading glass manufacturing states, and these plants are scattered all through its natural gas districts.
"In the state is found one of the purest limestones in the country, which is especially crushed at Martinsburg to supply this trade. This state also, at a number of places, has almost inexhaustable deposits of pure glass sands."
TIMBER LANDS AND TIMBER PRODUCTS.
There are 15,771,616 acres of land in West Virginia, of which 1,574,295 acres are in virgin forests ; 2,882,030, cut-over forests ; 5,087,013, farmers' wood-lots, and 6,228,278, cleared land.
It is estimated that there is about 150,000,000,000 feet of standing timber. In 1910, 1,069 saw mills cut 1,376,737,000 feet of lumber, board measure. At the above rate of cutting, the entire timber supply will be exhausted in twenty-two years.
Following table gives acreage of forests and cleared lands, as estimated by A. B. Brooks, of the West Virginia Geological Survey, in 1910:
37
History of West Virginia
County
Area (Acres)
Virgin Forests (Acres)
Cut-over Farmers' Forests woodlots l''c't Cleared
(Acres) Cl'r'd Land
Barbour
251,550
1,000
15,000
134,912
40
100,608
Berkeley
164,480
8,000
16,672
85
129,108
Boone
327,680
10,500
200,000
68,028
15 49,152
Braxton
346,240
9,670
24,100
139,350
50 173,120
Brooke
62,080
9,312
85
52,768
Cabell
167,040
66,816
60
100,224
Calhoun
179,328
5,980
1,500
82,184
50
89,664
Clav
222,720
17,500
75,000
96,812
15
33,408
Doddridge
220,160
88,064
60
132,096
Fayette
496,000
53,000
190,000
178,600
15
74,400
Gilmer
234,880
13,200
1,700
102,540
50
117,440
Grant
309,120
57,000
63,400
110,400
25
78,280
Greenbrier
672,640
140,100
105,900
157,584
40
269,056
Hampshire
423,680
12,000
15,000
248,392
35
148,288
Hancock
55,040
8,256
85
46,784
Hardy
380,160
64,500
201,612
30
114,048
Harrison
266,355
53,271
80
213,084
Jackson
300,985
75,246
75
225,739
Jefferson
136,320
27,264
80
109,056
Kanawha
558,080
8,800
81,000
300,856
30
167,424
Lewis
264,960
7,000
52,000
82,120
50
141,120
Logan
316,160
35,000
160,000
89,544
10
31,616
McDowell
430,720
15,000
400,000
2,798
3
13,922
Marion
201,882
30,282
85
171,599
Marshall
201,766
60,530
70
141,230
Mason
287,533
57,507
80
230,026
Mercer
279,680
18,700
5,000
158,092
35
97,888
Mineral
212,480
7,000
130,488
40
84,992
Mingo
271,360
8,200
200,000
36,024
10
27,136
Monongalia
234,573
7,600
11,400
74,829
60
140,744
Monroc
296,960
29,900
14,600
163,372
30
89,088
Morgan
150,400
25,000
50,200
50
75,200
Nicholas
442,240
130,500
112,600
44,356
35
154,784
Ohio
71,040
7,104
90
63,936
Pendleton
452,480
137,900
2,000
222,084
20
90,496
Pleasants
90,880
212,950
138,780
87,566
20
109,824
Preston
429,440
30,000
58,000
169,664
40
171,776
Putnam
227,392
4,500
109,196
50
113,396
Raleigh
359,400
117,600
112,500
74,540
15
53,760
Randolph
695,040
195,570
198,350
196,864
14
104,256
Ritchie
292,480
75
14,310
131,855
50
146,240
Roane
311,168
4,800
88,552
70
217,818
Summers
235,520
3,800
7,800
141,488
35
82,432
Taylor
84,480
56,800
130,400
52,160
15
42,240
Tyler
166,477
1,200
48,743
70
116,534
Upshur
208,640
1,500
17,100
85,720
50
104,320
Wayne
348,800
3,600
80,000
55,920
60
209,280
Webster
377,600
122,000
133,000
65,960
15
56,640
Wetzel
230,701
2,000
12,800
77,480
60
138,420
Wirt
147,776
6,000
38,333
70
103,443
105,984
60
158,976
Lincoln
282,240
27,264
70
63,616
Pocahontas
549,120
33,792
60
50,688
Tucker
281,600
(Acres)
38
History of West Virginia
County
Area
Virgin Forests (Acres)
Cut-over Farmers' Forests woodlots P'c't Cleared
(Acres) Ci'r'd
Land
Wood
228,480
90.392 60 137,088
Wyoming
336,640
44,150
1,000 192,490
40,000 18 60,000
Total
15,771,616
1,574,295
2,882,030
5,087,013
39
6,228,278
In addition to the above, the forests of the state yielded large numbers of railroad cross ties, telephone and telegraph poles, and enormous quantities of pulpwood, tanbark and plas- terers' lath.
Following table shows kind of wood and number of feet of lumber sawed of each in 1910:
Kind of Wood
Feet Board Measure
Oak
420,870,000
Hemlock
265,881,000
Red spruce.
221,146,000
Yellow poplar
151,132,000
Chestnut
117,570,000
Maples
54,809,000
Beech
29,113,000
Basswood
28,936,000
White pine.
21,147,000
Yellow pines
21,513,000
Hickories
13,376,000
Birches
10,932,000
Ash
7,183,000
Black walnut
1,849,000
Red gum
1,815,000
Sycamore
793,000
White and Slippery elms.
546,000
Red cedar.
319,000
Black gum
142,000
Cottonwood
85,000
Frazer fir
34,000
All others
7,546,000
Total cut by 1,069 mills
1,376,737,000 feet
(Acres)
(Acres)
30
History of West Virginia
GENERAL STATISTICS.
County
Barbour
636
360
15,858
9,483
.56
25
15,91
Berkeley
456
306
21,999
5,811
.67
50
12,74
Boone
281
520
10,331
9,235
1.86
37
32.87
Brooke
180
80
11,098
14,830
.44
62
82.40
Braxton
780
620
23,033
5,285
.80
30
6.78
Cabell
300
300
46,685
6,501
1.00
156
21.67
Calhoun
500
260
11,258
12,165
.52
23
24.33
Clay
375
390
10,233
2,665
1.04
27
7.10
Doddridge
600
300
12,672
29,150
.50
21
48.60
Fayette
033
730
51,903
61,828
.78
56
66.27
Gilmer
575
360
11,375
12,236
.63
23
21.30
Grant
311
510
7,838
10,125
1.64
25
32.55
Greenbrier
827
1,000
24,833
30,791
1.21
30
37.23
Hampshire
950
620
11,694
12,114
.65
12
12.75
Hancock
184
100
11,465
7,727
.54
57
42,00
Hardy
500
450
9,163
8,329
.90
18
16.66
Harrison
760
450
48,381
59,534
.60
6-4
78.33
Jefferson
315
250
15,885
16,724
.80
50
53.09
Jackson
1,200
400
20,956
17,715
.33
18
14.76
Kanawha
815
980
81,457
13,900
1.20
100
17.06
Lewis
650
400
18,281
18,698
.61
28
28.76
Logan
200
443
14,476
7,325
2.22
72
36.62
Lincoln
665
430
20,491
13,775
.65
31
20.72
Marion
766
300
42,791
42,813
.40
56
55.89
Marshall
678
240
32,388
31,212
.36
48
46.04
Mason
900
432
23,039
13,427
.50
26
14.92
Mercer
375
400
38,371
7,228
1.07
102
19.28
Mineral
300
300
16,674
10,660
1.00
56
35 53
Mingo
350
407
19,431
2,162
1.17
55
6.18
Monongalia
800
360
24,334
43,933
.45
30
54.91
Monroe
700
460
13,055
10,754
.66
19
15.86
Morgan
300
300
7,848
7,547
1.00
26
25.16
Mc Dowell
300
840
47,856
30,474
2.80
159
101.58
Nicholas
516
720
17,699
10,652
1.40
34
20.64
Ohio
200
120
650
9.349
7,309
1.60
22
17.53
Pleasants
285
150
8,074
22,316
.53
29
78.30
Pocaliontas
500
820
14,740
23,953
1.64
30
47,91
Preston
1,200
650
26,341
12,645
.54
22
10.54
Putnam
525
320
18,587
10,730
.60
36
20,44
Raleigh
600
680
25,633
16,642
1.13
43
27.74
Randolph
1,000
1,080
26,028
12,117
1.08
26
12.12
Ritchie
783
400
17,875
35,792
.51
23
45.71
Roane
700
350
21,543
1-4,626
50
31
20,89
Summers
485
400
18,420
7,060
.83
38
14.55
Miles of Public
Roads.
Arca in Square
Miles.
Populations,
C'ensus 1910.
District Road &
Bridge Funds.
Avg. Arca Sq.
Mi. Per Mi. of
Road.
Avg. No. Inhal-
itants Per. Mi.
Road.
Avg. Amount
Money Per
Mile Road.
57,572
60
288
Pendleton
417
40
History of West Virginia
GENERAL STATISTICS.
County.
Miles of Public
Roads.
Area in Square
Miles.
Populations,
Census 1910.
District Road &
Bridge Funds.
Avg. Area Sq.
Mi. Per Mi. of
Avg. No. Inhal-
itants Per. Mi.
Avg. Amount
Money Per
Mile Road.
Taylor
363
150
16,554
6,216
.41
46
17.12
Tucker
915
340
18,675
8,732
.37
20
9.54
Tyler
510
300
16,211
15,650
.60
36
30.69
Upshur
800
350
16,629
9,419
.43
21
11,77
Wayne
800
440
24,081
30,200
.55
30
37.75
Webster
338
450
9,680
5,228
1,33
29
15.47
Wetzel
656
440
23,855
65,241
.67
36
99.45
Wirt
413
290
9,047
3,376
.70
22
8.18
Wood
1,140
375
38,001
21,373
.33
33
18,75
Wyoming
500
660
10,392
10,806
1.32
21
21.61
Totals.
32,108
24,433
1,221,141
936,239
County average. . .
584
444
22,203
17,022
.76
38
29.16
*Ohio County laid no district road levy.
Road.
Road.
CHAPTER XXXI.
WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOLS.
The educational progress of Virginia began with the es- tablishment of a college "for the education of Indians" at Henrico, on James River, in 1619. "The King of England." says Holmes' AAnnals of America, "having formerly issued his letters patent to the several bishops of the Kingdom for col- lecting money to erect a college in Virginia for the education of Indian children, nearly £1,500 had been already paid to- ward this benevolent and pious design, and Henrico had been selected as a suitable place for the seminary. The Virginia Company, on the recommendation of Sir Edwin Sandys, its treasurer, now granted 10,000 acres of land, to be laid off for the University of IIenrico. This donation, while it embraced the original object, was intended also for the foundation of a seminary of learning for the English.
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