History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870

Front matter

atljara, SJew fnrt

SOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE

SAGE ENDOWMENT -.FUND

Introduction

The writer is a native born son of Southwest Virginia, and has always felt a great pride in his country, and since reaching maturity has been interested in the history of this section.

In the schools but little has been taught in regard to the history of this portion of Virginia, as but a small part of its history has been preserved. Our historians have been citizens of Eastern Virginia or of other States; and while our people have been making history from the earliest settlement, scarcely any efEort has been made to preserve it, and as a result other parts of our co'untry whose history has been preserved have in many instances received credit that properly belongs to the people of this section of Virginia, and being impressed with this fact, and prompted by a desire to preserve the past history of our people, he determined, a few years since, to collect the history of Southwest Virginia, in so far as it was possible, and to rescue the same fro^m oblivion, and in doing this work he has given such time only as he could spare from his professional duties.

If an apology is needed for his effort in thus attempting to preserve this history it will bo found in the remark of -Lord Macaulay, wherein he justly observed : "A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants."

There can be no question that this section of Virginia has been robbed of much of the honor due her for the early settlement of the vast extent of country to the west and south thereof, and that the noble deeds of Her sons have been ascribed to others ; and a knowledge of this fact has rendered necessary the preservation of the deeds of the worthy citizens that this section has produced, not only to gratify the pride of our citizens, but to remind them of the obligations they are under, and to supply them with examples of patriotism which they may seek to emulate.

The writer feels his inability to properly perform this task, but hopes that the gleanings he has gathered may suffice in some more skillful hands tQ ¥e8.ve for the founders and builders of our country

8 Introductory.

an enduring garland of glory, and he asks a kind indulgence of the reader for such errors, omissions, and imperfections as may be found in this work.

In the words of Judge Haywood: "Let no one censure his motives, foT they are pure. There will indeed be much room to blame the defective performance of the author, but this he will hear with the greatest pleasure if the person dissatisfied will, for the benefit of his country, either produce a more perfect work or contribute to the merits of this."

In the preparation of this work he has obtained information from various persons and places, but in nearly every instance has required documentary evidence for all statements ]nade, and has given references where the statement is liable to be questioned, and in quoting original papers has done so without changing the same in any particular.

In the course of the preparation of this work he has received assistance from a number of persons, for which he feels deeply grateful. He desires to mention in this connection the following persons : Miss Lucy Landrum, his stenographer, who has faithfully labored in preparing his manuscript for the printer; W. G. Stanard, secretary of the Virginia Historical Society; the secretary of the New York Historical Society, Hon. J. L. Bristow; Fourth Assistant Postmaster-General, C. A. Dimnington; Congressional Library, Washington, D. C. ; Thomas E. Nimmo, State Library, Eichmon, Va.; Mrs. Margaret C. Pilcher, Nashville, Tenn.; Prof. T. D. Davidson and many others. L. P. Summers

June 13, 1903. Abingdon, Va.

History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870.

Chapter I

1001-1716. The history of Virginia, from the earliest times until the date of the formation of Washington county by the General Assembly of Virginia, is interesting and instructive, and is necessary to a thorough comprehension of thai part of our history subsequent thereto.

In the year 1001, the American- Continent was discovered by Leif Erickson, a Northm'an, who sailed west from Greenland, and landed on the coast of America in 411/4 north latitude. He named the land of his discovery Vineland. This discovery was made in the spring of the year, and the luxuriant growth of vegetation that adorned the land suggested the name — Vineland.

This continent was visited by the Northmen at intervals from the time of the discovery of Erickson until as late as 1347. The visits of the N"orthmen to America have often been questioned, and were generally doubted, until discoveries made in recent times.

An examination of the records and documents to be found in the archives of the Antiquarian Society of Copenhagen put to rest this question.

So eminent an authority as Humboldt, after an examination of the record, says : "The discovery of the northern part of America by the Northmen cannot be disputed."

No practical benefit resulted from the adventures of the Northm'en, and in view of the fact that those people ceased to visit the newly discovered country after 1347, and actually forgot the explorations of their people, they are to be given but little credit for their early discoveries.

From the time of the last visit of the Northmen, in 1347, until the year 1493, the continent of America was unknovm to the inhabitants of the rest of the world ; they had never before heard of such a land; the curtain, of oblivion shut out from the vision of mankind the garden spot of God^s creation.

1492. In the year 1492, Christopher Columbus, a native of G-enoa, Italy, bearing the flag of Spain, after surmounting innumerable difficulties, sailed west in search of a new land and discovered what afterwards proved to be San Salvador, one of the Bahama Islands. He took possession of the newly discovered land in the name of the King and Queen of Spain.

Columbus did not visit the mainland of the American Continent until many years thereafter. Nothing could be more pleasant than to study the life and daring adventures of Columbus and other Spanish, Portuguese, and French explorers, but their efforts are in no way associated with the history of the country that we purpose to deal with in this book ; this pleasure, therefore, must be deferred to another time.

Columbus ! His nam© should be ever revered', and his fame is as imperishable as the continent that he gave by discovery to the world.

1497. John Cabot, in the year 1497, sailing the flag of England, commissioned so to do by Henry VII, discovered ISTewfoundland and Labrador, and declared that he had found a new world.

1498. The following year John and Sebastian Cabot, under a new commission from the King of England, fitted out an expedition under the charge of Sebastian Cabot, and, sailing in a northwardly course, sought a route to the East India Islands, but the inclemency of the weather and the insurpassable barrier of ice forced the abandonment of the original purpose of the expedition. The course of the voyage was consequently changed, and, as a result, Virginia was discovered in the year 1498.

John and Sebastian Cabot were the first to discover the Eastern coast of America, and England laid claim to all the vast territory between the 34th and 68th parallels of north latitude from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, basing her claim on this discovery.

1539. De Soto, by a commission from the King of Spain, in the years 1539 and 1540, extended his discoveries from the north of Florida inland to the head waters of the present Holston and Clinch rivers and thence to the Mississippi river.

1584. Eighty-five years intervened between the time of the discoveries of John and Sebastian Cabot and the first permanent settlement made in all the vast territory claimed by England by reason of their discoveries, and the honor attending this event justly belongs to Sir "Walter Ealeigb, a young nobleman, a participant in the French Protestant wars, who in 1493 applied to Queen Elizabeth for assistance in fitting out an expedition for the purpose of plaating a Colony in America. In answer to his application the Queen gave him a commission creating him Lord of all tha{; portion of the American continent claimed by England.

The first expedition sent out by Ealeigh was composed of two ships, and their object was to make discoveries. This expedition sailed in April, 1584, and^ on the 13th day of July of the same year, entered Ocracoke inlet within the present limits of ISTorth Carolina. Here they remained until September, 1584, at which time they sailed for England, and upon their arrival Elizabeth gave the country the name of Virginia. Immediately upon their return seven ships carrying one hundred and eighty men set sail for the New World and landed at Eoanoke Island in the year 1585.

This company, charmed with the prospects, decided to settle on the island. Many of the company, not being accustomed to labor and not being inclined to work, were greatly disappointed in their hopes, became disheartened and, at the first opportunity, returned to England.

Sir Eichard Grenville left fifteen men on the island to guard the rights of England.

Sir EaJph Lane, one of the returning colonists, introduced the use of tobacco into England, he and the other colonists having learned from the Indians to smoke it.

1587. In 1587 Ealeigh sent out another expedition to settle Eoanoke Island. This expedition was composed of women and children as well as men.

Upon reaching their destination in safety they found the tenements and fort in ruins and the beasts of the forest feeding on the vegetation where the former settlements had been located. They found, also, scattered about the former settlement, the bones of the fifteen men left by Sir Eichard Grenville.

This Colony was in charge of John White. Soon after the landing, on August 18th, 1587, a child was bom to Annias and Virginia Dare, to whom, was given the name of ''Virginia Dare." This was the first white child born of English parents in America. Soon after the birth of Virginia Dare, John White returned to England for supplies for the Colony, leaving behind him eighty-nine men, seventeen women and eleven children. He was delayed on his return voyage and when he arrived at Eoanoke Island after an absence of three years no trace of the Colony could be found except the word Croatan carved on a tree.

It is said, but not verified, that some of this Colony found shelter among the Indians on the coast of N"orth Carolina.

This story of the first settlement in this part of America remains one of the saddest tragedies in our history.

1606. One hundred and fourteen years had passed since the discovery of America by Columbus, when King Jamies the First of England granted to a company* of wealthy merchants a patent of that part of America lying between the 34th and 45th degrees north latitude anct all islands within one hundred miles of the coast. This grant was divided between the London and Plymouth companies.

The London Company sent out an expedition composed of one hundred and five colonists under the command of Captain Christopher Newport, an experienced seaman. Although this expedition sailed in 1606, it did not reach the mouth of Chesapeake bay until May 15, 1607.

f James river and Capes Henry and Charles were discovered and named for the king of England and his sons. The colonists continued the voyage up the James river about fifty miles, when they landed and began the erection of houses and the mjaking of all necessary arrangements for a permanent settlement. Thus was founded Jamestown, and thus occurred, according to a noted historian, "The most important event in profane history," and thus the foundation stones of the greatest commonwealth and republic the world has ever known were laid by men whose posterity were destined to kindle a spirit of political and religious liberty such as can be extinguished only with the Anglo-Saxon race.

This settlement at Jamestown may be regarded as the starting point of all Virginia histories.

The first Colony in Virginia began under circumstances having

*Stitli — Henning's Statutes at Large, page 60. I Indian name "Powhatan River."

a tendency to discourage the thoughtful, and reasonably so, because of the fact that of the one hundred andi five colonists only twelve were laborers, the remaining nimety-sevea being thriftless and dissolute.

All power was vested in a body of councillors composed of Bartholomew Gosnold, John Smith, Edward Winfield, Christopher Newport, John Eatcliffe, John Martin and George Kendall. Edward Winfield was chosen the first Governor of the Colony of Virginia, and thus began civil government in America.

Shortly after the settlement Captains Newport and Smith decided to explore the country, traveled up the James river as far as the falls and visited Powhatan, the king of the Indians, whose capital was near the present site of the city of Kichmond.

After a short stay at the Indian village, Newport and Smith returned to Jamestown. Newport soon left for England, and immediately thereafter trouble arose among the colonists. Winfield was succeeded by Eatcliffe, and Eatcliffe by Captain Smith, who, by his excellent management of the Colony, won the title of the "Father of Virginia."

Late in the autumn Captain Newport returned from England, bringing about seventy new colonists, two of the number being women (Mrs. Forrest and Annie Bergess), and a considerable quantity of supplies.

Among the new colonists were several gold refiners, who, discovering earth near Jam'estown having a resemblance to gold, pronounced the s'ame gold of the best quality, and^ thereupon, the entire Colony forsook all commendable enterprises and wasted their time and energies in loading one of Newport's vessels with this earth, which proved, upon its arrival in England, to be worthless.

Another ship returning to England would have been loaded with a similar cargo, but Captain Smith objected, and it was loaded with cedar wood. This was the first valuable cargo exported from this part of America to England.

The Colony, having thus wasted their energies and consumed their supplies, would, no doubt, have perished during the winter that followed, had not Captain John Smith exercised the energies of his resourceful mind in feeding and protecting them. The best friend Captain Smith found in this fw World was Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, the chief of the Indians. The colonists charged that Sinith intended to marry Pocahontas and make himself king of Virginia.

1608. In the year 1608 Captain Smith, in a small open barge, explored the Chesapeake bay and its tributaries.

1609. In the month of May, 1609, a new and very beneficial charter was granted the London Company, and the Colony began to prosper.

The new charter conferred on the company the powers of the king, the local authority of the Governor was greatly increased and Lord Delaware was made Governor for life.

Captain Smith, in this year, divided the Colony and sent a part thereof to make a settlement at the falls of the James river, near Eichmond, and another part thereof to Kansemond. In this year Captain Smith was forced to return to England in consequence of serious injuries received from the explosion of his powder flask. At the time of his departure the Colony numbered four hundred and fifty persons, all abundantly supplied.

Thus terminated the career in America of the man who faithfully earned the title of the "Father of Virginia."

The Colony thereafter, for a time, was without a competent ruler, and such was the profligacy and viciousness of the ruler they had, and the people, that in a short time the condition of the Colony was changed from prosperity to abject want, and by the spring of 1610 there remained but sixty persons in the Colony, and these were on the verge of starvation. ^

At this time Gates and Somers arrived from the West Indies, and all the Colony, crowding aboard their ships, had actually sailed for Newfoundland, but they were not out of the James river when they were met by Lord Delaware, with three ships, many new settlers and a large quantity of provisions, in fact everything requisite to relieve the situation. Lord Delaware prevailed upon the colonists to return to Jamestown, where under his splendid management the Colony prospered again.

Unfortunately, in the year 1611 Lord Delaware was forced by bad health to return to England, and the government was placed in the hands of Sir George Percy, a man wanting in authority. In a short time the Colony was again reduced to abject want. Percy was succeeded by Sir Thomas Dale, a man of practical ideas, and again the Colony prospered. He was a soldier by profession, and his authority, exercised rightly, met the demands of the hour. During his administration the Colony was augmented by the arrival of three hundred emigrants from England.

From the founding of the Colony at Jamestown in 1607 until the latter part of the administration of Sir Thomas Dale all property had been held ia common, but he directed a division of property among the colonists, and from this time we may certainly trace an improvement in the conditions of the people.

Every man thereafter was dependent upon his individual exertions for his livelihood. Laziness was punished by flogging and irons. Mutineers and deserters were punished with death. The lands of the 'colonists were divided and allotted to the members of the Colony, and then, for the first time, the right of property in lands was recognized in America.. Several new settlements were made during this time on both sides of the James river.

The administration of the affairs of the Colony was entrusted successively to Sir Thomas Gates, George Yeardly and Captain Argall, and to George Yeardly again in 1619.

The administration of George Yeardly marks an epoch in the history of mankind.

Beyond question his inspiration was human liberty and representative govenment. He believed the colonists should have a hand in the government of themselves. He called a legislative assembly to meet at Jamestown on July 30th, 1619, to be composed of two representatives from each of the eleven boroughs into which the Colony was divided, and this assembly was called the House of Burgesses.

Thus was planted the germ from which sprang representative government in America, and thus to Virginia may be credited the honor of being the first State in the world* "composed of separate boroughs diffused over an extensive surface in which the government was organized on the principle of universal suffrage." All freemen, without exception, were entitled to vote. In the following year, 1620, a Dutch ship landed at Jamestown and sold to the planters about twenty Africans to be held as slaves, and thus began slavery in America.

On the 24th day of July, 1621, the London Company gave to the Virginia colonists a written Constitution, graating all the rights

*Bancroft.

and liberties theretofore granted by George Yeardly, and, about the same time, a shipload of English maidens, about one hundred in all, arrived at Jamestown. There was great rejoicing, and general prosperity prevailed; the colonists were no longer numbered by hundreds, but by thousands.

1622. Sir Francis Wyatt became Governor in the year 1633, and this year witnessed, on March 33d, the massacre of three hundred and forty-seven men, women and children by the Indians, but the Colony continued to grow and prosper.

The London Company was dissolved by the King in the year 1635, and from this time the crown of England dictated the policy of the Colony.

Events passed rapidly in Virginia for the next twenty years. One governor after another came and went, but none of them was of sufficient importance to be mentioned.

1634. In the year 1634 the territory of Virginia was divided into eight shires or counties similar to those in England. For each shire lieutenants were appointed to look after the military affairs, and sheriffs and justices of the peace were commissioned to hold courts in each of the counties, or shires. Thus was constituted and thus began the county court system that continued with but little change until 1870.

1646. The Virginia Colony in the struggle between Charles I of England and his Parliament sympathized with the King and did not hesitate, upon the death of Charles I, to recognize his son, Charles II, as king.

Cromwell sent a force to subdue the Colony in 1650, but the attempt was futile and the Virginians submitted only upon condition that they be permitted to retain their government and the rights and privileges previously bestowed by the Idngs of England ; which was readily agreed to. Eichard Bennett was elected Governor, but was shortly thereafter succeeded by Edward Diggs. The next Governor of Virginia was Samuel Mathews, a Virginia planter of forty years' standing.

1660. Upon the restoration of Charles II in 1660, Sir William Berkley again became the Governor of Virginia.

1666. The next event of importance in the history of Virginia arose in the Colony from the dissatisfaction aroused by the acts of the British Parliament ajid the conduct of Sir William Berkley. A large portion of the people of Virginia, under the leadership of N'atha,niel Bacon, rebelled^ and drove Sir William Berkley from Jamestown and forced) the commissioning of Bacon as a general. These troubles ceased with the death of Bacon. This is known as Bacon's rebellion, and it partook of the spirit that prompted Patrick Henry and the people of Virginia, a hundred years later, to aspire to liberty and independence.

For a period of nearly fifty years but little of interest occurred in the history of Virginia save the succession of governors.

1698. The seat of government was removed from- Jamestown to Williamsburg in 1698. The reason assigned for the removal was that Williamsburg was healthier, and the situation more convenient.

1710. Alexander Spotswood became the Governor of Virginia in 1710, and with prudence governed the Colony for twelve years. He faithfully guarded the interests of the people of Virginia and, dTiring his administration, inaugurated many new enterprises for their good.

He was the first Postmaster-General for the Colonies and established many postofiices. Under his administration the mails were regularly carried from Williamsburg to Philadelphia. The one undertaking of this accomplished gentleman and ofiicer that is especially interesting to the people of Western Virginia is the expedition undertaken by him, when, on the 1st day of August, 1716, he set out from Chelsea upon the famous expedition to the Blue Eidge mountains.

The Virginia Colony of one hundred and five souls'in 1607 had grown to nearly one hundred thousand. Twenty-four counties are to be found in the Colony, and the hardy pioneer was fast pushing his way to the base of the Blue Eidge mountains, but of the country beyond the Blue Eidge mountains nothing was known except the indefinite accounts of Indian traders.

Governor Spotswood determined to explore this unknown region and, leaving the home of his son-in-law at Chelsea, in August, 1716, accompanied by a gay and gallant band, he began his journey through a dense wilderness inhabited by beasts of prey and the cruel savage, and after thirty-six days of ince^ant toil and fatigue, the Governor and his party, on September 5, 1716, reached the summit of one of the highest peaks of the Blue Eidge mountains, at Swift Eun Gap, Augusta county, Virginia.

Southwest Virginiaj 17Jf6-1786.

What^a spot ! What an occasion ! What must have been the feelings experienced by these gallant knights, when for the first time the beantif-ul Shenandoah was presented to their vision! The inspiration of the occasion must have been full compensation for all the toil and perseverance expended in the effort. Governor Spotswood, in commemoration of this expedition into the heart of the savage wilderness, presented each of the company with a small golden horse-shoe set with jewels, and this was the origin of the order, "Knights of the Golden Horse-Shoe."

The inscription upon the golden horse-shoe was "Sic jurat transcendere montes." (Thus he swears to cross the mountains), and it is stated that these mementoes were given to all who would accept them, promising to comply with the terms of the inscription.

Spotswood Crossing the Blue Ridge.

Governor Spotswood and his company descended the western side of the mountain into the valley, and, finding a ford, they crossed the Shenandoah river and "took possession of the country for King George the First of England." They crossed the Shenandoah river on September 6th and called it the Euphrates.

Thus the first passage of the Blue Eidge into the Yalley of Virgiuia was made by Governor Spotswood at this time, but as early as 1710, a company of adventurers found and went to the top of the highest mountain with their horses, but did not pass over it into the valley, by reason of the lateness of the season. Abraham Wood had visited the New Eiver section in the year 1654.

1738. In the year 1738 the House of Burgesses of Virginia passed a bill for the formation of two countj-ies west of the Blue

Eidge mountams, and accordingly Orange county was divided and that part of Orange county west of the Blue Eidge mountains was formied into two counties, called Frederick and Augusta counties. Thus was opened to settlement a magnificent country of which Washington county is a part, and as the history of Washington coxmty is inseparably connected with the early history of Augusta county, I will here take leave of the general history of Virginia.

CHAPTEE II

Indians Living in Close Proximity to Southwest Virginia.

The discovery of America by Columbus in 1492 can be attributed to the pious zeal of the Queen of Spain to extend the benefits of the religion of Eome to all manliind, and to the search for gold. It is a matter of history that the Queen of Spain, to enable Colum-bus to explore the western seas, sacrificed many of the jewels pertaining to her queenly estate.

And the Queen of Spain was but one of many emissaries of the church, who, in their zeal, were ready to brave the unknown seas and to make any sacrifices to serve their master. With Columbus came a number of priests, and with every ship that sailed from the coast of Spain, France, Portugal and Italy, the missionaries of the cross were to be numbered among the passengers, bound for America, determined to explore the New World, hunt out the inhabitants thereof, and convert them' to their master. Thus, within a few years after the discovery of America, priests were to be found in almost every part of the New World, exploring the country and teaching the Indians their blessed religion. The priesthood of Eome in those early days were educated, energetic, observing men, as they have ever been, and it is to this source that we must look for the earliest history of our country and of the Indian inhabitants for many years previous to the coming of the Anglo-Saxon race.

These early visitors to this portion of America preserved a history of their times, and it is to be fo'und in the archives of the governments of France, Spain and Portugal, and of the Church of Eome. This investigation will not permit any inquiry extending beyond the limits of that portion of Southwest Virginia included within the bounds of Washington county.

In the year 1539 Hernando De Soto landed at Tampa, Florida, with orders from the Court of Spain to form a settlement on the seashore and to explore Florida to its westernmost limits.

The Spanish government at that time contended that Florida included all that part of America extending from the Gulf of Mexico on the south to Virginia on the north, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.

Pursuant to Ms authority De Soto, at the head of a thousand men, exploring the country, traveled in a northerly direction to the home of the Appalaches, a tribe of Indians living on the banks of a river in Georgia called by the Indians Witchlacooche; thence, continuing in a northerly direction, they passed near the present site of Columbia, S. C, where they struck the Santee river, thenoe passijig up the Saluda branch of the Santee, they came, for the first time, to a country uninhabited, and found it difficult to obtain food sufficient to sustain themselves, but sending out companies of men to search for Indians, after some time a party of men returned to camp accompanied by a few Indians, who, being questioned, informed De Soto that to the north of them' there lived a powerful tribe of Indians on the Hogoheegee river (Tennessee river), to which place they traveled. This tribe of Indians was called, at that time, Caiitachique and was governed by a queen.

The historian of this expedition, Louis Hernandez De Biedma, says : "We remained ten or twelve days in the Queen's village, and then set ofE to continue our explorations of the country."

De Soto marched thence ten days in a northerly direction through a mountainous country where but little food was to be found until he reached a province called Xuala, which was thinly settled. He then ascended to the soxirce of the Great river,* which he supposed was the St. Esprit. This information was furnished by De Biedma to the King and council of the West Indies in 1544 and is now in existence and fully authenticated.

To any one who will take the time and trouble to investigate this matter it will be evident that De Soto and his followers explored the country from Florida to the Queen's village, which must have been on the Tennessee river near the present site of Knoxville, Tennessee. Thence ascending the same to its sources they were, as early as 1540, beyond question, visitors to the territory now included within the boundaries of Washington county.