A history of Virginia for boys and girls

Front matter

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FOR

BOYS &> GIRLS

Preface

In this book, which is offered to our schools, the author has had three aims : First, to be accurate in the truth of history ; second, to be intelHgible and interesting to young readers ; third, to be helpful to teachers.

Accordingly, an effort has been put forth to make the narrative concrete by presenting facts in connection with persons, places, and incidents. Geography, civics, and literature, in easy phases, are frequentl}^ woven in. Human and social values have been kept in mind from beginning to end.

The author's sincere thanks are hereby tendered to all his friends, old pupils and others, who have generously aided him in the preparation of this book. Some have gathered facts, some have supplied photographs, some have spoken the needed word of encouragement. All have helped : to all he is grateful.

Part I Virginia As A Colony Of England ■hapter

I. Virginia and Virginia Dare

II. A Day in May .

III. John Smith: His Friends and His Foes

IV. Pocahontas and Her People V. A Red-Letter Year : 1619

VI. In the Tobacco Fields

VII. The Kings' Governors

VIII. "The Old Dominion"

IX. Bacon's Rebellion

X. The College of William and Mary

XI. The Knights of the Horseshoe

XII. William Byrd and Peter Jones

XIII. Washington as a Surveyor

XIV. Washington as a Soldier XV. Life on the Plantations

XVI. Life in the Mountains

Part II Virginia And The Revolution

XVII. Patrick Henry and the Parsons XVIII. Andrew Lewis and Lord Dunmore XIX. Washington a Soldier Again .

PAGE

I II

37 46

55 63 70

79 87 94

lOI

109 116 124

137 143

Vlll

CONTENTS

XX. Jefferson and His Pen .... 149

XXI. "The Hannibal of the West" . . .156

XXn. Campbell and King's Mountain . . . 161

XXni. Washington and Lafayette .... 167

Part III Virginia And The Stronger Union

XXIV. "The Mother of States" . . . . 174 XXV. Washington and Madison in Independence

Hall 181

XXVI. Four Virginia Presidents .... 188

XXVII. John Marshall, the Great Chief Justice 199

Part IV The Period Of Growth And Great Differences

XXVIII. The Gateways in the Mountains

XXIX. RUMSEY AND McCoRMICK

XXX. "The Mill Boy of the Slashes"

XXXI. The University of Virginia

XXXII. Turnpikes and Stage Coaches

XXXIII. Ante-Bellum Days

Part V Virginia And The Civil War

XXXIV. John Brown's Raid . . . . XXXV. Lee's Defense of Richmond

XXXVI. Jackson in the Valley . . . . XXXVII. Second Manassas and Fredericksburg

205 216 223 231

239 246

259 266

275 283

CONTENTS

IX

CHAPTER

XXXVIII.

XXXIX.

XL.

XLI.

XLII.

XLIII.

XLIV.

XLV.

XLVI.

XLVII.

XLVIII.

XLIX.

Chancellorsville and Gettysburg Winchester and Cedar Creek Saltville and Wytheville The Final Fight for Richmond .

Part VI Progress And Promise

Lee at Lexington .

Virginia Authors .

Farms and Orchards

Cities and Factories

Four More Virginia Presidents

Virginia and the World War

PAGE

1 12

334 343 349 357 363 369

A HISTORY OF VIRGINIA FOR BOYS AND GIRLS

Chapter I Virginia And Virginia Dare

Virginia is like a wonderful book, full of pictures, full of stories. And, from first to last, the pictures change. At first we see only woods and waters, flocks of wild fowls swimming in the rivers or flying in the air, with here and there a path through the forest leading to the dens of animals or to the wigwams of Indians. And the pictures are all of hunting and fishing, of the rowing of canoes or the sailing of ships ; of red or brown people almost as wild as the birds and animals ; and of fierce battles between the wild people and the white strangers who came over the seas in ships.

Then the pictures change, one after the other, and the stories too, as the years come and go ; and after a long, long time we see Virginia as we know it to-day — our Virginia, filled with farms and orchards, towns and cities ; with homes and schools and churches ; with roads wide and smooth, with railroads straight and long ; and with telephone and telegraph wires carrying our messages from house to house and from city to city.

But the roads and railroads of to-day often lie upon the very paths that the Indians and the

THE BUFFALOES WERE GOOD PATHFINDERS

buffaloes used to follow through the woods and across the hills. The rivers and bays that now carry our ships of steel are the same that long ago were dotted here and there with flocks of fowl and frail canoes. Where many of our towns and cities rise there once stood Indian villages. Our homes are often on a camping ground or a battle field. And the stories that go along with the changes that have taken place we call history.

VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA DARE

Our first story, "Virginia and Virginia Dare," will tell us how this part of the New World came to be called Virginia and why the first English child born here was also called Virginia.

Ever since the early days when John and Sebastian Cabot, two brave captains from England, came over to the New World, the kings and queens of England had claimed this country. Therefore, whenever any one came over here from England he was expected to tell the king or the queen all about it.

In the year 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh, a fine English gentleman, a friend and favorite of Queen Elizabeth, sent over some men to find a good place to make a settlement. They looked at many places along the strange shores, but they seemed to like best an island that they found on the coast of what is now North Carolina. There the natives were friendly, game was abundant, and the forests of cedar and pine were rich and green. Back to

SIR wa; tkr

FRIEND OF THE

QUEEN

England the explorers sailed and made report to Raleigh. He carried the report to Queen Elizabeth. She was so much pleased with the new countr3^ as it was described to her, that she called it Virginia.

In giving the new land this name the queen no doubt intended to honor it and also herself. Being unmarried, she was called the Virgin Queen. Virginia, as she thought of it, was the land of the Virgin Queen. Virginia it has ever since been called.

Of course, nobody at that time knew just how large this country was, and nobody could have told just where Virginia began or where it ended. But it was very large. It included not only what is now Virginia and North Carolina, but also most of the country between Florida on the south and Canada on the north.

The island that pleased Raleigh's men so much was called Roanoke Island. It still bears that name. It is about twelve miles long and three or four miles wide. If you will examine a good map of the North Carolina coast you will see that the island lies behind a long, narrow wall of sandy beach, between Pamlico Sound on the south and Albemarle Sound on the north. Albemarle Sound is really the wide mouth of Roanoke River, which pours its waters down from the far-away mountains, through Virginia and North Carolina.

VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA DARE

To Roanoke Island Sir Walter Raleigh sent a colony. When it failed he sent another. All this took time — three or four years, though it does not take long to tell about it.

InRaleigh's second colony was the Dare family. Dare was a good name for people going into a strange, \\'ild country, was it not.? Mr. Dare's given name was Ananias ; his wife's name was Eleanor. Soon after they reached Roanoke Island a little daughter was born to them. They called her Virginia.

They probably gave her this name in honor of the Queen and because they had come to make their home in this new land which was called Virginia.

Virginia Dare was a good name. It seemed to have a note of prophecy in it. It seemed

A MAP OF THE VIRGINIA-CAROLINA COAST to tell of a spirit that was to make Virginia great.

The little girl, Virginia Dare, was, so far as we know, the first child born of English parents in America. We cannot help wishing that we knew her whole story. What became of her is one of the sad mysteries of those early days.

Virginia Dare's grandfather, John White, had been appointed by Raleigh as governor of the Roanoke colony. When Virginia was only ten days old Governor White got on a ship and started back to England. He had to go back for more food and other supplies. He expected to return to Roanoke Island soon ; but in those days, when ships had to depend on the winds, it often took six months or longer to make a trip across the Atlantic and back.

Governor White did not get back to Roanoke Island for nearly four years. A war in Europe between England and Spain had delayed him more than the uncertain winds. When he returned to the island no Virginia Dare could he find. Indeed, he could find none of the colonists he had left there. All were gone. Grass was growing in the fort. Houses were empty. Some books and pictures, torn and soiled, were scattered here and there. The only thing he could see that he thought might guide him to his lost friends and little Virginia Dare was a strange word cut

VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA DARE into the bark of a large tree. This word was " Croatan."

Croatan was the name of another island that lay forty or fifty miles south of Roanoke Island.

"no VIRGINIA DARE COULD HE FIND"

Governor White tried to reach Croatan, but the ship fell into a storm on the way and was delayed.

After several days the captain of the ship lost courage or quarreled with Governor White and turned the ship toward England. At any rate, the sadhearted governor never found his granddaughter or his lost colony.

When Governor W^hite reached England and told his sad story, Sir Walter Raleigh sent out other ships to search the Virginia shores, but all in vain. The lost colony of Roanoke was never found. Virginia Dare may have starved to death. She may have been murdered by the Indians ; or she may have grown up and lived long among the savages -of some dusky tribe. Nobody knows.

But the state of North Carolina has honored the memory of the Dares. As the state is laid out to-day, Roanoke Island forms a part of Dare County ; and every year the people who live on the island keep a holiday in honor of Virginia Dare. They come together near the place where she was born and tell her story to the little girls and boys who live tjiere now. And the name of the belt of water that separates Roanoke Island from the mainland is called Croatan Sound. Nobody could live long in that part of the country without hearing of Virginia Dare.

Sir Walter Raleigh spent 'large sums of money and worked hard for many years trying to found a colony in Virginia, but he failed. His failure to do what he had set his heart upon doubtless hurt him

VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA DARE 9

more than the loss of his wealth ; and the tragic end of the brave men and women who had trusted him and had faced the seas and the wilderness under his direction must have saddened him most of all ; yet his men who got back to England took with them some gifts that have enriched England and many other parts of the world. From the wild shores of Virginia they carried back the white potato (now often called the Irish potato), tobacco, Indian corn, and the turkey ! They also carried back much knowledge that proved of value to those who came to the New World later.

1. The English claim to North America rested upon the Cabots' discoveries.

2. Queen Elizabeth called the new land Virginia in honor of herself.

3. Virginia Dare was born on Roanoke Island, where Sir Walter Raleigh's men were trying to plant a colony.

4. Virginia Dare was the first child of English parents born in America.

5. It was through Raleigh's men that the potato, Indian corn, tobacco, and the turkey became known to Europe.

Allen : North Carolina History Stories ; Book I, pages

29-37-

Guerber : Story of the Thirteen Colonies; pages 83-86.

Sydenstricker and Burger: School History of Virginia; pages 5-10.

Suggestions. — For a little instructive entertainment it might be well to have one of the older girls impersonate Queen Elizabeth, one of the smaller ones Virginia Dare. One boy could be Raleigh, another John White. Let each tell his own story.

Four more children could present to the Queen the four great gifts. One could carry a basket of potatoes, one several ears of corn, one a stalk of tobacco, and one a big picture of a turkey.

Chapter II A Day In May

On a day in May in the year 1607 three Httle ships came saihng up a broad river. On the ships were a hundred or more Enghshmen. At a point about forty miles up from the mouth of the river, where a large shoulder of land extended into the water, the ships stopped and the men landed. The river at this point is three or four miles wide, and the shoulder of land extended out from the north bank a mile or more.

The Indians called this great river Powhatan, after their mightiest chief; but the Englishmen called it the James, after their king, in England. On your map you will see that this great river heads in the Alleghany Mountains. It breaks through the Blue Ridge at Balcony Falls, and on its banks are now the rich cities of Lynchburg and Richmond. Guarding its mouth are Newport News, Portsmouth, and Norfolk. Through the mouth of Chesapeake Bay it pushes its way to the ocean, ii

You will also observe that the capes at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay are called Charles and Henry. The hundred Englishmen of whom we speak gave the capes those names in honor of the two sons of King James ; and the village that they founded up the river where they landed they called Jamestown.

Jamestown was begun twenty years later than Raleigh's settlements on Roanoke Island ; and it

JAMESTOWN ISLAND TO-DAY, AS SEEN FROM A BOAT IN THE RIVER

came near to failure, time after time, during the first few years. Fatal diseases, lack of food, hostile savages, and quarrels among themselves made the Jamestown pioneers few and wretched. If it had been easy for them to get back to England they would have gone, and the histor}^ of Virginia would be different. But the ocean was wide ; ships were few ; the winds were uncertain. Dangers

A DAY IN MAY

^3 and death faced them here, but distances and difficulties kept them here. And so, in the slow march of years, the settlement on the James was established.

Jamestown is famous as the first English colony in America that held out. It became the cradle of m pH

THE JAMES RIVER OPPOSITE THE OLD JAMESTOWN SETTLEMENTS

a great republic. That is to say, the childhood of Virginia and of the United States began at Jamestown. It was there that many of our great lessons of government were first learned in this country.

When the white men at Jamestown began to cut down the straight pine trees to build their houses, it was the first time an ax of iron was heard in that part of Virginia. The Indian axes were of stone or copper. The Indians were known to be hostile, so one of the first structures the white men built was a sort of fort. The wall was probably made of heavy logs, ten or twelve feet long, set up on end, one tight against the other. Where the ground was marshy and soft these logs may have been sharpened and driven down. At other places a trench was dug, the logs were set down into it, one against another, and the earth tamped in around them. Such a wall is called a palisade, and the place inclosed by a palisade is called a stockade. Many of the early forts in this country were stockades.

Although most of the Jamestown men were daring and jolly fellows, they also had a deep respect for God and for religion. Accordingly, they soon built a church. Indeed, one of the first things they did after they landed was to hold religious services. The minister. Rev. Robert Hunt, stood under an old canvas sail stretched from two trees across to one or two other trees not far away. His pulpit was a bar of wood nailed to two of the trees. Around the sides were wooden rails ; and the seats were logs and hewn planks. In bad weather the men crowded into an old rotten tent. Under such conditions Mr. Hunt read prayers, preached sermons, and invoked the blessings of God upon their work and their hopes.

A DAY IN MAY 15

And, all around them, in spite of fever and ague, in spite of hunger and savages, there were many things to give them hope and courage. Some of the land was marshy, but much of it was well drained and fertile. Wood for fires and timber for building were abundant and near at hand. The rivers and creeks were ready-made roads for boats and canoes, and the waters were alive with fish. When the sun came out it scattered golden light among the green trees and the wild flowers, and the perfume of the buds and blossoms seemed all the sweeter because of the songs of the birds.

The old sail between the trees and the rotten tent in days of storm Served as a church till a better one could be erected. This better one was homely enough, looking like a barn. It sat up above the ground on the tops of forked posts. The roof was made of poles, coarse grass, and earth. Most of the dwelling houses were equally rude. Some thirty years later a strong brick church was built, the bricks being carried over from England in ships. The tower of that brick church is still standing. It is eighteen feet square, and the walls are three feet thick.

This old brick church tower stands almost alone to mark the place where our brave forefathers landed that pleasant day in May. For as time went on other towns were built at healthier places, and Jamestown was gradually deserted. The strong tide of the mighty river has cut deep into the soft banks of the island — for the old shoulder of land is now an island — and if the government had not built a strong wall of masonry to break the force of the river current the old church tower too, and the graves around it, might in time be cut away. As it is, the foundations of many of the old houses of Jamestown are under water. When the water is clear one may look down into it and see the outlines of stone and brick foundations in the river bed.

The company of men who came to Jamestown in 1607 were sent out from London by a strong organization of merchants and land agents called the London Compan}^ This company got its power from the king. The written statement given them by the king, setting forth what they might do and what they might not do, was called a charter. Various charters were granted to the London Company by the king from time to time till 1624.

The directors of the London Company were anxious to establish settlements in Virginia for a number of reasons. They wanted settlers here in order that the gold or the silver or the fish or the furs or the valuable woods that might be found here could be collected and shipped to England. And they had the notion that there was much gold here and that it was probably easy to get.

A DAY IN MAY 17

In the second place, they were interested in carrying the flag of England into new regions, thus to extend the power and influence of the British government. In this the king himself was naturally much interested.

In the third place, some of the men of the London Company and many others in England were anxious to educate and civilize the Indians, and to teach them the true religion. Besides all these reasons, some men in the Company and in England were eager to travel in strange countries, to hunt, to explore, to encounter dangers and adventures. Such things would add a keen spice to life and give them fine tales to tell when they got back home.

We may say, therefore, that it was desire for trade and wealth, with patriotism, the missionary spirit, and the love of adventure, that drew the London Company together, got the charters from the king, and stirred men to cross the ocean for the new, strange country. These motives, with others, brought thousands to the new shores here and there as the years passed.

The Jamestown settlement and a few others near it stood alone in the wilderness for a number of years. All the way from the Spanish settlements in Florida to the French hamlets in Nova Scotia, the Virginians on the James were the only Europeans living on the Atlantic coast of North

America. Then in 1613 or 1614 some Dutch traders built their huts where New York City now stands, and in 1620 came the EngHsh Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. But people in New York and Massachusetts were not close neighbors to Virginia in those days.

1. The first permanent settlement in Virginia was made at Jamestown, on the James River, in 1607.

2. This was the first permanent English settlement in North America.

3. The colony was sent over by the London Company, under a charter from King James I.

4. The motives that led to the enterprise were (i) desire for trade and gold, (2) patriotism, (3) the missionary spirit, and (4) the love of adventure.

5. It was at Jamestown that some of the first and greatest lessons in American government were learned.

Gordy : Colonial Days ; pages 7-24.

Magill : First Book in Virginia History; pages 9-20.

Otis: Richard of Jamestown ; pages 9-54.

Stanard : Jamestown and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

Sydenstricker and Burger : School History of Virginia ; pages 16-31.

Chapter III Captain John Smith: His Friends And His

FOES

On that pleasant day in May, 1607, when those three Httle ships came saiUng slowly up the James River and stopped at the big shoulder of land where Jamestown was soon built, one might have seen among the men who stepped ashore a sturdy young fellow named John Smith. He was only twenty-eight years old, but he was a strong swimmer and a brave soldier. He had a record of which he was proud, and we may be certain that he walked with his head up and his shoulders straight, even though he was under arrest.

Yes, John Smith was under arrest. When the ships had left England, sent out by the London Company under the charter from the king, Smith was one of seven men already selected to govern the colony ; but on the way over something had happened to turn his companions against him. Perhaps he boasted too much of what he had done as a soldier in Europe. Perhaps he talked too much of what he was going to do in Virginia.

What caused the trouble we do not know exactly ; but we do know that he was charged with mutiny and arrested, and that he was still under arrest when the colony landed and founded Jamestown.

But John Smith was soon to be heard of again. Shortly after the arrival at Jamestown he had his trial and was set free. Then he began to explore the rivers and the woods ; to fight and trade with the Indians ; and to w rite books.

In that crude village of Jamestown, on the edge of the Virginia wilderness, John Smith wrote the first English book ever written in America. People still read it. It has a long title, which I shall not ask you to remember ; but it tells many interesting facts about life at Jamestown and adventures in Virginia during the first thirteen months that Smith was here. In all he remained in Virginia only two years and a half; but within that short period he did so much to help the colony that we may truly call him the " Father of Virginia."

And, for short, we may call that first book of his "A True Relation." This is the first part of its long title. He also drew a map of Virginia, which was sent over to England about Christmas, 1608 ; and with it was sent a letter written by Smith. His "True Relation" (True Story) of Virginia had been sent over some six months earlier. All of these and various other writings of his were pubHshed in London from time to time. And it is from Smith's books that we get most of our knowledge about the first settlements on the James.

So John Smith, like Julius Caesar, was both a writer and a fighter. He had to fight to keep the Indians from killing him and the other men at Jamestown ; and he wrote, I suppose, because he liked to write.

But to live at Jamestown the first two and a half years and to do enough in that time to earn the title, "Father of Virginia," John Smith had to perform many other tasks besides fighting and writing.

As I have told you, he explored the rivers and the forests. And he not only fought the Indians, he also made friends with them whenever he could He knew that a good friend is better than a bad enemy. From the Indians he often obtained corn and other food for the sick and starving men at Jamestown. When he was president of the council, or governor, he had to look after things in general. All this was a big job for a young man who had come to Jamestown under arrest. There must have been something born in John Smith that made him a leader of men. His courage, his honesty, his good sense, and his skill in doing things soon proved him the greatest man among them all.

He was not called governor or president all the time. Those titles were borne by first one and then another. But Smith was the mainstay of the colony as long as he was there. In the village he had bitter foes as well as trusty friends. One of his worst enemies was a man named John Ratcliffe. And often the men who were not his enemies were difficult to manage. He had a hard time keeping the laz}^ fellows at work, keeping the bad ones from swearing, and keeping the unruly ones from quarreling and fighting among themselves.

In truth he did not always succeed in doing all these things. You have heard the old saying, "When the cat's away the mice will play." So it was' at Jamestown. Nearly every time Smith returned from an expedition he would find the men at Jamestown in trouble. Quarreling, sickness, lack of food, and hostile savages made the graveyard grow faster than the town ; and unwillingness to work and to obey orders made bad matters worse.

One time when fire broke out and destroyed most of the cabins, many of the beds, some of the guns, and a part of the precious food supply, Smith could hardly get the men to work to rebuild the cabins. What do you think was the reason ? They were too busy digging out some yellow dirt which they had found and which they thought was gold ! They had to send a shipload of it to England before they would believe that it was not gold.

The fact that Smith was able, under such conditions, to save the colony at all proves him a strong and a wise man.

We have spoken of the men at Jamestown, not of women and children. There were no women and children there for about a year and a half. Then two women came. They were followed by others from time to time. But for ten years or more the white women and children in Virginia were comparatively few. The consequent lack of home life was one thing that stood in the way of the colony's progress.

From June i, 1607, to September, 1609, Smith with small companies of his friends went out many times far into the wilderness. He went up the James River as far, it seems, as the seven hills where Richmond now stands. At that point are the falls, or the rapids, in the river. They mark the upper limit of tidewater. One time, after he had gone up the river from Jamestown a few miles, he turned the boat to the right, into the mouth of the Chickahominy, and followed it upstream until the boat stuck fast on the bottom. Then leaving most of his men in the boat, Smith took two of them, got into an Indian canoe, and, with some friendly Indians as guides, went on up the stream.

Thus following the Chickahominy, the little company finally reached a point in the White Oak Swamp. This is not far east of Richmond. There in the swamp Smith was attacked by a band of hostile Indians, who captured him and took him to their kings. Of his adventures while a prisoner of the Indians you will learn something in the next chapter.