A history of Virginia from its discovery till the year 1781. With biographical sketches of all the most distinguished characters that occur in the colonial, revolutionary, or subsequent period of our history

Front matter

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Preface

1HE author of the following pages has endeavoured to compress into as small bounds as possible all that is interesting in the history of Virginia. A desire to render the work accessible to those who have neither leisure nor money for voluminous publications, has perhaps led him into a degree of baldness, at least to an extreme of brevity. It is an extreme however, which the reader if not willing to approve will be most likely to pardon.

There are no doubt defects of a more serious nature than such as arise from an uncourteous style or unskilful composition. For historical inaccuracies his only plea is, that frailty of mind and liability to err which is the lot of all. It is sufficient for him to say that he has sought truth unswayed by any bias known to himself. If he has not been so happy as always to find it, his failure affords but another proof of the imperfection of human efforts, and the vanity of human expectations. He who may be disposed to censure error with severity, should remember that truth is often obtained with difficulty. Perhaps he is passing judgment upon labours he has not tried and would be unwilling to encounter.

The labour of compiling a duodecimo volume would indeed be trivial, were the objects of our research not often involved in obscurity or enveloped in darkness. That mist which overspreads ages past and gone, often bewilders the diligent inquirer after truth, and de* feats the ingenuous efforts of the historian.

But whatever be the merit or demerit of the work, the subject is certainly important to all: — To the statesman who wishes to trace from their foundations our political institutions and the great fabric of our government; — to the philosopher who delights to review the gradations of civil society and the progress of human knowledge; — to the less enlightened, though not less important, citizen who supports by his labour the nation, and protects her constitution by his sword. While they possess the inheritance transmitted by their fathers, they may learn to emulate their deeds. While they review the wars and hardships of their ancestors, they may know how to appreciate the blessings themselves enjoy.

The history of Virginia is on many accounts of more importance than that of her sister colonies. The early date of her origin, and the singular adventures and achievements of her first settlers: the important part she acted in the great struggle for liberty, and the illustrious characters she has given to our councils and our armies: her central situation and commercial advantages, conspire to give her a preponderance in the national scale, and render her history well worth the attention of her citizens.

Nor will the utility of this work be confined to Virginia alone, whose history is interwoven with that of the other states, and whose name for many years served to designate the whole of the English settlements on our coast.

The author cannot dismiss his prefatory remarks without tendering his thanks to those A2 gentlemen who have endeavoured to aid him in the prosecution of his work. From that veryworthy patriot and enlightened citizen who directs the department of state, he received an invitation which did him much honour and which he regrets he was unable to accept. In \ his office are many documents of importance to the historian, who may have leisure to examine and patience to select. To others he is indebted for aid, which, although lie may have neglected to acknowledge, he is not willing to forget.

THE

HISTORY OF VIRGINIA

Chapter I

I HE origin of Virginia is not, like that of most nations, involved in fable and obscurity. Not much more than two centuries have elapsed since our shores were first visited by European adventurers. We are able to trace our history from the first movements of colonial infancy, and can mark with precision our moral and physical progress. If a paucity of interesting materials sometimes check our research, we are compensated for the deficiency of matter by the recency of the events, and the interest they are calculated to excite. To observe the rise of society and the changes and revolutions of states and empires, is the most pleasing, and not the least profitable employment of the human mind. But we must feel a peculiar interest in reviewing the conduct and marking the policy of our ancestors. We shall behold our state from the very embryon of her existence rising amidst enemies, and progressing amidst difficulties towards her present grandeur and population.

It was during the reign of queen Elizabeth, that the celebrated sir Walter Raleigh projected a settlement on our coast. This illustrious statesman having obtained letters patent empowering him to discover and settle remote lands, fitted out with the assistance of his friends two small vessels for this purpose. These, under the command of captains Philip Amydas and Arthur Barlow, sailed from the Thames on the 27th of April 1584. About the middle of July they cast anchor at a place called Wococon* on the coast of North Carolina.

* Wococon, or Wokoken is supposed by Stith to be that now called Ocracock. Beverly says, " they anchored at an inlet by Roanoke;" and this opinion is confirm-

Soon after their landing they were visited by several of the natives, and among others by the king's brother, whose name was Granganameo. This chief discovered no apprehensions from the intrusion of the strangers, but invited them to sit down on his mat with him and his attendants.

After this first interview frequent visits were made by the natives, chiefly for the purpose of trading in skins, corals, and other articles.

The village where Granganameo resided was situated on the island of Roanoke, about twenty miles from the place of their first landing. Thither captain Amydas, with seven of his companions, went on a visit, and were hospitably entertained by the wife of that chief, who was himself absent.

The town consisted of eight or nine houses, built of cedar, and enclosed by a slender palisade. The attention of the wife of Granganameo

ed by a passage in one of Barlow's letters to sir Walter Raleigh, preserved by Hackluy t, and also by the accounts of subsequent voyages.

to the English is worthy of remark. It shows, that hospitality is not confined to civilized nations, and that the rudeness of the savage may be mingled with the noblest traits of humanity. She ordered the boat of the English to be drawn on shore that it might not be injured by the surge. When dinner was ready she invited her guests into a room, where they were presented with venison, fish and homony or boiled corn.* How fearless soever the natives might be of the designs of the English, all suspicion was not yet removed from the breasts of the latter. Observing some of the Indians

* Hominy or homoni, as the word is spelt by Stith and others, is too generally known in Virginia to need a description; but the origin of the word is involved in obscurity. Whether it be an Indian word or a corruption in civilized language I am unable to decide, nor shall I trouble myself much to inquire. Bozman derives it from the French omelet, as he writes it; but there is no such word in the French language. The orthography being omelette at once destroys the resemblance of sound which in omelet or omele as it is pronounced, would warrant his conclusion.

approach with their bows and arrows, they seized their arms and put themselves in a posture of defence. The wife of Granganameo on this occasion endeavoured to remove their fears by commanding those implements of war to be taken from the Indians, whose vain or thoughtless parade had excited alarm. In the evening they returned to their boat, and lay at some distance from the shore, for fear of some hostility from the natives during the night.

The discoveries of the English during their stay on these coasts were very limited. They penetrated but a few leagues from the place of their first landing, and gained from the natives but little information respecting their country. No trace of this coast having ever been visited by any civilized people was discovered. Nothing but a confused account of a vessel having been wrecked on their shores about thirty years before, was obtained from the natives.

About the middle of September our adventurers returned to England, carrying with them two of the natives, Manteo and Wanchese, who showed a willingness to visit the land of the English.

This discovery produced so much satisfaction to queen Elizabeth, that she named the country Virginia, in honour, as has been supposed, of her own virginity.*

Sir Richard Grenville with seven ships sailed from Plymouth in the following year (1585), for Virginia. With him returned Manteo, whose knowledge of his native country and the language of the Indians, rendered him of singular service to the English both as a guide and interpreter. Under his guidance they visited several towns and made various excursions through the country. During their stay at one of the

* Others say the name was given by sir Walter

Raleigh himself. " A cause de la repugnance que la

son honneur, Virginia.

The errors of this author however, are too numerous to allow much weight to his authority. The above sentence was founded on the mistaken opinion, that sir Waiter Raleigh visited Virginia in person.

towns called Akascogock,* an Indian stole from the company a silver cup. This trivial offence brought destruction on their town, which was reduced to ashes by their merciless invaders.

Grenville after this sailed for Hatteras, leaving about a hundred men at Roanoke under the command of Ralph Lane. During his stay at Hatteras he received a visit from Granganameo, whose friendship and services the English had much cause to remember. He soon after sailed for England, where he arrived on the 18th of September, with a Spanish prize, taken on his way.f

* Called by some Scroton. See Bozman's Maryland? p. 75.

t Burk's Virginia.

B

Chapter II

JjEFORE we proceed in our colonial history, it may be proper to give some account pf the inhabitants of this newly discovered country. Their history becomes so much blended with that of the colony, as to make an inquiry into their situation and population at this time an object worthy the attention of the reader. Our limits will confine us, however, to a few general observations.

According to the account of captain John Smith, that part of Virginia that lies between the sea and the mountains was inhabited by forty -three different tribes of Indians. Thirty of these were united in a grand confederacy under the emperor Powhatan. The dominions of this mighty chief, who was long the most powerful rival, and most implacable foe, with whom the English had to contend, extended over that part of the country that lies south of the Potowmack betwixt the coast and the falls of the rivers.

In comparison with civilized countries this extensive territory contained but a scanty population. The Powhatan confederacy consisted of but about eight thousand inhabitants, which is less than a twentieth of its present population.

Besides this confederacy, there were two others which were combined against that of Powhatan. These were the Mannahoacks and Manakins; the former of whom, consisting of eight tribes, occupied the country lying between Rappahannock and York rivers; and the latter, consisting of five tribes, was settled between York and James rivers above the falls. Besides these, were the Nottoways, the Meherricks, the Tuteloes, and several other scattering and independent tribes.

The hereditary dominions of Powhatan lay on James river which originally bore his name.* He had a seat on this river about a mile below

* Powhatan, Arrowhattock, Appamattock, Pamunkey. Youghtanund and Mattapoment, descended to him from his ancestors.

the falls, where Richmond now stands, and another at Werowocomoco on the north side of York river, within the present county of Gloucester.*

This monarch was remarkable for the strength and vigour of his body, as well as for the energies of his mind. He possessed great skill ia intrigue and great courage in battle. His equanimity in the career of victory, was only equalled by his fortitude in the hour of adversity. If he had many vices incident to the savage life, he had some virtues seldom found among the civilized. He commanded a respect rarely paid by savages to their werowance, and maintained a dignity and splendour worthy the monarch of thirty nations. He was constantly attended by a guard of forty warriors, and during the night a sentry regularly watched his palace. Though unlimited by custom in the number of his wives, his seraglio exhibited the apathy of the Indian character. When he slept one of his women sat at his head and

* See Trumbull's History of the United States, chapter first, and Jefferson's Notes.

another at his feet. When he dined they attended him with water, or brought him a bunch of feathers to wipe his hands. His regalia, free from the glitter of art, showed only the simple royalty of the savage. He wore a robe composed of skins, and sat on a throne spread with mats and decked with pearls and with beads. The furniture of his palace, like the qualities of his mind, was adapted to war, and the implements of death rather than of pleasure garnished his halls.

The small number of the natives compared with their extent of territory, may to some be a matter of wonder. It is however a circumstance inseparable from savage life, where the checks to population are numerous and powerful. Amongst uncivilized nations the means of subsistence are often precarious and always scanty. The labours and hardships of the women, and the constant and destructive wars of the men, equally tend to retard the progress of population.

When the first settlement of Europeans was made in Virginia, k is probable the whole B2 number of Indians did not amount to twenty thousand.* The wants and even the superfluities of civilized life tend equally to condense and increase the mass of society. Arts and manufactories, trade and commerce, strengthen its bonds and promote its population. But to savages who support themselves by hunting, whose places of abode are the forest and the wilderness, the multiplication of their species is rather an inconvenience than a blessing, as it lessens the public stock and divides the means of subsistence.

The Indians of Virginia were generally well formed, and something above the European stature. Smith, in his History of Virginia, represents some of the tribes, particularly the Sus^ quehannocks, as approaching to the gigantic. He describes one of their chiefs, the calf of whose leg, he says, measured three quarters of a yard in circumference. Their complexion in infancy is white, but in riper age it becomes a

* Trumbull estimates their population at sixteen thousand. See his History of the United States, page 33.

copper brown. Their hair is straight, long, and dark. In their moral disposition they are generally cunning and deceitful, and always revengeful and cruel. Such was the state and character of the people whom the English found scattered over the wilds and forests of America.

The colony left at Roanoke made some attempts to explore the interior of the country. They penetrated on the north as far as the Chesapeake nation of Indians, who were situated on what is now called Elizabeth river, and to Secotan* on the south. Towards the northwest they discovered the Chowhanocks, who dwelt about the junction of the Meherrin and Nottoway rivers. The chief of this tribe amused the English with an account of a copper mine and pearl fishery, and a marvellous description of the source of the Roanoke, which he said gushed from a rock on the borders of a great ocean. The credulous adventurers supposing this to be the south sea

* Secotan was an Indian town situated between the Neus and Pamptico, about eighty miles distant from Roanoke.

hoped soon to find a short route to South America. With a view also of finding rich mines they ascended the river in their boats until want of provisions compelled them to return. About this time they met with a real loss in the death of Granganameo, whose friendship to the English had been constant and sincere.

Many of the Indian chiefs, who had heard of the arrival of the English, began to testify their friendship by presents and by visiting the colony, accompanied by numbers of their subjects. The king of the island however, whose name was Wingina, did not imitate the example of Granganameo and other friendly natives. When the English arrived in his country he was confined b) wounds which he had received in battle. He had no sooner recovered than he began to plot the ruin of the invaders. For this purpose he issued secret orders to his warriors to assemble and attack the colony. The plot fortunately for the English was discovered, and Wingina and a number of his men were drawn into ambush and slain.

During this year, (1585) sir Francis Drake, who had been cruising in the West Indies against the Spaniards, visited the infant colony in Virginia, and supplied them with such articles as their wants required. He gave them a ship also, to enable them, in case their situation made it necessary, to return to England. Before he left the coast of Virginia there happened a violent storm, which drove their vessel from its anchorage, and so alarmed the colonists that they determined to abandon their settlement. They sailed with Drake for England, where they arrived in July 1586.*

* See Burk's Virginia, vol. I.

Chapter III

A FEW days after the departure of Lane and his companions for England, sir Richard Grenville arrived with three ships, and provisions for the colony. Finding none of the colonists, they suspected that they had been exterminated by the Indians. Their fears were removed by the information of Manteo, from whom they learned that their countrymen had returned to England with sir Francis Drake. Sir Richard Grenville concluded to leave fifty men at Roanoke, and having supplied them with provisions for two years, he returned to England.

The following year John White with three ships sailed for Virginia. He was appointed governor of the colony with the assistance of twelve counsellors. On their arrival at Cape Hatteras, they despatched a party in search of the fifty men left at Roanoke by Grenville. They found their houses abandoned, their fort destroyed, and no sign of recent habitation, except the bones of a man on the place where the fort had stood. Twenty men under the guidance of Manteo were then sent to Croatan* to gain, if possible, some information respecting the colony. They there understood that in a quarrel betwixt Wingina's people and the English, one of the latter had been slain, and that they had soon after abandoned" the settlement.

On the 13th of August Manteo underwent the ceremony of baptism, and for his friendship to the English was honoured with the title of lord of Dessamonpeake.f White soon afterwards returned to England, leaving one hundred persons on one of the islands adjacent to Hatteras.

In the year 1589 sir Walter Raleigh assigned to Thomas Smith and others his patent, with a donation of one hundred pounds for the

* Croatan was an Indian town situated near Ocracock inlet on Core Bank.

t Dessamonpeake-— a tribe of Indians were so called.

propagation of Christianity in Virginia. The projects of Raleigh for the discovery and settlement of Virginia had been attended with much expense and many disappointments. To the enterprise of this illustrious but unfortunate nobleman, however, we may be proud to trace our origin. Sir Walter Raleigh was equally distinguished as a soldier, a statesman, and a scholar. During the reign of queen Elizabeth he was among the first courtiers in the kingdom, no less honoured for his talents than beloved for his virtues and admired for his accomplishments. He early excited the enmity of the Spanish Court by his active enterprizes against that nation both in Europe and America. On the accession of James I. he lost his interest at court, and was tried and condemned for a conspiracy against the king. He was however reprieved, and was employed afterwards in the public service of his monarch. The sentence of death was still suspended over his head, and was at last executed to appease the wrath of his enemies. He suffered in the sixty-sixth year of his age. His talents and his virtues merited a better fate, and his name, however it may have been traduced by his enemies, deserves a place amongst those whose actions have been the theme of other nations and whose misfortunes have been the disgrace of their own.

John White again sailed for Virginia in the year 1590, with three ships supplied with provisions for the colony. They came to anchor on the 15th of August, and the first object of their search was the men that had been left on the island near Hatteras. They fired a cannon to announce their arrival, and although they discovered smoke at the place where the colony had been left, they found no person. Observing on a post the word Croatan, in large letters, they weighed anchor for that place, but meeting with disastrous fortune, they changed their course and steered for the West Indies, neglecting the welfare of the colony to preserve their own.

A succession of unfortunate voyages began to damp the spirit of discovery, which was not again revived until the year 1606. C

Bartholomew Gosnold, an enterpri zing navigator, obtained letters patent from James the First, who had succeeded Elizabeth on the throne of England, by which that tract of country from thirty-four to forty-five degrees of north latitude was divided into southern and northern colonies of Virginia, and persons appointed as a council for both divisions. About this time the celebrated adventurer John Smith arrived in London, decked with the laurels of military adventure and heroic achievement. To him Gosnold made known his projects, and engaged him to enter into the spirit of the enterprise. As Smith is to act a conspicuous part in the colonial history of Virginia, it may be amusing to the reader to have a sketch of his life previous to his adventures in America. He was born at Willoughby in England in the year 1579. He early discovered a romantic turn of mind, which at the age of fifteen he endeavoured to gratify by embarking for France in the train of a young nobleman. After visiting Paris, he travelled into the low countries, where he learned the art of war. At the age of seventeen he entered into the train of a Frenchman, who persuaded him to accompany him to France. They arrived at St. Valory during the night, where, with the connivance of the master of the vessel, the trunks of Smith were carried on shore and plundered by the Frenchman, who made his escape before the landing of our adventurer. When Smith came on shore, he found himself deprived of his baggage, and deserted by his companion. He afterwards embarked at Marseilles for Italy, in company with a number of pilgrims. On their passage there arose a violent storm, which the pilgrims imputed to their having a heretic on board. They were at length induced by their superstitious fears to throw Smith into the sea, in order to calm its waves. He swam to land, which fortunately was at no great distance, and was next day taken on board a ship which was going to Egypt. After coasting the Levant he was at length set on shore with a box of one thousand chequins, which enabled him to pursue his travels. His roving disposition carried him into Stiria, where he was introduced to lord Eberspaught and baron Kizel. The emperor beingthen at war with the Turks, Smith entered his army as a volunteer. When Eberspaught was besieged in Olimpack by the Turkish army, and cut off from all means of intelligence, he obtained relief by means of a telegraph constructed by Smith. Information was given of their design to attack the Turks on the east quarter, and advising Eberspaught at what time to make a sally. The Turks were defeated, and the enterprise of Smith was rewarded with the command of a troop of horse.

At the siege of Rigal the Ottomans sent a challenge to the Transylvanian army, announcing the offer of the lord Turbisha to fight any captain of the christian troops. Thirty of the bravest captains being selected, they chose by lot one of that number to fight the Turkish hero. The lot fell upon Smith, who cheerfully accepted the challenge. He met his antagonist on horseback, and soon bore away his head in the presence of both armies. He immediately received and accepted a challenge from another

Turkish lord, who shared the fate of the former.

Smith, in his turn, sent an offer to the enemy, which was accepted by Bonamalgro. This Turk unhorsed Smith and had nearly gained the victory, but fortune at length declared for the English captain, and enabled him to add to the glory of his former victories the head of Bonamalgro. For these exploits he was honoured with a grand military procession, in which three Turks' heads borne on the points of lances, graced their march. In addition to these honours, his general, the lord Moyzes, presented him with a horse richly caparisoned, a sword and belt worth three hundred ducats, and a commission of major in his regiment.

Some time after this the Transylvanian army was defeated, and Smith being wounded in the battle, lay among the slain. He was taken prisoner by the enemy, and after being cured of his wounds he was sold to the bashaw Bogul, who sent him as a present to his mistress Tragabigzanda at Constantinople. This lady be- C2 came captivated with the fine appearance and heroic character of her prisoner, but fearing he might be ill-treated by Bogul on his return, she sent him for safety to her brother the bashaw of Nailbraitz on the borders of the sea of Asoph. This transfer proved a very unfortunate one for our adventurer, who exchanged the amatory smiles of his mistress for the oppressive commands of an unfeeling master. Within an hour after his arrival he was drest in haircloth, and sent, with his head shaved and an iron collar about his neck, to work among the slaves of the bashaw. In this hopeless situation his services were rewarded only by severe blows and repeated indignities, to which his proud spirit could not long submit. One day, while he was threshing in the field, his master began to beat him in his usual rigorous and brutal manner. Smith, unable to bear the treatment of his tyrant any longer, raised his flail and beat out his brains. Then hiding his body in the straw, he filled a bag with grain, and set off on his master's horse through the inhospitable deserts of Russia, After travelling through the wilds for sixteen days, he at length arrived at a Russian garrison on the river Don, where hv was kindly received. He afterwards visited France, Spain, Germany, and Morocco, and returned at last to England.* Such is the history of the man whom Gosnold engaged to accompany him to America. His adventures in the western world remain yet to be told. They will be equally amusing to the reader, and as they more directly belong to our subject, they shall be more minutely related, as they occur in the course of our history.

* See an account of his life in Stith's History of Vir>

Chapter IV

On the 19th of December 1606, Gosnold sailed from Blackwall with two ships, under the command of captain Christopher Newport. In this voyage captain Smith, whose active mind had already excited the envy of the other adventurers, was arrested on a charge of aiming at usurping the power vested in the council, and kept in confinement during the rest of the voyage. On the 26th of April 1607 they entered the bay of Chesapeake, and gave to the two points of land which formed its entrance, the names of the king's two sons, Charles and Henry.*

On opening their orders, which had been delivered them in a sealed box, it appeared that Bartholomew Gosnold, John Smith, Ed-

* Henry was then prince of Wales; Charles was afterwards king of England, to wit, the first of that name.

ward Maria Wingfield, Christopher Newport, John Martin, John Ratcliffe and George Kendall, were appointed a council for the colony. Having elected Wingfield president, they entered on their minutes their reasons for excluding Smith from a participation in the duties of the council.

The first river they entered was called by the natives Powhatan, but by the English was honoured with the name of their own sovereign. While in search of a place of settlement, they met with some Indians who invited them to their town Kichotan, which stood where Hampton now stands, and regaled them with tobacco and a dance.* In their passage up the river, they met with another party of the natives, whose chief, with a bow and arrows in one hand and a pipe with tobacco in the other, demanded the cause of their coming.

On the 13th of May they landed at a place to which they gave the name of Jamestown. At this memorable spot the first permament

* See Smith's History of Virginia.

S3

settlement was made in Virginia. The Indians who inhabited the adjacent country appeared friendly, and their chief Paspiha sent the English a present of venison, and offered them as much land as they should want.