Virginia, executions recorded in county histories, 1870-1993, Undated

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16 JAMES ALEXANDER

building that had, prior to the Revolution, and down to
almost the year 1828, been occupied as a tavern, and
was known as the Swan Tavern. The landlord of this
house was John Jouette, whose son in 1781, had been
down the country, and was returning, when he had a
sight of General Tarleton and his troop of cavalry, on
their way to this town to capture Mr. Jefferson, whom
they believed to be Governor of Virginia,’ and the
members of the legislature, then in session in Charlottes-
ville. Young Jouette rode a fleet horse, and by taking a
route shorter than the main road, reached Charlottes-
ville in time to give warning of the approach of the en-
emy, thus enabling Mr. Jefferson and family, and all
the members of the Legislature, except two or three, to
make their escape, and saving them from being cap-
tured by the British troops. ‘This Mr. Jouette, years
afterwards, emigrated to the State of Kentueky, and
was made a Judge at Law.

In 1808, a man by the name of John (called Jack)
M’Coy, was barkeeper in this Swan tavern; he was mur-
dered and thrown into the well on the premises. The

the Town Hall), which is believed to mark the site of the burial
plot. the grave, according to belief, being within ten feet of a
spot now marked by a cherry tree.

17. Jefferson was Governor at this time. he raid occurred
June 3-4, 1781; in the excitement which followed, criticism of Me.
Jefferson arose, and on June 12 a resolution was introduced in the
House of Delegates that “an inquiry be made into the conduct of
the Executive of this State for the last twelve months’. It was
made, and the Governor was unanimously exonerated of all blame,
the chief mover, George Nicholas, becoming from this time one of
his close friends and supporters. Mr. Jefferson, however, refused
to stand for re-election. Lyon G. Tyler et al., History of Virgins
(6 vols., Chicago and New York, 1924), Vol. II, pp. 212-13.

xf fe Rt bl oetiM { ats

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1963

Va, Wart. Aon Ny,

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RECOLLECTIONS 17

landlord, who was : io i
.: vas absent on the night that the murder %

occurred, was accused of being concerned in it but he
was acquitted. The late Ira Garrett was a baihder in
the house at the time, and was a witness in the case when
it was investigated by the court. No clue as to who com-
amitted the murder was ever af terwards obtained.

On the vacant lot adjoining the hotel there was a bat-
tery; where men and _ boys played ball; quoits were
pitched and marbles played. It was not unusual to s
men of fifty and boys of ten or twelve plavie ie
wether, This was a general resort for reer sitions -
pecluly two or three hours before sunset. On FS eid
or two north of this, on Sunday evenings, Sie det
and hoys sometimes resorted to exercise their hinbs in
Jumping,

December 31, 1873

~~ Nould: be highly interesting, entertaining and in-
- ictive, if some of our older citizens, natives of the
piece. were to write for publication their recollections of
4 ee HEE had seen, or what they had learned from their

eats and predecessors, respecting persons, places and
i uss—traditions from the earlier settlements down to

“ present period. We have tried and urged several

bersons, well yer
cll versed on these subjects, to enter upon the

a
Kou ‘they may y
‘tnd hope they may yet do so. The Historical So-

eety in the State "isconsi
tate of Wisconsin, once a part of Virginia,

} roneahy ite AEP pntoa prs
oo its secretary, Lyman C, Draper, Esq.. has been
MTS Hoye Voed j , . ak.
engaged in collecting facts and incidents in

live S :
: i@) aa . >
f men who liv ed here over one hundred vears

~

] . .
CTO Nn to ‘ — , e
oe t third of a century since. If Wisconsin

af} Tes « : . >
“a tf an interest in the men of past days, who
| AMON 6 a:
& us, ought not we, who tread the soil these

ht

ESPON Ree

4

SILI ete pees.

*VINIOUIA ‘ZINNOO STUWWEEIY

sh aT a hae

She

oe

2


PRONE DIAS BTS re Snes
ee er

88 JAMES ALEXANDER

et

confectioneries and has an insurance agency in the next © atid ge ene er tameittiI
store, and in the next room Charles Thompson has g [ere eee
news agency and a tobacco and cigar store. The large
three-story brick building, next to Thompson, was built
by R. S. Jones in 1843, in the second story of which |
Rev. Stephen H. Mirick, a Baptist minister, once had a
female seminary. Sterling & Wood occupy one of the
, stores for Jewelry, watches, ete., and in the other FE.
Oppenheim has a liquor establishment.

‘ ¥" On lot No. 36. Peter U. Ware. tinner, did business
Boe here forty odd years ago; he was robbed and murdered :
by two negro men, who followed him from Charlottes- | -.<... Ee Dawei F ig
ville to where the Mount Eagle Baptist church ™ stands, Ree as ca hig ae
in this county; they had seen him obtain money which SSeeou te ere! <e wake Seats
they thought was a large amount, but it was only a dol- pes ve cman ae
lar or two. The negroes were apprehended, tried, con-
victed and hung. Mr. Ware was a good man, and highly
respected, his wife, the daughter of the late Claudius
Mayo, still lives in this county; he was a member of
the Episcopal church in this town,

The next store to Oppenheim was built by John J.
Pace, where he once carried on mercantile business, and
afterwards in the firm of Pace & Keblinger; Mrs. N. A.

a siy.

BEERS PRESS ES

; era Sd ees Terrell now occupies the store for the millinery bus- |. ~~ Rey : re
Ds acer ni iness. The next store is the place where for years J. P. ee ee She hatage tay
Halbach had a merchant tailoring establishment, and [| °~ 0°" **<. 7 sa
cae ack of late years a news depot; he built all three of the stores
>See tnt ea on this lot, to the corner of Green [I*irst] street; next

to his place of business Edward Benner, jeweller, did
business for several years, and Bear & Conrad also con-
ducted the jewelry business here; recently it was occu-

t xe sd » sy. ~
WORE pe Rh cet oa pe sete ra it Ne aE Nn OL a Nate Pace eg
i a i si A POR PI A tie NE ge Sls igri“
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that they could have given him a life term. The law may have
changed some since that time. | do not know about that either.

The hanging day was set for December 17th, 1697. A scaf-
fold was erected ciose by the river just about apposite Perry
Combs’ residence, a platform of new boards, was a stairway lead-
ing to the top, and a gallows standing like a new skelton, was
about all there was to the simple death contrivance. A dss second
had a taugh rope running under it to keep it from dropping. The
prisoner had to stand on this trap while the black cap and the
rope were adjusted. ;

My father, Wallace Compton, rode with John, seated with
him on his coffin, to the place of execution. Before ascending the
stairs to the platform, Father baptized him, then prayer close =
the deadly trap, and gave him all the spiritual consolation that
he could. Even a Cardinal or a Pope could have done no more.

The condemned man gave a littie talk, a farewell lecture,
admonishing the young people present that not to live the kind
of life he hod led. ond laid special stress upon the evils of women
and wine. Then he sang a song of his own composition, wench:
was nothing more than a doleful parady on the old hymn, “Rock
of Ages.” | am here quoting one of the stanzas:

“All | know, I’ve been converted, hide, Oh me;
All | know, I've been converted. hide, oh me;
All | know, I’ve been converted, let Thy bosom be my
pillow,
Hide me oh, Rock of Age, cliff for me.

After the cap had been pulled over his head and adjusted,
the loop, with its long coiled knot, was placed with the oe an
pendicular and not too tight behind his ear. Then the Sheri = e

at his water and told him just how many minutes he had to Ive.
John laughed a little and answered that it was not a very ae
life. Then he handed the stump of the cigar he had been smoking
to the sheriff and told him to give that to Mrs. Dennis, because
she had been so kind to him.

When the time was up, Mr. Charles, mit ready hatchet,
pulled lightly on the tail of his coat and said: “Lord, have Aig
on your poor soul, John,” pap ose the ee ae

i ll hurling into the dark room th, '
ios oe John Wala pronounced him dead. His paige ah
Hardin, was present with his wagon and team to claim vs pe
and take it away. He took it to my Aunt Mary Yates’ home

36

ae eR aT

Te NER Am oe

Slate Creek, where he stayed the night, then left early next
morning with his gruesome freight to the land of the Hardins on
Tug River.

I, being only an urchin of seven, was not present, but my
brother Tom was. | have told this story as near as possible like
my father told it to me. And he was in as good a position to
know the details as well as anybody. | have seen a copy of the
“Messenger” then published by one of the Beavers’. It carried an
article dated December 18th, covering the execution, which must
have been correct; for my father’s story confirms the news item
in practically every detail.

THE ENIGMA OF HOWARD LITTLE

The léaves had already lost their fresh summer green that
September of 1909, and were fading to a tawny yellow. The
bucyeyes, shorn of their vendure, already stood like =tark gray
skeltons, grim and bare, in the pale warm sunshine, |'mmed by
the smoke of Ritter’s mille and log-trains. Knox Creek flowed on
its lazy way, blackened and dingy with the stain of sawdust and
waste coal. Aunt Betty Justus contentedly smoked fier reed-
stemmed clay pipe as she went about her household tasks. Possible
the old woman's contentment came of the knowledge that her
future wa assured, that she had enough laid by to finance her
for the rest of her life, which, at its best could not be very long.
Only a few days before she had sold a piece of timber land, or,
maybe, just the trees thereon, to the Ritters; and Mr. Little, the
Company's purchasing agent, had counted the clean cash into
her own withered hand. Aunt Betty was wary of banks. She did
not trust them sufficiently to entrust any of her precious funds
into their care and keeping. Her son-in-law, George Meadows and
his family were living with her to keep her company, and to
lighten the burdens of her declining years, to be of service at
her beck and call. But that night grim tragedy struck Aunt Betty
and all her folks with demoniac fury and suddenness. Possibly
nobody will ever know just what happened. The next morning
dawned upon a scene of horror, the like of which, had never been
witnesses since the Indians had been driven from the Ohio Valley.
The staunt log house was a heap of smoking ashes. The old woman
and all the household were charred and shapeless things. The son-
in-law lay at the gate, with his head slashed and cut, his body
roasted. The machinery in the big mill came to a half with a
long mournful whistle, a loud wail. The log trains pulled in to

37

“9,

‘ es = -
fe senna ae sie Eoin Sera eee oae Ct

ES


t in the boilers. Everybody took up
ettled down in every Knox

t houses and the cabins
engeance took the

their sheds. Their fires went ov
the hue and cry, and a deathly calm s
Creek home, in the Company's well-buil

of the mountain-tops alike. A fierce frustrated v

place of cool reason. Suspicions became rampant. Accusations and

counter accusations were hurled from angry mouths.

After the funerals were over and the remnants left by the
flames’ had been buried, the neighbors became a little more
calm, possibly from sheer exhaustion. Alex Hufford, a detective ee
from Welch, was called in, and he and his assistants started their pee
investigations deliberately and unafraid. Finally, with no clues .
but a certain woman, a lantern and a hatchet, Hufford pointed.
an accusing finger at Howard Little, and mannacled him. There
was no eye witness — nothing but the mute bloody hatchet and
the old smoky lantern found ina brush pile near Little’s home.
and Court would convene in the
aced in jail; but the clamor of the
rs by now, became so men-
en to Lebanon. The growls
more determined; and

It was yet September,
coming November. Little was pl
Knox Creek citizens, and many othe
acing, so threatening, that he was tak

of the vengeful populace became still
they formed themselves into a great mob and moved in force on |

Lebanon. All were heavily armed, with blood in their eyes and
the fire of battle surging hotly in their veins. Word somehow got _
out ahead of the mob to Jailor Gibson at the Russell County
Seat: and the prisoner was spirited away to Roanoke. The
disgruntled band came back, humbled a little at their defeat;

but frustrated vengeance still rankled in every breast, but more

reasonable men wisely did not taunt them about their failure.
ced to die in

At his trial. Little was found auilty and senten
the Electric Chair. | am not positive, but | believe that he was the
first man to be electrocuted in the state of Virginia. The reason
that | think so is that in October, just before Little’s trial, a negro
was hanged at Tazewell, named Walter Rippey. It is my opinion
that this Negro was the last to be hanged, and that Little was

the first to be electrocuted.

We have had a few other sensational trials, for instance, the as tae
r of Charlie Matney on F

Harve Vandyke trial for the Murde
Garden Creek. There is another that created quite an excitement yee
a little further back. which | do not choose to mention, because ae

the children of the accused are still alive, and are my friends. wo,
They are perfectly innocent of any crime. and | will not run the Some ag
risk of embarrassing them by bringing the facts to public notice.

38

See SO a HES is AG PUAN NA ae CLS BN a Pag
: « deett atigene ie — oy tacked

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. DTT Pe Ga ane cas ata 4 Tae
y Le } oF & > : ee) eae BUCHANAN COUN DL sf A © a A “oe
f . EE) ~ 4 eee ; fh
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7) Nt ee Cu Fee et ee OO feed /
oo es ~fTAONTH poem ps \ sy a z < —— ar
~~ ~(HARDIN and LITTIR) -- 4 f\ :
Cog re ,
oo os Epes rer

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ee ee, ee a eleven ) Ue Ziakeew - oe “esa OF
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Cf)

Violence In The Cumberlands

From: BEAUTIFUL AND BOUNTIFUL: A BI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, VA

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by Nancy Virginia Baker, Il¥/(O. ~

CRIME

Beneath the verdant cover on the hills, within
the narrow aSylum of the hollows, gruesome
crimes have occurred here which seem to con-
flict with the beauty of the county.
_ As long as there have been humans, there

have been violent crimes like murder, and the
humans who settled here were no exception.
There are many Cain and Abel stories, in-
volving moonshine, gambling, unfaithful
women and land rights. Occasionally, a family
feud erupted, spilling blood like lava all over a
community for a generation, like the celebrated
McCoy-Hatfield battle on the Kentucky-West
Virginia line at the turn of the century.
Although not quite as extensive or famous, the
Buchanan battles were similar in that they
were all crimes of passion, not cold
premeditation. Robbery seldom was the motive
among the mountain folk (except for men like
Howard Little): Most of the time, a few heated
words warmed an argument into a shooting
match.

With many pockets of people hidden in the
hills and few adequate roads, the mountains
remained inaccessible to the law. In certain
areas, especially, lawlessness seemed com-
monplace, and men often traveled with pistols
by their sides. The various communities in the
county were so isolated from one another that a
person traveling from, for example, the Council
area into the Knox Creek area would be con-
sidered a foreigner. And a West Virginian was
generally considered worse. Knox Creek in the
early days was infamous as a place where men
would shoot first and ask questions later.

A few of the tales of crimes and criminals
have been handed down numerous generations
and are now a valid part of the county’s
folklore. There are contradictions in several
stories and embellishments added along the
way by tobacco-chewing story-tellers, but they
all illustrate the frontier feeling prevalent in
these hills through the 1920’s.

The Tale of Vance

There is a tale about a man named Vance,
hung for killing Horton, but various versions
conflict in the date of the crime and the names
of the men. Sam Varney says his name was Ab-

ner Vance, who shot Dr. Lewis Horton ic
Clinch River Valley in the early 1800s yo.
bases much of his tale on a letter datel ®e' a2:
which refers to the incident. The letter 445.2,
written by Thomas Colly Johnston to Jomge~
Looney. Johnston had passed through this "42"*
in 1842 and 1847, to and from Pikeville @%*
during these visits became acquainted +
Looney. His letter, recently published in “ast |
and Legend” read in part, “‘... Tam getting
all the history of Southwest Virginia that! o-¢
What you told me in regard to old Abner Vast:
that they hung here for killing Lewis Horlas:;
have forgotten. I should like to know all #355 -"
the matter in which Horton had treated Vip: |
and how he desired to kill John? Also how Lu.
himself had acted .. .” In a later column, \@.V.0"
ney recounted that old Abner was the gm, :
father of a woman named Nancy Vance, #3: —
said to have married Ephraim Hatfield #72"
been the mother of ‘Devil Anse’ Hath: :.,.
patriarch of the clan during the bloody No hes
with the McCoys. Jim Vance, another oned ®t
grandchildren, also was active in the feud. eee
Another version of the tale, told by Fma 4“
Dotson of Home Creek who seems to we Me
about such things, places the date of Hort
murder much later, in the last years of the Si".
century. Also, Mr. Dotson says that Van c:.9.
first name was Jim, not Abner. Jim Vance® 7.7% |
two sons, Abner and Jim Jr., after whont7e.
named the two forks where he settled whe FAP
came to Buchanan. Jim Sr. became involtt "cv
the McCoy-Hatfield feud after he left here®-i<¢""
before he was apprehended by thelaw. £7
Despite these discrepancies, the tale is 1/2"
similar. Vance, who lived near Abingdon, weyx4"“
peaceful frontiersman. One story is reer ee
have been an Elder in the Old RepiRiys
Primitive Baptist Church. In any case, he hie © :
daughter whom he loved greatly, : who #474
seduced and taken away by a man named Hie
ton. Once Horton was finished with her. ae
brought her back to her father’s house #2
dumped her off with several vulgar and (®G,
comments about her. Horton rode off, Ryut:
paused a short distance from the house toa.
his horse to drink in the ford of Clinch Rif"
Enraged and bitter. Vance grabbed his


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and ran into his yard, shooting the unsuspecting
Horton in the back.

Realizing the law would be after him, Vance
left the area, traveling through the trackless
wilderness along the Kentucky-West Virginia
border. He settled in Buchanan, on the forks
named after his sons, and lived here several
years. Vance finally returned to his home coun-
ty, believing that so many years had passed he
might be forgiven, especially since his
daughter’s honor was an issue. However, he
was wrong. When he returned home, he was ap-
prehended by the law and tried and convicted
for the murder that had occurred so long
before. It is said that on his hanging day, the
governor sent a reprieve, but the message
arrived minutes too late. The trap door in the
eee had already been opened. Vance was

d.

It is said that, while waiting for his hanging,
the condemned man wrote a song, which he
sung from the scaffold, much as John Hardin
did years later. There are slight variations in
the lyrics, and both versions are included in the
Appendix.

The Bad Baiasdens |

Another early crime revolved around a band
of lawless brothers named Baiasden. According
to Arthur Ratliff Jr. in his Tales of the Hills,
John Henry, Harrison and Bill were born and
bred in Mingo County, West Virginia, but slip-
ped into Buchanan when a posse there
organized against them. They are said to have
shot up Grundy, fought a lot and forced un-
willing people to trade horses with them. The
bullies were run off for a while into Pike Coun-
ty, Kentucky, but finally returned and wreaked
more havoc. Bob Irons, also a bad man, got in-
volved in a feud with the brothers. They held a
shoot-out downtown in which John Henry and
Bill killed Irons. These two brothers were cap-
tured and jailed by Bill Bevins. Brother
Harrison went free, and continued to disturb
the townsfolk. One time, he tried to overrun the
town with a stampede of horses. Later, he am-
bushed the sneriff and his lawless brothers
enroute to the courthouse for trial. The
Baiasdens got free and disappeared into the
mountains. (22)

Pendleton at Hurley

The long arm of the law often wasn’t quite
long enough, and occasionally mob violence
reached out farther. In the case of Henry Pen-
dleton from Pike County, an angry mob took a
shortcut through the judicial system, ignoring
constitutional guarantees of due process.

Pendleton was an abrasive, ill-tempered out-

c-

3 79

sider who worked for W. M. Ritter in Hurley in
1909. He was rough with his wife, the story goes,
and she finally ran away, finding shelter in the
home of Sam Baker (she was some kin to Mrs.
Baker). Sam, who was well-liked, was some
sort of constable in the area and worked as a
railroad man with the lumber company.

Henry Pendleton was furious, considering
Baker’s involvement as an intrusion. He
stormed to the Baker home and demanded his
wife return with him. She refused, backed up by
Mrs. Baker. He was forced to leave.

That Christmas eve, then, when Baker was
walking with his wife in the early evening, Pen-
dleton confronted them and began arguing. A
bitter verbal battle ensued, climaxing when
Pendleton shot Baker. Crouched over her
husband’s dead body, Mrs. Baker grabbed his
pistol and aimed several shots at the y ‘urderer.
She creased his forehead with a bullet. Run-
ning, Pendleton shot back, missing her.

The fugitive managed an escape that night
but the next day was apprehended by a posse of
men as he was traveling down Paw Paw toward
Kentucky. They hauled him to the company
clubhouse which stood where Hassell Lester’s
home is now. That night, a mob formed and
broke into the building, brutally hauling him to
a steam pipe which ran from the Ritter mill
across to the machine shop (on the corner of the
present drugstore in Hurley). A rope was tossed
over the pipe (some say over a nearby tree).
Pendleton was lynched and his swinging body
was riddled with bullets and left to hang. Five
inches of snow crowned the corpse the next day.

After four days, he was cut down and buried
on Paw Paw, but his grave was disturbed when
the highway came through that area years
later. It is said the corpse was perfectly preser-
ved, either because of the cold on the night of
his death or the fact his bullet-torn body had
been drained of blood. (28)

Murder and Lynching

Mob violence has never been a satisfactory
way to administer justice, especially when
there is some question on the guilt of those
hung. Such was the case in Tazewell County in
the early days. The tale begins when two
Buchanan men, Alex Ratliff and Ben Shor-
tridge, traveled to Richlands in January, 1892,
possibly to sell wool, furs or walnut logs and to
buy supplies. They spent the night enroute as
did every previous traveler -- sleeping beneath
their loaded wagon.

They reached Richlands early the next day,
did their business and prepared to relax before
starting home. Ratliff and Shortridge stepped
into a saloon for a drink where they could boast

CAROLINE COUNTY, VIRGINIA.

DANIEL ALLEN HEARN

Mr. M. Watt Espy
Capital Punishment Research Project

Pe On

Box 277

Headland, AL 36345

September 21st 1989

Wich time on | my hands between Maryland trips I decided to make a test
run « na sample Virginia county; in this case Caroline County, founded in

. Attached is a list of executions which turned up for this county in

| the colonial period. What I need to know is if, onthe cross-check, any

a turn out new to your records and if so, which ones. Please check off any
o\ being and return list to me. It will help me to settle a methodology
_ fopeattacking Virginia counties. Thanx.

cae 1S

sy

NAME OFFENCE NOTES
Robin, slave of Wm. Taliaferro Arson Hung
Andrew, slave of Rich. Bradford Rape Hung
Phil, slave of Henry Lawless Arson Hanged & Headed
Constantine Matthews (white) Robbery To Wmsbg. Hung
Richard Mumford (white) Horse Theft To Wmsbg. Hung
Francis Bearding (white) e Robbery __ a8 Wmsbg. Hung
Patrick Welch (white) Coining To Wmsbg. Hung
Lee Cuffey, slave of Robert Coleman Murder Bung oe
a Harry, slave of Henry Armistead Gun Theft Hung
1760" John Kay (white) Murder _. To Wmsbg. Hung
Tyee? Daniel; siave-oF Jorn Pickett “Murder Hung oe y
1762 Roger, slave of George Arnold Robbery Hung
1762 Peter, slave of John Wiley Murder Hung
1762 Cupid, Slave of John Almond Murder Hung
1762 Abel, slave of Nicholas Oliver Murder Hung
1762 David Gordon (white) __ Horse Theft _ To Wmsbg. Hung
1763 Peter, Slave of Martin Philips Murder os Seiie
1763 Nan, slave of John Sutton ? Hung
1764 Tom, slave of Henry Gilbert Burglary Hung
1765 Aaron, slave of Rbt. Armistead Robbery Hung
Lopes Abrahan, renegade slave Horse Theft Hung
: Gloucester, slave of Wm.Johnson Robbery Hung


On

COLONIAL CAROLINE

A Ffistory of

Caroline County, Virginia

| ast BY
_T. E. CAMPBELL

THE DIETZ PRESS, INCORPORATED
RICHMOND, VIRGINTI-A

ao ae oS

-


72 CoLONIAL CAROLINE

In a move to get rid of the wolves the House of Burgesses
passed a law raising the bounty on wolf scalps to 100 pounds
of tobacco each. This was a handsome price at a time when a
laboring man only made 30 pounds of tobacco for working
from sun to sun, and an indentured servant had to serve an
extra month and a half for every 100 pounds of tobacco the
court estimated he cost his master when he ran away. In all
sections of the colony men abandoned their work and became
professional wolf hunters. The two best known in Caroline

_were Adam Loving and Minor Winn.

The turmoil which the caterpillars, deer and wolves caused

made many of the Negro slaves, recently brought into the »

colony from Africa, restless. On the new plantations along the
upper James they began to run away in great aumibery and
many of these fugitives formed a settlement of their own in
the Valley of Virginia near the site of Lexington. Here they
built a town of boughs and grass houses in the manner of the
homes in their native land, and set up a tribal government
under a chief, who had been a prince among his own people
before slave traders brought him across the Atlantic. The
fugitives had with them many farming implements which they
stole, from their masters. These, they knew how to use, and
since the region in which they settled was outside es ates
afflicted by the caterpillars their crops grew and the community
prospered, but not for long. The whites located them and the
next year military men mustered from-all sections of the colony
moved_on their settlement, killed the chief and returned his
followers to their masters.

This incident strained relations between the races. County
courts sentenced numerous Negroes to death. In Caroline the
magistrates tried and ordered the sheriff to hang Robin, a slave
of Captain William Taliaferro, for breaking into the dwellin
house of Thomas Royston. } :

Governor Gooch, however, did not wish to see the Negroes
persecuted and to restore the slaves’ morale, freed a Negro who
concocted a medicine reputed to cure venereal disease, after
paying the Negro’s master his appraised value out of the

public revenue.

Tue RULE OF SIR Witiiam Goocu

News of this liberation spread like wildfire among the slaves.
In hopes of gaining their freedom, Negroes in all sections of
the colony began experiments and attempted to make medicines
to cure all ailments known to man. In Caroline one of these
experiments resulted in tragedy. Tom, a Negro belonging to
John Garnett, made a medicine which failed to cure. Instead
this concoction poisoned and killed Joe and Wick, slaves of
Richard Buckner, Mingo, a slave of Francis Thornton, and
Rover, a slave of John Micou. The magistrates of Caroline
County, however, were lenient with* Tom for causing these .
mass deaths. Instead of ordering him hanged, they directed
that he be transported to some place outside of the Virginia
colony to prevent him from causing more trouble locally. —

2. THE ToBAcco TRANSPORTATION Act

Before Virginia recovered from “the plagues” the British
Parliament passed an act which threatened to ruin the colony’s
economy. This Jaw, designed to help English ship owners,
forbade the planters to strip, stem or cut their tobacco before
shipping it abroad. The statute was so unpopular in Virginia
that it led to riots which yeered on open rebellion.

In 1732 the fiery Edwin Conway, who sat for Lancaster in

the House of Burgesses, made a stirring speech against the act
at a muster in his colony which so inflamed the planters that
when night fell they burned the chartered tobacco warehouse
at Corotoman. From Lancaster the trouble spread until all
Virginia between the Potomac and the Rappahannock was in
an uproar. Governor Gooch reported to the Crown “that
‘bands of the meaner sort roamed the countryside, burning
tobacco warehouses and comitting other crimes.”
~ As close as the bands came to Caroline was Falmouth, where
they burned Todd’s warehouse. But Gooch ordered the Caro-
line militia mustered and placed on guard along the south bank
of the Rappahannock to keep the rioters from crossing that
stream and spreading trouble ‘nto other sections of the county.
The Caroline militia was, at the time, under the command of
Colonel Henry Armistead, crown lieutenant for the county.


have to forgive them before I can obtain
forgiveness (Mary Lee was a lady staying with
the Little family). Adam Brother, I am in such
a State of mind that I can’t think of what I want
to say to you, but you see Bud Lee and tell him
what I tell you, and you and him make your
arrangements. Will you do this Adam? Please
do it for I can never die satisfied. Tell sister and
children all to meet me in heaven. I feel Iam all
right. Please give me word from my little
children, for I may not be permitted to write,
and if I am not, I guess they will let me hear
from my friends. So you tell all my friends to
write to me often. So they are now ready tostart
with me and I will have to close. Hoping to hear
from all soon, and bidding you all farewell,
hoping to meet you all in heaven, I am as ever,
your brother, W. H. Little.”’

(reprinted from Sam Varney Jr.’s column,
“Lore and Legend.’’)

“THE VANCE SONG”
Version No. 1
(an excerpt taken from The Sweet Bird

_ Songbook)

‘There are David Horton and Bob and Bill, a
lie against me swore,

In order to take my life away that I might be
no more;

But they and I together must meet when
Gabriel’s trump shall blow:

Perhaps I will rest in Abraham’s breast,
while they roll in the gulf below.

I killed a man, I don’t deny; He threatened to
kill me,

And for this I am condemned to die, the jury
all agree;

But I and they together must meet where all
things are well known;

And if I have shed the innocent blood, I hope
there is mercy shown.

Bright shines the sun on Clinch’s Hill, so soft
the west wind blows,

The valley is covered all over with bloom,
perfumed with the red rose;

But Vance no more shall Sandy behold, nor
smell its sweet perfume,

This day his eyes in death must close, his
body conveyed to the tomb.” (21)

Version No. 2

Green grows the woods where Sandy flows,
and peace along its rills;

In the valley the black bear lies secure, the
red buck roves the hills.
But Vance no more shall Sandy behold nor

drink of its crystal wave;

The partial Judge pronounced his doom -- to
the hunter a felon’s grave.

The Judge called me ‘incarnate fiend,’ for
Elliott’s life I saved:

I couldn’t agree to Elliott’s guilt, humanity
belongs to the brave.

The mercy that I to others have shown, has
never been shown to me;

Humanity, I say, belongs to the brave, and |
hope it belongs to me.

Twas by advice of McFarland, J udge John-
son did me call;

I was taken from my native home and placed
in yon stone wall.

My persecutors have gained their quest, their
promise to make good:

They often swore they’d never rest till they
had my life’s blood.

Daniel Horton, Bob and Bill, a lie against me
swore;

In order to take my life away, that I should be
no more.

But they and I together must meet, where al!
things are made known:

And if I shed a human’s blood, there’l] mercy
be me shown.

Bright shines the sun of Clinch’s hills, and
soft the west wind blows;

The valleys are covered o’er with bloom, per-
fumed by the fragrant rose.

But Vance no more shall Sandy behold, nor
smell the sweet perfume;

This day his eyes will close in death, his body
laid in the tomb.

Farewell my friends, my children dear, to
you I bid farewell:

The love I have for your precious souls, no
mortal tongue can tell.

Farewell to you my loving wife, to you I bid
adieu;

And if I reach fair Canaan’s shore, I'll wait
and watch for you..
_. (Sam Varney Jr. speculates about the song
that the Johnson referred to in the third stanza
was the judge who presided, with McFarland
the prosecuting attorney. The man called
Elliott evidently had been on trial once himself,
and was acquitted when Elder Vance, as part of
the jury, held out against a guilty conviction
and changed the other jurors’ minds. Now
Elliott, as part of the jury in Vance’s trial, was
the most ruthless. and vindictive man against
him.)


332 CoLoNIAL CAROLINE

Woolfolk’ who were more prolific than their Negroes, had to
purchase slaves to staff the homesteads of younger sons.

The chief registrants of young imported Negroes, however,
were tavern-keepers, members of their families and the men
who loafed in taverns, such as sailors when ashore, small-time
speculators and minor office holders. Roy’s Tavern at Port
Royal, Brown's at the Courthouse, Dyer’s at Douguetown
(Milford) Bridge, James Martin’s at Guinney Bridge, Sneed’s
at Daniels’ (White's) Mill and Thomas Bankes at Chesterfield
were early centers of slave trade. In addition to the tavern-
keepers and members of their families other traders included
the seafaring Lindsays, the horse-trading Picketts and Saunders,
and the Beazleys, who frequently served as road supervisors

and constables.

Unfortunately there is no record of the adult Negroes
‘brought into Caroline. But it is known that the number was
considerable and that a great many of them came from the
West Indies rather than from Africa. This is borne out by
slaves’ names in the Order Books in business transactions and
in crime, which were often typically Spanish; Pancho, Sancho,
Diego, Pedro, Mungo, Mingo, Lucia, Juanita and Maria. The
adult Negro imported from the West Indies was of consider-
able greater value than the adult Negro imported from Africa.
The former was civilized while the latter was still a savage.

While planters usually let’ their West Indian Negroes keep
their original names they gave a wide variety of names to their
other slaves. Of the young Negroes registered in the Caroline
Court, forty-eight received the names of Greek and Roman
gods and heroes with eight Cupids and seven Casars heading
the list. Twenty-seven were named for cities with Bristol (6)
being the most popular. Twenty-five received the names of
Biblical characters, which included four Hams. The most
popular name for a woman was Daphne. There were sixteen.
Some names were pure fantasy. Henry Terrell named six of

his slaves Pansar, Paisar, Potah, Sonah, Pakah and Tulah.

Samuel Hawes named a Negro, Money, John Apperson a _

Negro, Breakup, and Sarah Brown, apparently afraid that
hers was going to run away, Don’t-forget-me. :

THE PEOPLE : 333

a. Crime

Caroline Negroes were well behaved for the most part. The
only major crimes in which Negroes were the accused recorded
in the Order Books.are listed below:

-1734—Robin, slave of William Taliaferro, burned dwelling of Thomas

-Royston—hAung. : |
1734—Dirk, slave of Francis Thornton, tried to poison Robert Dudley
and others—master gave bond for his good behavior.
1736—Andrew, slave of Richard Bradford, convicted of the rape of
Elizabeth Williams—Aung. :
1739—Phil, slave of Henry Lawless, burned ‘Thomas Emerson's dwell-
ing—hung and head cut off and set up in a public place.

: 1744—Tom, slave of John Garnett, poisoned Joe and Wick, slaves of

Richard Buckner, Mungo, slave of Francis Thornton, and Rover,
slave of John Micoy—ordered transported from the colony of
Virginia. .

1747—Robin, slave of Francis ‘Thornton, struck Simon Morgan, with
a knife—39 lashes at the whipping-post.

1751—Cuffey, slave of Robert Coleman’s estate, poisoned Betty, a slave
of Robert Coleman’s estate—hung.

1751—Harry, slave of Henry Armistead’s estate, stole gun from pene
Whitehead—hung. This was a second offense; previously Harry
had broken into the house of Hugh Davis and stolen a gun. (He
had been burned in the Jeft hand in open court and given 39
lashes at the whipping-post upon conviction of this crime.)

1761—Daniel, slave of John Pickett, killed Pronton, slave of Sam
Major—hung. .

1762—Bob, slave of Archibald Dick, broke into the storehouse fe)
Theodore Morrison—sentenced to hang. Broke out of jail the
day before the day set for the hanging, never heard from again.

- .1762—Roger, slave of George Arnold, participated in the crime above—

hung.
het fae slave of Thomas Coleman, participated in crime above—
39 lashes at the whipping-post. .
1762—Peter, slave of John Wiley, poisoned Nicodemous and Jeffry,
slaves of Francis ‘Taylor, hung.
-1762—Cupid, slave of John Allmond, killed Frank, slave of John
Cheadle—hung. 2 . :
1762—Abel, slave of Nicholas Oliver, participated in crime above—
hung.


338 ae COLONIAL CAROLINE

explain ‘why Daniel, a free Negro, should not be bound.”
Gillison answered the summons and stated that he intended for
Daniel to be free, “whereupon the court let the Negro go
his way.” 3

But life for Daniel, as a free man, was not easy. Irresponsi-
ble whites picked on him until in desperation he sued: Jacob
Tinsley for assault and battery (Order Book V, page 449).
In this epoch-making case the jury,. which of course was all
-white, found for the Negro although they only allowed him a
penny in damages. Tinsley, however, had to pay the costs,
which were considerable. |

The next step towards civil rights for Negroes came in 1764
when Hannah, the slave of Samuel Sutton, received a king’s

pardon after the Caroline Court convicted her of burning her

master’s home and sentenced her to hang. Hannah was the
only person, Negro or white, pardoned by the king in Caroline
during colonial times. Significant as this act was she could not
-have secured the sovereign’s forgiveness without powerful
friends to plead her cause in Williamsburg before the royal
governor. .The chief of her friends was William Boulware, her
attorney. It was a common practice for the court to appoint
lawyers to defend Negroes accused of crime. The leading
members of the Caroline bar served in this capacity at some
times during their careers.

Around 1765 the court began to take cognizance of the fact
if Negroes were Christians when they appeared as witnesses or
as the accused. If Christian Negroes were caste in the later
role and convicted the magistrates either allowed or disallowed
the benefit of clergy when enduring punishment, depending on
the degree of the crime, as they did with the whites.

While undoubtedly there were Christians among the Caroline
Negroes prior to 1765 the mass Christianization of colored
slaves appears to have taken place about that date. The Rev.
Johnathan Boucher in his autobiography writes, “On the 24th
day of November, 1765, I baptized in St. Mary’s Church one
hundred and fifteen Negro adults, and on the 31st of March
1766, being Easter Monday, I baptized three hundred and
thirteen Negro adults, and lectured extempore to upwards of

1a eanaeetinass 942 0

mesa

li

i
i
{
i

THE PEOPLE 339

_a thousand. I question whether so extraordinary an accession

to the Church of Christ, by one man and in one day, can be
paralleled in the journals of the Popish missionaries.”

Rey. Boucher, however, appears to. have been interested
primarily in baptizing Negroes and saving their souls, rather
than in making them communicants of his church. He held
that they were not ready for church membership until they
were better educated. He writes ‘in my humble judgement it
is injudicious to attempt to instruct them (the Negroes) *** in
its mysterious doctrines. I may. add, moreover, with strict
truth, that | had under my care many Negroes as well in-
formed, as orderly and regularly. pious, as. country people
usually are, even in England. Corresponding with the society

called the Associates of Dr. Bray, I had set up two or three

serious and sensible blackmen as school masters to-teach the
children around them merely to read at their leisure hours, and

chiefly on Sunday afternoons,***. I had in consequence almost

every Sunday, twenty or thirty, who could use their prayer
books and make the responses, and I had towards the last of
my ministry there (St. Mary’s) thirteen black communicants.”

But in the long run economic reasons, rather than an interest
in saving souls, caused the education of more Negroes. Masters
taught their brighter slaves to read and write that they might
more perfectly practice skilled trades. As time went on more
and more Negroes became artesans until skilled slaves made
indentured servants unprofitable and doomed the apprentice
system. John Baylor in his will probated in the Caroline Court
in 1772 lists his skilled Negroes by name.

Race Relations. Strong bonds of affection sprung up be--

. tween the Negroes and the whites. Elizabeth Goodwin re-

nounced her husband’s will to keep her Negro maid. But it was
again the loquacious Parson Boucher who left the most com-
prehensive account of race relations. Upon leaving Caroline
for Maryland he wrote in his autobiography, ‘“To my slaves I
gave the option either to go with me or to choose themselves
masters in Virginia. All the unmarried ones chose the former;
and the others I sold by their own desire, chiefly to gentlemen,


336 CoLONIAL CAROLINE

Captor, Who

Claimed Bounty Runaway Name and Address of Master

Patrick Cockran Michael MacMath & John Cook of ~ Norfolk
Samuel Stanley, in- borough.
dentured servants.

Joseph Lankford Manger—Negro slave John Corbin of Essex.

The above list was typical. An average of over twenty-five
escapees were captured in Caroline each year between 1745

and 1775. Some fugitives managed to travel a great distance.

before they were captured. One indentured servant from
Northampton County was captured in Caroline,

Negro Progress. The Negro’s position improved rapidly in
Caroline. From uncouth barbarian he became, in many in-
stances,’ a skilled worker able to read and write. With his

enhanced value to his master as an artisan his living standards ©

improved. In time the freeholders accorded him many of the
common law rights which were a British heritage. By the time
of the Revolution hundreds of Caroline Negroes were Chris-
tians and a few were no longer slaves.

There is only one instance of record of the miscarriage of
justice in regards to a Negro in the Caroline Courts prior to
1782. This was the hanging of Andrew, for the alleged rape
of Elizabeth Williams, a white indentured servant, when the
evidence indicates that she acquiesced to the sex act. In this
case both the man and the woman were first convicted of
adultry. But when a certain element in the county was not
satisfied with the verdict, the court set it aside and condemned
Andrew to death for rape. When the Negro was hung his
paramour took to the woods and remained a fugitive for nine
days. She was sentenced to serve nine additional weeks at the
end of her term of indenture and pay a fine of 200 lbs. of
tobacco after her capture. After this unfortunate episode the
Caroline Court made no attempt to punish the Negro father
when white women gave birth to mulattoes. Charity Burns,
Mary Close, Sussanah Baker and Elizabeth Sanders were all
whipped for this crime, but there is no record of any punish-
ment being imposed on the child’s father.

THE PEOPLE 337

The only act of barbarism by whites towards a Negro was
early in the county’s history. Three years after the hanging of
Andrew, or in 1739, the court ordered the head of Phil cut off
and set up in a public place after he was hung for the burning
of the manor house of Thomas Emerson. Arson is an awful
crime, and the court’s attitude is understandable. The magis-
trates wanted to make an example of Phil and deter others
from committing a similar offense. But even this reasoning
does not excuse the atrocity. :

In other instances of attacks of Negroes on whites the court:

was more lenient. It merely ordered Dirk placed under bond
for his good behavior after he attempted to poison Robert
Dudley, and Dirk’s master, Francis Thornton, put up this bond.
It only sentenced Robin, another slave of Francis Thornton, to

thirty-nine lashes at the whipping-post after he wounded Simon.

Morgan with a knife. In this case all the defense witnesses
were Negroes while many of the prosecuting witnesses were
whites.

In 1770 Harding Chewning, a white man, was charged with
the murder of Jack, the Negro slave of John Smith. The court
acquitted Chewning and there is no evidence of his guilt. But

it is interesting to note that whites were being tried in Caroline

at this time if they killed a Negro.

Negroes had certain civil responsibilities along with their
rights. In 1762 Isabelle and Daphne, the slaves of John
Beazley, were sentenced to 15 lashes at the whipping-post for
perjury after they were convicted of lying on the witness stand
in the trial of Daniel, slave of John Pickett, for the murder of
Pronton, slave of Samuel Major. 3

As early as 1760 there is evidence that Negro slaves in
Caroline were beginning to win their freedom through acts of
benevolence of their masters. An unusual statement in Order
Book V (1759) reads: “It is ordered that Lavendar, a Negro
servant belonging to Benj. Hubbard, gent., serve her master,
three months after her term of service expires.”

The first positive evidence that there were free Negroes in
Caroline appears in the same Order Book on page 203, when
the magistrates order John Gillison to appear in court and

334. CoLontaL CAROLINE

1762

Sam, slave of John Burk, participated in crime abov e—39 lashes
at the whipping-post.

1763—Peter, slave of Martin Phillips, poisoned other slaves—hung.
1763—Nan, slave of John Sutton, crime obliterated—hung.

1764—Tom, slave of Henry Gilbert of Hanov rer, broke into numerous ;

Caroline homes—hung.

1764—Hannah, slave of Samuel Sutton, convicted of burning her mas-
ter’s home, sentenced to hang—pardoned oY the ——

1705—
hurig. :
1765—Dick, slave of John Wright, accused of poisoning Guy, slave of
Samuel Stevens—Court held poison administered as medicine
without intent to kill—ordered burned in left hand in open court
and 39 lashes at whipping- post—allowed the benefit of clergy.

1772—Abraham, runaway Negro from Goochland, broke into John
Baylor’s stable, stole horse and Gothia Rone.

1775—Gloucester, slave of Dr. William Johnston, broke into igre of |

James Bowie—hung.
_1776—Jack, slave of
lashes on bare back.

1779—Patt, slave of William Dandridge—accused of killing her sie,
not guilty.

, attempted rape of Mary Vaughan—39

Minor Crimes: Negroes were frequently in court for minor
crimes. The most prevalent were theft and escape from servi-
tude. Food was the article most often stolen. On numerous
occasions a group of slaves seized a hog and carried it into the
woods far out of the reach of a white man’s habitation for a
barbecue. The punishment for this was the most drastic the
court imposed short of the death sentence, 39 lashes at the
whipping-post and burning of the left hand in open court for
the leaders, and a lesser number of lashes for the followers.
The theft of articles other than food was not very profitable
for Negroes after 1752, when the General Assembly passed a
law which made it a felony for a free man to have a business
transaction with a slave. But in spite of this law, Gilbert, a
slave of Thomas Roy, stole eleven rugs from the schooner
Molly anchored in Port Royal harbor in 1762. He was burned

in the left hand and given 39 lashes at the whipping-post for
this crime.

JHE PEOPLE 335

Escape was the commonest of all crimes. It was committed
by bound children, apprentices and indentured servants as well
as Negro slaves. The escapees roamed the countryside com-
mitting crimes to live. The General Assembly passed drastic
laws to punish the offenders because they were the source of
so much trouble while on the loose. Escapees after capture

-were publicly whipped in each county they passed through

while on the way back to their masters in custody, and their
captors received liberal rewards. The reward was paid by the
secretary of the colony out of public funds, but it had to. be
made up by the owner of’ the escaped servant. In cases of
servants bound for a term of years the ‘servant had to serve
additional time after the termination of his indenture to reim-
burse his master. But in the case of Negro slaves there was
nothing that the master was able to do but take his loss. The
reward was so liberal that numerous men made a living captur-
ing runaways. The most celebrated in Caroline was Thomas
Lantor, who had failed at everything else he tried in life.
After Dinwiddie became governor two sessions of the Caro-
line Court each year were set aside to certify claims to the
secretary of the colony for the capture of runaways in the
county. The claims certified for the Fall term of 1752 follows:

Captor, Who

Claimed Bounty Runaway Name and Address of Master
Henry Burk George—Negro slave William Naiper of Gooch-
land.
Joseph DeJarnette Gabriel—Negro slave Benjamin Milward of Caro-
line.

James Gatewood ‘Negro “who either re- William Arnold of Glou-
fused or was unable to cester.
give his name.”

John Carson Cate—Negro slave John Corbin of Essex
Richard Corey Cato—Negro slave John Spotswood of Spotsyl-
vania.

Abraham Willson Alexander Southerland, Jeremiah Pierce of Caroline

indentured servant.

Nathan Chapman Alice—Negro slave Richard Corbin of King
and Queen.

y

ke, he wife
my : South.
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» had been born
ith side of the
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‘mory to him.

vents in 1770 on

less than three
id his wife are
ve of Bermuda,
‘e known as the

were born at
| December 29,
r 6, 1784. Both

led to her son,
liamsburg. The
‘ing was built in
ine consisted. of
perimental farm
yamin Watkins
of her tongue.”
section of the
ning of the war,
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e bu . Later
djacent Central
nity Methodist
urthouse, also
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private prop-
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ong the line of
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tyne to whom
circumventing

The Redcoat Invasion 125

Wayne sent a company of the Pennsylvania line under Captain John
Davies into Chesterfield where it spent nearly a month at various places.
The famed General himself came to inspect the Pennsylvanians and on
this occasion he spent ten days in Chesterfield.

Wayne’s introduction to the county was a pleasant one. He arrived

by way of Pocahontas where he enjoyed the hospitality of Spencer’s

Inn so much that he returned again in November. Because of the pre-
vious damage to the bridge over the Appomattox he crossed on a ferry.
Spencer’s Inn was reported by Wayne to have “a cramped, indifferent
appearance from the outside but was comfortable and indeed luxurious
on the inside.” Apparently Spencer was far in advance of his time and
had something of a floor show for his distinguished guests because

Wayne was another of the travelers who spoke in glowing words of

the performance of Spencer’s daughter Nancy on the harpsichord.

At Goode’s Bridge Wayne had a ruder entertainment in the form
of a hanging. There on July 21 one of the Continentals was put to
death for marauding. A few days later the bridge, which had been
hastily repaired after its wrecking by the invading British, collapsed
unexpectedly while the Pennsylvanians were fishing from it in the
Appomattox. None was hurt in the mishap.

The victim of the hanging probably was the William Fitzpatrick
who had been tried by a 14-man court-martial on July 17 at Ware
Bottom Church and condemned to death on the gallows on a marauding
charge. Major Hamilton Prest was president of the court.

The Pennsylvanians had arrived in Chesterfield on July 15 from the
deep South where they had been fighting with Greene. They camped
the first night at Chesterfield (Wood’s) Church and continued on to
Chesterfield Courthouse where the public buildings were a mass of
rubble. On July 18 they went into a semi-permanent camp at Goode’s
Bridge. :

At the end of the month the company marched to Watkins Mill,
nine miles from the bridge and there Davies reported “we see a very
agreeable country, the most fertile we have seen to date.” He was com-
plimentary also about the area around Chesterfield Courthouse.

In early November, the same Pennsylvania outfit, having been at
the “kill” at Yorktown, returned for another brief tour in Chesterfield.
On November 16 the company moved into Petersburg.

While on the November visit Wayne went back to Spencer’s and
from there he was taken to see Mrs. Bolling’s warehouse and grist mill
on the river bank a few miles below Pocahontas. At the latter place he
was much interested ina machine called simply a “gin” which was used
to remove seeds from the cotton grown on the plantation. The “gin”
had two large teethed cylinders which revolved in opposite directions
and combed out the stubbornly clinging seed. This “gin” and similar


~~ ;

126 3 Chesterfield—An Old Virginia County

homemade ones, were in use in Chesterfield for many years before Eli
Whitney’s invention revolutionized the cotton industry ‘of the South.

Rough as he unquestionably was, Wayne, nevertheless, was shocked
by the dress, or rather the undress, of the Negro servants he saw in
homes of prosperous planters. He reports secing young slaves, boys and
girls as old as fifteen, waiting on the table naked or at the most wearing
nothing other than a loose shirt that fell no further than the middle of
the thigh. On the other hand the carefree life of the Virginians, with
their love of fine horses, their fox-hunting and their long evenings of
good fellowship was to his liking.

Throughout the campaign of 1781 Captain David Patterson’s Ches-
terfield company was ‘n almost constant service. Early in the year it
was stationed at Dinwiddie Courthouse, which was on the line of march
of invaders from the south. Later it was with Lafayette in front of
Petersburg and it was among the victorious Continentals at the sur-
render of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Captain Robert Powers’ company
also saw service under Lafayette.

The disturbed conditions caused by the war doubtless caused much
unrest among the slaves and there was an unusual amount of crimes
committed by them as well as by whites during this period. The county
court records show numerous condemnations to death for serious
offenses, but it is noteworthy that many Negroes accused of crimes
were found not guilty by the justices.

Thirty-nine lashes on the bare back was a standard punishment
for petty offenses, with the penalty frequently to be repeated on subse-
quent days. For more serious thievery the culprit was branded in the
hand and given the additional thirty-nine lashes.

When a slave was put to death the owner was compensated and
there is one instance where William Archer and Harry Heth were
awarded $400 each as compensation for the loss of Cyrus, property of
the first, and Dick, property of the second, who escaped jail while
awaiting the hangman after conviction for burglary.

Isbell, a Negro “wench” owned by Gray Buggs was sentenced to
be hanged in 1780, but escaped and after her recapture was recom-
mended for mercy. A slave who poisoned Curtis Nunnally in 1783 was
not as lucky.

While the war years saw the establishment of many grist and saw-
mills to meet military needs, the conflict brought a new industry, gun-

owder making, to Chesterfield. One contemporary writer, in fact,

credits Jacob Rubsamen, then a resident of Manchester, with being
America’s pioncer in this field. This industry made its start in the first
"years of the war when the need for gunpowder was stressed by the
seizure of the supply stored in the “Powder Horn” at Williamsburg.
After Arnold’s first invasion and his destruction of the powder at

ress eS
BO ae LRT © eh ad

West
chen
forn
The,
Cree
how
mak!
meni
as Vi
rece
offic
was

of :

16 Chesterfield—An Old Virginia County

weather set in, the settlers were caught wholly unprepared. Ina land of
plenty they had nothing to show for the long Winter ahead. They had
failed to cure the abundant fish and game and apparently no attention
had been given to building adequate shelter from the cold. They had
harvested no corn of consequence and the Indians were not disposed to
help supply the deficiency. As a matter of fact the watchful natives
adopted a policy of preventing the newcomers from venturing into the
forests for wild animals that would have replenished the empty larders.
Disregard for the most elemental rules of sanitation brought pestilence
and disease in its wake.

When Newport got back to Virginia with reinforcements and sup-
plies on the following January 2 he found all in disorder. Wingfield had
been deposed as president on September 10 and John Ratcliff had been
named in his stead. George Kendall, a member of the council, had been
condemned for mutiny and executed by a firing squad. Only forty
emaciated, diseased, filthy men were left to greet Newport, due mostly
to famine, pestilence, and enemy arrows. Obviously nothing had been
done toward the settlement of the country above Jamestown because
of the bitter fight for survival.

It was while on one of a series of upstream voyages in search of food
for his starving companions that Smith was captured by the Indians. He
received food from the Queen of the Appomatucks and was saved from
death by the Indian maid, Pocahontas. The sufferers at Jamestown were

angered at Smith’s long absence, believing that he was having a good .

time while they hungered, and except for Newport’s opportune return
he probably would have met Kendall’s fate.

Newport remained in Virginia until April 10, 1608, when he again
left for England to enlist more adventurers and to obtain supplies. Dur-
ing his absence, a small ship, the Phoenix, which had been believed lost

_at sea for three months, arrived with welcome supplies. Smith had made

important explorations of the Chesapeake Bay and on September 10 _

was elevated to the presidency, just a few weeks before Newport arrived
a third time at Jamestown bringing Captain Francis West, a near kins-
man of Lord De La Warr, and Captains Peter Winne and Richard
Waldo.

‘Now came the first recorded visit of the white men to the upper end
of the present-day Chesterfield. Again Newport was in command and
again he omitted Smith from his party and the latter in turn ridiculed
Newport’s scheme of using a “quartered boat to be borne by souldiers
over the Falls.” With 120 hand-picked adventurers, Newport set out to
discover the country of the Monocans. Arriving at the Falls, a march of
forty miles was made around the rapids and up the river in two and
one-half days. Two of the Monocan villages were visited. Although the
Monocans neither “used us well nor ill” the practical Newport cau-

Sa seh iniiiint

tiously had t
the party as .
made a sear
were to be {:
Callicut, a 1
extracted wl
“poor trial”
country,” ac:
by Anas Tox
That sam
Scrivener, 11:
mattox and
Heights, Ma
any valuab|
traded their
those at Jam
taking only
visit, he mar!
bank of the |
Newpor:
the third tin
back two ba
other iron d
no doubt th:
which some
Nothing
undertaken
engaged bus:
ing to keep
councilors h:
sole commai
that will no:
Smith.
Captain \
was sent by
nothing exc
Spring of 1¢
when Captai
wine. Better
had been gre
a big fleet fc
as the first ‘(
Lord De
of Queen F'!


ry a I Ey
ca eee oti

pot ls
' again was
ige at the
ed by his
‘ke ready
ashore in
ved, Percy
tanding in
s accepted

the Indians
che disap-
© precious
ported to
‘dtobacco
| foo acres.
crude wig-
¢ with an
Over the
, and tree
ntrance to
est winter
it
vith shells,
lor s 2
MNeCa, wwe
3ows and
| weapons

iden hoe.
oumpkins,

oysters,
ere straw-
ce, and in
iter larder.
cardening,

“4

'. lay direc-
ent ashore

for seed, a -
pretty hill,

de jeggyt AL da ahyyib abst Net

wi?
ex

The White Man Arrives 15

we saw the queen of this country coming in self-same fashion of state as
Paw-at-ah or A-ra-ha-tec; yea rather with more majesty.

“She had an usher before her who brought her to the mat prepared
under a fair mulberry tree; where she sat down by herself, with a staid
countenance. She would permit none to stand or sit near her. She is fatt,
lustie, manly woman. She had much copper about her neck; a crown of
copper upon her head. She had long, black hair, which hanged loose down
her back to her middle; which only part was covered with a deer-skin and

else all naked. She had her women attending her, adorned much like herself,
save they wanted copper.”

Sounding almost modern in language, Percy reports that “here we
had our accustomed eates, tobacco and welcome.” He then continues:

“Our captain presented her with gifts liberally; whereupon she cheered
somewhat her countenance and requested him to shoot off a piece. Whereat

we noted she showed not near like fear as A-ra-ha-tex, though he be a
goodly man.

“She had much corn in the ground. She is subject to Powhatan, as the
Test are, yet within herself, of as great authority as any of her neighbors.
Captain Newport staid there some two hours, and departed.”

Smith also gives an account of this short visit and reports that “the
Quene of the Agamantack kindly entreated us, her people being no less
contented than the rest.” In his estimate of the strength of the Indians
in Virginia, Smith put the Appomatucks down at eighty warriors, which
meant a probable total of from 250 to 300 men, women and children in
the tribe. The Queen’s “palace,” according to Smith’s later map, was on
the north side of the Appomattox River near the present Matoaca, while
her main village was at the mouth of the river, doubtless because of the
greater fishing and hunting potential there.

When Newport’s party returned to Jamestown it was found that
Indians on the previous day had made an attack on the fort, killing two
and wounding eleven of the defenders. Coquonasum, who still viewed
the English with suspicion and alarm, had joined a league with the
Paspahegh and other tribes in the vicinity of Jamestown, and the Appo-
matucks tribesmen probably participated in this attack. On June 14 two
red emissaries visited Jamestown and announced that they were friendly
and would appease the others. Meanwhile, Newport, who had patched
up peace among the settlers and saw Smith on June ro given a place on
the council, sailed on June 22 with the Sarah Constant and Goodspeed
on his first return to England. He left 104 men and the Discovery and
the Virginia at Jamestown.

Unfortunately for all concerned, the band left behind by Newport
to maintain a toe-hold in the New World was made up of gold-seekers
rather than homemakers. The Summer and Fall of 1607 was wasted by
them in the fruitless search for precious metals and they gave little or no
thought to what a changing season would bring them. When cold


ai bee the ss ONS te La Winall enalab atten anil ada call S Sale a Nee

THE. FIRST LYNCHING IN THE GOUNTY 123

‘snehing party resorted to rough means, when

Pi

ney was overcome and the prisoner, with rope

ed around his neck, was dragged from the
across the station yard to the West s

sf the Va sr turnpike to a stunted locust tree.
He was soon hoisted to a limb to dangle in the
att, ee Mg some of the party fired several shots
into the writhing body. The work was quickly

done; the lynchers, having wreaked their ven-
zeanee on the miserable we hastily moved

away, taking the various roads leading from the
glace, and mone could aver hate they came
ec whither they went. The party was composed
yf about. thirty quiet but resolute men. No riot-

sus conduct and no confusion of plans. The
Commonwealth's Attorney, R. E. Byrd being pres-
ert. ordered a coroner’s inquest, which was delay-
“aver al hours vas “that the
was caused own to the
The court

sf all suspected persons; the sheriff returned I

: 1 rent sauealc

ordered the arrest

no arrests; the exciter
1; and for some time the community felt
tragedy would be wholesome to certain
: This was the first and only case of
winch Law in the County. It may be shown tn

ther pages that soldiers
me Civil W ay.

The natural cone be that the
Prompt discovery d terrible re-

owever, i 3s than two years we And

nei cou 1 1 mifronted with an outrage -

Pe
TMLee

n. This: was the case
pee gene Parker, a negro of that locality.
ted, taken before Justice Wm. Davi-
Son, who eaba the charges well sustained, and

ptly turned the prisoner over to the County
Court, A special grand jury was called for
arch rr, 1895. An indictment was returned to
Court, charging Parker with assault and vicious
attempt to commit rape upon a married woman

Viaes : ‘

‘ving a little West of Middletown. The court or-
divane , e ‘ j :
Sered avenire factas to issue, summoning a jury

Or the rsth to try the case. Every precaution
¥as taken to avoid a repetition of the unlawful
Proceedings witnessed in the case of Shorter. The
279Vernor ordered Col. James C. Bakes, com-
Tanding the 2d Virginia Regiment, to detail the
Woodstock Company to proceed to Winchester,
‘O aid the Sheriff in protecting the prisoner. Col.
Baker and Capt. Magruder promptly arrive
With the Company and assumed the responsibility,
‘0 quell any uprising or disorder. The trial was
quiet and orderly in every respect, though intense

~

ad

excitement prevailed outside the court room.
Guards were doubled, and the court room scene

was one long to be remembered—the bristling
bayonets of infantry, the testimony of the out-
raged lady, and that of witnesses who detected
and ran down the brutish creature who now sat
in the dock, guarded by the jailor. The atteative
jury in the box the scathing prosecution by Mr.
Byrd, the just judge on the bench and breathless
crowds eagerly listened to catch every syllable
inst the prisoner, grew intense
when the jury were handed
the papers, as the sheriff conducted them to the
jury room. In twer i i

back, and taking thei
asked by the clerk

Some reltef cam

tutes they filed s

s in the box, were

had agreed upon a
verdict. The answer was yes, and the verdict
handed to the writer, who read this finding
“We, the jury find the prisoner guilty as charg-
ed in the indictment and fix his punishment with
death by hang

ring,”
git

- (Signed) Jno. W. Harcer, Foreman.”

The judge prompily sentenced the prisoner
and fixed the day of ena at between “the

fy : : -

hours of 8 and to o'clock in the morning of the

1oth of ae il next. The outraged people secmed

o 7 . ”

satished that the forms of law had been observ-
a Lice bs bathers WHE Parnan lat Sas a=

ed, and the prisoner was remanded to jail, guarcd-

He soon was in the cel!

g o'clock Mr. Gore detailed James W. Stottle-
myer, a prominent constable from Stonewall
District, to spring the trap; and in twenty min
utes, one more of this wretched class of criminals
was a dead carcass, ready to be carted away. It
may be asked was this the only retribution? We
Cannot answer. The effect of this judicial exe-
cution must have been greater than the other
mode, for thirteen years have passed without
a repetition of this crime in the Lower Valley.
The court disposed of the usual number of
misdemeanor cases for the remaining term of
Judge Atkinson. No more death penalties. The
reader would be interested in a patient study
the court proceedings. Many incidents of much
interest to the County have long since been for-
gotten. Indeed, in his recent re-study of them,
the writer was astonished to see the volumes
of matter once familiar to him and written out

by his own hand. We have arrived at that point
in this disjointed narrative, when another change
was to occur to the County Court. This will re-
ceive attention in the next chapter.


ae

AP WA OWNS ita

ree

POON ow

nary

6 ERNE WOOO nga, Ole 6

OE eee eae ele ee

POAT SOREN yy

“ deputy Joh

THE OLD JUSTICES’ COURT IIL

Keock an inoffensive and much esteemed negro
af the town. Catlett was found guilty of mur-
6 in the first degree, and sentenced June 26th
to be hung. Lewis A. Miller, Sheriff, and his
n G. Miller, erected the gallows in the
ae and executed the order of court Au-

gust 6, 1858.

= At this Term the Grand Jury indicted quite

“a number of free negroes for remaining in the

State without lawful permission. At that time
3 law on our statute books required all free
negroes to report to the Clerk for registration,
and then to obtain certificates from the court
to pate for one year only, when they were re-

ired to repeat ‘the process. If they could prove
aad character and were in the employ of some
responsible person, they were allowed to remain.
. the’ southern end of the County there was

e family that gave much trouble from ‘their
snflueri among the slaves. Mundy Robinson
aad his large family were indicted, and this led
to the indictment of many others. These cases

remained on the docket until the Civil War vir-.

tually closed all proceéding

At the June Term, i i MeVicar was
naturalized. This man became a noted scout for
Stonewall Jackson, as will be more fully shown.
At this Term we find that Powell Conrad, Lewis
N. Huck and Charles L. Ginn were admitted to
practice law. Margaret Lucas, a free negress,
as the minute reads, was convicted of murder in
second degree.

In the Sortie of 1861, the Court tried Rob-
inson for murder. sa was one of the Mundy Rob-
inson free negroes mentioned above. This woman
wes employed by Benjamin Cooley, who then
lived at Belle Grove. She murdered Mrs. Cooley
while the two were in the meat house, using
a meat cleaver. The woman was promptly tried;
the verdict was “guilty of murder in the first

degree.” The prisoner was remanded to jail
witho out being sentenced. Her counse!, Col.
Richard E. Byrd, moved the court to set aside the
verdict. During the same Term, the prisoner
Was brought into Court. As sentence was being
Pronounced, Col. Byrd raised a point of law that
brought the Court to a standstill and every mem-
Ser ot the bar to their feet. Col. Byrd announc-
ed to the court that the prisoner raised no ob-
lection to the verdict of the jury; but did object
? any judgment of the Court that would en-
“anger the life of the unborn child. Col. Byrd’s
law was sound, but evidence must “be produced
to the Court that such conditions existed. Old
authorities were produced; and the Court being
Satisiied as to what course to pursue, ordered a
jury of eight women to be summoned by the
heriff to appear forthwith in court, to be sworn
to visit the jail and enquire into the prisoner's

rn
e

condition, and report their verdict to the court.
When the writ de ventre inspictendo was issued,
old attorneys declared it was the first to issue
in Virginia; and the author has never found in
any court in the State any record of such issue.
Our old friend John G. Miler was sheriff. With
his usual promptness, he proceeded to execute
the strange writ, while the Court and, anxious
spectators awaited results. Mr. Miller returned
after an hour’s absence, greatly excited, declaring
he could find no woman who would obey his
summons, and that some of the Potato Hill wo-
men threatened him with bodily harm. He was
informed by the Court that he and his deputy
must execute the order at once. Mr. Miller stat-
ed that his deputy, James B. Russell, was out
of town, and that he would resign before he
would endure another experience. The Court
announced that his resignation would not be
accepted until he had executed the writ; the jury
was summoned, and after due deliberation re-
turned their verdict: whereupon the prisoner
was remanded to jail without sentence; and we
may add, she was never executed. Pending the
occupancy of the town by the first Federal troops,
this prisoner disappeared.

At the November Term, 1858, Washington G.
Singleton made first appearance as Clerk of this
Court.

November 16, 1860, this minute appears and is
given as a sample of the action of Court relat-
ing to this class of persons:

“Mary Phelps a free negro woman,” filed her
petition to be reduced to slavery. _ Notice was
posted at the front door of the court house for
one month, that she would move the Court to
direct that she and her children become the prop-
erty of the wife of John Avis. The emancipated
slaves were required to remove to some free
State; failing to do this from choice, by reason
of their attachment to the white family who had
been their owners, they selected some member
of that family and secured permission to return
to their former state of slavery. This indicates
how the old slaves regarded their owners,—
prefering to remain with those they loved rather
than enjoy the boon of freedom in a strange
land where the people did not understand the
relations between master. and slave.

At the Nov. Term, 1861, James Shipe was
tried for the murder of Henry Anderson, of
Winchester, Va. The murder occurred in an old
stone house on the farm near the old Gold
homestead now the property of Phil. H. Gold.
Anderson was fatally stabbed with sheep shears.
Dr. G. L. Miller informed the writer that this
was his first case, and he used a knife to cut
the weapon from the body. -Shipe was sentenced
to 18 years in penitentiary.

ee ae aa

TIN

a a a

a

——. 5

Sa a Ce oe

CA PER AIRY:

The First Lynching in

\f, Atkinson, a member of the Winches-
the General Assemb!y to
Clark. Judge Atkinson's

Judge for severa! ierims.
eanors were tr ied by his cREEOS,

ious into his court. The une
was to bring the Judge's attention
. kind of cases that pro
cies all classes: Wialliam
o about 19 years old, had
arged with an attempted rape upon a
respected young white girl in the vicinity
hensons station. At this term the cas
vefore a special grand jury, which resu ited in
indictment for the heinous offence. Upon his
; nt the same day, tt
wes forming to take the
save the Court
The officers of the
the Judge, advised

5 |

i

893,

to one: of thos

Shorter, a

-y

been ar-

e went

was discovered
;
4

law in

this trouble.

remain in the jai
] oP +5 + +
people would be in town
end next day observing the Sixth of June Me-
The Judge ordered the Sherif,

re to take the re)
Stzunton and confine him in that jail unt! a
uid be secured and prelimineries arranged

Every precaution was used to secure
risoner a fair trial, the day fixed for trial

ng June 13th. The jailor, Adam Forney, wes
: , ees +}
might pave tne

o'clock.

sent the night before, so that he
priscner in court the next morning by 10
When that hour arrived, the court was ir
iting anxiously the appearance of the j
i It was not long before wild
the air. The train had arrived
and passed on = schedule
The writer and Judge were seated near each
other at the Clerk’s desk endeavoring to account
for the non-appearance of the jailor. At this
tuncture several persons came to the desk end
great excitement stated: The prisoner
ad. b een taken from the train at Kernstown and
yneked by a mob. This was a surprise; some

had been entertained that some reckless
versons might be at the station in WincHester

i)

tiene
wsbadve

in Winchester,

a

ry

easy SS tk ee cn tr ai alie cr A S de ae

The County

on the arrival of the train, and that an effon
woud be made to do the prisoner bodily }

€ planned to have the train be
‘aier Street and land the prisoner there
ang then hurry him to the court. room. The
waiting Judge and clerk would not have been
urprised to hear that the sheriff met trouble
on his way to the courthouse.

"

As soon as pos.
sible. Mir. Byrd and Mr. Gore were dispatched
ermstown to investigate the situation. There
nication at that time
and the mob had cut the tele.
graph lines. For nearly two hours the surging

rowés around the courthouse exhibited intense
excitement.

mo telephone comn

Kernstown,

The negroes were seen in gTOups
ussing the cause, which increased the
intensity Of feeling. The writer, at the request
of the Judge and many citizens, epproached the
crowés of excited men and urged them to dis-
so a$ to avoid-a collision with the excited
Picsing on to
Two men j

Main Street, he recog-
ding up and down the Street
Sant manner. He called them to
urged them to leave the Streets and
and ointed out the

They pro: disappeared; he
d several groups of neg
Known to him, and

7

ie!l oimers to do the came,
then
‘roes that were
told them plainly

aptly

go to their homes and keep quiet. that
this «wes the only thing that would prevent a
-holesale massacre of many good negro citizens

by the licacied crowd,—that one word from them
now wou id precipitate riot, and bloodshed would
oNow. The sober-thinking negroes acted prompt-
y, an for several hours they prudently with-
crew irom the streets, and few
the time the escape
mede irom the horrors of a reign of t
sherim on his arrival at the edison
station, acquainted. himself with

fay

persons knew
Winchester had

The
railroad
the fact and

narrow

with his report for the Court, which
was virtually the following: That when the
train neared the station, several strange men

Gi
signalled the engineer to stop. The engineer was
while others of the party boarded the

n and proceeded to rescue the prisoner. The
esistance by Adam Forney the jailer was re-
marketle. He had Shorter handcuffed to his
and refusing to release his prisoner, the

’


: ae

esidente ‘OF: Be coachburg today
2 opie to gain.some. knowledge
f the city’s. growth during the
«St 72 years: from a picture,
vinted? In! 18867, which .is:now on
splay ins the window at. Friddle’s
estaurant,”
The picture:: ‘painted by: “Mrs.
uma ‘Lyon’ Bryan, | mother ° of
lien Brayn.of Harrisonburg, and
talented. artist of her day, shows
arrisonburg: as ‘alittle village,

ost. of: which. is now the down-'

wn section! In, the area where
ndreds .of homes: now. stand.
e picture shows «no strects and
Uses, only fields.
The picturé, ‘which shows nearly
| of the houses of that .day, was
inted “from ‘the’ hill: where the
ethren Church now stands. be-
eon West Market and Water
reel, “Inthe immediate, fore-
ound ‘stands’'a’ church,’ which
iS first: a, Methodist and later a
ttholie; place’ of: worship. This
urch stood ‘where. the Merchants
ocery and, Hardware building
Ww sft a Neh before it. wap sestroy-
Ay 1
Io raihgeas tracks | are* to’ ‘be
nin the foreground thoush, as
wit d did nog” reach Harrison
g until: dater. ean

Ju the’ extreme southern end
the village-ts’the:house. that is
Vv the Elks: Home and the Johy
Marrig’ property; ‘ A little furthe
to the: north,on;South ; “Main:
i isithe- Warren. honie; which

stands,and the. present. brick
: of the Main ‘Street school,

Dare

*icture, Painted i in 186 7, ‘Showi

a :

a Harrisonburg as a. Village |

i Seere ek

property, which still stands. Going
bac cross to the east side .vil-
lage,.gtanding in an ‘open field, is
the Newman home, now owned: by

re Se is ‘the a satenis
ks

H, ‘HeWeaver, and further up on}:
‘| the hy }l'as a road’ (now East Mar- |.

ket)ijbends over the hill stands

Stoneleich Inn, boyhood home of |,
Dr. “Walter: Reed, now. owned; by}:

A, S? “Tur ner.

Blacks Run, then'a clear ‘stream :
of" water, is seen‘ circling “its ‘way }
Build- {'
ings: a the ;, down- town ‘section |.

through the little town,

that; an. be. seen in the: picture

Jand ate still standing include the

Chandler property.’ which’ is now
the! unicipal: building, and ° the
buildir directly.- < across: West

Market: * Qn the corner of. what

is no Fr igeriy: and .West: Market
can* “be: seen. the: .bome of. Miss

Elizaketh Morvisan and across the |];
the , Sullivan, building, |°
now: upied. by, . the ‘Chandler !

str eeti ts

electria. conpany..

The Spotswood ‘building, which
still stands, can be, seen as can the
buildings now occupied’ by Frid-
dle'y!

cor neitiof. the Coyrt Square ean be

seen the‘ “shelter fe Over, ‘the. big ||

spr ing tn r
‘The picture. whieh ies hebn: on

display): for the past’ several’ days,

has -attracted ‘widespyead ‘ alten

tmniddleaged residents, who
were® pable- to piéture Harvison=
‘such a small town.

Au a mAMeEy

ushl: :peding the school “on ’ ach

: “Ke

;

estaurant-and the ‘Warren |.
«Downan the southwest i

 Mhpecially among. the young-|

hespicture is pwned: by. Lea:

a. aon rN

Sere en

wr ver jf

omen = eee

PrRTW,
xen

PORES

nd Sa A a ;
oe o@

ae) TA W
SyEe

€e

MY RECOLLECTION

of

ROCKTOWN:

Now Known as
Harrisonburg,

From 1817-1826.

ed

“d :
Maria G. CARR”

'

. Wi th
hy yap bet abel
r

Viobe |
3 hhy

Petia Us

‘Published for
THe Op Mitt. Srone ANTIQUE SHOP
Harrisooburg, Virginia

eRUEAQUE HRSA

M!

TONS OS OVD es

5

WSawes

= ha”

MG) IME, ME IME IN 4 a) oe \ (See ee dV"

DUNE NOSTYYVH


Lae
|

i

ets al

| /%65-187/

«(de Moto a OG

Xe
ae

Aen Lo HEL + 20le. (eae - Mar agree

) |e

ple ete 0.0 or , Mbcire oa uf or L loa, e.) Aseerk pod sit }

i ips € hece Never faa Aan forllaed on Meebo

WD. [D209 Nae 5 Wag 1 Si |

\ Gexze hod shakes (lee beceeg Bez hak elxlihe Tres logan al
| eare2e| Cio ee ee, has Bie hus PSS: iS LL. 23
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e tongs secured the worm and went into the kitchen, and
on the neck of Keziah who was so frightened that she scream-
ly as to bring Mr. Smith, followed by the whole school. Across
on the S. W. corner was a log house built by Andrew Mc-
[he next house some distance W. and at the junction of the
s, Was, (and is still standing)—a large brick house built by
‘ay, a Lawyer, who married Isabel:Waterman, daughter of
ierman. A few years after the house was built, it was con-
isale, and two one story wings were added to the ends to
1ore secure. Large grounds surround the house, and it is
: like it was when first laid out. There are no houses | recol-
t one further N. on the E. side of the street—until you come
Jones’ house, excepting a Blacksmith shop. David Jones’
then on the S. E. corner of the street, running up by Mr.
On the N, E. corner was the old frame house occupied by
ir. Cole. About twenty feet S. of it?was a story and a half
where Mr. Cole taught school, it was the first school | ever
‘T could not have been more than five years old. Mr. Cole
strict and cross, we were all afraid of him. At the request
, Who was one of the best old ladies, J was sent into her house
ly’ lesson—I escaping a scolding or:worse, by her kindness
hey lived in Norfolk during the War of I8l2—and my
{ Grandfather boarded with them. »My Father died at his
Mrs. Cole liked him and was with him when he died—she
md of me knowing my Father so well. They lived in H
‘¢ years, then moved to Staunton, and Auntie Cole died soon
never had any children. [ heard: that Mr. Cole married
old and had one son born to him. When I was six years old
ing Geography and Arithmetic and could spell and read well.
‘amination in the school was when I was six years old. |
: page and a half of poetry to memorize and speak before the
rad to stand on the platform, two feet from the floor, with the
be on one side and the terrestrial on the other—the piece |
called Religion.
lo a form divinely bright,
Descends and bursts upon my sight,
A seraph of celestial birth,
Religion was her name on earth,
«member was being dreadfully frightened. [| suppose | got it
The next two houses were unpainted frames, | do not
lived in them. There was a house where the jail now stands,
ill frame house with high steps. I remember a lady that
she had black eyes and long curls, her name was Ferrell.

a

Now KNown As [IARR!SONBURG 15

On the N. bk. corner was a frame house in which Dr. Newman lived,
he moved and Dr. Moorman took his place. On the $. W. corner of
W. Market St. was a frame house, | can not tell who lived there. Mr.
John [Effinger occupied it as a dry-goods store afterwards. On the N.
I:. corner of W. Market St. was where Mrs. Peggy Smoot was killed
by a man named Hoy, who was tried and executed for the murder, |]
can not remember in my younger days who lived there neither do |
know who fived in the next house. S. of Black’s Run, Mr. Jacob
Hlouck lived many years, who was a hatter. Mr. Witts was a tanner
and occasionally butchered beeves for sale. [ do not remember who
occupied the next house. Now [| shall turn to the N. E:. corner of E.
Market St., Mr. Site’s brown frame store was on the corner, there was
a barn bk. of the house on a small alley, [E. of which was a long white
frame house owned by Mr. Sowerby, he lived in it keeping a few board-
ers. Mrs. Sowerby was a very peculiar woman and had an immense
nose. [| was told this--One day she was standing in the front door,
When a man driving a six horse wagon passed—the driver stopped
his team and called out—-"Madam, will you please turn your head so
my horses can get by-—"the language she used was not very choice.
The next house 2. was a frame one occupied by a negro Barber named
Green-leaf, afterwards Richard Vletcher moved to this house and |
went to school to him a short time. The next was occupied by Mr.
Wertenbaker who made fine boots and shoes, on the corner was his
sliop. Across the alley was the old Masonic Hall, the upper floor being
used by the Masons, and the lower as a school room. At that time there

were only two Lodges, the Blue and Royal Arch. On the 24th of June, .

St. John’s Day, they would have a procession from the Lodge to the

Methodist Church on the hill, where a sermon or address was made. .

From there, they would go to McMahon’s Tavern for dinner and _per-
haps a dance in the evening. Col. Hall and Mr. Thomas Clark were
generally leaders. At a certain time people would come from the sur-
rounding country to be initiated which occupied two or three days.
Mr. Clark would call that a revival in his church, then the school
below would have to be closed for several days—there was always a
dreadful noise when this was going on. T have been in the Lodge
rooms and wondered what became of the old pictures that lined the
Walls, one was-~"'Aaron striking the Rock”—-it was merely a daub of red
& blue paint. The next house 1. was owned and occupied by Mrs. Mes-
sick—she made her living by making ginger-cakes. She died and
was buricd in the garden back of the house—-she was an honest hard
working woman. This street. was called the Red Till Road. Mrs.
Messick’s was the Jast house on the S. side of the road-——there were
fields of barley and clover for some distance. There were lots owned

26 My RecoL_tecrion or Rock town

preparing for it, gave an exhibitton in the school room in
the Masonic Hall. The play was called “Dennis Bulgruddery”
or the “Sign of the Red Cow.” The stage was on a level with the floor
so the children could run on and off the stage when they pleased. Some
cakes were brought on and one of the actors struck the plate out of the
servant’s hand, the plate being broken and the cakes scattered over the
floor. Lucretia Clark helped herself to some of them as her father
told her to do so. Four pence, half penny was the price to all shows,
almost anyone could raise that amount. There was a good sprinkling
of negroes and they were always seated in some part of the house pre-
pared for them. My grandmother was anxious for me to learn every
thing that was taught at that time. IT learned to make maps, cut clothes
for men by rule and measurement, also to milk, spin, knit and many
other things. There were two men hung in H—-~. Ben Hopkins was
hung on top of the hill where Sherdlin’s vineyard was afterwards lo-
cated. Sprouce who killed his wife in Fluvanna Co. was brought to
Hl-——~, tried, condemned and hung in the woods back of Mr. Ruther-
ford’s house. 1 saw the procession pass’ on its way to the gallows.
Sprouce with several preachers, among them Mr. Smith who sat beside
him on the coffin talking to him. As it was raining Mr. Smith took
olf his overcoat and put it around Sprouce’s shoulders-—talking to him
and trying to make him understand his condition, but Sprouce took no
heed but was looking at the crowd. [lis wagon was surrounded by fifty
mounted soldiers well armed, then came hundreds of men and women
whipping up their horses trving to get as near as they could to the wa-
gon —-E could not bear to look at it only for a few moments. The
medical students came from Staunton with a covered carry-all deter-
mined to have Sprouce’s body. As soon as the hanging was over thev
burted the body right under the gallows. The [[—— students wanted
the body and were determined to have it if they had to fight for it.
The Staunton students took up the body as soon as the people had gone
end hid) it) ino some brushwood. ‘Phe [Pl--— students after having
searched for some time found the body, put it across a horse and went
four or five miles around and on the W. side of the town and hid the
body in Mr. Gibbon's tan house. Afterwards the body was taken to
the log house where TP went to school, where it was there skinned and
tanned. The Presbyterian Praver Meeting was held every Wednesday
evening tn this log house and we did not know that Sprouce’s body
was above us. The Annual General Muster was the greatest thing and
Was looked forward to for months with the greatest: pleasure by all
the negroes and children. Vraining of officers began) several days
before Muster Day—it was the most motley crowd that tilled) the
square around the Court: House. Men of all sorts and. sizes: dressed

Foe

Now Known As HarrisonBurc eet 27
in tow linen pants and shirts, few had coats and vests, some with old
wool hats and others with straw hats. I saw one man in this crowd
when I was about 10 years old. Tle had-on tow linen pants and shirt,
coarse shoes & no stockings—around his waist was a bright red woolen
sash—he had a rusty slouch hat on* without band and torn on the
edges. On the front of the hat was ‘a long white feather with scarlet
top-—he felt as proud as a General. [saw several soldiers there at one
time with bright yellow coats trimmed with black, and green flannel
ones trimmed with white or silver.” I suppose these uniforms were
some of the remains of the War of 1812. My aunt told me that my
father had raised a company which he uniformed at his own expense.
Some men on Muster Day carriedold umbrellas, corn stalks and
sticks of wood instead of guns or swords. I suppose the officers were
tired trying to beat sense into these men and gave up in despair,
marching them out to a field in the) W. end of town to try to drill
them. After marching the militia out.to the field the Light Horse Com-
pany of about fifty men under Col.’McMahon went out also. © After
all men were on the field the Staff Officers went to the Col.’s house
to escort him to the field, not one of them was uniformed. The Col. had
on a blue uniform with metal buttons, and a red sash around his
Waist—-a helmet with a cow's tail on: it, hanging down behind. .The
whisky, beer and ginger-bread sellers'were in their glory—as this was
their harvest, many persons taking home a jug full of something and —
a handkerchief filled with ginger bread. I dearly loved to hear the
fife and drum & got as near to them as | could listening to them until
the tears ran down my cheeks, | wag never so affected by any other
music. Mr. Foster got up what he* called a band, it was composed
of two clarionets, a flute or two, a triangle and a bass drum—a little
negro beating the drum—it was as much as he could do to carry it,
every one thought it was grand. My grandfather Koontz was a very
popular.man and could have held any office he wanted—he went to
the Legislature for several years—when | was about eight years old he
was paralyzed. Tle was candidate for the Legislature and had written
some papers both in Dutch and English to be printed and distributed
the morning of the election. My grandfather sat down at one end of
the table and began to read to Mr. Crouse, Sheriff, who was waiting
to take the papers to. town—grandmother and I were sitting in the
room. After reading a few moments, his tongue faltered, but he con-
tinued to read and said—“T do not know what 1s the matter with me,”
got up and went to the fire and took some tobacco out of his mouth,
went back to his seat and began to read again. Then he got up and
staggered to his bedroom, which adjoined the dining room, he would
have fallen had not Mr. Crouse taken hold of him calling for some one

of a

HIGHLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA.

/

History of Highland County | 213

While slavery continued, repressive laws and regulations
iat SR me were found necessary. Ifa slave gave a poisonous drug with
ie a clea intent to kill, the penalty was death without benefit of clergy. eect
Renee ete It was a misdemeanor with a penalty of not more than thirty- fies

nine lashes for a slave to prepare or administer any medicines,
unless by permission of the master.

Slave districts were regularly patroled. Highland was di-
vided into patrol districts, each with a captain and his party
of five to seven men. It was the duty of such patrol party to
visit all negro quarters at stated intervals, usually weekly or
bi-weekly, and all other places which might fall under sus-
picion of unlawful assembly. Negroes were whipped by the

atrol when found straying away without permission.
‘~~ Occasional crimes were committed by the blacks and some- ' ! f
' times of serious nature. Chainey, a slave of Jane Lafferty of Pye

Bath, was hanged in 1800 for the murder of her two-year-old. 2
child, the owner being indemnified by the county in the sum Ve,
of $233.33. Such was a requirement of the criminal code. Sam; ast
a slave of William Wilson, was hanged at Monterey in 1856
for the murder of Francis W. Sheridan on Jackson’s River. _.
~~ Although under slavery repressive rules toward the black
people were unavoidable, the institution was not the pitiless
tyrant it was represented to be by uninformed Northern Abo-
litionists., An occasional master was harsh toward his slaves,
but in the main the relations between master and slave were
kindly. When a man was hired out, as was often done, he
was permitted to be at home from Saturday noon till Monday
morning. A master on the Bullpasture required a man slave
to perform work on Sunday, which the latter objected to doing, :
he as well as his master being a member of church. The eS 5S
master had his man “churched” for disobedient behavior, yet
the latter was acquitted by a jury of slaveholders. |

While the Southern men were so generally at the front = Sey
during the war of 1861, it was in the power of the negroes to Aap ete ok
work immense harm both positive and negative. A general A
uprising on their part would at once have disbanded the South-
ern armies, yet nothing of the sort occurred. The especial
crime for which so many negroes have been lynched since the


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HISTORY

OF

LOUISA COUNTY, VIRGINIA

: By :
MALCOLM H. HARRIS, M. D.

RICHMOND, VA.:
THE Dietz Press, Publishers
1936

rl

22 A History OF LouIsA COUNTY, VIRGINIA

Henry and his supporters, or through the Presbyterian and Dis-
senters’ influence, particularly in the lower part of the county.

This session of the court was held only four days after the
Declaration of Independence, and not a fortnight had elapsed
since the provisional constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia
had been adopted and Mr. Henry had been duly elected Governor.

Next to Yorktown, the change from royal government to
Commonwealth had the most effectual influence on American
Liberty; it meant the definite rupture with the old order of royal
prerogative and a definite stand for republican liberty. The upper

counties had at last come into their own, the fruits of the early -

frontier freedom, where might was right, and the King was in
London! ;

It was during the year 1783 that George, a Negro slave the
property of Matthew Farrar, killed another slave, a Negress Ann,
and he was duly apprehended and tried. The Negro was convicted
by the testimony of one witness it seems, and in turn George was
sentenced to be hung. In the meantime it developed that the
main witness confessed to Col. John Overton and others that he
had not told the whole truth in the matter, and letters followed to
his excellency, Gov. Henry Lee, setting forth the facts as they had

developed and also stating that George was little more than an ©

idiot, and had done the deed while in a rage. The records do not
show what the Governor did in the matter.

-. Several years later a man named Fowler—Thomas, and John
are the names he used—a native of Louisa, was condemned to be
hung on the charge of stealing a horse. The clerk of the court in

Albemarle where he was found guilty and received the severe -

sentence, reported the verdict and sentence to the Governor. This
occurred in the year 1796.
. We can not comprehend such severe punishment for such

crimes in lieu of the circumstances. The penalties were more
harsh than ours today for worse crimes.

The following justices were members of the county court for

the year 1790, as shown by the names of those present at the
various sessions of the court in the order book for the year.

POLITICAL HIsToRY 23

Thomas Johnson
William Philips
Richard Johnson
Nelson Anderson
Richard Anderson
John Poindexter
Samuel Ragland
Charles Yancey
Turner Anderson

Henry Garrett
John Overton
Wm. O. Callis
James Overton
Thos. Johnson, jr.
William Thomson
George Morris
Thomas Smith
Waddy Thompson

James Dabney »

This court, held on January 1, 1790, appointed John Poin-
dexter clerk of the court in the room of John Nelson, who had
lately died. James Merriwether relinquished the office of sheriff
to John White.

The justices serving through these years changed but little,
and then were removed by death and replaced by new appoint-
ments. We find, in 1793, Garret Minor, Frederick Harris, Nelson

Anderson have been added and the names of William Philips,

Richard Johnson, Thomas Johnson, and George Morris have been
left off.

In 1795 other changes have taken place; Malcolm Hart, Will-

iam Wash, Thomas Merriwether, Samuel Terrell, and Peter Craw-

ford are found for the first time.

The order book for 1810 shows that the-court was composed
of a group of men who had come into public office since the turn
of the century, and all of them since the time of the Revolution.
The names of many of them will be yet familiar to the older
generation of Louisa—that generation which overlapped with
these men the decades before the Civil War.

Joseph Pendleton ~ _R. H. Sandige

Arthur Clayton |
Garland Anderson
Malcolm Hart
Charles Yancey
William Wash
Henry Lawrence

Wm. O. Callis
Thos. Poindexter
Samuel O. Pettus
Henry Pendleton
Peter Crawford
Frederick Harris

The next year Charles Quarles, George Washington Truehart,
Thomas Gardner, George Fleming and Col. John Overton appear

Cd

24 A History oF Louisa COUNTY, VIRGINIA

also. They may have been members of the court the previous
year but failed to attend. . ;

During the next few years there do not appear to have been
many changes; Hugh M. Pettus, Reuben Cowherd, Ralph Wyatt,
John Downing, John Jackson, Lud Branham, David Lipscomb,

and Garland Anderson were noted as new members of the county ~

court of gentlemen justices. :

There was arraigned before the county court which sat on the
5th of March for the year 1816 two Negroes, Tom, the property
of Sarah Gardner, and Tomkie, the property of Samuel Cole, both
being charged with felony on the 29th day of February, 1816,
that they did attempt to stir up an insurrection and rebellion
against the commonwealth and foment the slaves against their
masters.

This court consisted of Justices William Wash, Lud. Branham,
Duke Cosby, James Michie, Reuben Cowherd, and the Negroes
pled not guilty to the charge.

‘The order book reveals that the court did hear and examine
witnesses, and finally reached a decision that the Negroes were
guilty. In consequence they were sentenced to be hanged on the
29th instant, on Friday. In the meantime the convicted men were
remanded to the jail under the care of the sheriff.

Before the court dismissed the case they decided that Tom
was of the value of six hundred dollars, and that his master
should be given a warrant on the Commonwealth for that sum.

This account verifies a legend of a slave uprising in Louisa
about this time, which was promptly stamped out; some of the
servants becoming afraid told their masters of the insurrection and
hence led to frustrating the plans laid by the leaders of the pro-
posed horror of slave against unsuspecting masters.

Most all of the old cases of this nature were similarly and
summarily dealt with and it served to keep down the few who
felt the urge to foment trouble. Few were the cases recorded in
the ancient days of slaves attacking master, practically all criminal
acts being against their own race, and usually under no ordinary
circumstances.

The court at nearly every session tried Negroes for some in-

POLITICAL HIsTORY ste 25

fraction of the law, and for the lesser crimes usually meted out
corporal punishment.

In 1815 the court tried a Negro for stabbing both Mr. Thomas

"Duke and Mr. Abner Burnley. The court decided that he was

guilty and instructed the sheriff to burn the man through the hand
and administer thirty-nine lashes on his bared back. This order
of the court was carried out by the jailer. —

With the next decade the number of members of the court
seemed to be decidedly lessened. The names of Lud. Branham, :

_ Reuben Cowherd, Thomas Johnson, John Graves, Nathaniel

Thompson, Joseph Poindexter, and Charles Thompson composed
the court for the year 1822, and the following year the same men
appeared with the addition of the names: Arthur Clayton, Will-
iam Wash, Peter Crawford, and John Downing.

In 1824 Nathaniel Mills and James Michie appeared on the
records in the order books as members of the court.

Pleasant Hackett was first a member of the court in 1825. |

During 1831 John Downing, John Cross, David Richardson,
Archibald Anderson made up the court for a session; Arthur
Clayton was sheriff, Lucien Minor, attorney.

In 1839 Nathaniel Mills, P. M. Daniel, Nathaniel Thompson,
John R. Quarles, Francis W. Jones were justices, and William
Nelson was sheriff.

For 1848 James Hiter, Thomas C. Anderson, R. H. Isabell,
Wm. S. Walton, and Wm. R. Hackett composed the court, and
the next year the additional names of Elisha Melton and Wm. C.
Cason appear.

A full list of the justices for 1850 shows the following:
Pleasant Hackett, Henry Harris, Wm. Pettus, Bickerton T. Win-
ston, Charles B. Cosby, Fendol Chiles, Thos. J. Barrett, Francis
W. Jones and John R. Quarles, Wm. O. Harris, C. G. Coleman,
and Jno. L. Collins.

- The court for July, 1851, tried a Negress, the property of Jane
R. Goodwin, and sentenced her to be punished by a public whip-
ping by the sheriff, ‘39 lashes to be well laid on.”

The court for 1857 was composed of John Hunter, Dr.

6 A History oF LouIsA COUNTY, VIRGINIA

rchibald Anderson, Dr. B. M. Francisco, William Bagby, Matt.
. Hope, John S. May, A. C. Vest, and R. A. Porter.

The court for July, 1859, convicted a Negro man belonging to
apt. Jackson for murder of another Negro, while in a drunken
rawl. The man was sentenced to be hung on September 7th of
lhe same year. His master was paid the sum of $700 for the loss
f his servant, and it was rated as an enormously high price for
he county to pay, but the money was collected on an order from
clerk of court by his owner. (Harris’ Diary for 1859.)

When the new constitution of 1869-70 went into effect, it did
way with the old county court and its numerous justices, giving
ach county a single judge who presided over county court instead.
n.addition there was a circuit court which held regular courts at
he same place and passed on appeals and selected cases.

On April 11, 1870, Edward H. Lane presented his commission
rom Governor Gilbert C. Walker, bearing date of April 9, 1870,
ertifying that he had been duly elected to be judge of the county
ourt of Louisa. He was duly qualified on this date and took his
eat on the bench, serving in the same capacity through the
roublous period of reconstruction, until his health made it im-
ossible to serve longer. The last year frequent records of Judge
ohn L. Cochran of Albemarle and others serving for him due to
is illness, which terminated with the last of the year, 1879.

James H. Woolfolk was named judge in his place, being the
noice of the Readjusters. He served from February 8, 1880,
ntil 1892.

On March 14, 1792, Frederick W. Sims became judge of the
ounty court and served until his court was abolished by the newly
dopted constitution in 1903-04.

The acts of these courts are recorded in the order books from
870 and downward.

The last public hanging, or private, took place at Louisa about
902 when-a man named Hicks was hung for the murder of his
on-in-law Bone. Hicks shot Bone when he came to his home for
is mule, and later followed him along, brutally stamping him in
he face with his boot heels. The unfortunate Hicks was mentally

POLITICAL HISTORY 27

deranged and probably should have been placed in an institution.
But times were not so lenient then as now, and he paid the penalty.

The Circuit Court has at various times been presided over by
Judge Daniel Grimsley, Judge John Rutherford, Judge A. T.
Browning and Judge Shackleford. Many trials of statewide inter-
est have been held during their tenure of office, which would
require too much detail to add to this story. Besides what virtue
is there in preserving the details ot murders, incendiarism and
crime!

BURGESSES

After the petition to have the county formed was formulated
into a bill and became an Act of the House of Burgesses and
was approved by the Governor, the next step was to order a writ
for election of two Burgesses as prescribed by law.

The election was held, and Charles Barrett and Abraham
Venable were named; however, Col. Robert Lewis of Belvoir, who
opposed Venable, petitioned the House of Burgesses to institute an
investigation into the election of Mr. Venable, alleging gross
irregularities in the way votes were cast. The petition was
granted, and a commission was appointed to inquire into the
validity of the election composed of Ambrose Joshua Smith, John
Carr, and John Starke, gentlemen justices of the Louisa court, with
instructions to examine all freeholders who took part in the elec-
tion unless they had already compiled with the law.t The findings
of this committee were reported, and they stated that Col. Lewis
was rightfully elected, and he took his seat. Mr. Barrett served
alone at the session held in the summer of 1743, but in the next
fall he was accompanied to Williamsburg by Col. Lewis, when the
Burgesses convened on September 17, 1744.

These two men represented the county together for five years
until 1747, when Barrett again served alone for one session. In
the fall Mr. Venable was present with Mr. Barrett at the conven-
ing in October.

At the session of 1752, Dr. Thomas Walker of Castle Hill
appears for the first time as representative. Venable was also

tJournal H, B., 1742.


MECKLENBURG CO., VA., EXECUTIONS, 1865-

Date Crime Name/Race, Race,
Offender Victim.

». HANGINGS (ALL AT BOYDTON).

1) 8/15/1890 Mur John Phillips,Bl Male,Wh
(Source: Dispatch, Richmond, 8/16/1890,p2,c3)

2) 5/20/1898 Mur Isaac Paylor,Bl Female,Bl
(Source: Times-Disptch, Rich., 5/21/1898,p6,cl1)

3) 1/23/1899 Mur George Hite, Wh Male,Bl
(Source: Dispatch, Richmond, 1/24/1899,p2,c6)

4) 7/10/1900 Mur Stephen Baptist,Bl Male,Wh
(Source: Dispatch, Richmond, 7/11/1900,p3,c4)

5) 9-2-1903 AtRa Anderson Finch,Bl Wh
(Source: Times-Dispatch, Rich, 9/3/1903,p6,cl1)

6) 10-3-1903 AtRa Doc Bacon,Bl Wh

(Source: Times-Dispatch, Rich, 10/4/1903,pl1,c3)

(Finch & Bacon convicted of Same crime and Bacon

received respite. Finch exonerated Bacon while

on gallows but Gov. declined further interference)
7) 8/22/1907 AtRa Frank Allen Wh

(Source: Times-Dispatch, 8/22/1907,p4,c3)

ELECTROCUTIONS (ALL AT STATE PRISON).
8) 8/7/1914 AtRa Willie Puryear ?
9) 6/4/1915 Rape Thomas Coles Wh
(Source: Journal, Atlanta, Ga 5/171915 ,b12/¢2)
(Art about removal of Coles from Mecklenburg
Co. for "safekeeping" gives race of vic as white)
10) 3/29/1929 Rape Henry Jones 4
11) 12/8/1950 Mur Ben Franklin Fuller 4
12) 8/30/1989 Mur Alton Waye Female, Wh

MF +2 sey

MECKLENBURG COUNTY

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT RESEARCH PROJECT
P. O. DRAWER 277
100 E. MAIN STREET
HEADLAND, AL 36345
(205) 693-5225.

20th August 1993

Mr. Chip Wright,

Virginia Capital Reprenstation Resource Center,
1001 East Main Street, Suite 510,

Richmond, VA 23219

Dear Mr. Wright:

Enclosed is the information on the 12 confirmed legal executions
that took place in and from Mecklenburg County for the period

from 1865 to the present.

I had nothing to indicate the race of the victims in the cases of
Puryear, Jones and Fuller, all of whom were electrocuted at the
state prison. Assuming that their victims were white (and I feel
certain that was so in the case of the two rapists), it would mean
that every execution in this century was that of a black for a
crime against a white. Only 3 of the 9 during this period were
for murder, the others having been for rape or attempted rape.

In view of the Hite case, I suggest that you confine your argument
to the 20th century. It is very unlikely that the state will have
any record or indication of this case. It is also interesting that
Hite was the only white man executed during the entire time frame
of this study. The other 11 were all black.

Also enclosed is my invoice in the amount of $252.90 representing
the agreed upon price for this service and the priority mail pos-
tage. I would appreciate it if you can expedite payment of this

as much as possible as I need the money for bills. Also enclosed
is an updated inventory showing state totals as of today. There

are possibly some books listed that you might wish to have and two
of them I would certainly suggest that you need if you do not
already have: In Spite of Innocence and Executing the Mentally Ill.

I will go to work on the lynchings tomorrow and hope that I can get
them out to you on Monday. Also, I will try to get out a proposal
on the sale of copies of the Virginia files to you next week.

I hope that this will be helpful to you and good luck on the
appeal. )

Watt Espy, Director.

NEW KENT COUNTY, VIRGINIA, 1684-1786 591

[80] NEW KENT COUNTY S‘. PETERS PARISH

The office and Prison Burnt the night of The 15 July
1787 august the 7“ Sawney a Negro boy Belonging to M’.
W™. Chamberlayne Was Condemned to Be Hanged By
Our Court for Being a Partie in the Said Fireing the same
Day M”*. Tho’. Green Confefs’d He was an assistant like-
wise and the Whole Executed By a M*™. John Price Posey
Who Came With M*. John P. Custis into this County
As His Steward *august *the *15" the Same Day the Said
Posey Was Comited to the care of a strong Guard to Be
Carefully Kept Til Wednesday the 15 When a call’d Court
is Orderd by W™. H. Macon Gen‘. a Justice for the Coun-
ty to Inquire and Have a full Hearing of Said Poseys
Burning Said Prison & Office

Augs*. 15 1787 Being the Day appointed For the above
Examination Present Eight Members and the Examina-
tion Began about 12 OClock and continued til Near Sun
Set When the Question Was put, and the Court Was of
Opinion He the Said Posey Should Have a further Hear-
ing, Accordingly Was Sent to the Great Gail the next
Day being the 16", the first of Octo’. His tryal came on
in the Gen’. Court & Found Gilty When he apeal’d to
the High Court of Chancery and being Found Gilty Ap-
pealed to the Court of Appeals When there was Nine out
of Ten Found Him Gilty, after Which Judge Lyon after
a most Learned Speech Which Drew tears from near all
Presint Ask’d the Dreadful Question (To Wit) if he Could
Shew Cause Why Sentence of Death should Not pafs
against him, Which So Shok’d the prisoner that for some
time the organs of Speech had left him til at length He
spoke to this Effect, that he was Gilty of the Charge and
Prayd Mercy Jan’, 18" 1788 Was then appointed for the
Execution the time arriving, He prayd a Week Which was
§tanted and on Jan’. the 25 He was Executed at the Gal-
lows in Richmond Brot. Down & Buried in this County,
Tis to Be Noted the above posey Servd in this County as
-@ magestict Some time and once Represented it in Gen-
¢ral Assembly.

*Note! These words have been partially erased.—C. G. C.


—-_

The Virginia Gazette
December 12, 1768
No 908

THERE is in New Kent goal three Negroes, who are now under sentence
of death for felony, two of whom say they come from North Carolina. One
of them if about 5 feet 6 inches high, says he was born in Guadaloupe,
can speak French, and that he belongs to Joseph Sutton in Edenton county;
another about the same height, a new Negro, cannot speak plain Enalish,
has earrings in his ears, appears to be very simple, and says he belongs
to Richard Saunders, in the said county; the other is a remarkable well
made fellow, about 5 feet 8 inches high, has a bold countenance, is
Virginia born, and says he belongs to Solomon Miller, of Norfolk county,
Virginia: A well set Mulatto fellow is also in the said goal, who says
he was a freeman born in Antiqua, and is servant to a collier at Mr.
Hunter's forge, upon Rappahannack; he was concerned with the above slaves
in the act of felony, but has not yet: had his trial. They all confess
they broke Norfolk goal together, some time in October last.

The said slaves are not to be executed until the 2d Friday in
January next, and it may be supposed if their Masters would come and
interceed for a pardon it might be granted.


24) 10-17-1947 Rape Buford Russell Morton, Bl Female, Wh
(Source: VA DOC listing; Register, Danville, VA 10/18/1947)


1)

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4)
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23)

EXECUTIONS, PITTSYLVANIA CO., 1830-1890.
CITY OF DANVILLE, 1890-
HANGINGS.
12/8/1837 Rape Slave David, Bl (A. Stratton) Female, ?
(Source: Executive Journal of Governor, marginal
entry, Nov. 23, 1837)
1/19/1838 Mur William Bennett, Wh Male, Wh
(Source: Register, Raleigh, NC. 11/27/1837
(3:3); Exec. Jour. of Gov., 1/8/1838
3/29/1844 Mur Slave Robin, Bl (C. F. Adams) Female, Bl
(Source: Env. 1844, Box 7, Item 153, Aud.
Recs., St. Arch.; Exec. Jour. of Gov., 3/1/1844)

8/13/1858 AtMur Tom Long, Free Bl Male, Wh
(Source: Enguirer, Richmond, VA 8/20/1858)
5/18/1860 Mur Slave Jordan, Bl (B. W. Ogburn) Male, Bl
(Source: Enguirer, Richmond, VA 4/18 & 5/23/1860).
10/30/1864 Rape Slave Nat, Bl (A. Mahan) Female, Wh
(Source: Va. Executive Papers, Letters Received
4/1/1865)
11/25/1870 Mur Kitt Hubbard, Bl Male, Wh
(Source: Dispatch, Richmond, VA 11/26/1870 (3:3)
2/24/1871 Mur John Jackson, Bl Male, Wh
(Source: Dispatch, Richmond, VA 2/25/1871 (3:3)
1-8-1875 Mur Lewis Adams, Bl Male, Bl
(Source: Dispatch, Richmond, VA 1/9/1875 (1:6)
4-30-1875 Mur Joe Clarke, Bl Male, Bl
(Source: Herald, New York, NY 5/1/1875 (5:6)
3-31-1882 Mur Dock Wright, Bl (Juv. 17 at crime) Male, Wh
(Source: News & Observer, Raleigh, NC 4/1/1882)
8-4-1882 Mur Walter Hamilton Yates, Wh Male, Wh
(Source: News, Galveston, TX, 8/5/1882 (4:6)
9-28-1883 Mur Isaac Evans, Bl Male, Wh
(Source: News & Observer, Raleigh, NC 9/29/1883)
9-28-1883 Mur Reuben King, Bl Male, Wh
(Source: News & Observer, Raleigh, NC 9/29/1883)
9-28-1883 Mur Sawney Younger, Bl Male, Wh
(Source: News & Observer, Raleigh, NC 9/29/1883)
3-29-1889 Rape John (Jed) Pritchett, Bl Female, Wh
(Source: Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, 3/30/1889)
1-22-1892 Mur Margaret Hashley, Bl Male, Bl
(Source: News, Birmingham, AL 1/22/1892
1-22-1892 Mur James Lyles, Bl Male, Bl
(Source: News, Birmingham, AL 1/22/1892)
12-28-1900 Mur Sylvester Griffin, Bl Female, Bl
(Source: Times, Richmond, VA 12/29/1900 (4:4)
2-6-1903 Mur Arthur Wilton, Bl Male, Bl
(Source: Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA 2/7/1903 (6:3)
10-9-1903 Mur Will Jones, Bl Male, Bl
(Source: Times-Dispatch, Richmond, VA 10/11/1903 (1:4)
ELECTROCUTIONS - ALL AT STATE PRISON.
5-22-1914 Mur George Woods, Bl Female, Bl
(Source: VA DOC listing; Register, Danville, VA 5/21/1914)
4-15-1946 Mur Nelson Cross, Bl Male, Bl

(Source: VA DOC listing; Register, Danville, VA 4/16/1946)


CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS 137

In 1782 appears the first record of the unspeakable
crime, when Cary, a negro slave of William Vawter, is
hanged for rape.

In 1794, Caleb, a slave, found guilty of hog stealing;
“Ordered that the sheriff take him to the pillory and
nail one ear thereto, and in one hour thereafter to cut it
loose from the nail, then to nail the other ear and in
another hour’s time to cut that loose from the nail, this
being the second offense.”’

In 1799, a negro from Culpeper hanged for ravishing
a married white woman of Orange County.

In 1801, “it appearing that George Morris has been
and is still guilty of a flagrant contempt in confining
the body of his wife Susannah, ordered that he be
attached and kept in custody until he permit her to be
entirely at liberty; Robert T. Moore and Dabney
Minor dissenting. ”’

In 1818, 1821 and 1823 negroes were hanged for rape,
and in 1839 a negro “only seventeen years old’’ con-
demned to death for ravishing a white woman is unan-
imously recommended for executive clemency, or else to
transportation, “in consideration of his youth.”
There’s a falling away.

But probably the most unique of all the punish-
ments was that prescribed for habitual absence from
church; 50 pounds of tobacco or its equivalent in cash,
and in default of payment, “ten lashes on the bare

-back.”” This was the law for some forty years, 1680-
1720. There is no record of the lash for this offense in
Orange, but many of the fine.


HISTORY OF -

COUNTY, VIRGINIA “~~

From tts Earliest § ettlements

through tts Establishment in 1754

To its Bicentennial Year

BY
HERBERT CLARENCE BRADSHAW

as?

Used by Permission, National Portrait Gallery, London.

Portrait: by Richard Wilson.
Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Prixce Epwarp Aucustus (left) and Prince GrorcEe FREDERICK

THE DIETZ PRESS, INCORPORATED
Rt chim.otad, Voit regina a

158 - COLONIAL CAROLINE

the lawmakers to act. The bill, which they passed, was sub-

stantially the same legislation that Lomax proposed during the -

last session. It authorized the Secretary of the Colony to issue
about 180,000 pounds in paper money, backed by annual taxes
of a shilling per tithable and a shilling on each too aches af
land. This new currency was good for the payment of all
private debts but taxes had to be paid in tobacco. A section of
the law known as the “Two Penny Act” shifted the rate of
exchange between tobacco and currency from one and one-half
to two pennies a pound. ? .

This new law offered some immediate relief to the hard
pressed planters, since with the new rate of exchange an acre
of tobacco paid off six pounds, fourteen Shillings sad four
pence of their debts rather than the even four pounds of the
old. But long range prospects were not good. Prices automati-
cally arose 6674 per cent and taxes increased sixfold.

As hedges against inflation Pendleton introduced bills to fix
the wages of artificers (skilled workmen), and to pay the
salaries of Burgesses and other public officials in paper money.
He also secured the passage of an act to create the office of
treasurer at the colony to direct the issuance of the new curren-
cy; and to supervise the withdrawal of redeemed notes from
circulation. The first of these laws led to the ‘“‘Parson’s Case,”
and the second to the defalcation of the treasurer and the
biggest scandal in the history of the colony.

‘As an interesting sidelight in the issuance of the new cur-
rency, the House of Burgesses appointed Pendleton to sien all
shilling and shilling thruppence notes. Bills of these : eae
nations were by far the largest of the issue, and the assignment

meant that he must sign his name 66,000 times. How long this

took him is not of record.

The 180,000 pound issue of paper money worked no mira-
cles in Caroline. Times were still hard and the war with France
unpopular. The morale of the people was low and a crime
wave swept the country. Shadrack and William Watts stole
tobacco from Conway’s warehouse and resold it at Royston’s
in Fredericksburg. They were apprehended and sent to Wil-
liamsburg to stand trial before the General Court of the colony

THE RULE OF DINWIDDIE 159

for this crime. John Harvie, who ten years before robbed
Robert Gilchrist, in a futile attempt to get goods for resale
and avert failure as a merchant in Port Royal, raised a number
of the new currency notes, from one to ten pounds; but again
the Caroline Magistrates dealt lightly with him and let him off
with another warning. Joseph Head, John Mitchell, William

Blanton, Henry Tarrent, Andrew Fletcher and John Long_

were in court for swearing and drunkenness; Henry Tarrent,

Daniel Roberts and John Lewis for neglecting the care of their

children, Mace Pickett and Samuel Jeter for disturbing the
peace, and Ann Green for having a bastard. |

The unrest also extended to the servant classes. Among the
indentured servants, John and Reuben Daner sued their master,
Edward Powers, for their freedom, John Stanley ran away
from William Taliaferro, Robert Kay had Mary Cox bound
to keep the peace, and Catherine Bohannon and Mary Martin,
servants of Oliver Charles and Abraham Estis, respectively,
had bastards. Among the slaves William Baker, a mulatto be-
longing to John Billups, ran away and spread terror through
the countryside, Jack Hickory, another mulatto, broke into the
dwelling of William Dudley and was hung, \and Sley, a Negro,
was burned in the hand and given 39 lashes at the whipping-
post for stealing hogs.

Civil cases as well as criminal, clogged the docket of the
local court. Lundsford Lomax, in spite of his frantic efforts to
preserve his solvency, was in serious financial difficulties. Over
two score suits for debt pended against him. Benjamin Chap-
man, William Grimsley and John Howworth gave up their
fight to preserve their property and took the pauper’s oath;
and John Chandler, Samuel Johnson, Benjamin Johnson and
William Clutterbuck pled age and infirmity and asked to be
made levy free. In quest of additional income to liquidate their
debts Timothy Smith, Joseph Stevens and Jeremiah Canady
tended tobacco seconds and were caught.

The people were quarrelsome because of the strain under
which they lived, and filed a multitude of suits, based on slander

and assault and battery, which further strained the functioning

of the judiciary. The most noteworthy of these suits was an


290 COLONIAL CAROLINE

season of the year may be the cause why so many have dis-
obeyed orders.” It was mid-Winter.

_ The Caroline militia men did not remain in Williamsburg |

long. Their commanding officer, Col. Anthony Thornton,
marched them home again, and wrote the governor that he
acted on the orders of Gen. Thomas Nelson, who ordered him
to march the troops back to Caroline and hold them in readi-
ness for further orders. The trouble was that the Caroline

soldiers were without weapons. Thornton ends this letter with

a plea for 250 muskets, stating “we can do nothing without
”
arms.
The troops that the Virginians attempted to put in the field,
who were certainly the last scrapings of the man-power reserves,

were not only without weapons, but their leaders were without

maps. This deficiency extended from the governor, and techni-
cal commander-in-chief, to field officers. On February 12, 1781,
John Baylor, fearful lest the British invade Caroline and the
local militia be unable to determine their position wrote Jeffer-
son, “Hoping that you have supplied yourself with an Ameri-
can atlas in the space of six or eight months, you will please
deliver, General Weedon’s care, my atlas to New Market.”

When it became apparent that the local militia was help-
less to’ stop either Arnold or Cornwallis, Washington sent
LaFayette to Virginia. Among LaFayette’s troops was a regi-
ment commanded by Col. George Baylor, and in this regiment
served many men from Caroline. Col. Baylor had either
escaped from, or been exchanged by, the British after his
capture in the battle of Tappan, N. Y. The chances are that
he had been exchanged since he suffered a lung wound at
Tappan, which rendered him “unfit” for action. This “unfit-

ness,’ however, did not keep him from resuming command.

He fought gallantly through the rest of the Revolution. But
it did lead to his death. He died in Barbados, British West
Indies, in 1784, where he went after the battle of Yorktown
in an attempt to regain his health, impaired because of the
injury to his lung, and was buried in the churchyard of St.
Michael’s Cathedral, Bridgetown.

Gen. William Woodford, Caroline’s ranking military officer,

THE CoMMONWEALTH 291

was even more unfortunate than Col. George Baylor, the
county's second ranking officer. The British captured Wood-
ford during the siege-of Charleston, S. C. and transported him
by sea to New York, where he died a prisoner of war on
November 13, 1780. A persistent rumor holds that he was

_ buried in Trinity churchyard. But he has no marked grave in
the well known graveyard of Trinity Church at the head of.

Wall Street, and the custodian of this famous cemetery con-
tends that there is no record of him being buried there. _
LaFayette was able to stop Arnold but he lacked the man-
power to cope with both Arnold and Cornwallis. The latter
moved into Hanover and sent his chief lieutenant Tarleton to
destroy the ordnance plant and ammunition stored at Fal-
mouth. This expedition meant the invasion of Caroline. All

the people of the county were alarmed. The local court ordered

each of the 95 districts into which the county was divided to
furnish supplies for the army to provide a covered wagon and
four horses with a driver to haul food and ammunition to the
soldiers at the front and to remove the military supplies from
Falmouth. The freeholders complied with this order, but there
was grumbling. As late as 1797 Charles Vivian of Caroline
petitioned the General Assembly for compensation “for wagon
and team, impressed and taken into public use in 1781.”
These preparations failed to stop Tarleton. He crossed into
the extreme southwestern corner of Caroline at Anderson’s
Bridge on June 4, 1781. Apparently he chose this circuitous
route to Falmouth because of the information furnished by
Sancho, a Negro slave belonging to William Evans, who also
acted as his pilot in his advance across the county. But in spite
of Sancho’s help, Tarleton’s expedition into Caroline was not

_ a success. Washington dispatched Gen. Anthony Wayne from

Pennsylvania to aid LaFayette in Virginia, and since Wayne’s
forces were nearing Falmouth, Tarleton turned west in Caro-
line, entered Spotsylvania, recrossed the North Anna at Deven-
port’s Bridge and moved on Charlottesville in an attempt to
capture the governor and General Assembly, who had set up a
temporary capital of the Commonwealth there, rather than
risk battle with Wayne over Falmouth. This change of plans

ee ee ee ee a ee

196 COLONIAL CAROLINE

with the governor’s councilors, the most powerful men in the
colony, presiding as trial magistrates.

AA few years before (1763) a case tried in Williamsburg,
_which arose in Caroline, shocked the county. James Kay was
tried for the murder of his wife, Mary Kay. This was the

most heinous crime committed in Caroline until this date. It
was the first time in the history of the county that a free white
person had been accused of murder, and to make matters
Worse, the accusation was of a husband killing his wife.

The Kays were prominent people, not of magistrate rank
but descendants of the original patentees of Caroline land.
Facts in the case were garbled and opinion as to guilt was
sharply divided. There was a preliminary hearing in the local
court but the crown only presented enough evidence to establish
probable guilt. Caroline people did not get a chance to hear
the testimony of William Johnston, Nathaniel Carpenter,
William Pemberton, Elizabeth Pemberton, Thomas Griffin,
Mildren Griffin, Simon Kay, John Eastborough and Hannah
MacDonald, who appeared in Williamsburg as witnesses. In
due time Kay was convicted and hung. James Taliaferro ad-
ministered his estate and found apprenticeships for his sons.
But the rank and file in Caroline were never satished with the
outcome because they were unable to learn all the facts in the
case. There was a lingering doubt as to Kay’s guilt, and many

- people were convinced that he might have a fairer trial before
- the court of his home county.

Pendleton promptly endorsed the Caroline freeholders’ peti-
tion and introduced a bill to enact it into law. But his motives
were quite different from those of his constituents. He wanted
to get the cases away from Williamsburg because the people
who came to the colonial capital from all sections of Virginia
at the government's expense as jurymen and witnesses, were
becoming increasingly troublesome. Instead of sticking to the
business which brought them to Williamsburg they meddled in
any problem which happened to be before the General Assem-
bly. The influence they wielded on members forced the House
of Burgesses to adopt four of Patrick Henry’s “resolves” in
opposition to the Stamp Act. But Pendleton was unable to get

I
THE Rute oF Francis FAUQUIER 97

1 ut was
the measure enacted into law. It passed the a eke
defeated in the Council, where great landlord councillors
the foresight of great landlord Burgesses. ; ; ae

While the small freeholders sought to see t . a
j 71 eat landlords, who served as :
through jury service the gr | yeti eae
ht to curb them. Prior to 17
trates on the court, soug ee
Clerk of the Caroline Court drew the ee oo .
jury indiscriminately. But beginnin
of a box for jury duty, in | ae
i ick t in the box fro
j began to pick the names pu
year the justices : de. This new system was
ri rere to be. made. is
which the drawings were ils aie a
ially ful, because seemingly it ma In
only partially successful, ad
hard the magistrates tried a preponderance of the j

S
the panels remained from the ranks of the artisans, crossroad

traders and small planters.

g. THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN

. juri ccludi more
After the court tried to fix juries by eee metus
troublesome freeholders from Lend eae t eon ee
I iti litical influence struck ba
without social position or po ace st :
smear campaign designed to embarrass individ oe
r is skuldug-
‘to resign from office. sl
sufficiently to force them :
gery worked only in one case. John ayant the ae
i ine County, the son of a
He was a native of Caroline age AOR
mong the small freeholders, g
magistrate, and a leader a g ee ca
fore Governor Dinwi at
he was a great landlord befor PCC
rember of the court his pos
him to the bench. But once a n
rapidly shifted and he soon became one of the royal gov oe
; . . . . E 3 r
ment’s staunchest partisans in eek Es ee
is che inwiddie named him to hints
him for this change. Dinwid I :
heriff when Johnston
f Thomas Johnston as s ,
are f in the public accounts,
shortage in the p :
siened from office because of a g : ee
and Fauquier appointed him to take sa — omeat
fhce of sheriff under simila 5
when Taylor gave up the o .
and for Edward Dixon, when Dixon refused to swear allegi
cI Ill.
ance to the new king, George ‘
These demonstrations of the confidence of royal bg
in Sutton’s integrity only added to the Caroline masses es
to tear him down. But they were without grounds to a

292 CoLONIAL CAROLINE

rendered the unfortunate Sancho valueless and the British
abandoned him. Shortly thereafter he was captured by the
Americans, court-martialed and hung. Four years later the

General Assembly compensated his master, William Evans,

eighty pounds for his loss.

With Wayne’s arrival the Americans’ position in Virginia
steadily improved. In time Cornwallis was forced to withdraw
all the British forces in the Commonwealth to the peninsula
between the York and the James. When Washington heard of
this move he set out for Virginia in an attempt to capture the
enemy before it escaped by sea. Two legends have arisen about
this Washington trip concerning Caroline. They hold that
Washington camped at the Old Mansion (the Bowling Green)
on his way to Yorktown and gave a gala dinner in honor of
LaFayette at the same estate on his return. Unfortunately
neither are true. On the way south Washington became so con-
cerned over a rumor that the French fleet had suffered defeat
at sea he heard after he reached Fredericksburg, that he rode
straight through to Williamsburg without even breaking the
journey for a night’s rest. There was no major stop in Caro-

line. On his return journey, after the victory at Yorktown, the

whole Washington family was grieved because of a personal
tragedy. Jack Custis, Washington’s stepson and his wife’s last
surviving child, contracted camp fever during the Yorktown
campaign and died a few days after the victory at Eltham, the
home of a relative in King William. Washington, personally,
arranged the funeral, and. after it was over on November 11,
1781, set out with his wife by coach for Mt. Vernon. They
were in no mood to celebrate. There was no gala dinner for
LaFayette at this time.

‘In fact there is no record of any kind of celebration in
Caroline because of the victory at Yorktown, and the chances

-are that there was none. The county was too depleted by the

long war for festivities. It had to rebuild to play its réle in
the new nation of which it was now a part.

a ss ae es

The People

CAROLINE'S non-Indian pre-Revolutionary settlers fall

into five classes, the patentees of crown grants, freeholders
who acquired their real estate through marriage or purchase,
headrighters, indentured servants and Negro slaves. 3

1. PATENTEES OF CROWN GRANTS

Patentees of crown grants consisted of favorites, homestead-
ers and speculators, but no clearly cut lines of demarcation
divided the three classes. Favorites were often speculators and

homesteaders striving to become favorites. To get title to as.
- much as possible, by hook or crook, was a characteristic com-

mon to all classes. The chief distinction among them lay in the
fact that favorites were able to gain title to acreage by working
on the vanities of royal governors while less fortunate men
and women had to conform to the statutes governing patents.

a. The Favorites

Grantees, who received larger tracts of Caroline real estate
than the acreage allotted to settlers under the homestead laws,
were for the most part minor gentry, who had been lucky
enough to worm their way into the favor of the ruling royal
governor or his lieutenant in residence. None of them had any
drag with the reigning monarch. English kings and queens
gave away whole colonies, or at least several counties to their
friends, i.e. Maryland, Pennsylvania, the Northern Neck of
Virginia, rather than a paltry few thousand acres. Only two

proprietors of crown grants of land in the area which became —

Caroline were noblemen, and they, Sir Ralph Wormley and
Sir Thomas Lundsford, were of minor rank, baronets at best.
Neither of them established a residence within the territorial
limits of the county. Wormley lived in Middlesex and Lunds-
ford sent his son-in-law, John Lomax, to settle his land, to which
this author has. been unable to find a record of the patent al-
though he has come across numerous references to its existence.

293

ee a


454 COLONIAL CAROLINE

1745—John Harvie—stole goods from Robert Gilchrist—made restitu-
tion—charges dismissed.

1745—Patrick James—accused of theft of Henry Long’s saddle—charges
dismissed.

1747—Patrick Welch—stole church plate and counterfeited coinage—
to General Court.

1747—Manus Fegan—accessory to Welch—to General Court.

1747—Patrick Roan—receiving stolen property and uttering counterfeit
coinage—to General Court.

- 1747—Edward Dannerley—ruining church plate—charges dismissed.

1747—Catherine Roan—receiving stolen Property and uttering counter-
feit coinage—to General Court.

1747—Ann Dugan—receiving stolen Property and uttering counterfeit
coinage—charges dismissed.

1747—George -Fox—counterfeiting and uttering coinage—to General
Court. .

1747—Bennett Beazley—possession of stolen Property—50 pound bond
for good behavior.

1748—Beaver Newby—theft of gun—so pound bond for good behavior.
1748—James Stuart—stole hat from house in Port Royal—to General

Court. .

1748—John Noden—cutting up tobacco and burning houses of John
Bowie—not proven—but placed under 20 pound bond for good
. behavior.

1748—Catherine Noden—accessory to John Noden—not proven—20
pound bond for good behavior.

1752—Henry Baites—robbed Edward Dixon and William Johnston
(2 crimes) to General Court.

1752—Francis Sly—accessory of Baites in Dixon robbery—1o0 pound
bond for good behavior.

1754—Benjamin Long—unlawfully entered home of widow Jane
Cooper—fined 1 shilling and costs.

1754—John Powell—unlawfully entered home of widow Jane Cooper
—fined 1 shilling and costs.

1756—Benjamin Catlett—desertion from militia at Ft. Mindenhall—
case dismissed.

1757—Elizabeth Perrylake—suspicion of a felony—charges dismissed.

1758—William and Shadrack Watts—stole tobacco from Conway’s
warehouse and sold it in Fredericksburg—to General Court.

1758—John Harvie—raised colonial Currency notes from one to ten
pounds—to General Court.

shave sprees,

ee er

aN,

te i

2 -~ ee

THE PEOPLE 455

1760—John Kay—killed wife, Mary Kay—to General Court.

1760—James Campbell & John Scott—attacked Edward Dixon, Robert
Gilchrist, John Sneed and Robert Allen on streets of Port Royal
—charges dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because they were
seamen.

1760—Zachery & Errom Coghill—aggavated assault on Jacob King—
10 shillings fine each by jury.

_ 1762—David Gordon—stole horse: from Francis Fleming—to General

Court.
1763—Rev. Robert Barrett—crime unknown—to General Court.
1763—Robert Burdette—forgery of bills of exchange and counterfeiting
—to General -Court. Sas
1764—Joseph Baites—broke into store—to General Court.

1764—Mary Ann & Nancy Webster—assault and battery—charges
dismissed.

1767—Joseph Abraham—true bill in blank—fled. 3
1769—Mace Pickett—forceable entry—so pound bond to keep the peace.
1770—Harding Chewning—killed a Negro—not guilty.

1773—John & William Coleburn—indited for felonies—charges not

stated—dismissed.
1773—John Dugard—bigamy—acquitted in General Court.
1774—William Reynolds—stole a Negro—charges dismissed.

1774—Robert Month—broke into home of Nathaniel Holloway—
charges dismissed.

-1774—Chillion White—rape—charges dismissed.

1775—Jacob Martin—accused of a felony—ran away.
1775—Edward Badrell—accused of a felony—ran away.

1777—John Hackett—stole 3 lambs from James Miller—to General
Court.

2. Crimes Against the King, the Court and Public Officials

Caroline freeholders resented tyranny from the date of the
organization of the county. When pushed they showed this
resentment by overt acts. Cases of this type recorded in the
Order Books are listed below. Some of them were inspired by
justifiable resentment but others arose from plain “‘cussedness.””

1732—John Jenkins—crime against the king—inditement only of record.

1733—George Willson—cursed King George—s pound fine or 20 lashes
at the whipping-post.


452 _ CoLoniAL CAROLINE

Rogers and Mary Rennolds were incompetent. The three cases
arose in the 1740's, the 1750’s and the 1770's, respectively.
The Catlett case grew out of a dispute over the Catlett
fortune. Benjamin Catlett was in serious financial difficulties
and he coveted the portion of his father’s estate inherited by
his brother, William, a bachelor and an eccentric. Benjamin
Catlett had deserted the Caroline militia when it was stationed
at Fort Mindenhall on the frontier during the French and
Indian War and returned to his home in the county to attempt
to recoup his finances before he went broke. Col. (later Gen.)
William Woodford, commanding officer of the Caroline Mili-
tia, sent for him to stand court martial for desertion but the
civil court in Caroline released him from the militia and ruled
that he might remain in Caroline and look after his affairs
much to the dismay of Woodford. This break did not save
him, however, his finances went steadily from bad to worse.
He looked covetously at the inheritance of his brother, William,
and sought to gain control of it. To do this he moved the
court to declare William insane and make him committee.
Some of Caroline’s most celebrated magistrates, Anthony
Thornton, Lundsford Lomax and Robert Gilchrist, examined
William Catlett and declared him unfit to manage his affairs.
Benjamin Catlett became committee but other members of the
Catlett family were dissatisfied and moved to have the appoint-
ment set aside. The court agreed with them and ordered
William committed to the Public Hospital for the Insane in

Williamsburg. Benjamin tried to nullify this order by hiding

William. The court ordered him to produce the patient at
once, and when he refused cited him for contempt. Rather
than go to jail or abjectly surrender Benjamin tried to work
out a compromise. He was successful. The court agreed to
place the unfortunate William in the custody of one Francis
Barbee, and convey to Barbee a portion of his estate to support
him for the rest of his life. William lived out his life with
Barbee and the Catletts shared the portion of his estate he did
not need for his own use. 3
Henry Goodloe’s trouble arose because he let John Waller
preach at his residence in upper St. Margaret’s Parish. His

ee A EGY

aeheyintiertbhcermene st he

THE PEOPLE 453

relatives decided that that Goodloe must be crazy to be taken
in by a “new light” religion and moved the court to have him
declared insane. The magistrates were no more in sympathy
with the “new light” than the Goodloes, other than Henry,
and readily agreed. :

In the last case of insanity cited in the opening paragraph of
this section the court paid a reward in 1771 to Andrew Leckie,
the Port Royal merchant, “for preserving the clothes of a

‘madman, who was taken up and placed in gaol.”

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Colonial Caroline was remarkably free of major crime. The
table below lists free. (1) white persons tried or investigated

for felonies:

1733—John Parlow— investigated for the killing of Thomas Downer—
charges dismissed.

1740—Robert Baber—forgery—pillory 1 hr. & 50 pound bond for
good behavior.

1742—Richard Munford—stole horse, bridle & sadle—to General
Court.*

*Records of trials in the General Court of the Colony are lost. The fate of
most of the accused from Caroline to stand trial in Williamsburg remains un-
known. The Order Books indicate what happened to a few of them. Patrick
Welch and John Kay were hung, Manus Fegan served a prison sentence and
returned to Caroline, John Dugard was acquitted.

1742—John Lomax, Jr.—accessory to Munford—only 16 years of age
—25 lashes at whipping-post.

1744—John Hoomes—stole bell from Thomas Buckner—10 lashes at
whipping-post.

1744—Samuel Pryor—accused of rape by Ann Campbell—charges dis-
missed.

1744—Francis Bearding—stole tobacco from Benjamin Hubbard—to
General Court.

1744—Shelton Raily — Bearding’s accessory — charges dismissed upon
payment of costs.

1745—Alexander Sweeney—sold base metal for gold—100 pound bond
for good behavior.

1745—Peter Williams—a common runaway—expelled from Virginia.

1745—Thomas Pittman—accused of stealing Peter William’s hogs—
charges dismissed.

440 COLONIAL CAROLINE

1763—Mlicajah Eaton discharged from Sarah Smith and church wardens
of St. Margaret’s ordered to bind him to a new master.

1763—Joshua Donahue, son of Patrick Donahue, bound. (Drysdale.)

1763—The children of John Cox bound because their father fails to
take proper care of them.(8)

1763—Children of Sarah Smith bound.

1764—Children of William Eubank bound to Euclid Whitlock because
their father did not take the proper care of them.

1764—Ann and Sussannah Tompkins, the orphans of Daniel Tompkins,
bound because their guardian, Daniel ‘Tompkins, abscounded
with the estate their father left for their support.

1764—John Simmons, the son of Henry Simmons, because his father

did not take proper care of him and neglected his education. -

1764—Elisha and Benjamin Estis, the children of Abraham Estis, bound
‘to Joseph Reynolds.

1764—LaFoe Harper, a poor orphan, bound to Francis Conner.
1765—Thomas White, the son of William White, bound.

1765—Ann Salmon, daughter of Laurentia Salmon, bound because her

former master gave her up.

1767—Lucy, Sally, Edmound and Hannah Putney, bound because their
mother, Lucy Putney, neglected their education.

1768—Sussanah, Jean and Milly Pollet, because their father, Benjamin
Pollet neglected their education.

1768—Martha and Mary Murray, orphans, bound according to law.

1770—Thomas Landrum, “a child who appears to be in the care of
nobody,” ordered bound.

1770—Thomas Livingston, an orphan, bound. (St. Mary’s.)

1770—Thomas Lyon, the son of Andrew Lyon, bound because his father
neglects his education.

1771—Douglas Oliver, the son of Richard Oliver, bound because his
father failed to instruct him in the principles of Christianity.

1771—Henry and Peggy Hill, the children of James Hill, bound. (St.
Mary’s. )

1772—The children of James Powell, bound because their father neg-
lected their education.

1772—John Whaling, Jr., the orphan of John Whaling, bound.

esse

THE PEOPLE , 441

1772—The church wardens of St. Margaret’s ordered to force John
Sutton IT to support his children born to his mulatto mistress,
Sarah Mann.

1773—The children of Patrick Cuffey bound because their father failed
to take care of them and instruct them in the principles of
Christianity.

1774—The orphans of Ambroise Hutchinson transferred from Francis
Baber to Mathew Crank.-

1775—John Merryman, the son of Adam Merryman, bound.

1775—Lewis, Joseph and Abagail Murphey, the children of Ann Mur-
phey, bound.

1775—William Hill, the son of James Hill, bound. (St. Mary’s.)

(1) This was a fortunate move. Michael Yates became a celebrated Caroline
physician.
(2) Caroline’s only campaign to clean up prostitution during colonial days
came during the great boom at Port Royal. It spread throughout the county.

(3) Catherine Jones was left an orphan with independent means. Archibald
Macphearson, a magistrate, was her guardian. He ran through her estate, and
after he squandered it had the court bind the girl to him and his wife. Similar
cases happened frequently and caused numerous scandals. In 1770 Gawin Corbin,
boldly told the Caroline Court that he did not want a guardian although he was
under the age of 21.

(4) After Hugh Noden’s death the custody of the Burdette children passed to
his son, Charles Noden, who tried to remove them from Virginia in order to keep
them slaves after they reached the age of 31.

(5) What happened to Liza Lawless at Griffin Jones is not of record.

(6) Jane Bearding’s husband, Francis, was either hung or in prison for the
theft of tobacco from Benjamin Hubbard.

(7) Three years before Shadrack Watt’s was sent to the General Court for
breaking into Conway’s warehouse and stealing tobacco, which he sold in Fred-
ericksburg. He was either in prison or had been hung.

(8) The Cox children’s mother, Mary Cox, had been convicted. of adultry
with Isaac Baker.

EDUCATION

Primary education was a function of the Church but the
clergy made a poor job of it in colonial Caroline. Rectors were

paid to teach as well as preach but few performed the first

duty. Many ministers hired an assistant to teach for them.
The Rev. John Brunskill of St. Margaret’s, first hired John
Scott to do this work. Scott married his daughter Elizabeth,
and he was able to keep the salary he paid in the family. But
Scott turned out to be a drunkard, and Brunskill’s parishioners

‘forced him to hire a more competent teacher. He next em-

—

CHESTERFIELD

AN OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY 4 Dy

Cen ed
ns bs
FRANCIS EARLE LUTZ
§
|
! Sponsored by the Bermuda Ruritan Club
ad

WILLIAM BYRD PRESS, Ine.
Richmond Virginia.

1954

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Diamonds and Gold 215

tone so that all could hear. Asa person could vote wherever he held
property, some were able to vote in several counties.

The first governor elected under the new Constitution was Joseph
Johnson. In a new judicial re-alignment Judge John B. Clopton, of
Chesterfield, was elected judge of the Sixth Circuit which included
Chesterfield. The county's vote for governor was 654 for Johnson to
252 for G. W. Summers, champion of the Whigs. In the 1852 election
Chesterfield gave Franklin Pierce a 285 majority over General Winfield
Scott, a native of Petersburg and husband of a Richmond woman whose
family had numerous ties with the county.

Henry Clay, a great favorite in Chesterfield, died on June 29, 1852.
At about the same time John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster also
died. Calhoun’s body crossed the county en route to his native South
Carolina. When the monument to Clay was erected in Capito] Square,
Richmond, in 1860, the Chesterfield militia companies took part in the
huge parade.

Several more disasters in the Chesterfield coal basin shocked Chester-
field in this period. There was a blast in the Clover Hill Company’s
Cox pit in 1850 which caused seven deaths and a landslide there the

following year that took two more lives. Also in late 1851 there was

great property damage done by an explosion in the English pits near
Midlothian where the next May twenty workers perished.

These mining tragedies were followed in 1855 by an explosion in
the same locality which killed fifty-five workmen. Near the close of
the decade, in 1859, nine more lives were lost in the Bright Hope
Company’s pits near Winterpock. Previously, in 1854, three workers
in the same mine were victims of a shaft cave-in,

For around two years starting in mid-summer 1851, tavern and
church yard gossips had an exciting topic to discuss. This was the
murder of Anthony T. Robiou and the subsequent trials, appeals and
ultimate execution of John S. Wormley for the slaying and the trial of
James Reid as an accessory to the crime.

Wormley, who was a well-to-do farmer :as well as a lawyer was
Robiou’s father-in-law and became incensed when Robiou filed a suit
for divorce against his wife, who was only fourteen at the time of her
marriage. The complaint charged the young wife with infidelity and
named Reid as corespondent. Wormley and Reid were charged with
waylaying Robiou, with the former accused of the actual shooting
which took place in the road in front of the Wormley residence near
the Black Heath pits.

The first trial in October, 1851, brought a death verdict for Worm-
ley, but on the grounds that Deputy Sheriff George W. Snellings had
taken the jurors to the home of Clerk Silas Cheatham and there treated
them to liquor, Samuel Taylor and Robert G. Scott, attorneys for the


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216 Chesterfield—An Old Virginia County

defense, won a new trial for their client. At the re-trial of the case in
January, 1853, it was found impossible to get an impartial jury from
Chesterfield and a panel from Petersburg and Richmond was summoned.
Again the jury could not be completed and an additional panel from
Amelia and Dinwiddie was called. Once more Wormley received a
death sentence. While awaiting trial the first time Wormley, who was
forty-two years old, complained that he was confined in a tiny cell
4 by 6% feet and requested the court to order him to be placed in a
larger place with longer leg chains to permit exercise.

Judge John B. Nash had succeeded Judge Clopton on the Chester-
field bench and presided at the second trial. After the judge had set a
date for the execution Wormley requested, and was granted, an addi-
tional week to permit him to notify friends and relatives at distant
points of his impending fate.

When the day of execution arrived the crowd began to gather
early and before noon it was estimated that 4,000 persons were on

' hand for the spectacle. Three ministers entered the jail at 10 A.M. and

remained with Wormley until noon when he was brought out and
escorted to a chair on a platform at a point near the present clerk’s
office, after which there was a religious ceremony lasting for nearly
two and one-half hours. Wormley was dressed in a new black frock
coat and wore a black silk shirt and a black silk neckerchief. He had
on new boots and a silk hat. After the ministers had played out, the
condemned man was placed in a wagon and driven one-quarter mile
west of the courthouse where the gallows had been erected on the edge

of the woods, giving plenty of open space for the huge throng to wit:

ness the execution. Wormley made a fifteen minute harangue before
he was swung into eternity.

Reid, in the meanwhile, had been tried and acquitted. Before the
hanging he married. the widow of Robiou, whose family name is per-
petuated in Chesterfield by a flag station on the present Southern
Railway. :

Another court matter had the attention of the Chesterfield gossips
two years after the Wormley hanging. This was in the nature of a
breech of promise suit in which a 60-year-old widow named Vaden
demanded $10,000 heart balm from a widower of her own age nained
Phaup. The widow Vaden claimed that she had been jilted flagrantly.
Phaup countered that he had been imbibing freely for some time before
the alleged engagement and that he recalled no formal proposal of
marriage. The widow asserted that the proposal was made and that she
received it in good faith and had told her friends of it before Phaup
had slept off the exhilarating effects of his drinks and refused to per-
form his part of the agreement. Determined to hold him to his bargain
or make him pay for his indiscretion, Mrs. Vaden went to court where,


292 Chester field—An Old Virginia County

_ Again under the chairmanship of Captain Baker, the Auburn Chase

Farm, owned by the Bellwoods, took first prize in world-wide compe-
tition in 1915 at the Panama Pacific Exposition at San Diego, California.

In 1885 Chesterfield, along with the rest of Virginia, was agog over
the murder of Lillian Madison and the subsequent trial, conviction and
execution of Thomas J. Cluverius. An added fillip to the county was

the news that the Rev. William C. Hatcher, who had been pastor of {

Manchester Baptist Church and was well known and loved throughout
Chesterfield, was the spiritual adviser to the condemned man. Families
were split-on the guilt or innocence of the accused whose trial was
among the most sensational in the State’s history. Dr. Hatcher who was
in almost daily contact with the accused was expected to give an answer
to the riddle, but Cluverius, condemned on the flimsiest of circumstan-
tial evidence, maintained his innocence to the last and died at the end
of a silken rope made by women sympathizers. Dr. Hatcher was so
harassed by inquisitive reporters and others that he found refuge and
solace in the peaceful atmosphere of Bon Air. Later he wrote “whenever
I get weary, lonesome or sick, my thoughts turn tenderly to the hills
of Chesterfield. How sacred to me seem the very roads, trees and
streams.”

Another tragedy occurred in 1885 when Dr. R. B. Hobson, of
Winterpock, died on September 2 from a dose of poison taken in mis-
take for a stimulant as he prepared to leave for a long night ride to

see a patient in an emergency. The hard-working and greatly respected

physician, who had been awakened to make the visit, realized at once
that he had swallowed the poison, but no antidote was at hand to offset
the deadly dose and he died before another doctor could be summoned.

Born in. 1813, Dr. Hobson was buried in the Centenary Methodist »

Church cemetery at Winterpock.

A newspaper The People’s Friend started serving Chesterfield in
1886. It was launched by William G. Lumpkin, a former Methodist
minister who had been pastor of the Manchester church on two occa-
sions, the last being a two-year period which ended in 1874. Mr.
Lumpkin had been an editor prior to entering the ministry and after
his retirement he opened a printing establishment in suburban Man-
chester and launched. his short-lived publication, none of whose copies
are listed in libraries. .

The county had another visit from an earthquake on August 31,
1886. The shock was felt shortly before ro P.M. Another slight shock
was felt on September 3. It was the first of these quakes that caused
great property damage and killed and injured many residents of
Charleston and surrounding area.

The possibilities of utilizing electric power for transportation caught
the imagination and were discussed so avidly that the railroad fever

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Diamonds and Gold 217

because of the novelty of the case, she drew an overflow audience. The
suit, unfortunately for the widow, was decided by the all-male jury in
favor of the defendant.

In this same year two Negroes were in court on grave charges.
William Mosby, owned by Dr. Samuel Patteson, was accused of aiding
Daniel, a slave owned by James H. Grant, to escape. Mosby, it was

- testified, bargained with hands on a coastal schooner to convey Daniel

to Philadelphia. After pocketing the escapee’s $50 the seamen reported
the matter to the authorities. Mosby was sentenced to receive 39 lashes
on two different days. The other defendant, Joe Jones, property of
Charles Corling, was sentenced to be hanged in October, 1855, for
attacking a Chesterfield woman, a comparatively infrequent crime in
the county.

Along about this time two runaway slaves named Nancy and Milly,
owned by John G. Turpin, of Chesterfield, were caught in Peters-
burg after having been “on the wing” for four years during which
time they had found employment. Nancy, in the meanwhile, had had
two children and Milly had saved up $95. Mr. Turpin paid a reward
of $200 for their return, probably figuring the children and cash were
worth it.

Among the social events of this period were tournaments and balls.
At Powhatan’s Huguenot Springs, which Chesterfield men had made
into a resort, the eighth annual affair of this kind was held in September,
1855. The Chesterfield “managers” of the tournament and ball were
Dr. W. B. Ball, Dr. Junius L. Archer, C. C. McRae, Thomas Vaden, Jr.,

_ Captain A. W. Trabue, Thomas Howard, James H. Moody, Dr. John

Walke, Jr., Major A. Jones, Dr. William H. Johnson and William A.
Graves.

Chesterfield veterans of the War of 1812 at this time were joining
those from other states in memorializing Congress for a substantial rec-
ognition of their services. The movement had started in the fall of 1854
when a statewide meeting was held in Richmond to organize. H. Han-
cock, of Chesterfield, was one of eight delegates sent to Washington
to present the case the: following year. Those attending the Richmond
meeting from the county included John Brooks, John Burch, John
Turpin and Hancock.

* The Bellona Arsenal, which later was to be a vital asset to the Con-
federacy, was sold by the government in 1853 to Dr. Junius L. Archer,
nephew of Major Clarke, for $2,650. The deed was signed by Jefferson
Davis, the then secretary of war and later President of the Confederate
States of America. Just before the outbreak of the Civil War Dr.
Archer sold the Bellona Arsenal property to General Philip St. George
Cocke, who cultivated the land. When hostilities came Dr. Archer’s
foundry continued to make arms and the old magazine at the arsenal


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An ANNALISTIC CHAPTER 127

In 1852 we begin to read of the naturalizations of foreigners.
Immigration, particularly from Ireland, had lately become very
active.

Mr. Russell mentions the hanging of Crane for the murder of
one Van Horne as probably the first civil execution in Winchester.
This he states was in 1791. But seemingly in the same year, Dr.
James Medlicott, who lived on Fairfax Lane, was hanged for kill-
ing William Hefferman. The cost of the gallows was $10. In
1790 Solomon Watson and James Ridley were under sentence of
death for horse stealing. In 1798 Ralph, a negro, was hanged for
poisoning James Strother and his wife.

The next executions we read of were those of three negroes,
one of whom was a woman, and these took place about 1817. In
1838 William Brent was mortally stabbed by a runaway slave
from Rappahannock. Three days after Christmas the assassin
was hanged on a commons near the present Catholic cemetery. It
would thus seem that another spot was chosen, since Crane was
hanged at the south end of Braddock Street. Another negro was
executed about the same time. In 1856 Isaac Smith was mur-
dered in the Massie tavern by William H. Spurr and Andrew J.
Copenhaver. The former was sentenced to 18 years imprison-
ment and the latter to 15, but both men were pardoned by Gov-
ernor Wise. In 1858 James Catlett was executed for the murder
of Samuel Brock, another negro who was highly esteemed.

The executions we have named appear to be all that took
place under the civil law: prior to the war of 1861.

The general muster of Monday, October 22, 1787, reminds
us that muster day was an annual event nearly to the time of the
civil war, and that as a means of attracting the notice of the
public, it vied with the old-time fair or the modern circus.

The Shenandoah Herald speaks of a fair at Winchester “last
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday”—November 30---December 2,
1824. The prizes aggregated $175.


APPEAL OF THE PEOPLE

OF WINCHESTER TO WASHINGTON FOR PROTECTION

C. DARLEY)

(PAINTING BY FELIX O.

(Used by Permission of Jones Brothers Publishing Company,

Cincinnati, Ohio)

FREDERICK COUNTY. VARGINIA.

THE STORY of

WINCHESTER
in VIRGINIA

The Oldest Town in the Shenandoah Valley

By FREDERIC MORTON

cAuthor of

“Under the Cottonwoods,” “Winning or Losing?” “Land of the
Laurel,” “The Story of Daniel Boone,” ‘A Practical History
of Music,” ‘History of the United Brethren in Christ,
Virginia Conference,” and Histories of Preston,
Pendleton, Highland, Bath, Alleghany,

Monroe and Rockbridge Counties
(Virginia and West Virginia)

SHENANDOAH PUBLISHING HOUSE
STRASBURG, VA.

1925


fee oe trian: to

ie CARTMELL'S HISTORY

hold communication with any person. Every
day, then, until the conclusion of the trial,
there was no abatement of interest. The wea-
pons and bloodstained clothing were all arrayed
before the jury in Holliday’s dramatic style. The
spectators were aroused; intense feeling prevail-
ed, requiring constant vigilance of the officers to
restrain. As may be supposed, the argument was
the great feature; and seldom if ever had the
old court room heard such eloquence. The im-
pressions made on the youths of that day as
they watched the parries and thrusts of the skill-
ful trio and heard the pathetic pleadings of coun-
sel for the prisoner, laid the foundation for the
reputation that Ran Tucker had as an orator,
which never left him.

Oo

June 2tst, 1855, the jury handed in the verdict:

“We, the jury find the prisoner guilty of murder

in the second degree and fix his punishment at
18 years in the penitent

(Signed)

ary.

OHN CATHER, Foreman.”

Andrew Jackson Copenhaver was put upon his
trial for same offence immediately at the con-
clusion of Spurr’s. A jury was in waiting; ad-
ditional counsel employed by old Mr. Smith to

assist the Commonwealth. Senator James M.
Mason appeared in the case, and Mr. Philip Wil-
liams appeared with Conrad and Tucker for the

‘isaner. The following persons composed the
ury: Moses Nelson, H. B. Pitzer, Daniel Car-
ver, Szmuel Roland, Solomon Glaize, Wm.
Frieze, Elijah Shull, Geo. H. Lewis, Martin
Frieze, Thos. S. Sangster, Martin M. Adams
and John Ewing.

The case was conducted along the same lines
as the one just closed; the two new lawyers—
both distinguished for their legal: ability, ably
assisted in the trial, which continued for eight
days. Mr. Conrad and Senator Mason had many
legal tilts on admissibility of evidence; and it
was remarked by many that Mr. Conrad gained
rather than lost ground. Mr. Williams made
himself famous in his cross-examination of the
witness Kiger, and wrung from him an admis-
sion that Copenhaver had some degree of pro-
vocation. These great lawyers were attractive
in every line of the case; and when the jury
returned the verdict late in the evening of the
29th of June, none were surprised at this finding:
“We, the jury find the prisoner guilty of mur-
der in the second degree and fix his punishment
for the term of 15 years in the penitentiary.”

The prisoners were sentenced on the 2d of
July, and hurried away to Richmond. The Court
named two guards to assist Deputy Sheriffs
Cartmell and Gilkeson to conduct the prisoners
safely to the penitentiary. Some one may ask,

did the prisoners serve their terms which woulg
extend through the War that ended in 1865. We,
answer no. Tisere has always been some mys-
tery about the sequel of these celebrated cases
Mr. Tucker was soon called to Richmond as
Attorney General for Virginia, Henry A. Wise
being Governor; and during his term, he granteg
a pardon to both prisoners. Spurr and Copenhaver
became useful citizens during the remainder of
their lives, which terminated a few years ago.
All the jurors, cificers of court and every mem-
ber of the Winchester bar living at that Period,
have Jong since passed beyond earthly tribunals.

The Circuit Court had concurrent jurisdiction
with the Justices’ Court in what was called”
Naturalization of Aliens. This occasioned much
confusion, and often men lost their right to
vote because their names did not appear in pro-
ceedings of the County Court. The majority
of such cases were disposed of in that Court,
and it was natural some politicians would con-
clude it was the only court where evidence could
be found to sustain the claim. The writer deems
it Gdesirable to give the names of a few well-
known citizens in their day, of this class. At
the Nov. Term, i851, Robert Hamilton and Pat- .__
rick Brady, natives of Ireland, and Henry Kin-
zell, native of Darmstadt, Germany; and May 1,
1852, John Kater of Scotland, Patrick Moore, *
Dennis and Michael Saunders of Ireland, James
Donaldson and Thos. Dixon of England, and
Andrew McCarthy of Ireland.

At the June Term, 1855 are several interesting
minutes of this character: John Kerr of England,
Robert Steel of Scotland, James Tipping of Ire-
land, Samuel Hardy of Great Britain (son of
Charles, was born in Britain), John Wild of Ba-
varia. Of this number, Robert Steel proved that - >
he Geclared his intentions in the Justices’ Court
May 15, 1829; John Kerr satisfied the Court that
he many years previous declared his intentions
to become a citizen, but the evidence of the date
could not be produced: the Court, however, final-
ly admitted him to full citizenship. James Tip-
ping produced proof that his declaration was .
entered Nov. 2, 18430; Samuel Hardy proved that
he was a minor when he arrived in America
and he was now 36 years of age.

At the Nov. Term, 1855, Alexander Stcel of
Scotland and Michael Hassett of Ireland receiv-
ed their papers. This may suggest to some
reader one mode to discover something about
his ancestor that would be of interest.

At the June Term, 1858, we find the Cir-
cuit Court spending many days over the trial
of another murder case. This was the notable
case of James Catlett alias Jim Wells, a well
known negro of the County, who killed Sam


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FREDERICK COUNTY, VA.

A plas P
etal te Meare

Shenandoah Valley
Pioneers and Their
Descendants

A History of
Frederick County, Virginia

(ILLUSTRATED )

Seal of Old County Court, Adopted 1758

INDEXED EDITION
v
From its Formation in 1738 to 1908

‘Compiled Mainly from Original Records of Old
Frederick County, now Hampshire, Berkeley,
Shenandoah, Jefferson, Hardy, Clarke,
Warren, Morgan and Frederick

T. K. Cartmell
Clerk of the Old County Court

THE HANDLEY LIBRARY

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CHAPTER XV.

Crimes and Punishments.

There are some notable instances of crimes, and
particularly of punishments, in the earlier records;
punishments that in these days would be called bar-
barous, but which were the identical punishments for
the particular crimes prescribed by the laws of Eng-
land, then the laws of the colony. A crime by a serv-
ant against his master, by a wife against her husband,
if sufficiently grave, was “petty treason,” as in the
cases of Peter and Eve hereafter narrated.

Hog stealing seems to have been so persisted in that
special penalties were denounced upon it, until finally
a second conviction was punishable by death; and hogs,
then as now, had a special fascination for the negroes,

It is to be observed, too, that the “unspeakable
crime,”’ though of rarer occurrence in those days than
now, was by no means unheard of as has been asserted.

The tradition that Negro Run, formerly Negro-head
Run, was so called because the head of a negro who had
been drawn and quartered for crime had been set up
near it, is not sustained by the records of Orange; if
true, the incident must have occurred before the County
was formed, but there really seems no substantial basis
for it.


136 HisTory oF ORANGE CouNTY

inserted. Ploughing this knoll some years ago Mr.
Waugh’s ploughshare slid over a rock and, recalling
the narrative, he carefully scraped off the earth with his
knife, and found the round hole drilled in it. There
can be little doubt that this was the identical rock to
which she was chained. |

June, 1753, “On the motion of Daniel McClayland
who in a fight lately had a piece of his left ear bit off, it
is by the Court ordered to be recorded.”’

This is an unique order. It will be seen later that
cropping ears was a punishment for crime, which
stigma Daniel probably sought to avoid by this record.

In September, 1767, Tom, a negro belonging to John
Baylor, under two indictments for burglary and felony,
not guilty of the first, guilty of the second, and having
already received the benefit of clergy, the Court do
adjudge that he suffer death. His crime was felon-
iously breaking the house of Erasmus Taylor, Gent., and
stealing goods of the value of 25 cents! Stealing and
such modern trifles “came high”’ in those days, and
James Madison, Sr., was the president justice.

July, 1768. Cornelius and Ann Cornelia, vagrants,
the said Ann “ profainly swearing four oaths before the
Court and failing to pay the fine: ’’ten lashes at the
whipping post, they promising to leave the County
immediately.

In 1776 Hampshire, a slave of Charles Porter, for
notoriously running away and lying out so his master
could not reclaim him; “ordered that the sheriff take
him to the pillory and nail his ears to the same, and
there to stand half an hour and then to have his right
ear cut off.”


134 History OF ORANGE CouNnTY

The cases that follow are taken from the order books
where they still may be read at large by the’ curious.
It must be borne in mind that in those days the
County Courts were often constituted “Courts of Oyer
and Terminer,”’ that is, to hear and make final deter-
mination.

At a Court of Oyer and Terminer held June, 1737,

present Goodrich Lightfoot, Robert Slaughter, Robert
Green, John Finlason, Francis Slaughter and William
Russell, gentlemen justices.
V Peter, a negro slave of John Riddle, deceased, being
indicted for feloniously murthering his said master upon
arraignment plead guilty. On consideration whereof.
the Court are of opinion that the said Peter is guilty of
the said felony; therefore it is considered by the
Court that the said Peter be hanged by the neck till he
be dead. Memorandum. The said Peter was exe-
cuted accordingly and it is ordered that the sheriff cut
off his head and put it on a pole near the courthouse to
deter others from doing the like. “

At October term following, Zachary Lewis, King’s
attorney, informed the Court that at the houses of
Lewis Stilfy and John Smith several persons, the
famous Benjamin Borden, a justice of the peace, being
one of them, do keep unlawful and tumultuous meet-
ings tending to rebellion.

In November, 1740, Zacharias Bell being enlisted
into his Majesty’s service as a soldier to serve against
the Spaniards and having deserted, it is ordered that
the sheriff, immediately after the adjourning of this


CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS 135

court, do sell the said Bell to the highest bidder as a
servant for the space of five years, and apply the money
according to law.

Thomas Kennerley ordered ten lashes for stealing a
handkerchief, and Alexander Sweeney committed to
general court for coining, counterfeiting and debasing
the Spanish current coin. John Cranch prays to
receive corporeal punishment instead of being sent on to
the grand jury; which is administered. Frank, a
negro slave hanged for breaking open a store and
stealing goods of the value $10, and Cuffy, an accessory
to the crime, prayed benefit of clergy and was ordered
to be burnt in the hand and receive 39 lashes.

The following, however, is the most sensational item
in all the records; the burning at the stake of Eve, a
negro woman slave of Peter Montague, for poisoning her
master, administering the same in milk served on the
table. The indictment in this case, spread out in full
on the order book, is a literary curiosity.

She was tried Thursday, January 23, 174 5,and found
guilty; “Therefore it is considered by the Court that
the said Eve be drawn upon a hurdle to the place of
execution and there to be burnt,” which sentence was
executed on the following Wednesday.

A hurdle was a sort of sledge used for hauling traitors
to execution.

Mr. Charles S. Waugh, a venerable and highly
respected citizen of Orange, remembers that his grand-
father pointed out to him the little knoll near the old
courthouse about Somerville’s Ford where Eve was
burnt. A hole was drilled in a rock and the stake


586 History of Prince Edward County

gaming table called Fairo bank.’’** Dr. J. L. White, when a member
of the Farmville Town Council in 1875, raised the question about
keeping prostitutes and others off the streets late at night and stated
that the town sergeant wanted the help of the Council in suppressing
this nuisance. P. W. McKinney and W. S. Berry held that the
sergeant had adequate authority to deal with the problem, and
Mayor Thackston assured the Council that he would have the law
enforced.*7

The Farmville Council enacted a strict code in 1900, aimed at
promoting sound morals: sales of intoxicants at bars were prohibited
between 10:30 P. M. Saturday and light the following Monday
morning; barbers were specifically prohibited from keeping their
shops open on Sunday, only apothecaries, livery stable keepers,
dealers in ice, and keepers of ordinaries being permitted to carry on
business on Sunday; a fine of $10 to $25 was fixed as the penalty for
gambling; fines ranging from $2 to $25 were fixed for drunkenness
on the street and disorderly conduct; a fine of $1 to $5 was the
penalty for bathing nude in the Appomattox River within the
corporate limits between 4:00 A. M. and 8:00 P. M.; spoken, written,
drawn, or acted obscenity was punishable by a fine of $2 to $25;

sleeping, by day or night, on the street or sidewalk, on porch or in —

doorway or in any place exposed to public view would draw a fine
of $1 to $5; admission to barrooms was limited to prescribed hours
and persons were to be excluded at closing time; barrooms were not
permitted to use blinds, painted windows, curtains or other obstruc-
tions to view from the street and billiard tables and games of chance
were prohibited in the saloons.*®

Sunday was fairly rigidly observed as a day of rest. Stores re-
mained closed throughout the day, but they did not observe holidays
as they do now. Stores remained open on Christmas day in the
villages until about the World War I period. In the 1870's it was the
custom of one Farmville bar, Thad Harris’, to treat all customers
to free eggnog on Christmas morning between the hours of 6:30
and 7:30.*

The disciplines, however, were relaxing; church discipline after.

World War I became a forgotten practice, remembered only in
historical accounts. The strict standards of Sabbath observance began
too to become less strict. Moving picture houses took advantage of
the depression of the 1930’s to offer to show Sunday movies, begin-
ning in Farmville in 1934, a portion of the receipts being designated

enamine siteatanes creases anccettincctintastetiaipisitrntnas cts,

Public Affairs , 587

for the relief of the needy. AHocation of that portion of income was
of temporary duration, and soon Sunday movies became entirely
commercial. After World War II athletic contests, especially base-
ball, to which admission fees were charged became acceptable Sunday
afternoon practices.

Efforts to break down racial segregation began in Reconstruction.
Congress passed a civil rights bill in 1875 prohibiting hotels from
refusing to give accommodations to Negroes. That the law was not
favorably received in Prince Edward has already been shown. In
1896 the United States Supreme Court in the now famous Plessy vs.
Ferguson case (which originated in Louisiana) upheld racial segre-
gation on the public carriers, provided equal facilities were provided.
To some that did not go far enough. “Sufferer” wrote to the Farm-
ville Herald in 1902 proposing that the Virginia legislature enact
segregation laws for depots as well as moving trains; “filth of body,
filth of tongue, bad whiskey and bad pipe odors” made conditions
especially in the railroad stations at Meherrin and Burkeville “in-
tolerable” and they were bad enough at Farmville.*° But there were
times at which certain white men apparently did not want segre-
gation. “The fashion and beauty of African descent held a ball at
Holman’s hotel last Friday night . . . a number of white gentlemen,
it is said, were present, mingled in the dance and enjoyed themselves
greatly,” ran the report of an event in 1873.°!

Prince Edward has been relatively free of major crime, although
some of the crimes committed in the county have attracted wide
attention. The most celebrated murder case of the ante-bellum period
was the murder of Charles T. Edie of Christianburg by Edward A.
Langhorne of Lynchburg in Cushing Hall, Hampden-Sydney, where
both were students, on January 27, 1857. Langhorne was tried and
acquitted in Circuit Court the following March. In a sermon on the
tragedy, developed on the text of Psalm 119:9, Dr. Benjamin Mosby
Smith took occasion to criticize human standards which were con-
trary to divine: “Much of the vaunting and boasting about Virginia
principles is wicked nonsense. Conduct is praised as becoming, or
condemned as unbecoming, Virginians. But what shall it profit men
if applauded for pleasing Virginians, they should be condemned for
displeasing God?” The tragedy which inspired the sermon was the
result of following the teachings of men instead of the Word of God.
Beyond that point Smith did not feel called upon to go in expressing
judgment upon the actors in the tragedy; one was dead, his body

590 History of Prince Edward County

keeping, and the night before Sheriff Dickinson was to bring him
back to Farmville, he escaped with two other prisoners. Prince
Edward offered a reward of $350 for Ruffin, “dead or alive.” He was
captured December 18 at Williamston, North Carolina, three months
and two days after his escape from Lynchburg. Meanwhile it was
learned that a person who was known as “Railroad Bill” had died
August 15 at New River. Ruffin then implicated another Negro,
John Brown, who was located in Montgomery, West Virginia. He
was indicted January 7, 1907, on Ruffin’s testimony, but upon his

insistence that he had witnesses in West Virginia who could testify .

to his whereabouts at the time of the Grubb murder, his case was
continued until January 11. Two detectives brought affidavits that
Brown was working in West Virginia at the time of the murder,
and he was released. Ruffin and Hill were tried and found guilty of
first degree murder. They were sentenced to be hanged February 15.
Testimony at the trial indicated that they had stolen $104 and had
burned Grubb alive. :

Before his execution, Hill devised his property to the Rev. E. A. P.
Cheek, pastor of the First Colored Baptist Church of Farmville and
told him and J. L. Hart, publisher of the Farmville Herald, that he
had buried money and stolen watches under a church in North
Emporia. Hart and Cheek went to Emporia, where they enlisted the
aid of Edward E. Goodwyn, a prominent citizen of the town, and
the pastor of the church under which Hill claimed to have hidden
the money. (The church is located on West Atlantic Street, Emporia,
Route 58, a short distance west of the intersection of that route with
North Main Street and Route 301.) The four spent the night in
digging under the church, covering every bit of ground under it, but
found nothing. When they returned to Farmville and told Hill they

could find nothing and asked why he deceived his spiritual adviser, —

he told them he wanted to have one good laugh before he died.

Ruffin was hanged first the morning of February 15, 1907; the
rope broke with Hill, but he walked back up the steps to the scaffold;
the same rope which had been used to hang Robert Booker the year
before was brought out and put around Hill’s neck; this rope broke
too, but in fifteen minutes Hill was pronounced dead.* ;

Each of these three murder cases gave opportunity for the de-
monstration of the strong religious influence and atmosphere which
prevailed at the time. Although Thomas W. Price had on his arrest
given no visible sign of regret for killing Hall Carter and had even

Public Affairs | 591

told Carter’s father when he came to his house when told of the
murder that he would kill him “if he didn’t quit hollering,” he broke
down and wept on the day after his conviction, a Sunday. He asked
a young lady to bring him a Bible with large print—the print in his
was so small he could not. read it with his aging eyes—and he
expressed the belief that he had “found the light of the Savior’s
countenance.’’®s

Following his conviction, Robert Booker made a confession of
faith. In what was probably the strangest baptismal scene in Prince
Edward history, he was taken from the jail on April 25, 1906, by
Sheriff Dickinson, Police Officer Leslie Fogus, and Constable Bliss to
the colored Baptist Church. Manacled and handcuffed, an officer
holding each arm, he was seated before the pulpit. The choir sang
On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand. The Rev. S. C. Hatcher, pastor
of the white Methodist Church, read the Scripture. The Rev. Nelson
Jordan offered prayer. While the pastor, the Rev. E. A. P. Cheek,
prepared for the service, the choir sang Shall We Gather at the River.
Then Booker answered satisfactorily the questions concerning his
faith and Christian experience, at one point sobbing that he had seen
nothing but trouble all his life and he was now glad it would soon
be over. He was then immersed. Following his baptism, the ordi-
nance of the Lord’s Supper was observed; the man condemned to
lose earthly life who had found assurance of a better and eternal
life through faith partook of the bread and wine. Then manacled to
the officers, he was taken back to jail to await the penalty prescribed
by law.*°

On the day Hill and Ruffin’ were to be hanged, a congregation
assembled at their cells and held Christian services there. Before
Hill’s hanging, the Rev. E. A. P. Cheek of the colored Baptist Church
and the Rev. S. C. Hatcher of the white Methodist Church, who had
shared in the service at which the condemned Robert Booker had
been baptized a few months before, offered prayer. Both Hill and
Ruffin had received spiritual advice from ministers of their race.
Ruffin was baptized in his cell by the Rev. Mr. Robinson of the
A. M. E. Church on the day before his execution.*°

Another Prince Edward case attracted wide attention, especially
from its aftermath. A white woman was raped by a Negro near
Farmville on December 7, 1938. Clarence Howard was identified as
the person who committed the crime, was arrested, was tried in
Prince Edward Circuit Court, and sentenced to death March 28,

588 History of Prince Edward County

buried, his soul in “the presence of that Judge whose decisions we
have neither the right nor the desire to question.” The other had
been tried, and, ‘‘whether righteously or not, the law has released
him from its claims.” Perhaps there was significance in his comment
that he was “not called upon to say whether the cause of justice was
upheld by the decision.”® .

An attempted lynching was frustrated in 1896 by the strength
of the jail. Wax Price and Charles Childress were returning to their
homes near Rice after selling tobacco in Farmville on November 11

that year. They were assaulted on the way that night, and Price was
knocked out and robbed and Childress dealt a heavy blow. Elisha

Johnson, a colored man, was arrested, charged with the crime, and .

committed to jail. On Sunday night, November 15, a small but
determined mob tried to take Johnson from the jail. Unable to break
into the jail, the members of the mob began shooting at Johnson,
who was lying on his cot in the jail. He was slightly wounded, but

saved himself from more serious injury and possibly death by rolling |

under his bed. The mob shot out the windows, shot the bedposts to
Johnson’s bed away and a large hole in the stovepipe. Subsequently
Johnson confessed the crime and was sentenced to twenty years in
the penitentiary.**

No murder in Prince Edward attracted more attention than that
of Hall Carter by Thomas W. Price. Carter worked for Price, a
neighbor, and the two were seen in Farmville on July 28, 1898,
apparently on the best of terms. On the next morning, while Carter
was eating breakfast in the Price home, Price shot him. The trial
began August 17. Price claimed that the only witness was his wife,
but a Negro, Spencer Hill, saw the murder and at once ran for
Carter’s father, Theodorick Carter. In his conduct of the prosecution
_ of this case, Judge A. D. Watkins gave an unusual demonstration of
tact and courtesy blended with a sense of duty. Mrs. Price was
highly respected, but it was obvious that her testimony did not
accurately describe the crime. The commonwealth’s attorney wanted
to get across to the jury this fact. Instead of condemning the witness,
he graciously excused her: the testimony was not true, Judge
Watkins told the jury, “but the recording angel when he wrote it
down dropped a tear that blotted it all out, while angels standing by
approved. God will not hold her responsible—she did what she could
to save her husband’s life.” The jury on August 20 returned a
verdict of guilty, and Price, who was then about seventy years of

Public Affairs 589

age, was sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was subsequently
commuted to life imprisonment on account of his age.*#

Two trials held in Prince Edward which attracted state-wide
interest were on charges of crime not committed in the county.
Solomon Marable was tried for the murder of Mrs. Lucy Jane
Pollard of Lunenburg in 1896, and E. C. Wooldridge and Charles J.
Forbes in 1905 on charges of having burned the home and outbuild-
ings of Forbes’ father, John S. Forbes, in Buckingham. Both Wool-
dridge and Forbes were acquitted.*®

Robert Booker was hanged on May 18, 1906, for the murder of
Charlie Brown near Rice on January 20, 1906.°*.

The last legal execution by hanging in Virginia took place in
Prince Edward. Jesse Ruffin and Massie Hill, Negroes, were hanged
February 15, 1907, for the murder of John Grubb, merchant at
Tuggle and postmaster of the office known as Acteon there, which
took place on the night of June 5, 1906. The store and postoffice had
been robbed, Grubb had been murdered, and the building, with
Grubb in it, was burned. Neighbors who came to the fire remem-
bered having seen two strange Negroes loitering about the store
during the day before. “Hurricane” Branch of Suffolk and his blood-
hounds, a team often called to track persons suspected of having
committed crimes, were called at once, and the dogs followed a trail
to the Norfolk and Western bridge over Buffalo River at Farmville.
Hope of solving the case ended with the trail. But nearly two months

later, a Negro who had been lodged in jail in Emporia, Virginia, on

a charge of vagrancy was heard talking in his sleep, making demands
that his “‘part of the money” be given him. The cellmate told the
jailor, who could learn nothing from the vagabond who had given
his name as Willie Jackson. Later Jackson told his cellmate that he
had killed a man, robbed a postoffice, and burned the house. The
cellmate again told the jailor, and since the description fitted the
Tuggle crime, Sheriff T. H. Dickinson was summoned to Emporia.
Brought to Prince Edward jail, Jackson said that his real name was
Massie Hill; in his confession, he implicated two other Negroes,
William Ruffin and one called “Railroad Bill,” whose name he did
not know. Ruffin was arrested in Hertford County, North Carolina
in August, and Governor R. B. Glenn of that state granted extra-
dition papers. Ruffin, whose real name was Jesse instead of William,
testified that only he and Hill were at Grubb’s store and he did not
know “Railroad Bill.” Ruffin was taken to Lynchburg jail for safe-

592 History of Prince Edward County

1939. The case was appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court, which
upheld the sentence in a four to three decision on the following
October 9. Before the sentence was carried into execution, Governor
James H. Price commuted it to life imprisonment on May 31, 1940.
The commutation provoked strong criticism in the county, many
feeling that the crime warranted the penalty and that the Governor
had been influenced by a mistaken sentimentality. Prince Edward
feeling was again strongly aroused when Governor William M.
Tuck granted Howard a conditional pardon on March 4, 1949.
- Howard returned to Kentucky; whence he had come to Farmville
and where he had friends who made strong efforts to save him
during his trial. On July 11 following his release on conditional
pardon he was arrested in Ashland, Kentucky, charged with armed
robbery and attempted rape; on March 18, 1950, he was sentenced
to life imprisonment on these charges in Boyd County, Kentucky.*!

Roads, schools, and temperance constituted a major trilogy of
public interest during the latter part of the nineteenth and the early
part of the twentieth century. From the early settlements, the county
courts undertook to maintain passable roads; public interest found
expression in the frequent presentments by grand juries of road
surveyors for failure to keep the roads under their supervision in
order. In ante-bellum days the impassability of roads in winter was
more or less accepted. Travel in that season was almost, entirely
limited to horseback because of the bad roads. With the coming of
spring, when the March winds had dried out the winter mud,
farmers began sending out wagons to haul tobacco to market and to
bring in supplies. The farmer assumed responsibility for putting the
road he used in order; ruts and holes on a stretch of road would be
filled by the first farmer sending out a wagon in the spring. After
the war increasing attention began to be paid to roads.°? The Farm-
ville Mercury of April 30, 1874, observed that “never in the recollec-
tion of the oldest inhabitant have county roads been in worse con-
dition than now” and urged the Grangers to work for reform in
the inadequate road law.*?

Apparently little attention was paid the requirement that male
citizens work the roads under the supervision of overseers for certain
roads and sections of roads. In 1875 the county court appointed
three persons in each district to lay off the district into road precincts
and to allot workers for each precinct: Buffalo: T. T. Tredway,
C. A. Price, George Hunt; Farmville: C. H. Bliss, Sr., T. F. Venable,

Public Affairs : 593

T. L. Morton; Hampden: W. P. Dupuy, J. Overby, R. S. Hines;
Leigh: J. Nunnally, E. N. Wing, W. H. Ewing; Lockett: B. H.
Carter, J. X. Morton, and J. W. Foster.*4 :

An act of the 1879 legislature prescribed in some detail the
management of the road system in Prince Edward. The core of this
legislation required each male citizen between sixteen and sixty to
work on the roads two days in each year, at the call of the overseer
of roads for the sub-district in which he lived. This act made each
magisterial district a road district; it required the supervisor to
appoint a road commissioner for a term of one year and the two to
appoint in turn one of the justices of the peace who with the super-
visor and commissioner constituted the board of district road com-
missioners. Districts were to be divided into sub-districts, for each of
which an overseer was appointed annually. The overseers were re-
sponsible for keeping roads clear and smooth, free of loose rocks,
from gates unlawfully kept up, and other obstructions, of required
width, well drained, and the bridges safe and in good order. District
boards could direct the placement of sign boards. The district road
commissioner was required to inspect the road twice a year. The
supervisors fixed the rate at which taxpayers were credited with
work on the road and for the use of teams, plows, wagons, and
other implements.** In 1888 a change was made in the method of
choosing the board of road commissioners for the district; the county
court appointed two persons in each district to serve with the
supervisor.

The system of having the men work the roads two days a year
did not prove satisfactory. Such working proved inadequate to keep
the roads in good condition. The supervisors devised other means to
work the roads. In 1894 they decided to try convict labor. Twenty
convicts, “‘all able-bodied, healthy looking Negroes,” arrived early in
June of that year and on the 7th began work on the Hampden-
Sydney road under the direction of J. Wyatt Crute, superintendent
of the road force. The county had to provide rations and three
guards, two for day duty, one for night. Twenty days later one of
the convicts escaped; he was captured near Darlington Heights by
N. T. Dillon, though not until he had discarded his striped outfit
and had tried to run away entirely unclothed. In October the con-
victs were sent to Bedford from Prince Edward; not every one in the
county thought it advisable to use them, some regarding “their
presence baneful and demoralizing . . . on youth.” Although the

818 History of Prince Edward County

§3.
54.

55.
56.

57,

. Farmville Herald, Aug. 31, Sept. 14, 193+.

. Minutes Farmville Town Council, Aug. 13, 1935.

. Second Record Book, Sharon Vaptist Church, 1860-85.
. Order Book 1870-4: 271.
. Minutes Farmville Town Council, Aug. 23, 1900.

. Farmville Herald, Dec. 21, 1906, news of 32 years ago, from Farmville

47. Farmville Mercury, July 15, 1875.

Mercury, Dec. 24, 1874.

. Farmville Herald, Feb. 9, 1902; cf. issue of Feb. 21, 1896, letter urging the

legislature to pass “the separate car bill.”

. Farmville Mercury, Nov. 27, 1873.
. Richmond Enquirer, Jan. 30, Feb. 27, 1857; B. M. Smith: A Sermon Oc-

casioned by the Death of Charles T. Edie, who was killed by Edward .A.
Langhorne at Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia, Jan. 27, 1857. Delivered
in the College Church, Mar. 22, 1857. The sermon was published at the
request of the Union Literary Society. The writer has been told that there
was placed upon the prosecutor’s table a container of clear fluid, supposedly
water, at the trial. The prosecutor was said to have been highly susceptible
to the influence of alcoholic beverages and it was later said that this liquid
was such a drink. His drinks, during the course of his speech, became more
and more frequent, and his speech dwindled from the high eloquence of its
peroration into maudlin foolishness. My informant could not vouch for the
accuracy of the story, but had heard it in family talk. She was related to
both prosecuting and defense attorneys in the case.

Farmville Herald, Nov. 20, 1896.

Farmville Herald, Aug. 5, 12, 19, 26, 1897. Judge J. M. Crute presided at the
trial, and the jury consisted of J. J. Owen, J. L. Weaver, W. M. Gilliam,
C, A. Morton, W. R. Drumeller, S. A. Bondurant, J. F. Chaney, J. J. Gilliam,
T. H. Bruce, F. H. Redd, J. N. Foster, and N. W. Scott. Judge and jury after
the trial, and also Commonwealth’s Attorney A. D. Watkins asked the Gover-
nor to commute the sentence to life imprisonment on account of the age of the
convicted man; he was then about 67, and it was supposed that he would live
only a short time. In 1923 Price was pardoned by Governor E. Lee Trinkle.
Then 93 years old, he had made a good record as a prisoner, having cared for
the bloodhounds at the State Farm during much of the time of his sentence.
I remember hearing Judge Crute, at the time of the pardon, give his recollec-
tion of the trial and the case. One of the most pathetic circumstances was that
Price when pardoned had no near relatives then living and no where to go.
It is my recollection that he lived the remaining few months of his life at the
State Farm. In telling of the case, Judge Crute said that he had sentenced to
death more men than any other judge in Virginia, a total of 24, six of whom
were sentenced at one term of Pittsylvania County Court, when he was presid-
ing in the absence of the regular judge.

Farmville Herald, Mar. 20, 1896; Nov. 25, 1904; Jan. 13, Mar. 24, 1905.

Farmville Herald, Apr. 27, May 25, 1906. The murder of Charlie Brown took
place on the farm of my grandfather, J. R. Weaver. I have heard members
of the family tell that there were frequently fights among the colored people
on the place on Saturday evenings, usually the result of drinking. My grand-
father was frequently called to settle the disturbances. The troubles reached
a climax when Booker killed Brown. I have been told of the sense of awed
shock which both white and colored on the place experienced when they heard
Witnesses calling my grandfather, ‘“Marse Jimmy, Robert’s killed Charlie.”

Farmville Herald, June 8, July 26, Aug. 3, Aug. 10, Aug. 17, Aug. 24, Sept.
14, Sept. 21, Sept. 28, Dec. 21, 1906; Jan, 11, Jan. 18, Feb. 15, 1907; General
E. E. Goodwyn of Emporia has described to me the search which he shared
in making for. the money said to have been buried under the church there.
He did not recall the name of the pastor of the church there at that time.

Notes to Chapters 819

58.
59.

80.
81.

82.
83.

84.

. Farmyille Herald, May 4, 1895,
. Farmville Herald, Apr. 17, 1896: 71. Acts of Assembly 1895-6: 711-2.
. For an example of these payments, see the Farmville Herald, Aug.. 17, 1906.

The story is related in Today and Yesterday in the Heart of Virginia: 175-6,
“Last Hanging in Virginia” by Scott Hart.

Farmville Herald, May 5, Aug. 26, 1898.

Farmville Herald, Apr. 27, 1906. It should be noted that Booker’s attorneys,
Judge J. M. Crute and J. Taylor Thompson, made an effort to secure com-
mutation of his sentence to life imprisonment. Governor Claude A. Swanson
gave a respite of two weeks, which delayed execution from May 4 to May 18,
but beyond that declined to go (Farmville Herald, May 4, 1906).

. Farmville Herald, Feb. 15, 1907.
. Abstract of Farmville Herald file on the Clarence Howard case, lent to the

writer by J. B. Wall.

. Related to the writer by his grandfather, J. R. Weaver.

. Farmville Mercury, Apr. 30, 1874, 64. Farmville Mercury, May 13, 1875.
5. Acts of Assembly 1878-9: 235-42. 66. Acts of Assembly 1887-8: 161-2.

- Farmville Herald, June 2, June 9, June 30, Oct. 13, Dec. 15, 1894; Jan.

19, 1895.
69. Farmville Herald, May 18, 1895.

There are numerous instances in the records of authorization of payments
by the supervisors.

. Farmville Herald, July 20, 1907.

. Farmville Herald, Feb. 7, May 9, 1902.
. Farmville Herald, Apr. 17, 1903.
. Farmville Herald, Feb. 8, 1907.

. Farmville Herald, Aug. 2, 1907. Defeat of this bond issue accounts for the

76. Farmville Herald, July 11, 1902.
78. Farmville Herald, Apr. 19, 1907.

poor condition of Prince Edward roads in the period of good roads agitation.
The good roads of Nottoway County in the years prior to the building of the
state highways were in decided contrast to Prince Edward roads. When the
state took over the upkeep of roads in 1932, Nottoway: was one of four counties
which originally declined to turn over its roads to the state, largely because
aoe were in good condition. It did not remain outside the general practice
ong.

Related to the writer by the late Dr. J. H. C. Bagby.

My father used to tell that at one of the good roads meetings which was
attended by several of the staff of the State Highway Commission Capt. S. W.
Watkins, the Prince Edward treasurer, advocated good roads very strongly,
emphasizing the ability to pay for them. He was followed by his brother,
Judge A, D. Watkins, who remarked, “I just don’t understand Sam. When
you go to his office to collect a claim, he’s as poor as a church mouse. But
when company comes, he’s as rich as a Jew.” Judge Watkins was indulging
in good natured ribbing, for he was as staunch an advocate of good roads as
his brother.

Farmville Herald, Nov. 9, 1923.

Advertisement of Oct. 1, 1876, Inviting Proposals for Carrying the Mails of
the United States in the State of Virginia July 1, 1877 to June 30, 1881.
James M. Tyne, postmaster general.

This list has been compiled fro mreferences in the Farmville Herald during
that period and from various lists of Prince Edward people and their addresses.
In the Manual Of Roanoke Presbytery, 1894, the address of one elder, A. W.
Womack, is given as County Line Cross Roads, of another, J. W. Womack,
Abilene; Abilene is also given as the address of one of the deacons, C. M. Rice.
See Farmville Herald, Feb. 4, 1893, for establishment of post office at Gar-
denia; July 28, 1894, for change of name of Cypress to Felden; the corre-

AUGUSTA COUNTY. -
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aN Augusta County, Virginia,
Say | From 1726 to 1871,
—-BY—-
JOS. A. WADDELL,
Member of the Virginia Historical Society.
Second Edition.
Revised and Enlarged.
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[COUNTY SEAL, |

STAUNTON, VA.:

Cc. RUSSELL CALDWELL, PUBLISHER.

1902.


ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 269

corps that has acquired so much glory, as to become not only the ad-
miration but the envy of many,’’ and exhorting the officers to cultivate
harmony amongst themselves.

A regimental order, of September 1, sets forth that “‘the drum-
mers and fifers, instead of improving themselves since they have been
on this detachment, have grove a great deal wors,’’ and directs that
Philip Goaf, fifer in the First battalion, and William Armstead, drum-
nier of the Second, take out the drums and fifes of the regiment every
afternoon, Sundays and rainy days excepted, to practice from 4 to 6
o’clock.

Captain Gamble was officer of the day, September 2d.

John Bowling and John Malvin were tried for disobedience to
orders, absence from roll-call, and drunkenness, found guilty, and
sentenced to receive fifty lashes each, but, in consideration of the
former good character of the men, the colonel remitted the penalty.
Thomas Roberts was sentenced to receive fifty lashes for absence from
roll-call, and one hundred: for stealing. ‘The colonel thought one
hundred enough for both offences, but ordered that they be ‘‘ well laid
on.’’ James Black, a soldier of Captain Montgomery’s company,
Virginia regiment, was sentenced to receive fifty lashes on his bare
back for stealing a ham of bacon, Major Posey commanding approv-
ing the sentence, and ordering it ‘‘to be put in execution at Retreat
beating.’’ Alas! alas! the heroes of Stony Point !|—the patriots of
the Revolution !

By a general court-martial, held September 5, William Mallock,
of Captain Talbert’s company, Colonel Butler’s regiment, was con-
victed of several offences, including ‘attempting to go to the enemy,”
and sentenced to suffer death. General Wayne approved the sentence,
and ordered Mallock to be shot to death at 6 o’clock the same evening,
‘the whole of the troops to assemble at that hour on the grand parade
and attend the execution.”’

On the 12th of September the General ordered that the men
should be kept in camp, as a movement might be made at any
moment. <A standing order, which was often repeated, required the
men to keep on hand two days’ rations ready cooked.

Captain Gamble was officer of the day again on the 14th of
September.

The following appears under date of September 18, written by
Captain Gamble himself in a beautiful hand: ‘‘ William Askins, of
my company, is appointed a Corporal, and is to be obeyed and re-

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Sei gs: a ET i eae SSA ates mire Se oR


ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 275

the pack-horses, the simple living, the shoes and stockings for winter

and uncommon occasions, the deer and the rifle, the fields of flax and

the spinning wheel, and the wool and looms, and, with them, the
strict attention to religious concerns, the catechising of children, the
regular going to church, the reading of the Bible, and keeping
Sabbath from the beginning to the end, the singing of hymns and
sacred songs, all blended, presenting a beautiful picture of enterprise,
economy and religion in laying the foundation of society.’’ *

From an order of the County Court, of February 18, 1780, we
learn that Sampson Sawyer’s negro woman, Violet, was sentenced to
be hung on the 4th of March for burning her master’s dwelling house.
What is curious, however, in connection with the matter is, that it
was ordered also that after the body was cut down, the head should
be severed and stuck upon a pole at a cross-road.+ .

Governor Gilmer gives a picture.of the times during the war in an
anecdote which he relates, and which we cannot omit.

We have mentioned John Grattan as one of the church wardens
of Augusta parish in 1774. He was, says Governor Gilmer, a Scotch-
Irish Presbyterian of the old Covenanter’s faith and practice, noted
for his love of David’s Psalms in long inetre, and his long: prayers at
family worship. He settled on North river (now in Rockingham
county), and built the first good flour mill in the Valley. He was
also a merchant, supplying a wide extent of country with foreign
goods. Tittle coin circulated here, and trade was generally managed
by barter. ‘The goods bought were paid for in cattle, ginseng, pink-
root, and bear and deer skins. ‘These articles were disposed of in
Philadelphia, and this part of the business was usually transacted by
Mrs. Grattan. She went to Philadelphia on horseback, sold the
cattle, etc., and bought new goods for her husband’s store. She was
very expert, and generally very successful ; but on one occasion she
suffered a woful defeat. Being in Philadelphia, during the war, ona
trading expedition, she was offered Continental paper money for her

*The Rev. Dr. William McPheeters, a native of Augusta, educated in

‘Staunton and at Liberty Hall, was pastor of Bethel from 18065 till 1810, when he

accepted a call to Raleigh, North Carolina.

+ This custom seems to have been general in Virginia, at this, or an earlier
period. The ghastly memorials thus set up were doubtless to inspire a whole-
some dread in the minds of the negro slaves. They impressed themselves in
many instances as local topographical designations, Witness: Negro-foot pre-
cinct, in Hanover county, and Negro-head, Negro-foot and Negro-quarter, in
Amelia county.

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Christian, and one Lutheran. As noted earlier, Roman Catholics
consecrated their own church in 1880, and in 1882 Jews laid the
cornerstone of their synagogue, Temple Beth-Israel. All Protestant
Sroups cooperated in Supporting the Albemarle Colportage and Sun-
~ day School Association designed to carry on religious work through.
out the county. The Reverend Charles H. Ross, who headed this

conscientious, dedicated worker. For reasons not clear, the univer.

sity’s YMCA was disbanded in 1874, only to be revived a decade later

by Rev. George Petrie, a prominent Presbyterian pastor.

ih tak the late nineteenth century Albemarle was the scene of at #

least one lynching. On Wednesday, March 8, 1882, young R. T. w_ |: Weir Pet

Duke, Jr., wrote in his diary: “Our client old Jno. O. Massie & wife | > fe ee
ais were murdered last night at Buckeyeland—Brained with an axe. Ob- Put a : Res,

i! ject presumed to be robbery. A more quiet, inoffensive old couple Seat lee sine eek ti

never lived. God bring the wretches to light.” The Rhodes family FREES

which lived nearby was blamed for the tragedy, but Jim Rhodes.

the prime culprit, immediately fled to Tennessee; however, some

Bridge. Duke and two of his friends pleaded with the group, but to |
MELE ke no avail. “I left before they hung him,” he noted in his diary. “It was recat logue: ssegedilie nice
bs: a beautiful, moonlight night, but a horrible & dispicable & disgrace- } fren asi aie RECT
ful act.” °° A month later Leroy Rhodes, his brother, was sentenced Be taee rtp te Ge ee

to eleven years in prison for his part in the crime. = 2 ee eg Se age: 2 ee

Incorporation of Charlottesville as a city clearly was a very im- fh siby tein ee maa ae er

portant event on the local scene. In February 1888, close on the heels ce ge a ME ay “se

of a mass meeting urging such action, the General Assembly granted Eee Ee

Sones a municipal charter. During the next four months, until July 1 when
Saee eie eee incorporation took effect, the groundwork was laid for a government
ere ane - consisting of a mayor, ten councilmen, and various subsidiary of-
eae ficials. Separation of town and county presented innumerable dif-
ficulties, the most obvious being how to divide facilities long held in

bility for county debt, ownership and use of the courthouse,
clerk’s office, and access to the privileges of Miller School—b
details were left to loca] discretion. At a series of meetings t

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ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 345

falcations, which in these latter times are almost of daily occurrence
and attract little notice.

We go back now to pick up one or two scraps of history.

At a District Court held at Staunton, September 9, 1791, Eliza-
beth Hazel, ‘‘late of the county of Rockingham, spinster,’’ was
sentenced to be hung, for the crime of murder, by the Sheriff of Au-
gusta, on Friday, October 21st. Whether hung or not, we cannot
say. ‘There is no tradition on the subject.

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Zachariah Johnston wrote to the Governor, March 28, 1792, in : i
» reference to an accusation he apprehended would be made against his | if
son, James, and others, who were said to have threatened to use force
in opposition to the Federal excise law. He begs the Governor to ii
call on Mr. St. Clair for information touching the matter.. Major i
Porterfield had spoken publicly in reprobation of the young man’s
conduct, and the father was apprehensive of a prosecution instigated
by ‘‘private rancour.’’ James Johnston was then a captain of
militia. ‘There is nothing further on this subject.

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The Staunton Academy, a high school for boys, was incorporated
by act of the Legislature, December 4, 1792. ‘The first trustees were
the Rev. John McCue, Rev. William Wilson, Rev. Archibald Scott,
Gabriel Jones, Alexander St. Clair, Sampson Mathews, Sr., Archibald
Stuart, Robert Gamble, William Bowyer, Alexander Humphreys,
a David Stephenson, Robert Porterfield, James Powell Cocke, Alexan-
der Nelson, John Steel, James Lyle, Robert Grattan, William Lewis,
and John Tate.

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At a meeting of the trustees of the academy, held May 23, 1793,
Dr. Humphreys was appointed president of the board. The Rev.
Charles O’Neal was elected principal, and the tuition fees were fixed
as follows : for the learned languages or mathematics, one guinea the
quarter ; writing, arithmetic, and rudiments of English, 10 shillings ;
teaching English grammatically, 41.

A Rea Eo yg

In November, 1795, William Sterret offered himself as teacher of
Latin and Greek, and the Rev. John McCue, John Coalter, Dr.
| Humphreys, and Archibald Stuart, were appointed a committee to
examine him. ‘The Rev. Hugh White, however, was ‘‘ authorized to
teach,’’ August 27, 1796. Next, in 1800 and 1801, James Clarke and
John McCausland taught in separate rooms under the auspices of the
trustees. As yet no building had been erected for the academy, and
rooms were provided by the trustees in the town. |


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360 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.

accused of felony were arraigned before a Court of five Justices of the

Peace, who heard the testimony and either discharged the accused or

held him for trial before a higher tribunal, first the District Court, and

afterwards the Superior Court for the county. The “ Examining

Court’’ of Rockingham sent Bullitt on for trial before the District

Court, and in October, 1790, he was committed to jail in Staunton.

He lay in jail the following winter, ‘‘ without a spark of fire and but
little bed covering,’’ as stated in the petition for his pardon. At April
term, 1791, of the District Court, only one Judge attended, and the

prisoner claimed a continuance till the next term. By the time the

September term arrived, the Commonwealth’s Attorney had discovered

that the crime was committed in Augusta, and therefore that the

Justices of Rockingham had not jurisdiction of the case. The indict-

ment which had been found was dismissed, and the prisoner re-com-

mitted for re-examination in Augusta.

With the prospect of another cold winter before him, to say noth-

ing of the gallows in prospect, Bullitt broke jail and fled. We next

hear of him under arrest in Fauquier county, in May, 1793. It would

is seem that after his escape from jail he enlisted, or was believed to have

pi enlisted, as a soldier in the United States army, and was arrested in

mt a Fauquier as a deserter. He was about to be discharged, however,

et when Mr. Archibald Stuart, the Commonwealth's Attorney for

! - Augusta, hearing of his arrest, sent for him by a man named Rhodes.

Mr. Stuart said, in a letter to the Governor, dated May 23rd, that he

was anxious for Bullitt to be brought to trial as there was ‘‘an_ illib-

eral suspicion among ye people,’’ that his escape from the Staunton
jail ‘‘ was favored by all concerned, being ye brother of a Judge.*

ae The Examining Court of Augusta sat on the 26th: of August,
1793, and consisted of Alexander Robertson, Alexander St. Clair,
isi | Robert Douthat, William Moffett and Alexander Humphreys, “Gentle-
: men Justices.’’ Bullitt was charged with ‘“‘feloniously stealing and
carrying away from the plantation of John Nichols, Sr., on the 18th
day of September, 1790, a gray horse of the price of thirty pounds;
and other property belonging to said Nichols of the value of five
| pounds. Total value of the stolen property $116.6623. Upon the
|

pet testimony of John Nichols, Sr., John Nichols, Jr., Jesse Atkinson and

* It has been stated in print that the brother was holding court in Bath
county at the time of Bullitt’s conviction or execution. This is a mistake. No
eT ; court presided over by “a Judge’? was held in Bath till years afterwards, But
Cuthbert Bullitt, of Prince William county, who died in 1790, was a Judge of the
Supreme Court of Virginia,


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ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 359

Englishman. ‘The last-mentioned person is probably the William R.
Watson named by the coroner’s jury. According to the tradition, he had
been a common loafer in Staunton, but going to England and return-
ing with a large sum of money, was last seen in the Washington
Tavern. Ora peddler may have been named Watson. No one knows
who or what the supposed victim was.

Dr. Humphreys was an intelligent and learned man, and his im-
mediate connections were the first people in the country. He could
not have used the language attributed to him by the clerk of the in-
quest. Nor would he have ventured to say that the body brought out
of the cave was that of a negro if the evidence of the hair had been
against that supposition. Possibly the cranium of the corpse was
entirely bare, and the jury neither saw nor sought for any hair. One
tradition has it, however, that the body was headless, just what might
have been expected in regard to the ‘‘subject’’ of young medical

students. But Watson had disappeared and here are human remains, |

so the jury hasten to declare that the latter are all. that can be found
of the missing man. ‘The ‘‘ blood-stained ”’ floor of the tavern cham-
ber of course indicated the scene of the murder, confirming: the belief
of the credulous and malignant, and inspiring the superstitious, with a
great dread of that particular room.

Within the memory of the writer, the town was thrown into an

excitement by the discovery by boys of human bones in the cave; but.

by that time the community was prepared to believe that they were
thrown in by medical students, of whom there were always some in
town in the first forty years of the century.

During the last decade of the 18th century,—how long before and
how long after we have not inquired,—horse-stealing was a capital
offence in Virginia, and many persons convicted of the crime were
sentenced to death. It would seem from documents printed in

the Calendar of Virginia State Papers, that in every case the sentence

was followed by a petition, more or less numerously signed, asking the
Governor to pardon the condemned, which shows that popular senti-
ment was not in favor of inflicting the death penalty.* At any rate
we know of only one hanging for horse-stealing, and that was at
Staunton.

The name of the unhappy man was John Bullitt, the “ black
sheep’? of a most respectable family. He was arrested in Rocking-
ham county. At that time, and for long afterwards, white persons

* The State penitentiary was not opened till March, 1800.

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George Sea, the prisoner was sent on for trial before the District Court
“to be holden at Staunton, on the 2nd day of September next.”

When the District Court met, the Commonwealth’s Attorney filed
an indictment against Bullitt, and he was tried by the following jury :
Hugh Gilkeson, Edward Rutledge, John Emmet, Gabriel Alexander,
Samuel Long, John Young, Samuel McCutchen, Robert Hanna, Walter
Davis, John Poage, Daniel Finland, and William Chambers. ‘The
jury found the prisoner guilty, and on the 12th of September he was
sentenced by the Court to be hung on Friday, October 18, 1793, be-
tween 10 A. M. and 2 P.M. ‘The order book of the court has disap-
peared, and we cannot tell which of the Judges presided, and what
lawyer defended the prisoner.

Popular sympathy was slow in moving. It was not till the 12th
of October that Robert Gamble wrote to Governor Lee, enclosing a
petition for Bullitt’s pardon. The petition was signed by eighty-eight
citizens, among them Alexander McClanahan, Jacob Kinney, William
Breckinridge, Vincent Tapp, M. Garber, Sr. and Jr., William Abney,
Moses McCue, Alexander St. Clair, John McDowell, Robert Bailey,

Alexander Nelson, Robert McClanahan, Smith Thompson, and James _

Bowyer. ‘Tradition says that Bullitt was feeble-minded; that young
Nichols loaned him the horse, but feared to avow it to his father, a
harsh man; and thatethe condemned man was returning with the
horse when first arrested. The petition makes no such statements,
It admits Bullitt’s guilt, and says he was a man of bad character; but
pleads that he has suffered much, part of the time in irons, was
‘extremely penitent,’ and promised reformation. ‘The Governor
was inexorable.

The County Court, at its session on October 16th, ordered the
sheriff to erect a gallows ‘‘at the fork of the roads leading from
Staunton to Miller’s iron works and to Peter Hanger’s,”’ and that, the
order says, ‘‘ shall be considered as the place of execution of all con-
demned persons in future, which may by law be executed by the
sheriff of Augusta.’’ Evidently the court anticipated a brisk business
in that line. The fork of the roads alluded to is the point in the
northern part of the town where Augusta and New streets unite. The
spot was then in the woods, and a log house built there afterwards
was long occupied by the Gorden family. There Bullitt paid the
penalty of his life for a paltry offence on the 18th of October.

It is related that the Rev. John McCue was present at the exe-
cution, and betrayed great emotion. ‘The popular feeling was long
expressed by a saying often repeated to puzzle children: ‘‘ That if a

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362 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.

person would go to John Gorden’s house and say, ‘John. Bullitt,
what were you hung for ?’ he would say nothing.”

The gallows at the place described gave to all the northern part
of Staunton the name of Gallowstown.

The late James Bell, a young man of twenty-one in 1793, was
deputy sheriff that year, and officiated at the execution.

The County Court, on October 15, 1793,. ordered their clerk
(Jacob Kinney) to purchase a bell for the courthouse, which, we
believe, is the one still in use.

The main incidents in the life of George Mathews have been
given already. He is one of the most unique and interesting of the
natives of Augusta county. he life of his second wife is also full of
interest. - :

~The maiden name of Mrs. Mathews was Margaret Cunningham.
She was the daughter of John Cunningham, who owned, and probably
lived in, the low wooden house which formerly stood on the southwest
corner of Augusta street and Spring Lane, (Irish Alley.) Until taken
down to make way for the present brick structure, it was said to be
the oldest house in Staunton. ‘The lot was designated as No. 1, in
the original plan of the town, in 1747. The wife of John Cunning-
ham and mother of Margaret is believed to have been a Miss Davis,
sister of the first Walter Davis. The other children of John Cunning-
ham and wife were, Mrs. Burns, wife of Major Robert Burns, and
mother of Mrs. Dr. Waterman of Rockingham; Mrs. Sinith, wife of
Capt. John Smith, and mother of Mrs. Michael Garber and Mrs.
Moses McCue; and Capt. Walter Cunningham, who removed to
Kentucky in 1788.

Margaret Cunningham was born in, or a little before, 1747, hav-
ing been baptized by the Rev. John Craig in that year. Nothing is
known of her early life, except that, according to tradition, on one
occasion of an alarm about Indians, she mounted a horse, and, doubt-
less with others, fled across the Blue Ridge.

. After attaining womanhood, she became the wife of Robert Reed,
at what date is not known, but it was after 1765. Mr. Reed was the
son of ‘‘ John Reed of the Kingdom of Ireland,’’ as he is described in
the papers of an old suit to be mentioned. Like many other residents
of Staunton in his day, he was a tavern keeper. He was also the
owner of 740 acres of land adjoining the town and a house and lot in
town. Inthe evening of the fifst Sunday in December, 1775, the

'
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ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. 391

The Fourth of July was celebrated at Staunton by a salute in the
morning from the field pieces of the artillery, commanded by Lieuten-
ant Sowers, and a dinner at McDowell’s spring ; and at Greenville by
a parade of Captain Abney’s and Captain Doak’s infantry companies,
{ and Captain Dold’s cavalry, and a barbecue on Thomas Jackson’s land.
_ The recruiting officers of the United States army seem to have
had a hard time of it. In July, Captain Page, of the Twelfth infantry
advertised a reward of $10 each for the arrest of two deserters from the
station in Pendleton county; and in August, Lieutenant Camp, also
of the Twelfth infantry, advertised a reward of $40 for the arrest of
four men who deserted between Lexington and Brownsburg, while on in Ef
the march from Abingdon to Winchester. Captain Henry, of the \
| Twelfth, advertised other deserters in September.
v On the 21st of September, 1812, a State convention of the Federal

party was held in Staunton, ‘‘ for the purpose of recommending to the

freeholders of Virginia twenty-five fit and suitable characters to serve

as electors at the approaching election of President of the United

F States.’’ ‘The Convention continued in session three days. Only six-

‘° teen counties, however, were represented. No doubt the Federalists

} : . of Augusta enjoyed the implicit confidence of their political brethren

te throughout the State, and the latter did not think it necessary to at-

tend here in any large number. Robert Porterfield and Jacob Swoope
" were the delegates from Augusta. ‘The former was made president of
the convention, and the latter headed the electoral ticket. Rufus
\ King, of New York, was nominated for President, and William R. i
Davie, of North Carolina, for Vice-President. A State central com-
f mittee was appointed, consisting of General Porterfield, Jacob Swoope, ‘
Dr. William Boys, Samuel Clarke, and Charles A. Stuart. fi
The presidential election took place November 2d, and the vote of i
j Augusta stood: Federal, 396; Democratic, 244. The editor bemoaned . f
i that about four hundred voters stayed away from the polls.

On the 13th of November, the celebrated Petersburg Volunteers
. arrived in Staunton, being received near town and escorted by some
local military under Captain Turner. Onthe next day the company x 3
partook of a barbecue prepared for the occasion, and on Sunday, the i !
15th, resumed their march to the northwest. The company consisted >a
of one hundred and seventeen young men. ‘They remained in service i
one year, and highly distinguished themselves at the battle of Fort ‘ea &
Meigs on the 5th of May, 1813. i

On Friday, December 11, 1812, a negro girl was hung near
Staunton for the murder, by drowning, of her master’s infant child.
She was duly tried and convicted by the County Court, October 29th,

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392 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.

Mr. Peyton prosecuting, and General Blackburn defending the ac-
cused. ‘The circumstance would not deserve mention in a history
of the county, but an incident connected with it is somewhat interest-
ing. Much sympathy was excited in the community in behalf of the
miserable girl, many persons doubting whether she intended to drown
the child. At any rate there was a feverish state of feeling on the
subject.

During the night after the execution the people of Staunton were
aroused from their slumber by a most unearthly noise. Loud and
apparently supernatural groans resounded through the town. The
people generally rushed into the streets to ascertain the cause, and
some of the more superstitious sort professed to have seen the girl al-
luded to sitting on the steps of the jail.

It was years before the cause of alarm was ascertained. At the
time of the occurrence and for many years afterwards, a large two-
story frame building stood on the northwest corner of New and
Courthouse streets, opposite the Washington Tavern, and in this
building Ben. Morris, a prosperous merchant, had his store. He had
in his employment a mischievous clerk, or salesman, who confessed,
when it was safe to do so, that he had climbed upon the roof of the
store-house through the trap-door, and aroused the town by means of
a speaking-trumpet.

In March, 1813, the central committee appointed by the “ Friends
of Peace, Commerce, and no Foreign Alliance,’’ nominated General
Blackburn for Congress, and he accepted, but William McCoy was
elected as before and afterwards. ‘The committee consisted of Dr.
Boys, Alexander Nelson, Moses McCue, and Samuel Clarke.

Colonel Robert Doak, who had commanded the Ninety-third
regiment of militia for some years, and had recently been active in
raising troops, expecting to go with them to the field, resigned his
commission in March, 1813, the brigade commander having designated
a junior colonel (Koontz) to command the force detached for service.
No doubt the fact that Colonel Koontz was a younger man, led to his
appointment by General Porterfield, instead of Colonel Doak. But
the veteran of the Revolutionary war was unconscious of approaching
age and infirmity, and, panting for renown on new fields, felt offended
at the act of the general.

A ludicrous incident occurred in Staunton, in connection with the
war preparations, in or about 1812. The captain of one of the town
companies, who was a man of strict sobriety, felt it incumbent on him
to ‘treat’? his men, ‘in accordance with the custom of the times. His

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ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY. _ ' 445

court. His successor was Nathaniel Massie, and other presiding

justices were, in the order named: Robert Guy, J. Marshall McCue,
and Robert G. Bickle.

Alexander H. H. Stuart, of Staunton, was called to the cabinet of
President Filmore in 1850, as Secretary of the Interior.

After the adoption of the Constitution of 1851, Staunton was
usually selected as the place in which to hold State conventions of the
Democratic party, to nominate candidates for governor, lieutenant-
governor and attorney-general. Here Joseph Johnson and Henry A.
Wise were successively nominated for the office of governor, by large
and tumultuous assemblies.

A brief account of the burying-grounds of Staunton must not be
omitted. On April 3, 1750, William Beverley conveyed to John
Madison and James Lockart, church-wardens of Augusta Parish, and
their successors, in consideration of six pounds Virginia money,
a lot of land containing nearly two and a half acres, adjacent to the
town of Staunton, ‘‘ for the use of the Parish of Augusta as a place to
erect a church on.”’ ‘This lot became the common burying ground for
the people of Staunton and vicinity, and was so used for a hundred
years. By the end of that time it was crowded to overflowing, so that
it was almost impossible to dig a new grave without encroaching upon
the remains of some one already buried there.

It was high time for another burial-place to be provided, and in
1848—’9, some citizens of the town organized for the purpose.
Thornrose Cemetery Company was chartered by act of the Legisla-
ture, February 24, 1849, and a tract of twelve acres west of the town
was bought and laid off in lots, roads and walks. ‘The town council
entered an order, December 29, 1852, prohibiting further interments
in the old graveyard; but, as far as the records show, the first
interment in the Cemetery was not made till March 29, 1853.

On the 28th of May, 1853, the Cemetery was formally dedicated.
A procession of Free Masons, Odd Fellows, Sons of Temperance and
other citizens was formed in town, and walked to the Cemetery,
where prayer was offered ; and on returning to the Methodist church,
an address was there delivered by Professor McGuffey of the Universi-
ty of Virginia.

William Coleman was murdered in Staunton during the night of
August 11, 1853. He was a small old man, a cabinet-maker by trade,
and one of the meekest and most inoffensive persons in the town. His
residence and shop were on, or near, the site of the Staunton Gas
Works, and being a bachelor, he lived entirely alone. He was last


STAUNTON LEADER

ei t

,

By MEREDITH BARKLEY ‘
Leader Staff Writer ; eas

The circus atmosphere surrounding
Gary Gilmore’s moment in the forefront
of national attention is fading into

history, but the issue of capital punish- «:

ment is still very much alive.
The U. S. Supreme Court last year
struck down the death penalty in

several states because, among other *:

things, it felt making death mandatory

It was the court's decision that a capital
punishment law might be constitutional-
ly acceptable if it does not make death
the only’ sentence for certain crimes
designated as capital offenses by each
state and if it requires the judge to in-
struct the jury on the elements which
must be present for death to be pro-
nounced.

Locally, records show nine men from
the Staunton-Augusta County area have
been legully executed and one lynched.

First ar

es

se

-three men were hanged publically just

lynching in the area occurred. William

What follows is a recap of the incidences .
including personalities involved and
dates. 5 ?

The first recorded local execution
took place Oct. 18, 1793. On that day
John Bullet was hanged after being ©
caught with a_ horse belonging to
another. man. Bullet apparently had

hired the horse but had failed to return .
it within the specified time. A gallows
for his public execution was erected ina
for certain crimes was unconstitutional. wooded area at what is now the intersec-

© tion of New and Augusta streets. a

It appears that in about the year 1830 ~

north of Staunton. Their names and thes

nature. of their crimes are not im-,.,

mediately available. > » ‘

ea execution

Hodges was being held in jail for horse
theft and wounding an official who was
attempting to arrest him. Apparently a
mob broke into the jail and took Hodges
to a point south of Staunton on Green-
ville Road and hanged him.

Lawrence Spiller was the last person
executed by hanging in the area. He was
executed at the local jail on June 8, 1894.

Late in the night of April 28, 1894, or

assaulted ‘a 15-year-old girl, Lottie
Rowe, and then murdered her by

‘crushing her. skull with a rock. Ac-

cording to a newspaper account of the
“incident, Spiller said: ‘‘I was foolish
“drunk and knowed my business but I
couldn’t behave myself to save my life.”
Spiller was arrested, tried, convicted

A person referred to only as “Trayer”. . and sentenced within three days. There

was reported to have been hanged in
1853 at the foot of Betsy Bell Mountain
for the murder of Billy Coleman.

During the 1870s the -only recorded’ *

are indications such speed was
necessary to satisfy an aroused public

bent on a lynching.
+ a On Dee 17,1909, Clifton Breckenridge —

early. the next morning, Spiller -

__ |.) STAUNTON, VA., 24401, MONDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 28, 1977

PRICE FIFTEEN CENTS.

became the first person in the area to
die in the electric chair after Virginia
' instituted that means of execution in
1908.

Breckenridge, a native of
Waynesboro, was serving a three-year
term in the local jail for five counts of
chicken theft. He became a jail trusty

since he was not allowed to work on the»

road gang due to a chronic illness.

Eventually he was trusted to the point
® he pretty much had the run of the jail.

With less than a year left of his

sentence, he attempted to assault the 6-

year-old granddaughter of the jailer,
- George Hutchinson, in the third floor
* residence quarters of the jail.
The crime was not realized im-
_mediately since the little girl was afraid
to tell about. it. According to a
“newspaper account: ‘‘He

© (Breckenridge) threatened to take. her:

(far away where she would never be
\ heard from again if she told.”
Her parents noticed a marked lack of

“appetite and other symptoms, though,

and took her to see a doctor. The doctor

the alcohol, Contributing to Brown's
_anger was a poker game, also attended

told the father and mother she had been - by Mr. Hoy, in which Brown lost all the

the victim of an attempted assault.

At this point the little girl apparently
told everything. According to the
newspaper account, Mr. Hutchenson,
upon returning the prisoner to his-cell
after a confession, ‘“‘was unable to :
restrain himself and beat him
(Breckenridge) so badly with his fist

. that he broke his hand”,

Breckenridge’s trial, conviction and
sentencing took only one hour and 40
minutes.

Arch Brown was electrocuted Sept.
22, 1910 for the double murder of Perry
Hoy and 8-year-old Cletis Higgs. The

. crime took place on May 8, 1910.

It seems the trouble began when

money he had with him. i.

After borrowing a gun from a friend
and loading it with buckshot, he entered
the house where Mr. Hoy was “‘quietly
passing the day’’ with a few friends.
When it was realized what Brown's in-
tentions were, it appears everyone
headed for cover. ;

Brown’s first blast killed the ’8-year-
old boy and wounded two others — the
child's father and Perry Hoy who was in
the process of climbing a fence when hit
in the side. Brown chased Perry Hoy
and killed him with a second blast,

The murderer then pursued Abe Hoy,
the object of his wrath, firing four
rounds at the fleeing figure. These
blasts caught the victim in. the left

Brown tried to retrieve some whiskey « shoulder and arm and in the legs, He

he had piven Abe Hoy to keep for him.
Brown became infuriated when he

realized Mr. Hoy had already consumed *

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446 ANNALS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY.

seen alive on Thursday, August 11th. On Friday and Saturday his
doors were closed, and as he did not appear about his premises as usual,
fears in regard to him began to be entertained. On Sunday morning,
the 14th, the house was entered, and there lay the body of the old man,
his skull crushed by a hammer which was found near by, covered with
gore. The house had apparently been searched for money, which, from
Coleman’s industrious and frugal habits, it was supposed he pos-
sessed.

Suspicion fell upon three men, and they were arrested, one of
whom turned State’s evidence. The other two were convicted and
sentenced to be hung; but one only was executed, the punishment of
the other being commuted by the Governor to confinement in the
penitentiary.

The political canvas of 1855, which resulted in the election of
Henry A. Wise as Governor, caused much excitement in Augusta, as
well as elsewhere in the State ; but there was nothing of special local
interest connected with it.

In February, 1856, a resident of Staunton disappeared in a mys-
terious’ manner. ‘his was a homely little German called Martin
Wygand. Hewasa native of Bavaria, and had been a servant in the
household of Otho, King of Greece. When he first came to Staunton,
he could scarcely speak a word of English. He obtained employment
as a gardner, and soon proved himself an industrious and thrifty man.

At the same time, and for many previous years, an old woman
named Katy Woolwine and her daughter, Harriet, lived in a log hut
in the part of Staunton called Gallowstown. Harriet was an old maid
with a sallow complexion, very deaf, and not at all handsome. Both
mother and daughter were members of the Presbyterian church, and
the latter, at least, was a woman of unexceptionable character. She
was a seamstress, and went from house to house to do sewing for many
families. Inthe course of nature the mother died, and Harriet was
left alone in the world. But the time had come for her to find a hus-
band. Martin Wygand, attracted by her virtues, if not her beauty,—
or by the two hundred dollars she was said to have laid up,—proposed
marriage and was accepted. It is still a question whether Harriet ever
knew her husband’s name,—she never referred to him except as ‘‘he’’
and ‘‘him.’? Martin was originally a Roman Catholic, but after a
few years he professed the Protestant religion and joined the Presbyte-
rian church. Before this, however, he had become sexton of the
church, the duties of which office he discharged with great efficiency
for a number of years. He prospered in his wordly affairs; the pro-
ducts of his garden and his salary as sexton afforded him a competent

ina eset

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Brunswick ‘County, Vv irginuu—1 1ZU0-4 979" s , ‘
fr DULY LUT, Leb eee BETO muy eater See meee ren , #
: Charles Short of Warfield remembers his father, Thomas Short, telling of * the main house that little interaction between slave and master occurred.
his boyhood spent in slavery. Thomas, when he was very young on Haskin’s x ae ; : :
: An intimate interaction between slaves and whites fostered a more human
plantation on Waqua Creek, refused to obey the overseer and ran when the : . : ;
be aes ; : concern in some cases. (Some attribute interbreeding between whites and
man attempted to whip him. He ran deep into the woods, trying to get away. blacks to this proximity.) In some cases it merely intensified ‘ting dislik
The overseer sicked the dogs on him to find him; but the small boy had been a iat: y: cHees jt merely inieamhes exe
‘ é : and hostility. At least there was social pressure between the white owners,
favorite of the mistress of the plantation and had been working the garden ith le abie § tainly the #3 <. cooaind hintdaves tad bale
with her daily, in the company of the dogs. They knew him, and when they = ee = =a i P ee ‘, : ae papleae 8 ' pilots = ae “9
drew near to him, he made noises to the dogs to indicate that there were ani- eae - hi - eae —— ae a iol ‘ . aes i ae J
. ° A av 5 ‘ ¢
mals around that he was chasing. “I said, ‘Here! here!’ and the dogs took out = wets "asda — and to.assure the conmaunity (het they wou cand t
2 Raat 2 eae : down on the farm.
runnin’ and barkin’ tryin’ to find the varmin’.” He got tired and went to sleep
under a tree, surrounded by the dogs. When they got hungry, the dogs Slavery and the Legal System
wens * - one moe i ea ig ca ingen = ape " Another condition of Brunswick County was the emphasis on legal rights
antietng: eager’ and he S to “pire = Bs . erCrets: en ce, - of slaves. From the beginning of the Guardians’ Account Books, there is men-
fem te Cate ee . ch eet — . on — oe cei So = ® tion of use of the funds for the poor for aid to old, stricken blacks or those
nae, tet Pore ee Se heaceamns-saniie Sue te eee SD % who were orphaned. A slave owner, David Pilkington, left the county in
Not everyone was as kind as this “Ole Miss,” but the story indicates some & 1814, and left behind his old slave Harry, “who is unable from age and in-
of the personal relationships that developed on plantations. « firmity to maintain himself.” The Court ordered the Overseers of the Poor
There is evidence to indicate that for some fortunate slaves in Brunswick, $ to care for Harry as they would any other parishoner.'* “Provisions and
albeit their lives were without privacy, property or personal rights and con- + Ferriages for the Negroes coming home from Carolina” were provided when
stantly subjected to the whimsical nature of the owner and the fear of sudden i’ Thomas, Mary, Daniel and Benjamin Hicks were left without food, clothing or
family cleavage, conditions may have been less harsh than those on plantations ES a way to get home to Brunswick.” There are many other instances of legal
in many other counties and in many other areas. Three major factors seem a reinforcement of aid to indigent blacks.

to mitigate somewhat the usual life of slavery: the population distribution, the
legal redress, and the religious climate of Brunswick and the adjoining South-
side areas.

The population distribution has already been mentioned. Existing records
show that the average farm in Brunswick County was no grandiose plantation,
but rather a small working unit, usually less than three hundred acres in size.
The reason for this was largely that land grants in the earliest days of the
colony were limited to less than 1,000 acres, and people who came to Bruns-
wick tended to be middle class, hard working, far from wealthy people. They
acquired only the amount of land they could work easily and could afford.

They brought with them, or acquired after they moved, only enough
slaves to run the farms and do their housework or help in their businesses.
The number of slaves per family was seldom large, and they were managed
directly and daily by the owners themselves. Only the larger farms, which
were few in number, could afford and utilized an overseer. Only the larger
farms had room enough to locate the slave quarters at such a distance from

From: BRUNSWICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA, 1720-1975, by Gay Neald
County Bicentennial Committee, 1975. )

Legally, slaves had rights in every state. But not every state honored those
rights. On an enormous plantation in Mississippi, for example, a slave’s mis-
conduct seldom was taken to court. That involved a long trip, trial, and ex-
pense for the owner. It was much simpler, and more of a lesson to the other
Negroes, to turn the case over to the overseer. But in Brunswick County the
Court Order Books are full of blacks—slaves and freedmen—brought to trial.

In February, 1736, the first case of a runaway in Brunswick County being
brought to trial for theft occurred. The slave was charged with breaking and
entering, theft, and running away, and was given as punishment for this mis-
demeanor thirty-nine lashes. Whipping was a frequent punishment for a con-
victed slave. The slaves called it “gettin’ thirty and nine.”

The first account of a slave sentenced to death occurred in January of 1.752.
A slave was charged with burglary of “sundry goods” and many witnesses
testified to this crime. The slave was tried and sentenced to be hanged. He
was valued at £80, as it was the legal custom of the court to compensate 4a
master for his loss.

In respect to these and other cases, it is interesting that the slaves, although

Forunswick Co,, Vae: Brunswick

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198

Brunswick County, Virginia— 1720-1975

recognized as property or chattel, had some legal privileges. It appears that
in Brunswick County their crimes were tried in court, rather than on the
plantation, and the punishments ranged from hanging in serious cases to
whippings or branding. Branding was common, and was almost always per-
formed on the hand of the slave. The Order Books and miscellaneous court
papers include a host of entries such as “Tryal of Ned a negro man here
belonging to Benjamin Bass on the Ist day of January 1790 and Whipping
and burning on the hand.” Quite often the court acquitted the black prisoner
because of a lack of sufficient evidence, as when charges were dismissed against
Peter, belonging to William Betty, accused of rebellion and insurrection.”

A slave might even be represented by counsel, as in the case of Peter, owned
by Benjamin Ezell, who was charged with stealing money in the amount of
$8.4742 from the store of Crichton and Winfield and goods valued at seven
pounds sterling. He was represented by Thomas Gholson and declargd not
guilty.24

The range of crimes and punishments is shown by some of the cases pre-
sented. In March of 1767 a slave was charged with the felony of breaking and
entering. Evidence was presented, but the punishment was comparatively light,
twenty-five lashes “well laid on.”

In a similar case, a free black named Daniel, charged with breaking and
entering and stealing from a meathouse, was defended by Phil Claiborne, a
lawyer whom he had retained himself. The case was sent to the district court,
and he was not convicted of the burglary, but was held guilty of the felony of
breaking and entering. He was sentenced to jail. Several days later Daniel
returned to Court and begged mercy. He was burnt on the left hand and dis-
charged.»

A slave from Dinwiddie County was caught in 1773 stealing meat from
smoke houses. He was held guilty, burnt on the hand and given thirty-nine
lashes, and dismissed.** In 1775 a slave found breaking and entering was
ordered hanged. A slave charged with arson of a mill was ordered hanged
in 1779.’ The next year a slave convicted of a felony and ordered executed
escaped before the time of his execution. He was recaptured, whereupon he
begged the court for mercy and was pardoned.”

A common offense was poisoning. Slaves had knowledge of poisons, and
adequate opportunity to use the poisons if they were employed in the kitchen
activities. In one case, in June of 1772, a man and woman slave were accused
_ and tried “on suspicion of Feloniously Administring Poisonous medicines
with intention to destroy the Family,” with the result that the man was ac-
quitted, but the woman was hanged.”

“Buy Land, Build Homes, and Get an Education” . . ,

Two years later two men were hanged for attempted poisoning. In Septem-
ber of 1777 a slave was charged with administering poison and “prayed the
Benefit of the Act of Assembly in such Cases made and provided and to him
it be granted.” He was burned on his left hand and given thirty-nine lashes.”
A slave woman was accused of poisoning another slave woman in 1781, but
was found not guilty.”!

The first account of a white man brought to trial for murdering a slave was
as early as 1767. Apparently there were enough facts in evidence against the
white man that he was jailed, and subsequently taken to trial at Williams-
burg.22 In November of 1774, a white was charged with the murder of a slave
and found not guilty.°3 An overseer from North Carolina was alleged to be
the murderer of a slave and was ordered to the new capital of Richmond to
stand trial.**

In even the delicate subject of rape, slaves had the protection of the legal
process. Possibly there are cases that never came to trial, but a surprising
number did. A slave was tried and hanged for rape of a woman in 1784.
Since whether the woman was black or white was not indicated, it may be
assumed that she was black.*> Another case of the same nature in 1788
brought a verdict of not guilty. The next year two whites were charged with
rape of a black woman and found not guilty.*° The first instance of a slave
accused of raping a white woman that recorded in the Order Books oc-
curred in 1813, when the man was found guilty only of attempted rape. He
was ordered to be castrated.*”

This sprinkling of case histories is by no means complete, but it shows by
the representative spread of punishments that not only did the slave have some
legal redress in Brunswick County, but he also received varying judgments,
indicating that perhaps he was not automatically assumed guilty because of
the color of his skin. ;

A number of slaves in Brunswick had their condition bettered by being
owned by converts to Methodism who took seriously the faith’s antipathy to
slavery.

Methodism, as a previous chapter showed, was the sweeping faith that ap-
peared on the scene at the time of the Revolution and created something of a
revolution itself in the beliefs and life-styles of its adherents.

Brunswick had been against the Act of Manumission, proposed by the
Assembly in 1782. The county petitioned that “we are of the opinion that it
was ordained by the Great and Wise Disposer of all Things that some Nations
should serve others; and that all Nations have not been equally free” and


i
»
=

Brunswick County, Virginia—1720-17

_ From a recorded interview with C. R. Vaughan of Powellton, 10/23/74.
. Weinstein and Gattell, Slavery, 72,

. From personal family papers of Thelma Short Doswell.

. Order Book XXV, 483.

. Brunswick County Guardians Accounts, 1740-1781, Feb. 1740.

_ W.P.A. Authors, The Negro In Virginia, 150.

_ Brunswick County Miscellaneous Papers, Virginia State Archives.

. Order Book XMM, 103.

. Ibid., XX1V, 250.

. Ibid., XVM, 318, 518; District Court Records, 486.

. Order Book Xl, 245.

. Ibid., X, 284.

. Ibid., X, 328.

. Ibid., XM, 1.

. Ibid., XMIT, 168.

. [bid., X1V, 528.

. Ibid., X, 506.

. Ibid., XM, 50.

. Ibid., XIV, 433.

. Ibid., XIV, 12.

. Ibid., XV, 11, 115.

. Thid., XXV, 304.

. Eugene D. Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll, 375.

_ Petition to the Virginia Assembly from Brunswick County, Virginia, 1782.
. Order Book XV, 548.

_ Herbert Aptheker, American Negro Slave Revolts, 103.

_ From family papers compiled by J. D. Rivers in 1972.

_ From a recorded interview with C. R. Vaughan, 10/23/74.

. Order Book W, 242.

bbid. aXt, 33.

. Ibid., XM, 44.

. Ibid., XUI, 103.

. Virginia State Archives, Brunswick County Miscellaneous Papers.

. Aptheker, Revolts, 228.

_ Archives, Miscellaneous Papers. ;

. From an undated newspaper clipping in an old scrapbook owned by Sally E. Palmer.
. Negro In Virginia, 143; also personal papers of Thelma Short Doswell.
. Order Book XXXVIII, 589.

. Ibid., XXXIX, 31.

_ Interview with Norman Pearson, 11/20/74; C. R. Vaughan interview, 10/23/74.

. Negro In Virginia, 29, 209, 210.

. Recorded interview with C. R. Vaughan, and numerous other conversations.

. Negro In Virginia, 217.
- James Solomon Russell, Adventure in Faith, 39, 40.

. Information from Louise O. Bell.
. Information from R. C. Morse.

qppenal

62. Poplar Mount Church Centennial, 1869-1969, a commemorative book published by the

church members, also conversations with C, R. Vaughan and Joseph L. Travis.
63. Russell, Faith, 26.

64. From a recorded interview with O. G. Walker, 12/16/74; also from conversations with

others.
65. Russell, Faith, 14.
66. From interviews with O. G. Walker, and Dean T. H. E. Jones.
67. From material provided by Mrs. J. Alvin Russell.
68. Information provided by W. H. Whitehurst.
69. Information provided by Larnell Parker.
70. Information provided by Lottye W. Russell.
71. Information provided by Lena Pearson.
72. Information provided by Mildred Freeman.
73. Russell, Faith, 107-116.

74. Material for this section on Archdeacon Russell and on Saint Paul’s College has been
drawn not only from Adventure in Faith, but also from the 1974-75 Catalogue for the college.
from material supplied by Lottye W. Russell and by Mrs. J. Alvin Russell, and from inter-

views with Mrs. Russell, Dean T. H. E. Jones, Jeanette L. Cole, William T. Whiteburs

others.
75. 1. E. Spatig, Hand Book, Brunswick County, Virginia, 35.
76. From a recorded interview with Marie Holmes Morris, 10/12/74.
77. From a conversation with Elizabeth Morris Smith, 10/ 20/75.
78. Inventory of Archives, 12, 13,
79. Russell, Faith, 87.
80. From a recorded interview with Virginia Maddox, 6/15/75.

t and

81. From recorded interviews with John A. Maclin, Sr., 10/21/74, and Mrs. R. Lee

Chambliss, 12/4/74.

82. Information on the NAACP was provided by Carrie Walker and James L. Price.

83, From a recorded interview with C. R. Vaughan, 10/23/74.
84. Richmond Times-Dispatch, B-1, June 5, 1975:

85. From a recorded interview with Herbert Lee and Clara Brown, 2/10/74.

CHAPTER XII

. Recorded interview with Carstairs Bracey, 8/6/74.
. Conversation with Elizabeth Turnbull Connelly.
Recorded interview with Betty Hicks McVay, 6/12/74.

Arh Wn >

1715-1938, pp. 95, 96. : 3
6. Bell and Heartwell, Brunswick Story, Pp. 58.
7. Inventory of Archives, pp. 19, 20.

. Edith Rathbun Bell, and William Lightfoot Heartwell, Jr., The Brunswick Story, p. 54.

Florence deLaunay Buford, She and God, private manuscript of the Buford family.

W. McCaddin Pritchett, A History of Secondary Education in Brunswick County, Virginia,

8. Letter of Sept. 16, 1938 to J. F. McCurley, published in the Brunswick Times-Gazetle

Commemorative Issue, September, 1938.

9, Brunswick Times-Gazette, Commemorative Issue, September, 1938, and again in that

paper, March 3, 1955.

10. May writes as though Poyner still occupied his. property at the school; however, the

Heartwell family papers contain a letter of January 12, 1874, to Peter

ns "Brconte ue

W. Ross of Brunswick

bes


202 Brunswick County, Virginia— 1720-1975

year bondage period. He was one of the first five carpenters in the county.
His free-issue child, Freeman Rivers, was also a carpenter, and was in charge
of the ornamental woodwork on Millville Plantation, as well as the work on
many other buildings. Mr. Rivers still treasures their tools and some of their
products.”

The reason that freed blacks came in increasing numbers to register their
identities, especially after 1831, was the growing fear of whites concerned
with possible slave rebellion. The freed blacks were often suspected of being
agitators, middlemen between plantation blacks, and in touch with northern
white liberals.

Slave Unrest

Over the storybook calm of the Southern plantation, pictured as a place
where the whites had not a worry in the world, hung a terrible cloud of fear.
The threat of slave insurrection started as a small worry, but grew to giant
proportions through the years of slavery.

Under the oppression of slavery, the only recourse for the slave seemed
to be running away. But this was proved to be futile, in most cases, for with-
out an organized plan and friends in free states, where could a man or
woman go? There are countless cases of runaways apprehended and returned
for punishment. After several attempts at flight a man or woman would be
considered worthless and sold, to be frustrated doubly in some other location.
Often, a man would not know where to turn and would hide close by the
slave quarters he had fled from, being fed at night by the women and hiding
in the brush during the day. One local owner is reputed, though sick, to have
had a runaway tied to his bed and whipped against the massive walnut bed-
post, telling him, “You’re never going to be free. I’m going to beat you as
long as you live.” *

Since running away from bad situations did not work efficiently, discon-
tented slaves began to join together and plan rebellion. As early as #752
there is record that Harry Cain, James and Peter were charged with “conspir-
ing to rebel and make insurrection and conspiring to murder sundry inhabi-
tants of this County,” with the result that Peter was hanged and Harry and
James were charged with misdemeanor “in being privy to an opinion enter-
tained among many Negroes of their having a Right to their Freedom.”
James was given twenty-five lashes and Harry, thirty-nine.**

This was remarkably early for rebellion to be showing up in the recorded
history of a county, rebellion being almost unheard of and certainly unpub-
licized at that time.

“Buy Land, Build Homes, and Get an Education” . . . 20.

In 1769 the first instance of patrollers being paid occurs. These patrollers
rode on a rotational basis, under the aegis of the militia. They went at night,
on a random pattern to provide surprise, to various quarters and meeting
places of the slaves to check for illicit meetings. At this time they were not
making nightly, or even tri-weekly checks, as was later the case.”

Those who could not prove their freedom, who were roaming “at large”
in the county, were suspect. Jamey Rose was jailed in 1774 because he could
not prove he was a free black.”

A slave was charged with rebellion and insurrection in 1776, but was freed
on insuflicient evidence.”

Slowly the discontent of various slaves was united by a grapevine or net-
work of sympathizers.. Messages passed from plantation to plantation, usually
orally. Written messages were found, but it was uncommon for slaves to read
and write, and a written message was so incriminating that whoever had one
might be hanged. The merest hint of conspiracy brought action. Stephen, a
slave of Clement Hull, Sr., was jailed because “he did advise and conspire
with Cupid a slave to rebel and make insurrection.” *

The news of small revolts, insurrections and disturbances on plantations
throughout the south traveled to the whites, too, and instilled fear and in-
security in their hearts. The institution of the patrol was one way of mitigating
this constant, not-quite-forgotten threat, as the slaves lived in fear of being
caught by the “pattyrollers.”

A letter was intercepted in Brunswick County dated January 18, 1802,
addressed to a black named Roling Pointer of Powhatan. It said, in part,
“Our travelling friend has got ten thousand in readiness to the night.” It was
an obvious reference to an insurrection that had been plotted all over the
Southside. In Brunswick, many arrests were made. One slave was convicted
of seditious speech and given thirty-nine lashes. —Two were convicted of plot-
ting to kill their masters and ordered hanged. It was said that these two had
approached other slaves even as far away as North Carolina in an attempt to
raise a black army and kill all whites they could find.*°

Patrolling increased. The patrollers, who were paid for their services by
the county court, increased their ranks and the number of patrols made.
Patrolling continued until after the Civil War. By 1812 it was not entirely a
function of the military any longer (perhaps the militia had gone to war)
but was conducted by an organized body of citizens and landholders with
some military leadership. A patroller had to pay a fine if he failed to appear
for duty: a patroller was charged a dollar; an officer, three dollars. He was


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George Meadows matched the. caliber of the
gun. Also, a lantern he had, (possibly taken

The evidence: was all circumstantial, but
strongly suggested that Little was guilty. There
were those who knew him, including the late
Alex Varney and his wife from Deel, who
believed in his innocence. .

The trial began Thursday morning, Nov. 18,
199, with F. B. Kiser the Commonwealth’s At-
lorney, assisted by Barnes Gillespie. Defense
attorney was B. T,. Wilson of Lebanon. The

one of the jurymen suddenly
deliberation was postponed: until] the next mor-

were ready with the verdict. “We, the jury, find
the defendant, Howard Little, guilty of murder
in the first degree,” On Saturday, N

dead. (28) (See Little’s prison-cell letter in the
Appendix)

John Hardin was a young man, 21 years old,
when his wife Lizzie began a brazen affair with

In the late evening stillness of Friday, Sept.
4, 1897, he Positioned himself on a log seat by
the Side of the road, with his 32 Winchester
resting against him. He Sat alone waiting

Scott Ellis of Mingo County, West Virginia, had
@ court summons for George Mounts and he
asked the seated Hardin where he might find
him. ‘‘Mounts is up the hollow,” he replied, and
Ellis continued on his way.

George Mounts had been logging that day,
‘orking with Harve Hardin, John’s uncle.

81

Harve had been sent after Salt for the ox team
when Ellis overtook Mounts. “Go on up the
hollow with me until I turn out the team,” said

Harve and Ellis made it into the home of
Oliver Clay, who went to see about the dying
man. As Clay approached, Mounts, curled up in
pain, cried out, “I am bound to die. I am
freezing; get me to the fire.”’ Harve, Clay and
some other neighbors sat by him that night, but
the bullets in his stomach and left breast were
fatal. He died between two and three o’clock
that morning.

The wilderness, meanwhile, sheltered the
fugitive Hardin for several days. But Jim
Charles, High Sheriff of Buchanan County,
finally apprehended him in War Eagle, West
Virginia. On Sept. 30, he was committed to the
small wooden Grundy jailhouse.

At the County Court held Oct. 27, the Grand
Jury indicted him for murder, The case was
tried Nov. 3.

Hardin pleaded “not guilty” to the murder
charge and the jury of twelve retired on the af-
ternoon of Nov. 5. They could not reach a ver-
dict that day, but the next morning, they retur-
ned with this statement: “We, the jury, find the
defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.”
Hardin’s attempt to call for a new trial did not
L. Counts sentenced
him to be hung by the neck until he be “dead,
dead, dead; and may God have mercy on your
soul.” Judgement was Suspended forty days,
until Dec. 17.

John Hardin returned to Grundy’s small
wooden jail, then run by young W. L. Dennis.
There was some question, however, on the
ability of the jail to house the infamous
prisoner, so the condemned man was trans-

ferred to the Tazewell County Jail.

As the forty days Passed, news of the hanging
spread up the hollows and along the creeks. Ac-
cording to 94-year-old Henry Vandyke, who was

faithfulness caused many to think the murde
of Mounts had been justified.

casionally purch

BEAUTIFUL AAD BOUNTIFUL: A BI-CENT2NNIAL HISTOR
Vae, by Nancy Virginia Baker, ie HioTOnY OF BUCHANAN CO.,

oN 7. a

on their fortunes (22). Two Black men sat in the person they bought from was Elizabeth Justus
saloon, watching and listening. They heard of Laurel Fork, an elderly woman who lived
about the money and plotted a robbery. When with her son-in-law, George Meadows, her
the two Buchanan men rose to leave, the rogues daughter and three grandchildren. Mrs. Justus,
followed them out into the night air. Unaware, with her inbred distrust of banks, did what most
the white men went across the river to a sleight- mountaineers did with their money- she hid it

i of-hand show on the second floor of the Hawkins in her cabin home.

and Beaners Building. When they left there, Somehow, Little found out about her money,
considerably later in the evening, they started said to be more than $1,650. Perhaps he was 4
across the railroad track to Mrs. Ratliff’s wood superintendent for Ritter and was present
boarding house. Suddenly, the Black men the day she was paid. In any case, hedesigneda [{'
jumped them, stealing all their money and plan to steal the money. =
beating them brutally with a hatchet. The men On Tuesday evening, Sept. 21, 1909, Howard .

- were left for dead, wrote R. L. Crawford in his Little visited the isolated home and asked to } |
1943 “History of Richlands.” Shortridge did die, spend the night. The family members, who } :
but Ratliff lived long enough to tell his tale. knew him well, were not suspicious and opened {

The sheriff traced down one of the mur- their home to him. By nine o’clock, the six 4
derers, John Johnson, who confessed to the people were in bed asleep. Little allegedly rose,
killing and gave the names of his accomplices. gathered his tools — a knife, a hatchet and a .32 ]
Fearing a mob, the sheriff assigned two caliber Smith and Wesson revolver — and §*
deputies to take Johnson to Tazewell before proceded to brutally murder each member of
daylight. They hid in the bushes, ‘‘planning to the family. By ten o’clock, the six were dead. [..

flag t-bound. passenger train, due at Little set the cabin on fire, then disappearedin- |.

Cedar Bluff about 9 a.m.,” writes Crawford. to the night with what money he had been able f. -
But the vengeful mob, several said to be from” to find. F
Buchanan, fresh from finding two other Black Neighbors are said to have heard the shooting §
men, searched the area and found them. They and seen the blaze, but were afraid to approach f .
forced Johnson to his feet and marched him the house until daylight. The.fire had nol
with the two other Blacks to the west end of destroyed the cabin, and the mountaineers who — -
Richlands where the men were hung on an old discovered the bodies that morning were com:
oak tree. Reminiscent of the Pendleton pletely unnerved at the gory scene. In f
hanging, their dangling bodies were shot full of vestigation revealed that only $950 remainedof | -
bullets. Calling it “‘one of the darkest chapters - Mrs. Justus’ money, and robbery was fixed aS §
in the town’s history,” Crawford recounted that the motive. They still, however, had no suspect. j -
other Blacks were found and hung, whether or Perhaps the first person to suspect Little was f..
not there was evidence that they had been the Robert Bailey, one of the men active in the in {|
attackers. A total of five men, with some of vestigation. His son, Claude Bailey of Hurley, }.
them possibly innocent, were convicted on the remembers that his father wondered why Little >
basis of their skin color, stripped of their rights was not assisting in the investigation, :
to a trial by jury. ‘‘More would have been especially since Little had been a close friendol §.""“
hung,” wrote Crawford, “‘but the others hid the murdered family. Bailey, pretending to be f
from the mob. One Negro, Bill Tribulary, was enroute to Elk Creek to buy sheep, turned up ¥.":
hidden in a heating stove in the basement of the Little’s hollow and called him out of his house. §:
home of W. B. Spratt for 24 hours.” _ Limping badly, the alleged murderer came oll f ...»

a ads to greet Bailey, explaining that his leg wound f."::

Howard Little’s Crime . happened a few days earlier when he was 5°.

But mob rule wasn’t always the means of trying to cut a large tree from his pathway. A
dispensing mountain justice, even when a (Possibly, he had cut himself while hacking up f,.
crime was especially heinous as in the case of the bodies). are
Howard Little. There was talk of lynching Little The two men spoke awhile, perhaps about the F
for his crime, but the court system held firm recent crime. Bailey told Little that he would be F
and he was tried and convicted and eventually back. As he left, Little went into his house and, §

electrocuted in Richmond, he being one of the according to his wife’s testimony, reached for ‘
first men in Virginia to die in the electric chair. his Winchester rifle. Evidently, he was too lame ¥:~:

The story is set near Hurley in the days when to catch up with Bailey. a
enormous trees populated the hillsides. The W. The investigators discovered other factors 5"
M. Ritter Lumber Co., logging in that area, 0c: pointing to Little. He had borrowed a Smitham fF -

ased timber from a local land Wesson revolver from a neighbor a few days $° |
_ owner vo still retained the mineral rights. One before the killings. Two bullets in the body of


-

‘JOHN HARDIN HANGED”

(From the Messenger, dated Dec. 18, 1897
m™ copied from a handwritten extract made in
m1937). Article said to have been written by
Judge Elex (Alex) Beavers, father of the
Messenger’s editor, George (?) Beavers. )

me 6. Never in the history of Grundy was there
manything seen like the crowd as was here

m™ yesterday to witness the last scenes of the life of
#John Hardin. From Kentucky, West Virginia,
and from the surrounding counties of Dicken-
ea son, Wise, Russell and Tazewell, Va., the people
ees Came in Swarms. Men and women of all ages,
ima boys, girls and children; all here to make up the
surging mass of humanity, not withstanding the
inclemency of weather on the day before the
hanging. The prisoner expressed a desire to be
baptized and wanted some minister of the
Primitive Baptist Faith to baptize him. On
Friday at 10 a.m. the sheriff brought the
prisoner out and took him to the river where
Elder Wallace Compton of the Regular
Primitive Baptist Church administered the
Rites of Baptism. The prisoner joined fervently
in the singing. Reverend Apshire Compton and
other ministers of the Gospel rendered the un-
fortunate man all the spiritual aid and comfort
in their power; and he frequently, and to all
who talked with him, said he was prepared to
die, and did not want to live any longer. At no
time did he show the least sign of breaking
down or weakening. At twelve o’clock the
prisoner was brought from the jail dressed ina
neat black suit which had been bought for him
by Sheriff Charles and others; and he looked as
cheerful as if he had started to church instead
of Death. He jumped into the wagon; took his
seat on his coffin without the quiver of a muscle
or the least sign of fear. After the Death March
to the scaffold Hardin walked steadily on the
trap. After singing and praying, in which the
prisoner joined; he, in shaking hands with all in
reach of himself, said he wanted to ‘tell the
people why he was there; ‘That it was for
killing a man on account of his wife, That his
wife was the cause of it ull. He thought he was
doing right when he killed Mounts, but now he
saw he was wrong. But the Lord had forgiven
him for it and he was ready and willing to die.
He told the other men and young ones to shun
liquor and bad women, as that was what
brought him to the gallows.’ He sang a piece
which he said he composed himself, but we did
not get the words. After he had quit talking to
the audience and had sat down he said: ‘Tell
mother to meet (?) me that he was prepared to
go and would soon be free from sin, prison,
Death, and Misery.’The sheriff then told him he
only had yet nine minutes to live. He smiled and

remarked, ‘That is a short life.’ He told the
sheriff he had a piece tobacco in his pocket
which he wanted him to take out of his pocket
after he was hanged and give it to Mrs. Dennis.
His last words were to the sheriff, not to tell him
when he let him drop. The very last words that
he uttered, he told Professor Mullins, ‘He was
going to Heaven.’ As he stepped on the door he
took a stub of a cigar from his mouth and,
laughing, he told the sheriff he ‘would will that
to him.’ At 1:50 p.m. the sheriff adjusted the
rope and sprung the trap which landed poor
Hardin into Eternity. His neck was not broken.
Life was declared extinct by the physicians. Af-
ter he had been hanging fifteen minutes, at 2
o’clock, he was taken down, placed in his coffin
and his body turned over to his friends who
started with it for home where he was buried.
Not withstanding the suspense (?), everything
went off quietly and the special police did not
have to make a single arrest.”’ |

(from notes compiled by Ron Coleman)

HOWARD LITTLE’S
LETTER FROM JAIL

In the hours between his sentencing and his
transfer on to Richmond, Howard Little wrote a
farewell letter in his prison cell: ‘“Mr. Adam
Bailey, Now in my sad lot I try to write you a
few words. I don’t know that I will ever be per-
mitted to write to you again. They leave here
today with me to Richmond, Va., where I will
remain, as the court said, till the 7th day of
January, when I will be executed. What I want
you to do is to write me often and let me hear
from my little children (he was the father of
four). If I am permitted to write at all, I will
write often. Adam, Brother, for heaven sake, I
want you and Bud Lee to come to Richmond at
the time of my execution, and there beg for my
body and take it back to Bull Creek and lay it by
my friends there, for I can never die satisfied if
you don’t. I want to be put where my little
babies can look upon my grave. I want you to
write me at once to Richmond and tell if if you
and Bud will do this. This is the only request ]
have on earth and then I can die satisfied.
Adam, Brother, while the circumstances in this
case point at me and I stand convicted, you
need not to change your mind from what I told
you at Welch. So you can tell all the people the
same. I expected to see you here at my trial and
would have given my life to have seen you.
Tilda (his wife) came to town but did not come
to see me. So I never got to lay eyes on her. So
you can see how I have been treated. Mary Lee
never swore a single word of truth against me,
and George Sullivan exaggerated, but I will

159


have to forgive them before | can obtain
forgiveness (Mary Lee was a lady staying with
the Little family). Adam Brother, I am in such
a State of mind that I can’t think of what I want
to say to you, but you see Bud Lee and tell him
what I tell you, and you and him make your
arrangements. Will you do this Adam? Please
do it for I can never die satisfied. Tell sister and
children all to meet me in heaven. I feel Iam all
right. Please give me word from my little
children, for I may not be permitted to write,
and if I am not, I guess they will let me hear
from my friends. So you tell all my friends to
write to me often. So they are now ready to start
with me and I will have to close. Hoping to hear
from all soon, and bidding you all farewell,
hoping to meet you all in heaven, I am as ever,
your brother, W. H. Little.”

(reprinted from Sam Varney Jr.’s column,
“Lore and Legend.’’)

“THE VANCE SONG”
Version No. 1

(an excerpt taken from The Sweet Bird
,, Songbook)

‘There are David Horton and Bob and Bill, a
lie against me swore,

In order to take my life away that I might be’

no more;
But they and I together must meet when
Gabriel’s trump shall blow;
Perhaps I will rest in Abraham’s breast,
while they roll in the gulf below.

I killed a man, I don’t deny; He threatened to
kill me,

And for this I am condemned to die, the jury
all agree;

But I and they together must meet where all
things are well known;

And if I have shed the innocent blood, I hope
there is mercy shown.

Bright shines the sun on Clinch’s Hill, so soft
the west wind blows,

The valley is covered all over with bloom,
perfumed with the red rose;

But Vance no more shall Sandy behold, nor
smell its sweet perfume,

This day his eyes in death must close, his
bodv conveyed to the tomb.” (21)

Version No, 2

Green grows the woods where Sandy flows,
and peace along its rills;

In the valley the black bear lies secure, the
red buck roves the hills.

But Vance no more shall Sandy behold nor

. id

drink of its crystal wave;

The partial Judge pronounced his doom -- to
the hunter a felon’s grave,

The Judge called me ‘incarnate fiend,’ for
Elliott’s life I saved:

I couldn’t agree to Elliott’s guilt, humanity
belongs to the brave.

The mercy that I to others have shown, has
never been shown to me;

Humanity, I say, belongs to the brave, and |
hope it belongs to me.

Twas by advice of McFarland, Judge John-
son did me call;

I was taken from my native home and placed
in yon stone wall.

My persecutors have gained their quest, their
promise to make good:

They often swore they’d never rest til] they
had my life’s blood.

Daniel Horton, Bob and Bill, a lie against me
swore;

In order to take my life away, that I should be
no more,

But they and I together must meet, where al!
things are made known;

And if I shed a human’s blood, there’ll mercy
be me shown.

Bright shines the sun of Clinch’s hills, and
soft the west wind blows;

The valleys are covered o’er with bloom, per-
fumed by the fragrant rose.

But Vance no more shal] Sandy behold, nor
smell the sweet perfume;

This day his eyes will close in death, his body
laid in the tomb.

Farewell my friends, my children dear, to
you I bid farewell:

The love I have for your precious souls, no
mortal tongue can tell.

Farewell to you my loving wife, to you I bid
adieu;

And if I reach fair Canaan’s shore, I’ll wait
and watch for you..
,, ‘Sam Varney Jr. speculates about the song
that the Johnson referred to in the third stanza
was the judge who presided, with McFarland
the prosecuting attorney. The man Caued
Elliott evidently had been on trial once himself,
and was acquitted when Elder Vance, as part of
the jury, held out against a guilty conviction
and changed the other jurors’ minds. Now
Elliott, as part of the jury in Vance’s trial, was
the most ruthless. and vindictive man against

him.)


,
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ltt a Nata Tih Hs hale ii ik acai aie a i i

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“The first negro f( Lly that was located in : Cn resided on
i5.9Grasey Creek near the Breaks of the Cumberland, There was a serious
S scrime committed by a negro and the Klu Klux Klan trailed him up

~~ yurthe river and across into Tazewell County. They went to a small
; 3x prison in Richlands where several negroes were confined and forced

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v. Mayor Spratt to give them the keys and took four negroes out and

phy hanged them to a Chestnut tree, After that, at the mention of . .
.» O8 #5 Buchanan County to a negro his skin would almost turn white, In the |
ay > 4,., year 1900, there were only two negroes and they were both women |

2 Servants - one in the home of J,N, Watkins, the other in the home

ri) flor J.H, Stinson, They were known by the names of Aunt Maria and

} Moselle,
~~ | There has only been two men executed for crimes committed in

Buchanan County, One of them was John Harden, who shot a man

| because of jealousy it is stated, The story goes that the man rode
to Hardens home with Harden's wife behind him, and spit on Mr, Harden,
| whereupon Harden shot and killed him, He was convicted of first

v

4 SE
_ V5 degree murder and hanged on the street in Grundy. The other man
* was Howard Little, who was convicted of the murder of Aunt Betty
s Justus, her family and a man by the name of George Meadows on

\
,
\ (> laurel Branch of Knox Creek, He was electrocuted in the penitent-
:

~' fF lary at Richmond,
Q a Raina ,

The first court house was a wooden structure, destroyed by fire in
jy «1862, It was rebuilt and burned again in 1885, destroying all of

| + the records of the County, After this fire, three-men were accused
3 | >) of having written a great many bogus deeds to the land of this

' ay County and selling them on the markets in Chicago and other large

cities, causing the citizens to Spend large amounts of money to

protect the titles to their homes, The court house was again
erected in 1905, and rebuilt by S.R, Hurley to a completion in 1917.

2
oo,

The first judge of Buchanan County to hold court which convened

once each month was Judge Graham, and the first clerk of Buchanan

County was John Gillespie, The first sheriff was John W, Childress

and the first Treasurer was Tom Gillespie, all from Tazewell County, Va.

Another early judge was Judge Marton. At one time the accused on
trial thought his ruling was unsound and too Severe, and the accused
and his friends waylaid the judge when he started back to tazewell
on his mule, They pulled him off his mule and tossed him in the
Levisa River, after which time he was prone to temper justice with

a nerey and hecome a. Warr nanniian 4s Tr A mn Tanne
w 4 sat gtd De oes OE 4 ty ote Sty age ef oo. . =! » Pe Cees ead *;

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little during the night, and that he drank the water from the cup-
ped leaves to allay his burning thirst.
The little incident early next morning caused suspicion i thi
fall on Tom Payne. Tom was passing, or perhaps, eo e
scene of the murder and Mr. Perry.called to him ree ae
upon, the lad fled as fast as his legs would carry him. That one
the old man’s dying declaration. Of course, there wis: no smo :
detectives, no crime labs, no balistic experts nor ee
teachnicians; but the bullet was removed 5 a mere roun wees
of lead — from the victim’s body; and it fitted Tom Payne’s rifle.

Tom was indicted at Grundy at the next term of Court. His
father being a very determined man, and not a very poor oo
hired the best council obtainable at the time, Id i, Pe bes
late Judge Burns’ father. In spite of the eloquent o "er i
best efforts, Tom was sentenced to be hanged. Old Burns eae
some kind of a technical flaw in the indictment, and was yen +
to have the execution stayed. Then, while Tom was oily
Death Row, as it were, his father got busy and had a tate is
run through the scene of the tragedy. And when sae cae:
came in with his report, it was decided that the s ~— .
been done on the West Virginia side of the line. ey en
lost jurisdiction then and the case was je ee roe
(named for the victim) the then — paehes pens

‘a lengthy trial at Perryville, now Eng »
sane of  deibonty, including the etd man sig ees
Tom himself, the accused was acquitted. Tom t an wi oe
home with no comments. as if his life had never ~ in iy ne
soon married Rhoda Breeding, raised a large ee ae sae
in peace until he was more than eighty years old, een pay ait
to the penitentiary for some sort of forgery, in w ch tal
Jacket Coal Company was plaintiff. 2 ine poeelie sk ven
ing his secret to the grave. My father 7 ,

pee chews tragedy; but he always maintained his agate
innocence. He may have been innocent. Nobody now ca

know.
THE JOHN HARDIN AFFAIR

During the “gay Nineties” John Hardin, a desl ie sia

Tug River section of Buchanan County, lived wit ‘ aes
Andy’s Branch, one of the small streams pouring its zh e mai
into the Tug. One of his neighbors, George Mounts, eca nas
d with young Mrs. Hardin’s charms: and it was no

una ialy were having an “affair”, brazenly and openly, to the

34

Pepresnt

aie?

242 tte et gots 5 ies Cg ETS

Be Re gry

CMA Complon
sheer distress and agony of the aggrieved husband. The wronged
young man lost sleep at night, and tears, too, no doubt. It was
said that Mounts would tantalize him with ribald remarks, that
he would even take her from the house when he had a mind to,
never asking the permission of poor embarrassed John, and
would bring her back at any time of the night or day, and then
would ungallantly stalk away, without even thanking his neighbor
for the use of his most valued Possession. John smarted under his
grievances, and wore the cuckold’s horns until he baces desperate,
half crazed with his mixed emotions of jealously and hatred. One
day he decided that he could take the humiliation no longer.
With no excitement at all, he deliberately picked up his Winchester,
hoping to find the wanton couple in one of their guilty frysts.
He had not gone far until he saw them coming chattering little
gayeties, and utterly oblivious to any danger. He squatted behind
a stump in a fence corner near the path. As they came Opposite
his hiding place, he fired, and Mounts fell dead in the path. The
woman uttered a terrified scream, no doubt expecting the same
fate; but John desisted. The love that he had in his heart for her,
though trampled and wounded and mangled, was not dead. He

remembered the phrase the preacher had read to him and to her,

“Until death do you part.” it rumbled like thunder in his affrighten-

ed ears. The wind in the tree-tops whispered it, the birds whispered

it in their songs; the noisy locomotive on the near-by railroad

shrieked it. He still sat there with his smokina rifle in his hands,

utterly confused, broken and repentant.

He never tried to escape. Going back to his broken home, he
waited with dejection and humility for the officers to arrive.
From the very first he seemed to know that he was doomed, that
his life was forfeit. At last the law came in force, and he was
carried away to the Grundy jail, a rude structure of logs, from
which he might easily have escaped. James M. Charles was
Sheriff then. and W. L. Dennis was his Jailor. It was said that
he was the most obedient, prisoner, the most docile one they had
ever handled. At the November term Judge Beavers presided. R.
Walter Dotson was Commonwealth's Attorney, and Joe Hibbitts
was Clerk. | used to know some of the Jurymen, but have for-
gotten all of them but two: Noah-G. Bill from Davenport and
J. H. (Harve) McGlothline from Garden Creek.

The Jury seemed to have little trouble in reaching a verdict;
and it was as harsh as any verdict can well be. But the law, the
evidence and the prisoner’s own confession all combined, made it
Possible to render any other kind. It is possible, though | do know,

35

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82

In mid-Decembef, the prisoner, accompanied
by Sheriff Charles and Deputy Paris Charles,
traveled by rail from Tazewell to Raver. The
three continued down the Levisa River «©:
horseback. There are several stories tha.
Hardin had a chance to escape on this two-day
journey but that he chose not to. He had
resigned himself to his fate.

On the cold, cloudy day before his death, Har-
din asked to be baptized into the Primitive Bap-
tist faith. Elder Wallace Compton took him int»
the Levisa the next morning at 10. When the
singing began, John joined in, telling those
nearby that he was prepared for death. He
returned to jail.

Noon came, and he was escorted out.
Thousands of mountain people from all over
southwest Virginia, Kentucky and West
Virginia crowded the mud streets and plank
sidewalks. Calmly he climbed onto his
diamond-shaped coffin which was drawn in a
mule wagon down the Levisa to the scaffold and
gallows. Lizzie, silent, rode next to him.

When they reached the gallows, Hardin
alighted and climbed onto the scaffold, with
Jim and Paris Charles on either side. There
was singing and praying, and John boldly
joined in. Then he spoke his first words of ex-
planation. ‘‘I am here for killing a man because
of my wife. My wife was the cause of it all. I
thought I was doing right when I killed Mounts,
but now I see that I was wrong.”’

Mr. Vandyke remembers that his wife was
crying out for him to stop speaking. But he con-
tinued his explanation. She hushed when he was
finished.

Then the condenined man said, ‘““The Lord
has forgiven me for it, and I am ready and
willing to die.’ He warned men young and old to
“shun liquor and bad women.” Then he sang a
song of his own composing:

‘‘When this world is power and whee!in.
When this worlu 1s power and whevar
Let thy bosim "my pillow, Bice es:

O, Rock «if °...7s-- hid from me.

Ihave a 'i (ner that’s gone ts “ory, vaie in
os
Thee;
I bave a sister that’s gene fo Giovy safe in
Thee;

Riv ola "viher is going to Glory, Let thy
hosct. be siy ciuow, Hide me,

OG, 2toek of A¢ese- hid fia me.

It’s ait { kuow I’ve best converted on thes
scaffold high for snurder,

Let thy bosom be my piliow, hide me; O Ross
of Ages-- safe in me.

This is the last of poor John Hardin, this is the
last of poor John Hardin;

Al a
Beans $
Sete rae
mut 4

§: .
i
%
Har

hed
4

Let thy bosom be my pillow; hide me. 4
Rock of Ages-- safe in Thee.”’

ab

ty

et

With his song finished, he stepped back ami.
prayed. He was somberly dressed in a blate
suit bought him by Sheriff Charles and othes;
“IT am prepared to go. I will soon be free froty
sin, prison, death and misery,” he said. THe 4
sheriff told him he had nine minutes left toliv:.
and the condemned man joked, “‘That’s a shot |

life.” PF

He instructed Jim Charles to give the piecet? ~
tobacco in his pocket to Mrs. Dennis, wife of ths ~~
jailer, then he added quietly, “‘Don’t tell mi”
when you let me drop.”’ ty
As Charles prepared to slip the black hot, =~
over his head, Hardin paused and said, “I at ar
going to Heaven.” With a laugh, he took a cigi’s “°
from his mouth and handed it to the sheriff."1y
will this cigar to you.”’ | eee
Mr. Vandyke said Hardin centered himset -
above the trap door. Silence, then the dow i a
opened and Hardin fell. eS
Dr. John Waldron pronounced him dead afte * . ,
a few minutes. His uncle, Lewis Hardt...
claimed the body and carried it up Slate towat’s
Andy Branch of the Tug River. The journe 4 a
with the coffin was slow, and the traveler;
asked Charlie Looney on Slate if they cou |
spend the night there. He refused, sending thet £0
and their gruesome cargo onto a deserlélj. °«
building at the mouth of Stone Coal where thre ©.
stayed. (28) (Most of this information comé Picges
from a newspaper article published on July};
1958, in the Virginia Mountaineer. Ray.
Coleman, the author, did extensive researchitf
court records and personal interviews. He als: «,
used information found in a 1937 newspaper a %
ticle which reprinted a story written the day#
ter the hanging. A copy of that 1897 accounls;"::
included in the Appendix of this book. ) an

{ward Little to Richmond and the electric char.

‘JOHN HARDIN HANGED”

(From the Messenger, dated Dec. 18, 1897
copied from a handwritten extract made in
1937). Article said to have been written by
Judge Elex (Alex) Beavers, father of the
Messenger’s editor, George (7) Beavers. )

Never in the history of Grundy was there
anything seen like the crowd aS was here
yesterday to witness the last scenes of the life of
John Hardin. From Kentucky, West Virginia,
and from the surrounding counties of Dicken-
son, Wise, Russell and Tazewell, Va., the people
came in swarms. Men and women of all ages,
boys, girls and children; all here to make up the
surging mass of humanity, not withstanding the
inclemency of weather on the day before the
hanging. The prisoner expressed a desire to be
baptized and wanted some minister of the
Primitive Baptist Faith to baptize him. On
Friday at 10 a.m. the sheriff brought the
prisoner out and took him to the river where
Elder Wallace Compton of the Regular
Primitive Baptist Church administered the
Rites of Baptism. The prisoner joined fervently
in the singing. Reverend Apshire Compton and
other ministers of the Gospel rendered the un-
fortunate man all the spiritual aid and comfort
in their power; and he frequently, and to all
who talked with him, said he was prepared to
die, and did not want to live any longer. At no
time did he show the least sign of breaking
down or weakening. At twelve o’clock the
prisoner was brought from the jail dressed in a
neat black suit which had been bought for him
by Sheriff Charles and others; and he looked as
cheerful as if he had started to church instead
of Death. He jumped into the wagon, took his
seat on his coffin without the quiver of a muscle
or the least sign of fear. After the Death March
to the scaffold Hardin walked steadily on the
trap. After singing and praying, in which the
prisoner joined; he, in shaking hands with all in
reach of himself, said he wanted to tell the
people why he was there; ‘That it was for
killing a man on account of his wife, That his
wife was the cause of it all. He thought he was
doing right when he killed Mounts, but now he
saw he was wrong. But the Lord had forgiven
him for it and he was ready and willing to die.

He told the other men and young ones to shun
liquor and bad women, as that was what
brought him to the gallows.’ He sang a piece

which he said he composed himself, but we did

not get the words. After he had quit talking to

the audience and had sat down he said: ‘Tell
mother to meet (?) me that he was prepared to
go and would soon be free from sin, prison,

Death, and Misery.’The sheriff then told him he

only had yet nine minutes to live. He smiled and

remarked, ‘That is a short life.’ He told the
sheriff he had a piece tobacco in his pocket
which he wanted him to take out of his pocket
after he was hanged and give it to Mrs. Dennis.
His last words were to the sheriff, not to tell him
when he let him drop. The very last words that
he uttered, he told Professor Mullins, “He was
going to Heaven.’ As he stepped on the door he
took a stub of a cigar from his mouth and,
laughing, he told the sheriff he ‘would will that
to him.’ At 1:50 p.m. the sheriff adjusted the
rope and sprung the trap which landed poor
Hardin into Eternity. His neck was not broken.
Life was declared extinct by the physicians. Af-
ter he had been hanging fifteen minutes, at 2
o’clock, he was taken down, placed in his coffin
and his body turned over to his friends who
started with it for home where he was buried.
Not withstanding the suspense (7), everything
went off quietly and the special police did not
have to make a single arrest.”

(from notes compiled by Ron Coleman)

HOWARD LITTLE’S
LETTER FROM JAIL
In the hours between his sentencing and his
transfer on to Richmond, Howard Little wrote a
farewell letter in his prison cell: ‘‘“Mr. Adam
Bailey, Now in my sad lot I try to write you a
few words. I don’t know that I will ever be per-
mitted to write to you again. They leave here
today with me to Richmond, Va., where I will
remain, as the court said, till the 7th day of
January, when I will be executed. What I want
you to do is to write me often and let me hear
from my little children (he was the father of
four). If I am permitted to write at all, I will
write often. Adam, Brother, for heaven sake, I
want you and Bud Lee to come to Richmond at
the time of my execution, and there beg for my
body and take it back to Bull Creek and lay it by
my friends there, for I can never die satisfied if
you don’t. I want to be put where my little
babies can look upon my grave. I want you to
write me at once to Richmond and tell if if you
and Bud will do this. This is the only request ]
have on earth and then I can die satisfied.
Adam, Brother, while the circumstances in this
case point at me and I stand convicted, you
need not to change your mind from what I told
you at Welch. So you can tell all the people the
same. I expected to see you here at my trial and
would have given my life to have seen you.
Tilda (his wife) came to town but did not come
to see me. So I never got to lay eyes on her. So
you can see how I have been treated. Mary Lee
never swore a single word of truth against me,
and George Sullivan exaggerated, but I will


OQ E
80
4
on their fortunes (22). Two Black men sat in the person they bought from was Elizabeth Justus |
saloon, watching and listening. They heard of Laurel Fork, an elderly woman who lived
about the money and plotted a robbery. When with her son-in-law, George Meadows, her
' the two Buchanan men rose to leave, the rogues daughter and three grandchildren. Mrs. Justus,
followed them out into the night air. Unaware, with her inbred distrust of banks, did what most
the white men went across the river to a sleight- mountaineers did with their money- she hid it
4 of-hand show on the second floor of the Hawkins in her cabin home.
and Beaners Building. When they left there, Somehow, Little found out about her money,
considerably later in the evening, they started said to be more than $1,650. Perhaps he was 4
across the railroad track to Mrs. Ratliff’s wood superintendent for Ritter and was present
boarding house. Suddenly, the Black men the day she was paid. In any case, he designed a
jumped them, stealing all their money and plan to steal the money. 4
beating them brutally with a hatchet. The men On Tuesday evening, Sept. 21, 1909, Howard :
were left for dead, wrote R. L. Crawford in his Little visited the isolated home and asked to }
1943 “History of Richlands.” Shortridge did die, spend the night. The family members, who |
but Ratliff lived long enough to tell his tale. knew him well, were not suspicious and opened f
The sheriff traced down one of the mur- their home to him. By nine o’clock, the six }
derers, John Johnson, who confessed to the le were in bed asleep. Little allegedly rose,
killing and gave the names of his accomplices. athered his tools — a knife, a hatchet anda .32 j
Fearing a mob, the sheriff assigned two caliber Smith and Wesson revo ver -- and
deputies to take Johnson to Tazewell before proceded to brutally murder each member 0! ;
daylight. They hid in the bushes, “planning to the family. By ten o’clock, the six were dead. |.
flag the east-bound passenger train, due at Little set the cabin on fire, then disappeared in-
Cedar Bluff about 9 a.m.,” writes Crawford. to the night with what money he had been able ;
But the vengeful mob, several said to be from” to find. x
Buchanan, fresh from finding two other Black Neighbors are said to have heard the shooting
men, searched the area and found them. They and seen the blaze, but were afraid to approach ¢ .
forced Johnson to his feet and marched him the house until daylight. The fire had not ;
with the two other Blacks to the west end of destroyed the cabin, and the mountaineers who §
Richlands where the men were hung on an old discovered the bodies that morning were com: jf -
oak tree. Reminiscent of the Pendleton pletely unnerved at the gory scene. In F
hanging, their dangling bodies were shot full of vestigation revealed that only $950 remainedof }
bullets. Calling it ‘‘one of the darkest chapters - Mrs. Justus’ money, and robbery was fixed as f !
in the town’s history,” Crawford recounted that the motive. They still, however, had no suspect. j. —
other Blacks were found and hung, whether or Perhaps the first person to suspect Little was F.. .
not there was evidence that they had been the Robert Bailey, one of the men active in the im { _
attackers. A total of five men, with some of vestigation. His son, Claude Bailey of Hurley, ;
them possibly innocent, were convicted on the remembers that his father wondered why Little »
basis of their skin color, stripped of their rights was not assisting in the investigation, ;
to a trial by jury. “More would have been especially since Little had been a close friendof f°”
hung,’’ wrote Crawford, ‘“‘but the others hid the murdered family. Bailey, pretending to be i
from the mob. One Negro, Bill Tribulary, was enroute to Elk Creek to buy sheep, turned up ¢°
hidden in a heating stove in the basement of the Little’s hollow and called him out of his house.
home of W. B. Spratt for 24 hours.” _ Limping badly, the alleged murderer came oul &
Sener to greet Bailey, explaining that his leg wound |
Howard Little’s Crime . happened a few days earlier when he was ¢ -
But mob rule wasn’t always the means of trying to cut a large tree from his pathway. fe :
dispensing mountain justice, even when a (Possibly, he had cut himself while hacking UP
crime was especially heinous as in the case of the bodies). are
Howard Little. There was talk of lynching Little The two men spoke awhile, perhaps about the # ©
for his crime, but the court system held firm recent crime. Bailey told Little that he wouldbe ¢
and he was tried and convicted and eventually back. As he left, Little went into his house and, ' |
electrocuted in Richmond, he being one of the according to his wife’s testimony, reached for |,”
first men in Virginia to die in the electric chair. his Winchester rifle. Evidently, he was too lame #.
The story is set near Hurley in the days when to catch up with Bailey. ; ut
enormous trees populated the hillsides. The W. The investigators discovered other factors ;
M. Ritter Lumber Co., logging in that area, oc- pointing to Little. He had borrowed a Smith and ¢
casionally purchased timber from a local land Wesson revolver from a neighbor a few days §°
~ owner vo still retained the mineral rights. One before the killings. Two bullets in the body


18

ae -

~*~

|

° mh! pte KD « Abe OO Aa

:
i

>.
TERRE 8 i ae Hd Si ead naire aac an Lins dine

“3 George Meadows matched the caliber of the

q Sun. Also, a lantern he had, (possibly taken
4 home with him to light the way that night), was

4
+
4
j
i
3
4
4
4
4
:

identified as belonging to Mrs. Justus. The most
crippling facts were those presented by his
wife, who testified that her husband had come
home in the early morning after the murders
with his clothing torn and covered in blood. It
also came out that Little had been having an ex-
ta-marital affair for four years, and was plan-
hing to leave the area with the woman shortly
after the crime.

The evidence: was all circumstantial, but
strongly suggested that Little was guilty. There
were those who knew him, including the late
Alex Varney and his wife from Deel, who
believed in his innocence.

The trial began Thursday morning, Nov. 18,
1909, with F. B. Kiser the Commonwealth’s At-
lorney, assisted by Barnes Gillespie. Defense
attorney was B. T. Wilson of Lebanon. The
examination of the witnesses was finished by
noon Friday, the lawyers argued the case and
by afternoon, the jury was ready to retire. Since
one of the jurymen suddenly became ill,
deliberation was postponed: until the next mor-
ning. That Saturday, twenty-four minutes after
the 12 men had entered the jury room, they
were ready with the verdict. ‘‘We, the jury, find
the defendant, Howard Little, guilty of murder
in the first degree.’’ On Saturday, Nov. 20, a
posse headed by C. W. McCoy transferred him
to Roanoke and onto Richmond where, on
Friday, January 7, 1910, according to his sen-
tence, Howard Little was electrocuted until
dead. (28) (See Little’s prison-cell letter in the
Appendix)

John Hardin’s Hanging

John Hardin was a young man, 21 years old,
when his wife Lizzie began a brazen affair with
aman named George Mounts. Mounts taunted
him about her infidelity, and the story is that he
often rode by with Lizzie behind him to laugh at
Hardin working on his Andy Branch farm. (28)
Jealousy grew into a violent hatred and Hardin
set out to avenge the wrong.

In the late evening stillness of Friday, Sept.
4, 1897, he positioned himself on a log seat by
the side of the road, with his 32 Winchester
resting against him. He sat alone waiting.

A male form approached through the dusk.
Scott Ellis of Mingo County, West Virginia, had
a court summons for George Mounts and he
asked the seated Hardin where he might find
him. ‘‘Mounts is up the hollow,” he replied, and
Ellis continued on his way.

George Mounts had been logging that day,

orking with Harve Hardin, John’s uncle.

Qo :

Harve had been sent after salt for the ox team
when Ellis overtook Mounts. ‘‘Go on up the
hollow with me until I turn out the team,”’ said

_ Mounts, “‘and I will go back with you.” Harve

arrived, the team was unyoked and salted, and
the threesome returned down the dusty Andy
Branch road. Half a mile from the Virginia
State line they froze. With raised Winchester,
Hardin confronted them. In seconds, a shot split
the silence and Mounts fell bleeding into the
dirt, crying painfully, ‘I’m bound to die!” Har-
din shot again into Mounts, then turned his
weapon on the other men. Ellis, shot in the
Shoulder, dropped. Harve ran up the hollow,
and, getting to his feet, Ellis staggered after
him as Hardin escaped into the night.

Harve and Ellis made: it into the home of
Oliver Clay, who went to see about the dying
man. As Clay approached, Mounts, curled up in
pain, cried out, “I am bound to die. I am
freezing; get me to the fire.’’ Harve. Clay and
some other neighbors sat by him that night, but
the bullets in his stomach and left breast were
fatal. He died between two and three o’clock
that morning.

The wilderness, meanwhile, sheltered the
fugitive Hardin for several days. But Jim
Charles, High Sheriff of Buchanan County,
finally apprehended him in War Eagle, West
Virginia. On Sept. 30, he was committed to the
small wooden Grundy jailhouse.

At the County Court held Oct. 27, the Grand
Jury indicted him for murder. The case was
tried Nov. 3.

Hardin pleaded ‘‘not guilty” to the murder
charge and the jury of twelve retired on the af-
ternoon of Nov. 5. They could not reach a ver-
dict that day, but the next morning, they retur-
ned with this statement: “We, the jury, find the
defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.”’
Hardin’s attempt to call for a new trial did not
succeed, and the Hon. G. L. Counts sentenced
him to be hung by the neck until he be ‘“‘dead.
dead, dead; and may God have mercy on your
soul.”” Judgement was suspended forty da ys,
until Dec. 17. |

John Hardin returned to Grundy’s small
wooden jail, then run by young W. L. Dennis.
There was some question, however, on the
ability of the jail to house the infamous
prisoner, so the condemned man was trans-
ferred to the Tazewell County Jail.

As the forty days passed, news of the hanging
spread up the hollows and along the creeks. Ac-
cording to 94-year-old Henry Vandyke, who was
a young boy then, public sympathy in favor of
Hardin was growing. Rumors of Lizzie’s un-
faithfulness caused many to think the murde
of Mounts had been justified.


120 COLONIAL CAROLINE

unable to bring enough evidence before the court to secure
convictions. In both cases the magistrates returned Scottish
verdicts of ‘“‘not proven,” and instead of either clearing or
punishing the accused, ordered them set free after they had
posted bonds of 20 pounds sterling, each, to keep the peace for
one year. The fact that Hugh Noden, father of the accused
John, was among the magistrates, who presided over the trials,

~ may have influenced these inconclusive verdicts.

John Hoomes did not fare so well when he faced the court,
although his father, George Hoomes, was a magistrate. The
court sentenced him to twenty lashes on his bare back at the
public whipping post for the theft of a bell belonging to
Thomas Buckner, another magistrate, although he was a mere

youth, perhaps not more than fifteen years of age.

16. THE PANIC

Over-expansion and speclation strained credit to the break-
ing point during the Port Royal boom. The crash began with
the failure of John Harvie of Essex in 1747. Harvie was in
bad shape financially when he moved the site of his business to
the new town. Settlers in all sections of upper Essex and lower
Caroline owed him money and he in turn was in debt to local
planters for produce and to merchants overseas: for merchan-
dise. Influx of new traders caused many of his paying custo-
mers to take their business elsewhere, his customers who were
in debt to him shunned him because there were new sources of
credit, and the planters to whom he owed money pushed him
for payment to get funds to join in the wild spending spree.

To revive his ebbing trade, Harvie was in dire need of some
of the new goods which his new rivals stocked to draw buyers
to his store. But he was without either money or credit to make
these purchases. To get around this difficulty he robbed Robert
Gilchrist and brazenly offered for sale the silk stockings, shoe
buckles and bells which he stole. When Gilchrist missed his
goods, and found out where they were, he summoned Harvie
to court. But for some unknown reason, perhaps because Gil-
christ was a kindly man, the magistrates were: lenient with

THe RuLE oF Sir WILLIAM GoocH 12!

Harvie. Instead of certifying him for trial before the General
Court of the colony, they dismissed all the charges aftér he
returned the property he stole to its rightful owner.

This leniency, however, failed to save John Harvie. It only
served to stir up his creditors. Immediately after the trial John
Beazley, to whom he owed a considerable sum, attached a chest
of silver which was his most liquid asset. As the news of this
seizure spread other creditors acted and:soon gobbled up his
entire estate. When there was nothing left to take care of the

‘mounting claims, the unfortunate man went to jail for debt.

The trading house of John Harvie, of Essex, was at an end.

Harvie’s failure made only a ripple but the failure of Oliver
Towles a year later rocked Caroline County from stem to
stern. The trading house he headed was the oldest in the
county. It had prospered in turn under the proprietorship of
George Tilley, its founder, and Tilley’s successor in title,
Thomas Hoard. Through the years under these managements
it built up a large volume of trade and unlike many of the new
businesses mushrooming in Port Royal had a firm foundation
on which to stand.

In addition Oliver Towles was well liked. In his early years
in the county he paid a fine rather than testify before the grand.
jury investigating John Martin’s complaints against the sup-
porters of Johnathan Gibson in the election contest of 1735-
This stand won him friends among the plain people without
alienating the upper crust. He was favorably known to the
officials of the royal government in Williamsburg. Governor
Gooch esteemed him sufficiently to make him one of the origi-
nal trustees of Port Royal. He had enough influence with the
Caroline magistrates to get them to hold some sessions of the
county court in a room he rented them in his home at Port
Royal for the convenience of the people of the new town of
which he was a trustee. With this background people expected
him to succeed, but Towles was too soft-hearted to operate
successfully on his limited capital in the prevailing economy of
dog-eat-dog. When Josiah Baker, who ran a retail store in the
vicinity of Conway’s warehouse, .was unable to meet his obli-
gations and all other importers cut him off, Towles took in


116 COLONIAL CAROLINE

gow, and William Black, Johnathan Forward and William
Hamilton, merchants of London, sent factors to compete with
the factors of Dunlop and Boyd of Glasgow and Humphrey
Bell of London, already set up in the new town, for business.
John Harvie of Essex,.a merchant who drew much of his trade
from lower Caroline, moved his headquarters to Port Royal,
and Patrick Mitchell bought and expanded the trading post
begun by Dorothy Roy. 3 ay

For all the rivalry for business the traders worked together
for the common good. They set up a guild to promote com-

merce at Port Royal in 1745 under the direction of Robert

Gilchrist. This was Caroline’s first chamber of commerce and
one of the earliest organizations of this type in Virginia. .In
1746 it directed memorials to the Royal Governor, his Council
and the House of Burgesses, asking public improvements and
legislation regulating commerce for their town. Unfortunately
the text of these petitions have been lost.

With the boom the number of taverns increased in Port
Royal fourfold, when John Miller, Oliver Towles and George
Todd took out ordinary licenses in 1745 as well as Dorothy
Roy. But this phenomenal rise in the number of licenses failed
to take care of the thirst of the traders, planters, speculators,

cheats and hangers-on, who congregated in the new town be-

- cause at the same time Joseph and Elizabeth King did a lively

business bootlegging.
George Todd was a physician as well as a tavern-keeper. In
addition to Todd, John Symmer and Daniel Fergusson prac-

ticed medicine in Port Royal from the town’s earliest days.

Symmer was the physician of Dorothy Roy and attended her
in her last illness. (Order Book IV, page 414.) Fergusson
like Todd engaged in business while he practiced his profession.
He was a tailor and-ran a tailor shop under the direction of
Thomas Smith, his chief apprentice.

John Miller had a grist mill on Peumandsend a short dis-
tance out of town, and Lundsford Lomax:was engaged in the
manufacture of runletts from native wood which he shipped to
the Madeira Islands for the storage of Madeira wine, which

the Virginia traders imported in great volume. These two en-

THe Ruce or Sir WILLIAM GoocH 117

terprises completed the list of industries in the vicinity of the
new town.

15. THE GREAT CRIME WAVE

Ciroline’s first crime wave followed in the wake of the

founding of Port Royal. Prior to that time the county was

remarkably free of serious crime. With the exception of one
case of forgery (Robert Baber in 1737) the early Order Books
record only convictions of failure to work roads, non-attendance
of church, violation of the tobacco laws, sale of alcoholic.
beverages without a license, disrespect for the court, the King
and the militia, adultery, bastardcy, swearing, drunkenness and
youthful pranks among the free white inhabitants. On the sur-
face this looks like a formidable list but actually the trial
justice of a Virginia county today (1953) has jurisdiction over
practically all cases in these categories, if they remain crimes.
In this period the magistrates investigated only one homicide.
This was in 1733 when John Partlow shot Thomas Downer.
In this trial the court held Downer’s death accidental and
exonerated Partlow after hearing the testimony of eye-wit-
nesses, William Oliver, William Smith, Henry Barlett and
Moses Downer. The magistrates failed to certify a single free
white person to Williamsburg for trial before the colony’s
General Court. Thomas Roy and William Burdette by the
House of Burgesses for the part they took in the defeat of
John Martin, and Edward Herndon by court martial for per-
mitting his prisoner, John Brooks, the deserter, to escape, were
the only Caroline residents, with the exception of a handful of
indentured servants, tried in the colonial capital.
Booming Port Royal changed this situation. Crooks and
speculators, as well as hardheaded business men, crowded that
thriving trading center and roamed the adjacent countryside
looking for ways to get rich quickly. In 1745 Alexander
Sweeney showed up on the streets of the town and offered gold
bricks for sale at a modest price. In a prevailing atmosphere
of reckless speculation he made numerous sales before a pur-
chaser discovered the bricks were made of base metal. This
disclosure led to his arrest but the magistrates were lenient


‘a5 ' COLONIAL CAROLINE

were at least three taverns and general stores from the earliest
days. One of these establishments was run in turn by Robert
Willis, Edward Haswell, Samuel Coleman and Betty Wyatt
Coleman, Samuel’s widow, who took over after his death: a
— by Benjamin Rennolds at first and later by his sigek
ier co mn mee lk ee ae

et flourished on the
green where peddlers, craftsmen and planters offered all man-
ner of merchandise for sale, and where during the court’s
recesses auction sales were held. Richard Straughn, for many
years, was public crier for the county. The most celebrated
sale dealt with a race-horse offered by Ephriam Buckner, which
both John Micou and John Baylor claimed as the highest
bidder. This transaction is reported in detail in the stedon of
‘this history dealing with sports. The record of the litigation
over the ensuing dispute recorded in the Order Books reveals
that huge crowds attended sessions of the courts, and that
scores which included court officials and jurymen, as well as
spectators, were so drunk as “not to be in their good senses’;
and that fights which ranged from personal feuds to ib lic
brawls were commonplace.

In addition to the jail which was used primarily to hold
debtors, accused charged with a capital offense awaiting
transportation to Williamsburg for trial before the General
‘Court of the colony and runaway Negro slaves and indentured
servants from other counties captured in Caroline, other in-
struments to punish law-breakers located on the court green
included pillory, stocks, whipping-post and scaffold. After Ed-
mund Pendleton became a church warden for Drysdale Parish
in 1746 he persuaded the court to set up a ducking pool in
nearby Lantor’s Pond (Collins in 1953) to afford a more
humane Way to punish female criminals. But the Order Books
contain no record of a woman being sentenced to be ducked.

Pillory and stocks were used sparingly. Only Robert Baber
convicted of forgery in 1742 was punished in the pillory; and
the Order Books disclose but three instances when the rake
trates made use of the stocks. In all these cases this punish-
ment was imposed for disrespect for the court. Thomas Blass-

THE RuLE oF Sir WILLIAM GoocH 127

ingame was the culprit in 1742, and Thomas Lantor in 1742
and 1745. While Blassingame was confined he broke the stocks
and ran away. Immediately thereafter the court paid John
Brown, the tavern-keeper, five shillings, “to make strong the

-lock on the stocks on the court green.”’
‘a The scaffold was only used for Negroes. Whites executed

for capital crimes were hung in Williamsburg. Few Negroes
were put to death in Caroline while Sir William Gooch ruled
Virginia. (Sée chapter on Negro slavery.) |

The whipping-post was the court’s favorite instrument for
inflicting punishment. Hardly a month passed without numer-
ous public whippings. The culprits punished in this. manner
included people from all stratas of society; from John Lomax
and John Hoomes, who were sons of a Burgess and a sheriff,
to white indentured servants and Negro slaves. The number of
lashes, always “‘well laid on the bare back” varied from five
for a white woman for having a bastard to thirty-nine for a
Negro slave for stealing a hog.

Over the colorful court green while the court was in session
waved the county standard, attached to a flagstaff atop the
courthouse. Mrs. Betty Wyatt Coleman kept this standard in
repair and reputedly designed it. Unfortunately all traces of
its pattern are lost.

Governor Gooch failed to act on the magistrates’ petition to
move the courthouse before he left Virginia. Some of the
sessions of the court were held at the old site until the end of
his regime. The magistrates did not neglect the care of the
public building while they waited for the royal government of
the colony to act upon their request. On September 9, 1748,
three months after they filed their petition, they directed
William Boulware, under-sheritt of the county, to improve the
premises by taking out the old windows and installing new
sashes with small panes of glass. :

18. WESTWARD MIGRATION

In 1748 all Virginia hummed with excitement over the settle-
ment of the West. That year the royal government chartered .


118 COLONIAL CAROLINE

with him at his trial. After branding him as a ‘common cheat”
they offered him his freedom if he were able to post bond of
50 pounds sterling for his good behavior. Jacob and Charles
Burruss of St. Margaret’s Parish supplied this bond and the
court released Sweeney, with the admonition “go your way
and sin no more.”
re Patrick Welsh was the arch criminal of this lawless era. His
arrest in 1747 led to the uncovering of a crime ring with its
headquarters in Port Royal-which extended its activities to all
sections of Virginia.. The fact that Welsh was a crook came as
a surprise to his neighbors, because for twenty years after he
reached Virginia and sold his headrights to Richard Taliaferro
he clearly concealed his criminal activities from the people of
his home community. The disclosure of his true nature came
with his arrest for the relatively minor crime of breaking into
the storehouse of Thomas Johnson in Drysdale’s Parish and
carrying away 18 yards of German serge and other goods:
Johnson was a magistrate and through diligent inquiry learned
the identity of the thief. A search of Welsh’s home not only
uncovered the serge but also revealed stacks of silver com-
munion plate and equipment to counterfeit coinage in shillings
from. this metal. A portion of the plate was identified, and
confronted with this evidence, Welsh confessed. He admitted
that he and his confederates, Manus Fegan, Edward Danerley,
George Fox, Ann Dugan and Patrick and Catherine Roan, all
residents of Caroline, had stolen communion service sets from
churches in Upper and Lower Brandon parishes in Prince
George, St. David’s Parish in King William, Yorkhampton
Parish in York, Southwork Parish in Surry, and other parishes
in Southampton, Lunenburg, Stafford, Northumberland. and
Richmond counties and brought their loot to Port Royal, where
they broke it up and used it for material to counterfeit coinage,
which they passed into circulation. The Caroline Court after
an inquest certified Welsh and Fegan to the General Court of
the colony to stand trial for grand larceny, breaking and enter-
ing and counterfeiting; and Patrick and Catherine Roan for
receiving and breaking up stolen property and issuing counter-
feit coins. It held that the charges against Danerley, Fox and

Tue Ru e or Sir WILLIAM GoocH

Ann Dugan weré not proven and only bound them to keep
the peace. :

The magistrates regarded Welsh as such a dangerous
prisoner that they hired John Robinson, John Smith, George
Bullard, Thoimas Jeter, George Brassfield, James Potter and
Francis Stell, at the cost of 1,470 pounds of tobacco, to act as
his guards on the journey to Williamsburg.

After the trial in the colonial capital Welsh was duly hung.
But upon the completion of a-short term of imprisonment:
Fegan, who came to Virginia as an indentured servant, re-
turned to Caroline County. The records fail to disclose the
fates of Patrick and Catherine Roan. =~

r~ An attempt to get rich quick also led Francis Bearding to
crime. To secure capital with which to speculate he broke into’
the storehouses of Benjamin Hubbard of lower Drysdale
Parish and carried away 350 pounds of tobacco. The Caroline
magistrates had jurisdiction to try Bearding since neither the
value of the goods he stole, nor the breaking and entry of an
outhouse during daylight were sufficient to constitute a felony.
But they preferred not to exercise this right and. sent him to
Williamsburg to stand trial for his life in the General Court,
because in colonial Virginia the theft of tobacco, which was the
basis of the economy, was treated very much like horse-stealing,
at a later date, in the American West. Hanging was none too
good for the thief.

Two oddly dissimilar Caroline residents, George Hoomes
and Thomas Roy, tried to help Bearding. Hoomes got the ,
doomed man’s property, and Roy his debts, for their trouble.)

The biggest unsolved crime of the period was the burning of
John Bowie’s dwelling, quarters, dairy, stables, storehouse,
meat house, and hen houses on the hill overlooking Port Royal,
during the nighttime. Bowie accused John and Catherine
Noden, who were engaged in a bitter controversy with his
brother, James, the merchant, over debts, of setting the fires.
While the Nodens were out of. jail on bail awaiting trial, parties
unknown under the cover of darkness cut up every tobacco
plant on Bowie's plantation, and Bowie filed additional charges
against the pair to cover this crime. But at the trials he was


418 ; COLONIAL CAROLINE

ahead of the horse owned by Green. Because of the confusion
the judges refused to render a decision and both Waller and
Miller claimed the stakes. MacPhearson held on to all the
money in the face of their demands and Miller sued. The court
ruled against him and awarded the wager to Waller. An inter-
esting sidelight to this case was the amount of money bet. The
wager totaled enough to buy an able-bodied slave at the pre-
vailing market price. . 7

Seven years later (1747) another case was tried in the
Caroline court which revealed the large amounts that the
_ gentry of the county were willing to spend on race-horses, and
horse-racing. The year before Ephriam Buckner of Orange
had shown up at a session of the Caroline court with a horse he
directed Richard Straughn, the auctioneer, to put up for sale

to the highest bidder, on the court green. Edward Brassfeld. .

and John Emerson offered competing bids until the bidding
reached 6 pounds, 15 shillings, by Brassfield, and Elias Black-
burn, an onlooker, advised the auctioneer to disregard Brass-
field because he was drunk. Upon hearing this Straughn de-
manded that Brassfield show his money, and Brassfield replied
by opening his purse. There were only five or six shillings
inside and Straughn proceeded to knock the horse out to
Emerson for his last bid of 6 pounds, 12 shillings, in spite of
Brassfield’s protest. While this argument was going on. John
Baylor of New Market, paid 6 pounds, 13 shillings, directly
to Buckner, mounted the horse and rode off. The crowd was
aghast at this conduct, but Emerson was too awed to attempt
to do anything because Baylor was such an important person-
age, until John Micou, another gentleman with great prestige,
championed his cause. Micou announced that Emerson was
merely acting as his agent and sent word to Baylor demanding
the horse. Baylor refused to surrender the animal and Micou
sued for possession. In the trial of the case Baylor testified
that Brassfield was acting for him as much as Emerson was
acting for Micou. Witnesses testified that while Brassfield was
“tipsy” he was “not out of his senses” and asked the age of
the horse and other pertinent questions before he began to bid.
The trial lasted for twenty days and in the end a jury ruled

THe PEOPLE 419

that Baylor might keep the horse but that each of the litigants
must pay his own witnesses. Witness fees were sizeable because
many witnesses had been summoned several times from Orange
and other distant counties. The total bill ran to over 12,000
lbs. of tobacco, which was over eight times the sales price
of the horse. ,
- But what the Buckner horse cost John Baylor was mere
pocket change to the amount he paid for Fearnaught seventeen
years later. In 1764 he brought this celebrated stud to New
Market from England at the costs of over 1,000 guineas. This
sum was more than the sales price of the crop from 125 acres
of tobacco at the time. A decade later John Hoomes of the
Bowling Green imported Stirling. These two horses were the
progenitors of the most famous race-horses in America.
Horse theft in colonial Caroline was a serious crime. The

-* magistrates sent Richard Munford to stand trial in the General

Court of the Colony in Williamsburg in 1739 for breaking into
the stable of William MacKie and carrying away a large bay
gelding, saddle and bridle, and ordered 25 lashes at the whip-
ping-post for his partner in crime, John Lomax, a youth of
sixteen. Twenty-five years later another set of magistrates sent
David Gordon to the colonial capital for trial after he stole a
horse belonging to Francis Fleming, and shortly thereafter
sentenced a runaway Negro to hang for the theft of a horse
and saddle from John Baylor. While the punishments imposed
on Munford and Gordon is not known, the chances are they
suffered the same fate as the Negro because accused were only
transported to Williamsburg to stand trial for crimes punish-
able by death, and neither of them returned to Caroline. Be
Race-tracks: While doubtlessly there were race-tracks at New
Market and the Bowling Green during colonial times, the only
race-track recorded in the Order Books is Sanders Race-track
near Port Royal. This track is first mentioned in the Order
Book for 1744, and there are frequent other references to it in
the Order Books covering the period extending from that date
through the Revolution. This track was for the masses. Here
the gentry, small freeholders, traders, artisans and roustabouts
rubbed shoulders and placed their bets. :


82
352_ CoLoniaL CarROoLINE

/With all the inducements an overseer’s life was not an eas
one. William Hargrave was overseer for Benjamin Hubbard
when Francis Bearding robbed the plantation of tobacc a
was Aung in Williamsburg for the crime. A segment ’ th
public insisted that Bearding had inside help af Bar =
Was Investigated, although no evidence was itaed up ok.
was an accessory in the crime} John Adams was not so fort
nate. He lost his position at Carter plantation on Peumand d
because while he was overseer five Negroes escaped and s “it
terror through the countryside. Pci Se

The number of overseers appears to have declined rathe
than increased during the colonial period. In 1766 the f
holders who lived in the vicinity of Reedy Mill were ince of
because Col. Richard Corbin sent his overseer Chirfetonhe
Daniel to supervise the maintenance of a section of the ublic
road rather than taking charge of the work personally sithos h
he was In residence in King and Queen and the overseer :
managing his ‘‘Reed’s” plantation. | oie

2. CURRENCY

. Five types of currency were in circulation in colonial Caro-
line; British money, Virginia specie, Spanish gold coins, bill
of exchange and tobacco certificates. The amount of Brit h
pounds sterling, was limited. Most planters spent the srchase
price of their tobacco, which was their only product with value
abroad, before payments reached Virginia. Virginia specie was
issued by the government of the colony to finance the French
and Indian War. It constantly decreased in value and creditors
shunned it as payment for debt. On the other hand, Spanish
gold coins, the pistoles, were greatly desired. They aes the
only gold in circulation. Contracts frequently specified that
payment was to be made in this medium. But the clause often
had to be changed if payment was to be made at all since the
number of pistoles in circulation was so limited that the creditor
was unable to get enough: to pay his bill. Bills of exchange
Were no stronger than the credit of the maker and his en-
dorsers. They were used generally in local trade but were

THE PEOPLE : 383

valueless for purchases abroad. The most effective monetary
unit was the tobacco certificate and all. through Caroline’s
colonial history it was the standard medium of exchange.
Prices were fixed generally in pounds of tobacco rather than
pounds sterling, and to get tobacco to pay their bills and to
make purchases planters dropped the cultivation of other
products and concentrated on this crop. ©

3. OTHER CROPS

From the earliest days of the Virginia colony there were
attempts by the more enlightened colonist to diversify agricul-
ture. But all these attempts ended in failure. The freeholders
wanted tobacco which was equivalent to money. Special effort
was made on the production of material for fabrics since all
fine cloth was brought in from abroad. The planters, even in
latitudes as far north as Caroline, raised sufhcient cotton for
plain garments, and enough wool to keep them warm. But
while garments of cotton and wool were good enough for their
servants, they wanted clothing of silk and linen for themselves.
The cultivation of flax for linen and mulberry trees and cater-
pillars for silk became pet projects, but they all went wrong
and the importation of silk and linen continued.

Foodstuffs were raised in abundance but shipping rates made
it unprofitable to sell them abroad. In an effort to encourage
the greater production of livestock the Caroline magistrates in
1740 passed an ordinance to permit planters to register their
stock marks with the court and let their cattle range the county’s
unfenced land. Only two planters took advantage of this ordi-
nance and registered their stock marks with the court. They
were James Taylor | and Benjamin Rowe. ‘Their marks were
a swallow fork on each ear and two crops and two slits on the
right ear and one slit under the heel of the left ear, respec-
tively. The planters’ attitude may be explained by the relative

prices of livestock and tobacco. In 1764 in Caroline one acre
of tobacco was worth 614 cows, 30 sheep or 40 hogs.


438 COLONIAL CAROLINE

en 6 horils Scott, the mulatto son of Mary Scott, a white woman,
bound to Thomas Wild according to law.

1741—Elizabeth Dunn, a poor orphan, bound to Sussannah and William
Hudson.

1742—Dorothy Kercheval prevented: her’ son from kee bound.

1743—John Jones, a poor orphan, bound to Stephan Johnston.

1744—Elizabeth Barnes, bound because immoral. (2)

1744—Catherine Jones, bound to Archibald and Elizabeth Macphear-
son. (3)

1744—Mary Hunt, bound because immoral. (2) :

1745—Martha King placed under 10 pound bond because of her im-
morality.(2)

1745—Abraham, Mary, James and Jacob King, the children of Martha
and Joseph King, bound by the wardens of St. Mary’s Parish to
Bennett Moore becuse their parents “failed to instruct them in
religious principles and look after their education.”

1746—Isabelle Gibbons, bound by the church wardens of St. Margaret’s
because of immorality. (2)

1746—Sarah Gibson, bound by the church wardens of St. Mary’s be-
cause of immorality. (2)

1746—Isabelle Griffin, bound by the church wardens of St. Mary’s

because of immorality.(2)

1746—The children of Richard Jones, bound because their father did
not take care of them.

1747—Reuben LaFoe, bound because his father, Daniel LaFoe, failed
to take care of him.

1747—Thomas Burdette, mulatto bastard of a white mother, bound to
Richard Step.

1747—Mloses Anderson, a bastard child, bound to William Dyer.

1748—Sarah, Nicholas and James Scott, the mulatto bastards of Mary
Scott, a white woman, bound according to law.

1748—Children of Thomas Martin bound because he neglected their
education.

1748—Mary Stenard, a poor orphan, bound to Robert Robinson.

1748—Letitia (Lettis) Powell bound because of her immorality.

1748—The children of Letitia Powell bound because she neglected their
education and to instruct them in the principles of Christianity.

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‘THE PEOPLE - 439

1749—Hannah Trainham, bound because immoral.

1750—Bound Dinah, Cloe, Swaney and Doll Burdette, the mulatto —
children of a white mother to Hugh Noden, according to law. (4)

1750—Sarah King, bound because immoral.

1756—Bound Elizabeth, Ruth, Ambroise, John, Ann and Isiah Roberts,
because their father, David ober ts: failed to take care of them.
(Drysdale Parish.)

1756—Bound John Tarrent because his father, Henry Tarrent, did not
_ take care of him.

1756—Bound Sarah Munday, a poor onlin, to Benjamin and Sarah
Robinson.

1758—Liza Law less bound to Griffin. Jones because her father, Henry
Lawless, “‘appears to neglect her education. "€5)

1759—Bound the children of Jane Bearding.(6)
1759—Bound the children of Laurentia Salmon.

1759—Henry Lawless ordered to deliver his daughter, Eliza, to Christo:
Pher Dudley, because he negelcted her education.

1760—Children of Jean Sullivyant bound to John Hoomes.
1760—John and Thomas Cooper Dickinson, orphans of John Dickin-

son, bound.
1760—James and John Choice, poor orphans, bound.

1761—Curtis and Peter Poe, the sons of John Blaikey Poe bound
because their father neglected their education.

1761—The children of Thomas Hill bound. (St. Mary's Parish. )
1761—The children of Elizabeth Rains bound. (St. Mary’s Parish. )

1761—George and John Watts, the sons of Shadrack Watts, bound.
_ (St. Mary’s.) (7)

1762—William Hewlett’s orphans, bound. (St. Margaret’s.)
1762—The children of James Minor, bound. ( Drysdale.)
1762—Children of Dannis MacCarty, bound. (St. Mary’s.)
1763—John Donahue, the son of Patrick Donahue, bound. ( Drysdale.)

1763—The orphans of John Conner bound to Robert Tompkins. (St.
Margaret’s. )

: 1763—Reuben Brown, an orphan, bound. (St. Mary’s.)

1763—Charles Conner, orphan son of John Conner, bound.


436 COLONIAL CAROLINE

1765—William Johnston, Richard Fortune, John Elliott Payne,
Thadeus Pruitt, John Pruitt and Robert Jordan, failed to fre-

quent: their parish church for two months—s shillings or 50 _

Ibs. of tobacco fine.
1765—John Pruitt (2nd offense that year), Richard Fortune—failed

to frequent their parish church for two months—5 shillings or -

50 lbs. of tobacco fine.

1768—Francis Fleming, William Earlington, John Pruitt, Thadeus
Pruitt, Benjamin Pruitt, John Carden, Griffin Moody, Ledowick
George, Joseph Redd, Henry Tarrent, John Wyatt, John Bur-
russ—failing to frequent their parish church for two months—
5 shillings or 50 Ibs. of tobacco fine.

1768—Jacob Burruss, Phillip Tinsley—allowing home to be used for
unauthorized worship—charges dismissed.

1768—John Burruss—preaching without a license—bound not to preach
again.

1768—John Thompson, James Gatewood, Thomas Terrell, Robert
Chandler, George McNeils, William Blades, Christopher Terrell,
Robert Woolfolk, the son of Joseph Woolfolk, Thomas Burk,
Martha Noden, Rachael Terrell and Henry Terrell, William
- Tinsley—attending unauthorized worship—charges dismissed.

1768—Thomas Roy, James Bowie, Sr., John Bowie, William Parker,
Jr.—failed to frequent their parish church for two months—5
shillings or 50 lbs. of tobacco. Frederick Fleming, Gilpin Moody,
James Loving, Justinian Wills, James Chick—failed to frequent
their parish church for two months—5 shillings or 50 lbs. of
tobacco.

1771—John Young—preaching the gospel contrary to law—s50 pound
bond to keep the peace for a year and a day. Appealed case to
general court.

1771—Thomas Pittman—allowing unauthorized religious services in his
home—charges dismissed.

1771—John Goodrich, Thomas Collins, Jr., Charles Chewning, Micajah
' Stevens, Edmound Beazley, Elizabeth Beazley—attending un-
authorized worship—charges dismissed.

1771—Bartholomew Chewning, James Goodrich, Edward Hearndon—
preaching and teaching the gospel without a license—ordered to
post twenty pound bond to keep the peace for year and a day—
went to jail.

1771—Lewis Craig—unauthorized preaching—refused to post bond—
jailed.

Tue Prope 437

1772—James Ware—unauthorized preaching—posted bond after 16
days in jail to keep the peace, but not to quit preaching.

1772—Benjamin Falkner, John and Walter Mackie, Presbyterians—
disturbing the peace.

1772— James Pittman—allowing home to be used for unauthorized
worship—posted bond after 16 days in jail to keep the peace—
but refused to promise to stop unauthorized worship.

1772—Nathaniel Holloway—unauthorized preaching—refused to post
20 pound bond—went to jail. :

1772—John Partlow—allowed unauthorized worship in home—refused
to post bond—went to jail.

1772—John Waller—unauthorized preaching—refused to post 50 pound
bond—went to jail.

1772—Henry Goodloe—allowed unauthorized worship in home—re-
fused to post 20 pound bond—went to jail and declared insane.

1773—Stephan Fortson, Frederick Fortson, Sarah Young, John Harvie,
Daniel Allen, Joseph DeJarnette, Sr., Stephan Fortson (2nd
offense )—failed to frequent their parish church for two months—
fined 5 shillings each.

1774—John Young—unauthorized preaching in an outhouse—case con-
tinued pending outcome of appeal on prior conviction appealed
to the general court. '

WELFARE

The church wardens did a certain amount of welfare work
in spite of their preoccupation with the enforcement of the laws

governing religious worship. Following are the cases they took

charge of in Caroline from the records in the Order Books:

1735—-George and Michael Yates, the sons of George Yates, bound to
their uncle, Michael Guinney, because their father failed to in-
struct them in “Christian principles.” (1 )

1737—John and Charles Walton bound to Bryan Edmoundson.

1738—Children of Ann Blanton (ages 4 and 10), bound to William
Morris.

1738—Bound the three children at John Terrell’s, commonly known as
the children of Elizabeth Harrison. (St. Margaret’s Parish.)

1738—Ann and John Gough, poor orphans, bound to Thomas Oakley.

_ 1741—Sussannah Brooks, a female of St. Mary’s Parish, bound for

immorality.

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The Tercentenary Arrives 315

were given the death sentence by Judge Southall who set the same date
in April for the executions to be carried out.

Former Governor Montague in the primary of 1912 defeated the
veteran Captain John Lamb for the Democratic nomination for Con-
gress and was elected in November to represent the Third District,
which included Chesterfield. Captain Lamb, a Confederate veteran,
had represented the district since 1896 and died November 21, 1924.
Congressman Montague had his most serious Opposition in 1936, when
Dave E. Satterfield, Jr., ran against him unsuccessfully for the Demo-
cratic nomination. He died the following year on January 24 after
which Mr. Satterfield was named in a special election to fill the vacancy.

Chesterfield secured a County Agricultural Agent in 1914 under the
provisions of a Federal law. The duty of the agent primarily is for the
instruction of farmers in improved methods of agriculture and horti-
culture and stock-raising. He also conducts demonstrations and advises
farmers on all technical and improved agricultural methods and super-
vises farm demonstration clubs for boys. While a Home Demonstration
Agent to work with girls and women also was authorized at the same
time, the county did not take advantage of this opportunity for service
for a number of years,

In 1914 Chesterfield was selected as the site for the Richmond area’s
Boy Scout Camp. A wooded tract of ninety-six acres and a lake was
acquired and Camp Shawandasse was laid out under the direction of
Scout Executive Charles L. Weaver. The camp Is located one and one-
half miles from Chesterfield Courthouse and adjoins the Pocahontas

State Park area. Camp Pocahontas, for Girl Scouts of the capital area

was established in 1929 on an eighty-eight acre tract two miles from
Bon Air. Mrs. Stuart McGuire, who as an army nurse, served overseas
during the first World War in the base hospital commanded by her
distinguished husband, was the founder of Camp Pocahontas which is
situated on two hills overlooking a four acre lake.

“There was considerable war talk in the air around this time and in
late Summer of 1914 the conflict in Europe broke out. Except from an
economic standpoint Chesterfield was not yet to feel the effect of the
trouble abroad, but just across the Appomattox River in Prince George
County 4 giant industry, a plant for the manufacture of gunpowder and
other high explosives for England and France, sprung up overnight.
The plant was built by the Du Pont interests who had acquired a
crescent shaped tract which just a few months previously had been
unsightly fields. of corn stubble. Within the rim on the overlooked
ground an unwelcome sprawling town of ramshackle hovels rivaled
only by those of the old Wild West, soon was in full operation. Tin,
tarpaper, old crates and canvas were the predominating building
materials. Building sites commanded fantastic prices.


312 Chester field—An Old Virginia County

ardson as a symbol of Manchester’s key. An immediate benefit to
Chesterfield was the erection of a new concrete bridge to replace the
old Mayo’s toll span. Later in 1914 the consolidated city was to make
its first of several demands for large segments of Chesterfield property
which cut sharply into the county’s resources. Included in the territory
annexed by the city were the fast developing suburbs of Woodland
Heights and Forest Hill. Chesterfield opposed the annexation vigorously,
but after three weeks of hearings, Judge A. C. Campbell, who had been
assigned to hear the case, entered a decree in favor of the city.

While there was much opposition to the site by neighboring home
owners, the Virginia Home and Industrial School at Bon Air was started
as a private institution in 1910 with the State paying 50 cents a day for
each delinquent girl sent to the institution for custody, care and train-
ing. In 1914 the General Assembly authorized the taking over of the
institution by the State with Miss Anna M. Petersen as the superin-
tendent. The site, known as “Kilbourne” had been owned by B. F.
Johnson, well known publisher, and at that time embraced 206 acres of
land and some inadequate buildings which since have been replaced by
modern structures under the State management. The change-over from
private to State management was effective on August 1, 1914.

Chesterfield’s most sensational crime of all time because of the
prominence of the principals and the circumstances occurred on the
night of July 18, 1911, when Mrs. Louise Owen Beattie, mother of a
4-months old child, was killed on the Midlothian Turnpike by the blast
of a shotgun. She had been motoring with her husband, Henry C.
Beattie, on the hot Summer night when instantly killed. The husband
reached the home of the dead woman’s uncle with her body and reported
having been held up by a bearded highwayman. Three days later he
was arrested on a charge of murder and was brought to trial on August
21 at Chesterfield Courthouse. The interest of the whole country,
apparently, had been aroused by the crime and when the trial opened
reporters and photographers from all the major cities and press assgcia-
tions were on hand. So heavy was the demand for wire service that the
Western Union Telegraph Company had to take over an entire store
building adjoining the. court square for its operators. The accused took
the stand and stuck to his original story, which the prosecution broke
down step by step. The jury, with less than an hour of deliberation,
returned a verdict of guilty on September 8. A motion for a new trial
was refused and the Supreme Court of Appeals in record time unani-
mously upheld the lower court on November 13. Eleven days later the
death sentence was carried out. ®

While the eyes of the world, seemingly, were riveted on the sensa-
tional court proceedings, Chesterfield was saddened by the deaths of
Alfred Baker and Henry Wilson Bransford, young sons of Dr. John


314 Chesterfield—An Old Virginia County

by George Gregory and associates as a toll bridge. Shortly after it was
built the structure was sold jointly to Chesterfield and Henrico counties
and tolls were discontinued. The erection of the span brought visions
of a great expansion for the section it served. Almost at once plans were
laid for an electric railroad from Bon Air to the vicinity of the Country
Club of Virginia and the then new campus of the University of Rich-
mond. There the line would tie in with the Virginia Electric and
Power’s Westhampton link. A right of way was acquired on the
Chesterfield side and tracks actually were laid, but the cost of bridging
the James together with difficulties in getting the Henrico right of way
was too much of a financial strain for the backers of the project.

The first of Chesterfield’s modern county fairs was held in Novem-
ber. It was billed as a “county exposition” and a large shed for exhibits
was built.

This same month, on November 17, Judge John H. Ingram died. He
was born in Manchester, the son of Dr. Sylvanus Littlepage Ingram,
of that place. After practicing in Manchester, Judge Ingram was
appointed to the corporation court bench in 1886. His son, John L.
Ingram, now presides over Richmond’s Hustings Court.

In the November election Haskins Hobson was named Common-
wealth’s Attorney for Chesterfield County and served in that capacity
for the next ten years. Later he was to represent the county in the
General Assembly for four terms during which time he was a leader
in many progressive movements. For the ten years preceding his death
on February 10, 1954 he was judge of the Law and Equity Court
Part II of Richmond.

While presiding over the circuit including Chesterfield, Judge
Watson for convenience made his home in Forest Hill, although never
giving up his official residence in Dinwiddie. His handling of important
cases brought him to public attention so strongly that he was drafted

to make the race for Congress in the Fourth District in 1912. Following |

his resignation from the bench, Judge Robert G. Southall, of Amelia
was named as his successor and took his oath at Chesterfield Court-
house on February 12. Almost at once he was called upon to preside
at the trials of two Negroes for murder through which Chesterfield
gained the dubious distinction of having sent two men to the death
chair on the same date in the State’s first double electrocution. They
were John Ferby and William Price, Negroes convicted of attacking
and killing Thomas Belcher, guard at a convict camp near Chester
on January 22, 1912. The men, it was shown at the trial, along with
William Pierce, another convict, made a sudden attack on Belcher in
an attempt to escape. Pierce was killed by a shotgun blast from the gun
of another guard and Price also was wounded. Ferby escaped and was
not taken until two months later. The men were tried separately and


ORN

vovernment was
. Citizens groups
gy waging their

1937, when the
cted the county
of 1392’ to 795.
ge had Delegate
al session of the
' would be per-
ing an executive
tinder the Board
nd other officials
ir regular work.
ror although
Tac > limited
‘ree years. This

3, when another
‘ked hard to get
I] preferred the
lan. Manchester
the old form of
allot by which
cutive secretary

ut the executive
On the strength
victory and the
038.
f the Board of
ad he served in
eded by W. H.
ice, Mr. Cald-

insofar as the

A New Government Born 333

administrative affairs of the county are concerned, entirely by the
policies and responsibilities placed upon it by the Board .of Super-
visors, whose members are elected by the people. A mere resolution by
the board may extend or limit the executive secretary's authority. His
office was made the clearing house for information and complaints and
among his duties were that of purchasing agent. After receipt of requi-
sitions he issues specifications and requests bids and sends the bills to the
treasurer for payment.

While unusual attention was being given to the proposed govern-
mental changes, there were other things to attract attention such as
probably the most bizarre crime in Chesterfield’s history which came
to a head in March of 1937 when a South Richmond woman, Violet
Merryman, who was being interrogated by police on another matter,
informed them unexpectedly that Leban Blunt Howard, her “boy
friend” and a one-time tugboat captain, had killed Edward Nestor
Hawkins, a former State motor police officer in a cabin near Murchies
Mill on Falling Creek in the previous August, and had taken the body
to Prince George County where it was abandoned in a thicket two
miles below Petersburg. While sceptical, the police investigated, and
records showed that an unidentified body had been found in the vicinity
described and was buried. When the body was exhumed by order of
the Prince George authorities, after eight months in the grave, identifi-
cation was still possible by markings on the clothing and by the teeth.
Howard admitted that Hawkins had been slain in his cabin, but placed
the blame for the killing on the woman and said that his subsequent
action in carrying the body off and abandoning it was to protect her.
On the other hand the woman testified that Howard had shot Hawkins
because his snoring disturbed him. While the wounded man was plead-
ing for medical attention, she swore, Howard wrapped a hammer in
cloth and struck Hawkins repeatedly on the head. He then placed the
body in the trunk of his automobile and carried it away. A surprise
witness against Howard was his own son whose testimony corroborated
that of the woman. Howard received a life sentence and in 1942 the
Merryman woman was implicated in two atrocious killings, one in Rich-
mond and the other in Henrico. Her male confederate went to the elec-
tric chair and she was sentenced to 25 years for one murder and 30
years for the other—to be served consecutively. :

This was the last major case over which Judge Cox presided. His
death in March, 1938, was followed by the election of J. Garland
Jefferson, of Powhatan, to the circuit court bench which he still
occupies.

At old Bermuda Hundred another historic Chesterfield site was
marked with a granite shaft on May 7, 1938. This reminder of the past
was erected and dedicated on its eighth anniversary by the Bermuda

pec wR bp a


The Virginia Gazette
February 23, 1769
No 927

THERE is in New Kent Gaol a likely well set Virginia born
Negro fellow, about 5 feet 8 inches high, has a bold countenance,
and appears to be very sensible. He has been under sentence of
death for felony within this county, but a pardon has been obtained
for him ever since December, and he has been advertised in the
publick Gazette. He says he belongs to SOLOMON MILLER of Norfolk
county, or Elizabeth City, and broke Norfolk gaol some time last
fall with two other Negro fellows and a mulatto. The owner would
do well to apply immediately, for the fellow, as he has been a
long time upon expensies.


MARYIAND Studies apa)

of Al
The V1 irginia Eastern Shore
in the
Seventeenth Century

Chectoovesects Goee (2 Gargatha Inlet
LON

So Matomkin Inlet

BY
wv Hacns (Nick y’ Me
Pease «: yi SUSIE M. AMES
Gaddock Creek ar a A "
Scansurcn's Neck ¥ r Nn

¥ Qccohannock Creek

f Onancock Creek Matomkin Beach
Pungoteague Creek

Porramore’s Beach v

LES) Little Machipungo Inlet Q

Nassawodox (;
CrorcufNleg

Mangars Geek ff /sland

Mattawamen Creek. é
Ou Town" Weck

é 3 ‘ee Soleé
‘ (ae /slend

i io Ahors freck Island
{af ‘Srens Codmin’s blond

*VINTSHIA SXINNOO NOJdWVHIUON

Bi. HE IRGINIA

CaPeCuakles
QyAssermens ‘sland

SCALe OF MILES

to 20
Som L = aa

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA .
Laon oe THE DIETZ PRESS, Publishers

1940

ac ee


176 The Virginia Eastern Shore in the 17th Century

willingly did). But, reported the jury, “no sign did appear
unto us.”! Again in March 1679 (O. S.), at a coroner's
inquest in a case of infanticide the ordeal of touch was used
by a jury composed of twelve women. Three persons, one
of whom was the mother of the bastard child, were required
to undergo the test. But there was no alteration in the body
until Paul Carter touched it. He was indicted for the crime
and ordered by the court to be taken to James City for
further trial.?

Along with the other legal institutions of England there
was introduced its long established jury system. In the
county courts as well as in the General Court petit juries
were called on to decide matters of fact; and offenses were
brought before the court by means of presentments and
indictments made by the churchwardens_ and grand jury.
In 1645 the Assembly ordered grand juries to be sum-
maned twice each year, in midsummer and in March, and in
1658 to be empaneled at every court. That act was re-
pealed that same year, but in 1661-2 there was again an act
empaneling grand juries twice each year, in April and
December.t But in 1677 provision had to be made for
enforcement: a fine of 2,000 pounds of tobacco on a court
failing to empanel a grand jury and a fine of 200 popes on
a juror absent from court, without a lawful excuse.’ It was
the following year that the justices of peace for Northamp-
ton County, deciding there had been too much drinking,
quarreling, fighting, and rudeness at the meetings of the
county court, ordered that “the laws of England and this
country, provided against such offenses, be put into full
execution”; and that the grand jury, which had of late
been very remiss in making due presentment of the offenders

1Chitwood, of. cit., pp. 104-105; Virginia Magazine of History, Vol. V.,

- Ticuamatt Wills, Deeds, & Orders, 1678-82, pp. 159-1605 Virginia Maga-
zine of History, Vol. IV, pp. 185-197

3Chitwood, of. cit., p. 83. :

‘Hening, Yok I, pp. 303-304, 463; Vol. II, p. 74. In the a wea Rif
the time for receiving presentments was in May and November. Ibid., Vol.
Ill, p. 367- .

5Chitwood, of. cit., pp. 84-85.

Legal Institutions versus Provincial Government 177

of penal laws,” should make strict inquiry and due present-
ment.!

Those summoned by the sheriff to serve as a grand jury
were from among “‘the most capable Freeholders” of the
county with, however, the exemption of ordinary keepers,
constables, surveyors of highways, and owners or occupiers
of a mill.? It was their duty to present not only persons
guilty of moral offenses and felonies but also those disturb-
ing the public peace and welfare and even to present the
county court should it prove negligent in any of its duties.

Many records throughout the colonial period attest the
unpopularity of grand jury duty. Sometimes one excuse
and sometimes another was presented by those reluctant to
serve, and sometimes there was flat refusal. When in 1664
Anthony Hodgkins of the recently formed county of Acco-
mack, was presented “by the old Grand Jury for foreman
of the new Grand Jury,” he pled Sir William Berkeley’s
“writ of ease.”* A few years later several men on the
grand jury were, upon the order of the court, presented by
the attorney. But they “alleged it was no wilful act but out
of ignorance’’—and that was one instance in which ignor-
ance of the law did excuse.’ About a decade later, in
Northampton County, it was “‘alleged’’ by some members of
the jury of inquest that they were ignorant of the laws
necessary for making presentments. The court thereupon
ordered the clerk to draw up a new copy of all the penal
laws and to deliver it to the foreman of the grand jury, the
clerk being allowed the charge at the next court of levy.é

Sometimes there was more than evasion of duty. The
fine given Richard Smith, by the Northampton court, “for
obstinately refusing to take the oath” of a grand jury man
was three hundred pounds.’ But in 1675 when Samuel

‘Northampton County Order Book, Vol. XII, 1674-79, p. 274.

*Northampton County Order Book, Vol. XXIX-O, p. 14.

*For a detailed statement of the duties of the grand jury, see Bruce,
Institutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. I, p. 605-
607.

“Accomack Deeds & Wills, Vol. I, 1663-66, p. 88.

*Accomack Orders, Vol. III, 1666-70, p. 26, f. 27.

‘Northampton County Order Book, Vol. XII, 1674-79, p. 47.

"Northampton County Orders, Wills, Vol. XVII, 1689-98, p. 377.


174 The Virginia Eastern Shore in the 17th Century

Francis Pigot might be assigned to him as counsel. The
defendant claimed that £98 :17s. of the debt had been paid
by smith’s work, carpenter's work, blockmaker’s (?) work,
and by sails and seaman’s wages in Barbados; but not pro-
ducing proof, he was ordered by the court to. make pay-
ment.! About that same time there was a called court in
Accomack held at the house of John Wise in regard to the
debt of £82:12:114, due from John Hodgson, merchant of
Lancaster.2 There might be a case involving a protested
bill of exchange, such, for instance, as the £100 sterling
payable to Thomas Colloton of Barbados and protested in
London. Then again, the court might be called at the
instance of John Ballard of Boston, merchant, and “several
writings” be probated by the oaths of Colonel William:
Kendall and Daniel Neech.* Since not always was wind or
tide or trade favorable, there must be no delay in the
“dispatch of maritime affairs.”

Another type of court established in the counties was the
slave court. Until 1692 slaves, as well as freemen, had
been sent to Jamestown when charged with a felony; but at
that time in order to avoid expense and delay the Assembly
created a special court of oyer and terminer for the trial
of any slave accused of a capital crime. The Governor,
having been informed by the sheriff of the county, appointed
a local commission, usually the justices of the county. The
trial was held without a jury; but the justices, better quali-
fed than the average jury, were less liable to give unjust
sentences.» Witnesses were examined against the slave and
he was heard in his own defense. He was convicted if there
was agreement to that effect by the whole number of justices
comprising the court.® Several cases in the Northampton
records illustrate the procedure. In a trial of 1693, one of
John Swan’s slaves, Tom Cary, who had not “the fear of

1Northampton County Order Book, Vol. XIII, 1678-80, pp. 135-137-

2Accomack Wills and Orders, 1682-97, ‘P- 11.

3Northampton County Order Book, Vol. XIII, 1678-80, pp. 138-139.

‘Tbid., p. 199. Any two justices of the quorum of the court were permitted
to sign probates. Hening, Vol. II, pp. 359, 391:

®Chitwood, of. cif., Pp. 99-1OT} Hening, Vol. III, pp. 102-103, 269-270.

*Catteral, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 254-255:

Legal Institutions versus Provincial Government 175

God” before his eyes but was ‘moved by the instigation of
the Devil,” was found guilty of robbing a house and burning
it. He was sentenced to be hanged in sight of the place
where the crime had been committed.! The sheriff of the
county petitioned a few weeks later to the General Assem-
bly, for 5,999 pounds of tobacco, that amount being his
account of the expenses and the fees for the prosecution of
that criminal slave.? At a court held by a commission of
Oyer and Terminer, granted by the Governor in 1705, the
negro slave Sarah, belonging to Major John Custis was
indicted for burning a barn full of grain and a house with a
considerable quantity of salt and several barrels of her
Majesty's gunpowder. She was found guilty and hanged.’
But inasmuch as the master was not chargeable for the
wilful wrong of his servant,* Major Custis made no reim-
bursement for the gunpowder destroyed.

_For inquests over the bodies of persons who had met
violent deaths there were coroners’ courts. The coroner,
appointed by the Governor, was usually a justice of the peace
and the fee for each inquest was thirteen shillings and four
pence or 133 pounds of tobacco.’ The duties of the sheriff,
if for any reason he could not serve in the county court,
could be delegated to the coroner, but the chief duty of the
coroner was judicial. A jury of twelve, chosen from twenty-
four freeholders summoned by the constable, viewed the
body and gave a report as to the cause of the death. There
are one or two instances of the jury using the procedure
called the ordeal of touch. The person suspected of com-
mitting the murder must touch the corpse, a change in its
appearance denoting the guilt of the person touching the
body. In 1656 a jury of inquest summoned by Captain
William Whittington required William Custis “‘to touch the
face and stroke the body of Paul Rynners (which he very

4Northampton County Orders, Wills, 168
J ’ , 1689-98, pp. 236-239.
E eecsroad of House of Burgesses, Vol. Il, p. a wi
orthampton County O i!
Pinon pton County Orders, Wills, Vol. XVIII, 1698-1710, pp. 243-2443
‘Catteral, of. cit., Vol. I, p. 84.
*Hening, Vol. II, pp. 325, 355, 419.


32 History of Prince Edward County

mittee of Propositions and Grievances of the House of Burgesses
reported the petition as reasonable; with this finding the House
agreed, and the committee was directed to draw up bills to implement
the resolution. The bill was reported November 22, 1769, read the
first time, and ordered to be read a second time.*! This is the last
reference to it.

A major concern of the county court was the maintenance of law
and order. Grand juries were alert to indict those who offended.
Some of the offenses which provoked indictments two centuries ago
are lightly regarded now. In general penalties were heavier then.
The Grand Jury in May, 1755, indicted one man for getting drunk
and swearing, another for swearing two oaths, still another for swear-
ing, another “for living in the Bed of Adultery,” and four men “for
not going to any Place of Worship in one month.”*?

Court action on indictments presented by the Grand Jury in May,
1757 give the penalties for some of these offenses. Five men, indicted
for profane swearing and drunkenness in May, were fined ten
shillings each in July; another was fined five shillings for getting
drunk and swearing; another five shillings for getting drunk; two,
indicted for swearing, were not prosecuted. Nine men were indicted
for not going to their parish church; two of them were fined five
shillings each for the offense.8* Several in the group who were dis-
missed on this charge were Scotch-Irish, who evidently pleaded the
Act of Toleration. The Court was not partial to its members in im-
posing fines, nor did grand jurors fear the magistrates when it came
to making presentments. In 1760 a magistrate was indicted for
swearing one oath,** in 1762 another was indicted for the same
offense,*> and in 1763 still another was fined twenty shillings for
swearing four oaths.’* An inn-keeper found himself indicted in 1761
‘for suffering unlawful gaming in his house.”*’ This inn-keeper was
among three men presented by the grand jury in 1773 for retailing
liquor without a license. The 1773 jury indicted two men “for
absenting themselves for divine service” and a man and a woman
for living together in adultery.** The grand jury in 1763 presented
one man for keeping a tippling house, two for unlawful gaming, and
eight for not going to the parish church.

The county court acted as a court of inquiry in criminal cases;
it could mete out severe punishments to slaves, but freemen accused
of serious offenses were sent to the General Court at Williamsburg
for trial if there appeared satisfactory evidence. This distinction,
however, did not lead to careless consideration of cases in which

Establishing A County 33

slaves were involved. And a slave brought into court had a chance
to be acquitted. A Negro woman slave belonging to George Brown
was tried for murder in 1755 and was acquitted.” On the other hand
a man who reported that he had accidentally killed one of his slaves
was put under bond of one thousand pounds sterling, as was his
brother, who was “present at the said Correction of said Slave.” The
owner was acquitted at the hearing in December, 1755.°* A slave of
John Ford of Amelia was convicted of felony in 1765; when it was
ascertained that he enjoyed benefit of clergy, the sheriff was directed
to burn the man in his right hand, give him thirty-nine lashes on his
bare back and discharge him.®? In 1759 a Negro formerly belonging
to Colonel Clement Read of Lunenburg was found guilty of murder
and sentenced to death; execution of the sentence was delayed, for
more than a year and a half later, in December, 1760, the man
claimed that he was not the same person who had been convicted in
April, 1759. The Court held that he was, and set an early date for
execution.®? In September, 1759, a slave girl belonging to John Nash
was acquitted of a charge of murder when evidence indicated. that
the death was accidental.** In 1769 a slave belonging to William
Booker was convicted of rape and sentenced to be hanged; the Court
valued him at ninety pounds.®®

In 1770 there was an epidemic of charges brought against Negro
slaves in Prince Edward County for ‘“‘feloniously administering
poisonous medicines.” In April of that year a slave of William
Hudson was sentenced to be hanged, since he did not come under
benefit of clergy; his value was fixed at 110 pounds.** The next
month a slave belonging to the estate of Colonel William Randolph
received a similar sentence on a similar charge, since he, too, lacked
benefit of clergy.°? Two other Negroes, one belonging to Robert
Walton and the other to Peter LeGrand, were acquitted of the charge
of administering poisonous medicines; LeGrand’s slave was found
guilty of stealing, but not to the extent that he should be hanged;
accordingly the sheriff was ordered to nail the slave's ears to the
pillory, then cut them off, give him thirty-nine lashes on the bare
back at the whipping-post, and discharge him.** Three years later a
slave belonging to John Crenshaw was acquitted of the charge of
administering poisonous medicines, but was convicted of administer-
ing medicines contrary to law, for which he received twenty-one
lashes.°°

An extremely dangerous situation developed in the case of a
slave of William Womack in 1756. After having been outlawed, the

os ee History of Prince Edward County

slave took refuge in the quarters of John Stanton, where he defended
himself with a broad ax and sharp-pointed darts which could kill a
man at a considerable distance. With these he had attempted often,
so the record puts it, to kill his master and the neighbors who under-
took to capture him alive. A group consisting of Abraham Womack,
Isham Womack, William Barry, James Moor, and William Masters
tried to frighten him by firing guns through the quarters. The slave
continued to defend himself by attempting to kill the men trying to
capture him. When they heard the slave groan, they broke into his
refuge and found him dying of wounds received in the shooting.
William Womack applied to the court for a valuation of the slave,
which was made and certified to the Assembly.*°°

Offenses were not limited to slaves in colonial Prince Edward.
One of the most surprising discoveries in reading the court order
books of the period is the number of times Scotch-Irish settlers were
involved in such charges. Some of them seem to have been con-
tentious and hot-headed, quick to anger and prompt to strike.

One man, convicted of stealing a saddle, asked to be whipped
instead of being sent to the General Court for further trial; he re-
ceived twenty-five lashes, the man from whom he stole the saddle
laying them on. That was in 1763;'% four years later another man,
accused of stealing green tobacco, consented to be whipped instead
of being remanded for further trial.1°? One man, who was under sus-
picion of having cut open the jail and removing.a slave from it, asked
to be examined on the charge; he was found not guilty at the hearing
in April, 1763.1°* The Court in 1764 dismissed a man who admitted
shooting another, when it was apparent that the victim was in no
danger of losing his life, but was expected to recover.’”*

The influence of a magistrate did not outweigh the rules of evi-
dence in colonial Prince Edward. One of the justices in 1766 accused
two men of burning a tobacco house belonging to him, but both men

Were acquitted of the charge.**°

| The county found biting off part of a man’s ear an expensive
crime. The man who committed the assault was sent to General
Court, but until he could be moved to the Publick Gaol in Williams-
burg he was kept in custody in Prince Edward. In laying the county
levy for 1771, the justices included 700 pounds of tobacco payable
to eight men at the rate of twenty pounds for a day’s service for
guarding the accused.’ In another biting case, this one in 1774, the
Court acquitted the accused of the charge of biting a man’s nose.'°7

In the records are cases of persons brought to trial for one offense

erence ecenneeetene ete

opinion manne ct perrtnteaminetoe een

Establishing A County 35

of which they were acquitted, but in ascertaining the facts in the
case the Court found them guilty of another offense. Two men in
1765, for example, were suspected of horse stealing. They were
acquitted of that charge, only to be found guilty of being tmposters.
They admitted to being convict servants of Colonel John Chiswell.
Their penalty was ten lashes each, and they were delivered to a
constable who in turn was directed to deliver them to Colonel Chis-
well at his mines in Augusta.*°*

One Prince Edward man was sent to General Court in 1773 on
the charge of robbing a Williamsburg man of six pair of gold sleeve
buttons valued at £7:10.1°° The accused escaped, and the Governor
advertised for his apprehension.’ In the same year two men were
sent to General Court for pushing a man who died as a result of the
fall from the pushing. Five witnesses were put under bond for £1000
pounds each, current money, to attend the General Court as wit-
nesses against the accused.***

People in those days had their differences as well as they do now.
In a suit for slander, a young woman was awarded damages of £100
current money, after a jury found the man she accused guilty."
Sometimes the Court put a person under bond for good behavior
for a period of twelve months.***

The witness in a case in colonial times was allowed twenty-five
pounds of tobacco for each day he attended court for the purpose.
In the suit of Adam Jones vs. Joshua Davidson in 1757, Jones was
ordered to pay Elias Dejarnett 100 pounds of tobacco for four days’
attendance as a witness for him and William Young 175 pounds of
tobacco for seven days’ attendance. The defendant Davidson had a
much heavier witness bill: John Morton, 175 pounds tobacco for
seven days’ attendance; William Brown, 200 pounds tobacco for
eight days; John Popham, 175 pounds tobacco for seven days; Charles
Right, 100 pounds tobaco for four days; and Parsons Anderson,
seventy-five pounds tobacco for three days.***

Sometimes the witness was also allowed expenses for traveling.
Charles Hudson, who. appeared as a witness for Abraham Venable,
Jr., in his suit against Alexander Kain in 1757, was allowed seventy-
seven pounds of tobacco for one day’s attendance and for coming and
returning fourteen miles.*® In 1764 Charles Anderson received 843
pounds of tobacco for attendance fifteen days and traveling thirteen
miles twelve times as a witness for Alexander Spiers and Company;
at the same time that firm paid Wilham Tyree 296 pounds of

729

118.

119.
121.
1292.
123.
125.
127.
129.

x
5,
re

9.

. Order Book 5:507.
. Order Book 1:3.

7. Order Book 1:67, 108.
9. Order Book 1:42.
1. Virginia Gazette, November 7, 1754. Charles Anderson offered for sale in an

History of Prince Edward County

Hening 5:375-7. It may be of interest to note that each of the counties
mentioned bordered on the Appomattox River. Prince George and Amelia
lay on the south bank, Henrico, Goochland, and Albemarle on the north
bank. Dinwiddie had not been cut off from Prince George, nor Prince
Edward from Amelia. Chesterfield had not been separated from Henrico,
Cumberland from Goochland, or Buckingham from Albemarle. Powhatan
was later to be cut off from Cumberland.

Hening 6:291-3. 120. Amelia Order Book 2:95.
Journals HB, 1742-9:341. (March 7, 1748.)

Journals HB, 1752-8:109. (November 6, 1753.) ,

Amelia Order Book 3:143. 124, Journals HB, 1752-8:122.
Journals HB, 1752-8:12+4. 126. Journals HB, 1752-8:125
Journals HB, 1752-8:170. 128. Hening 6:379-80.
Robinson: 189.

CHAPTER II NOTES

Prince Edward Order Book (hereafter cited as Order Book) 1:1,

This conclusion is suggested from Anderson’s offer of his kitchen as a jail
(see infra), the central location of his ordinary, and the subsequent choice of
the place as the location for the courthouse (see infra).

Order Book 1:1. 4. Amelia Order Book 3:14.
Order Book 1:1. 6. Order Book 1:6.

Order Book 1:8. 8. Order Book 1:20.

Order Book 1:19. 10. Order Book 1:23; 4:335.
12. Order Book 1:2.

Order Book 1:10. After the symbol for the pound, the first figure indicates
the number of pounds. The second indicates the number of shillings, and if
there is a third figure it indicates the number of pence,

Order Book 1:67. 16. Order Book 1:65.

18. Order Book 1:22.

20. Order Book 1:102.

advertisement in this newspaper two tracts, one of 3,000 acres on which Prince
Edward Courthouse stood and a nearby tract of 1,000 acres. Anderson’s attitude
toward serving as a magistrate in Prince Edward remains an enigma. He
participated actively in civic and public affairs and served in the House of
Burgesses from 1754 until 1761. But he never served as a magistrate, although

‘he ranked third in the first commission which has been preserved. Was it

because he felt it improper to serve as a magistrate of the court which met at
the place where he kept a tavern? Or did he feel that serving as a magistrate
would be to his disadvantage, when such service would take him from his
place of business at the busiest time? Thus far, this Charles Anderson’s career
has not been traced except for the period he lived in Prince Edward. He had
contemporaries of the same name. See Prince Edward Order Book 1:33: in
March, 1755, Charles Anderson and Charles Anderson, otherwise called We
Charles Anderson, of Amelia County and Charles Anderson of Cumberland
County came into court and confessed judgment to Messrs. Archibald Buch-
anan, John Bowman and Co., merchants of Glasgow, for £469:2:4 (469 pounds,
two shillings, four pence) current money of Virginia. The career of Charles
Anderson of Cumberland as an adult and his descendants have been fairly

Notes to Chapters 723

to to
a bo

& bo to
lone oor)

WOW WO WO W
An ow to

40.

. Order Book 3:3.
. Order Book 4:247, :
. Order Book 5:196. Virginia Gazette (Rind), February 4, 1773.

well traced. So have the adult career and descendants of Charles Anderson
of Amelia, who in the late 1790’s moved to Kentucky. No such good fortune
has attended: research in the life of Charles Anderson of Prince Edward,
except for the decade and a half he was identified with the site which became
Prince Edward Courthouse.

. Order Book 2:40, 23. Order Book 2:123
+. Order Book 2:286. 25. Order Book 4:7.

. Order Book 4:10. 27. Order Book 4:45.

. Order Book 4:64, 29. Order Book 4:240,

31. Order Book 4:82.

. Order Book 5:477, 35. Order Book 5:4.96,

. Order Book 5:477. - 37. Order Book 5:490.

. Order Book 5:512.. ~ 39. Order Book 1:3.
Order Book 1:6, 41. Order Book 1:22,

. Order Book 4:55, 43. Order Book 1:111, 156.

. Order Book 1:3, 45. Order Book 1:6.

. Order Book 1:10. 47. Ibid.

. Order Book 1:13. 49. Order Book 1:23, -

. Amelia Order Book 3:143. 51. Order Book 1:66.

. Order Book 1:104. 53. Order Book 1:138.

. Order Book 1:166. 55. Order Book 2:44.

- Order Book 2:79, 57. Order Book 2: 129.

- Order Book 2:207-8. 59. Order Book 2:263.

. Order Book 2:326-7. 61. Order Book 3:86.

. Order Book 4:7-8. 63. Order Book 4:78-9,

. Order Book 4:174, 65. Order Book 4:248,

. Order Book 4:335. 67. Order Book 5:89.

. Order Book 5:193. 69. Order Book 5:347.

. Order Book 5:463. 71. Order Book 5:489.

. Order Book 3:127; 4:7-8. The levy for 1766 was set in November at nine

pounds of tobacco per poll, to yield 12,429 pounds. Expenses increased to
16,575 pounds of tobacco, and in May, 1767, the levy, was increased to twelve
pounds of tobacco per poll.

73. Order Book 1:8.

74. Manuscript, Clerk’s Office of Prince Edward County. Copy furnished author
. by Mrs. Margaret H. (W. S.) Morton, Farmville.

75. Order Book 4:13. 76. Order Book 5:241,
77. Hening 7:395-6. 78. Hening 7:544,

79. Hening 8:39-44, 86. Hening 8:178-82.
81. Journals HB, 1766-69: 246, 285, 82. Order Book 1:39.
83. Order Book 1:111, 113 ff. 84. Order Book 2:72.
85. Order Book 2:198. 86. Order Book 2:266.
87. Order Book 2:117, 88. Order Book 5:239,
83. Order Book 2:2299. - 90. Order Book 1:42.
91. Order Book 1:65, 67. 92. Order Book 3:45.
93. Order Book 2:12, 78, 94. Order Book 2:29,
95. Order Book 4:232, 96. Order Book 4:279,
97. Order Book 4:280, 98. Order Book 4:282,

ad

724

99.
101.
103.
105.
107.
109.
110.
111.
113.
115:
LEP.

118.

115.
121.
123.

124.
126.
128.
136.
132.
134.

135.
136.
138.
140.
142.
144.
146.
148.
150.

152.
154.
155.

156.

158.
166.
162.

164.

History of Prince Edward County
Order Book 5:291. ~ 100. Order Book 1:78.
Order Book 2:209. 102. Order Book 4:62.
Order Book 2:225. 10+. Order Book 2:287.
Order Book 4:94, 100, 101. 106. Order Book 5:42, 89.
Order Book 5:455. 108. Order Book 3:15.
Order Book 5:236-37.
Virginia Gazette (Rind), May 27, 1773. x
Order Book 5:282. 112. Order Book 2:301.
Order Book 2:302. 114. Order Book 1:122.
Order Book 1:136. 116. Order Book 2:291,

Order Book 3:127: These patrollers covered most of the county, if not all.
Both Rices lived in the neighborhood of the present village of Rice, and it
was from the meeting-house built by William Rice (of which Ike or Icay
Rice was also a trustee) that the place took its name (see infra). The Bow-
mans lived near Sandy River Church. Baulding (Baldwin), Caldwell, and
Bird were residents of the Buffaloe Settlement.

Order Book 1:2. This road was the predecessor of the road leading from the
Worsham-Abilene road to Darlington Heights. How far it led westward is
uncertain, since the exact location of William Watson’s house is not known.

Order Book 2:103. 120. Order Book 3:95.
Order Book 4:1. 122. Order Book 4:2, 14.

Order Book 4:6. At the next session of the court (Order Book 4:14), a power ”

of attorney from James French to Andrew French was recorded. The
Frenches gave their name to the settlement now called Kingsville, but which
had previously been called French’s Store or French’s Old Store.

Order Book 4:18. 125. Order Book 4:101.
Order Book 4:104. 127. Ibid.

Order Book 4:193. 129. Order Book 1:8.
Order Book 1:39, 59. 131. Order Book 2:42.
Order Book 2:86, 133. Order Book 2:95.

Cumberland Order Book, July Court, 1761. This Charles Anderson lived in
Cumberland.

Order Book 2:109. The amount of the bond was left blank in the record.

Order Book 2:133. 137. Order Book 4:184, 240.
Order Book 4:241. 139. Order Book 1:138.
Order Book 2:166. 141. Order Book 2:51.
Order Book 2:116. 143. Order Book 3:127.
Order Book 2:157. 145. Order Book 3:88.
Order Book 5:293. 147. Order Book 5:89.
Order Book 5:293. 149. Order Book 5:331.
Order Book 5:346. 151. Order Book 1:83.
Order Book 2:86. 153. Order Book 4:80.

Order Book 4:91 j
Order Book 1:89, 139;2:95, 106, 114; 4:135, 156.

Order Book 2:40, 50, 206. 157. Order Book 2:95, 106.
Order Book 2:39. j 159. Order Book 3:87; 5:177.
Order Book 5:139. 161. Order Book 1:22.

Order Book 1:120. 163. Order’ Book 1:161.
Order Book 2:114, 206, 211.

‘ a |

Notes to Chapters 1255

165. Order Book 2:114; 4:197. The sheriff was directed to pay Theodorick Carter

£13:16 due Peter LeGrand for repairs to Briery bridge.

166. Order Book 2:286. 167. Order Book 1:36, 89; 5:177.

168. Order Book 2:40. 169. Order Book 2:39.

170. Order Book 2:40.

171. Order Book 1:22, 76, 115; 2:38, 73, 139, 213.

172. Order Book 1:34, 147. 173. Order Book 1:5.

174. Order Book 1:47,

175. Order Book 2:53, 139, 286; 4:31, 204. Simmons lived fifteen miles from the
ai aa (Order Book 4:24+4) in the Prospect neighborhood (Order Book

176. Order Book 1:155. August Court, 1758: the clerk was directed to notify the
Governor that Mr. Ewing had received a license to keep an ordinary since
the last commission. Since there is no other reference to the issuance of a
license to Ewing, the order suggests that the Order Books do not contain a
complete list of ordinary licenses granted in the county.

177. Order Book 2:38. ’ 178. Order Book 2:44, 120.

17S. Order Book 2:73, 121. 180. Order Book 2:145.

181. Order Book 3:4. 182. Order Book 3:129.

183. Order Book 4:23, 137, 247. 184. Order Book 4:82, 257; 5:19.

185. Order Book 4:88. 186. Order Book 4:123,

187. Order Book 4:183. 188. Order Book 4:251.

189. Order Book 5:60, 177. 190. Order Book 5:90, 197.

191. Order Book 5:33. 192. Order Book 5:83, 465, 488.

193. Order Book 5:334. 194+. Order Book 5:465, 496.

195. Order Book 4:57. 196. Order Book 4:292.

197. Order Book 1:30, 77, 104, 147; 2:2, 51, 81, 139.

198. Order Book 1:30. 199. Order Book 1:104.

200. Order Book 1:147, 201. Order Book 2:2.

202. Order Book 2:51. 203. Order Book 2:139.

204. Order Book 2:270. 205. See supra, note 36.

206. Virginia Gazette (Purdie & Dixon), Nov, 5, 1767.

207. Order Book 1:8. Orange County, North Carolina, formed in 1752, still pre-
serves as treasured relics the standard weights and measures of colonial times.
Since standards had not been provided in Prince Edward by May, 1757,
the grand jury presented the Court for its failure to provide them. [Order
Book 1:111.]

208. Order Book 1:38. 209. Order Book 1:144.

210. Order Book 2:41. 211. Order Book 1:58.

212. Order Book 1:53. The dates given here and subsequently are those of the
commission.

_ 213. Order Book 1:78.

214. Order Book 1:109. There is no reference to Anderson presenting a colonel’s
commission and taking the oath of office.

215. Order Book 1:53. 216. Order Book 1:78.

217. Order Book 2:1. 218. Order Book 2:260.

219. Order Book 1:53. 226. Order Book 1:58.

221. Order Book 1:80. 222. Order Book 1:167.

223. Order Book 2:105. 224, Order Book 2:165,

225. Order Book 2:177. 226. Order Book 2:260.

227. Order Book 4:1. 228. Order Book 4:135.