LIBRAR$ of CONGRESS

Two Copies Received J$ N 1 2 1 90 7

Entry

Co r z fzt 1 0 E D a v i s py g , 9 7 , . PREFACE

T is perhaps essential that the term Lower Vi r ” ginia Peninsula as used in this book should be

’ defined . I mean by it that part of Virginia lying between the James and the York Rivers and extending from Jamestown and Williamsburg to Fortress Mon roe which is the portion occupied by the first Eng $ lish settlers in America and of special interest on that account . It is for this reason that but few facts m m in the history of Norfolk and Rich ond are entioned , and those chiefly the ones which have some connec tion with the section chosen for more detailed descrip tion . In placing before the public these chapters of early Virginia history I W ish to express my indebtedness to

a i es the friends who h ve urged their publ cation , and peci ally to those who have verified the facts contained

R v . m e . m m . in the . Pro inent a ong the latter are C B

m c . D D . Bryan , . , of Petersburg , for erly re tor of St ’ il m . . W John s Church , Ha pton ; Dr Lyon G Tyler , of

m a . . lia and M ry College ; Maj or I N Lewis , of the Ar r tillery School at Fort Mon oe ; Miss Lottie Garrett,

n o of Williamsburg ; Mrs . Ja ie H pe Marr , of Lexing ton ; and Miss Cary, of Richmond . The principal authorities consulted were Captain

John Smith , Stith , Bruce , Howe , Fiske , John Esten

' ’ Strache s Cook, and Rhodes . For the use of y His ’ Trav aile m and tory of into Virginia , Statutes, . He ing s and other rare books , as well as old magazines news papers in the excellent Virginia collection in the W M I n Library of illiam and ary College, am i debted

to the courtesy of President Tyler .

Most of the half- tones used in illustration are loaned S outher n W or kman n in by the , of Hampton , Virgi ia,

which magazine these sketches first appeared .

V . J . E . DA IS

Va . I 1 0 . Hampton , , May , 9 7 S CONTENT .

CH APTER I P PR . JAMESTOWN, AST AND ESENT

II HAM PTON ROADS AND THE JAMESTOWN TERGEN

TE NNI AL

OLD F R POINT COMFORT AND ORT ESS MONROE .

OLD KECOUGHTAN

TH E VIRGINIA PENINSULA IN THE SEVENTEENTH

CENTUR$

R P PI ATES OF THE VIRGINIA CA ES . .

TH E VIRGINIA PENINSUL A IN THE EIGHTEENTH

TH E VIKINGS OF

HAM PTON IN T HREE W ARS

HAM P TON S CHOOLS BETWEEN 1 850 AND 1 870

’ VIRGINIA S SECOND COLONIAL CAP ITAL .

$ W ER O OF R $ . ORKTOWN, THE AT LO THE EVOL TION

RICHMOND AND THE JAMES RIVER PLANTATIONS . S ILL$ STRATION .

TH E JAMESTOWN TOWER T H E GRAVE$ ARD AT JAMESTOWN

R I P P F W O . RA S, OR ORT OL F G OLD W B $ ORT MONROE, SHOWIN THE ATER ATTER

AT THE MOUTH OF JAMES RIVER SH I RLE$ ON THE JAMES

T H E OLDEST E NGLISH COMMUNION SERVICE IN AMERICA . . T H E OLDEST CUSTOM HOUSE IN AMERICA ( $ ORKTOWN )

TH E W H C N $ . ISTORI ELSON MANSION, ORKTO N

’ G V V CARTER S RO E, JAMES RI ER AN EIGHTEENTH CENTUR$ MANOR HOUSE

’

T P . S . C H . JOHN S CHUR H, AM TON

’ T S . P C N AUL S CHUR H , ORFOLK

’ AR ST . JOHN S AT THE CLOSE OF THE CI VIL W

HAM P TON HOS P ITAL . CHESAP EAKE FEMALE COLLEGE T H E BUTLER S C HOOL FOR CONTRABANDS TH E BEGINNINGS OF HAM PTON I NSTITUTE W ILLIA M AND MAR$ COLLEGE BRUTON PARISH

T H E W B COURTHOUSE AT ILLIAMS URG . T H E MAIN STREET OF $ ORKTOWN T H E E H $ MOOR OUSE, ORKTOWN

T H E OLD P C CA ITOL, RI HMOND

’ H C . R C ISTORI ST JOHN S , I HMOND LOWER BRANDON A S W A AND R J ME TO N , P ST P ESENT

HAT pictures are conj ured up by the name

Jamestown , what recollections crowd upon o us , what contrasts c me unbidden to the mind $ Three hundred years ago in this “ Cradle of ” the Republic lay an infant country, tiny and weak , without money , without food , with nothing, indeed , but an immense though hidden Vitality and an um bounded persistenc e which gave it power to grow in S of pite of adverse circumstances , in Spite every m a imaginable drawback , into a ighty nation , world

‘ benefi cen t a power, stretching out its h nds into the m i re otest corners of the earth . I n imag nation we sail m 1 60 6 down the Tha es in December , with that little handful of English settlers . First southward to the

Azores and then westward we travel for many months , until finally Captain Newport pilots us through the

Virginia capes , and the long, hard voyage is ended 2 6 1 60 m on April , 7, when we dise bark on a sandy S pit of land and name the spot Cape Henry . Here we rest while the sealed orders of the London Com pany are opened and we learn that we are to settle

” much further inland . We board the vessel again and sail across the Bay to the broad river which we name the James , and whose shores we explore for many a mile seeking dutifully for a suitable place for a settle o rt and P r esen t J a mes t wn, Pa

t ment . This we think we find at an attractive spo e about thirty miles from the mouth of the river, wher the water is deep so close to the shore that we can S on tie our hips to the trees , and here we disembark a beautiful May day . A Virginia spring is full of m pro ise , and all is so fair on this charming morning that we do not think to remind our friends that we are disobeying the order which says that we shall not nd a , settle in a low or moist place , we busy ourselves in giving thanks to God in our improvised church under the sailcloth , for our safe arrival . Now there are trees to be felled and a fort to be built, for yonder , across the narrow neck of land, we n ofte catch glimpses of savages , and though they come among us on friendly errands , we cannot trust ’ m them . And so , in a month s ti e , we build our fort e and inside place our houses in straight rows . W are content with very plain houses ; indeed they are not much more than huts , but we roof them with marsh grass and pile earth on top to keep them dry . Finally we build us a chapel in the middle of the en

- a closure , and though it is but homely thing like a barn and we roof it, as we do our own houses , With

grass and earth, in it we can worship God and praise H im f r a $ for preserving us thus a . But las there are

‘ dissensions among our leaders ; the malaria of the Swamps that we forgot to consider attacks many of our number ; we have not enough to eat ; and we must stop our building and clearing of land to lay one and m another in his grave . Before the end of the su mer W e bury over sixty of our companions and those of

W ho us are left wonder how soon we Shall follow .

8 o s ese t J ames t wn, Pa t and Pr n

W e on live as we can, having much to do and little t o streng h with which to do it, seeing m re English come to join us with many mouths to feed and little enough to put in them . Our leaders fight among themselves and we have no one in command Whom we can respect . We have fire after fire which destroys our property and we grow discouraged trying to replace it . In the cold of winter many die from exposure and we pull

' down even our palisades to use for firewood . Our supplies give out entirely and the people live on roots and herbs until things finally come to such a pass that even dead human bodies are eaten by the most desper ate . Of the five hundred people who have come to the n are Colo y but Sixty left, scarcely able to totter about e e and the place . W decide to abandon the s ttlement we start back to England, glad to flee from our misery .

‘ But before we reach the capes W e meet Lord de la

Warre , who has come to be our governor . He has plenty Of provisions and he takes us back to our ruined m settle ent to make a fresh start . New fortifications were now built by the colonists and the houses were repaired . Cedar pews and a wal nut altar were placed in the church and every Sunday

W as t e it was decorated with flowers . A bell hung in h

onl called tower , which not y ‘ the people to church , but m notified the when to begin and stop work . Instead of the system of communism which had prevailed the colonists were given land of their own and were obliged to cultivate it . Industry and thrift began to prevail and a repetition of the famine became well

‘ m e nigh i possibl . New settlers arrived and the Colony n began to expand . By 1 61 9 two thousand perso s were

9 e o s d r es ent J a m s t wn, Pa t an P

- i . living n Virginia and they called for self government,

G ov being tired of the tyranny of royal governors . ernor Yeardley issued writs for the election of a General Assembly and the first legislative body in America met in the Jamestown church in July of that m year . Just after this eeting, in curious j uxtaposition , came the first cargo of Negro slaves and it was in this year also that there arrived from England a Shipload of English maidens as wives for the colonists . Each m c young wo an was free to exercise her choi e , but no suitor who m et with approval could take his bride um less able to pay the cost of her voyage— one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco . Thus one year saw in m of the infant colony the establish ent of the home , a m free representative govern ent , and of the institution of slavery . With the beginning of the culture of tobacco and

m c m to the expansion of the Colony , Ja estown a e be chiefly a place for the assembling of the legislature r and for holding court . A cou thouse was built and in m m this the House of Burgesses et. At such ti es the m little Village al ost earned its title of town, but the permanent population after 1 62 3 was only about one hundred persons , who lived in brick houses of fair size

. c and style The first brick hurch , whose ruined tower

- of m o is to day the chief relic old Ja est wn , was built in 6 1 . u 39 It was a very plain and npretentious chapel ,

- c rectangular in Shape with a high pit hed roof . The aisles were paved with brick and the chancel with tiles . All attempts to increase the size of the town failed and m after being destroyed three ti es by fire , the second ’ 1 6 6 time during Bacon s Rebellion in 7 , it was never

I O T H E J AME STOW N TOW E R

es to s t es e t J a m wn, Pa and Pr n

m n up the river which , could it speak, would have a y a

pathetic or romantic tale to tell . The names of the places on either bank bring back crowding memories k ’ of events of early Colonial days . On Lower Chippo e s “ ’ ” Creek on the south Side stands Bacon s Castle ,

which , though not visible from the river , is one of the

most interesting houses in Virginia . It was fortified ’ by Bacon s friends during his rebellion . Further on

’ ’ ’ ' o are Basse s Choice , Pace s Pains , Archer s H pe, Mar ’ tin s Hundred, and many other places that perpetuate the names of early settlers and which were represented m e in the General Asse bly . Jam stown had reason to be grateful to the owner of the plantation of Pace ’ s

Pains , for it was he who saved the capital in the mas 1 62 2 h sacre of , a converted Indian of his ousehold having revealed the plot against the settlers . On landing at Jamestown Island we give ourselves up to the task of rebuilding and repeopling the little town which speaks so eloquently to every American

c for itizen . Turning to the left, there the tower r the beckons , we ente the church enclosure . Here are foundation walls of three of the five Jamestown churches and we examine with reverent interest the in the ner line of bricks , which we are told supported in wooden walls of the third Colonial church, the one e which met the first General Assembly of Virginia . W o picture the governor, the deputy g vernor, the council ,

and the twenty- two Burgesses walking in dignified

procession up the narrow aisle of the little church , as m with ste , serious faces they proceed to transact their important business —a different scene indeed from the squalor and misery that filled the little village only

1 2 J a mes to n s t w , Pa and Pr esent nine years before when Lord dela Warre saved the

. W as Colony it here , we wonder, that Pocahontas was baptized and here that She was married $ Alas $ we learn that the little chapel which witnessed these scenes in the life of the Indian maiden who gave a touch of m ro ance to the rude pioneer town , was inside the pali saded fort now buried under the restless waves of the m ’ . s Ja es It was j ust yonder, a tone s throw ; while still further out in the water is hidden in the sand of the river bottom the spot on which the Jamestown settlers stepped from their ships . No Plymouth Rock this to withstand forever the action of the waves $ But let us turn again to the foundation walls and in the pavements of the churches . Here are the tiles the chancel of the wooden church and above them the two sets belonging to the two brick churches built on m the sa e foundations . The tower was too massive to ’ be destroyed when the town was fired in Bacon s R e “ ” bellion and still gives proof of its age in the bonded English brick of which it is made and in the loopholes near its top which indicate that it was used for defense from the Indians before Opechancanough removed that danger by his death . The worshipers who were wont to gather in these two churches now rest in the Dr m ancient graveyard outside . Here lie . Ja es Blair, “ Commissary of Virginia and sometime minister of ” this parish , and his wife , Sarah , a daughter of Colonel be Benj amin Harrison . A young sycamore starting t tween their tombstones carried with it , in the streng h ’ s of its young life, a portion of Mrs . Blair tombstone t e to the height of ten feet . This was accidentally 1 8 o leased in 95 and the tree has nearly cl sed the cavity,

1 3 mes to s d es e t J a wn, Pa t an Pr n growing m eanwhile to an enormous height and shading the whole graveyard . How typical of the gi v gantic growth of the i n fant republic born here $ Al l n about the old graveyard lie ancient stones , ma y of m m m o the in frag ents , and so e with their inscripti ns quite indecipherable ; beyond the enclosure , on the bank m of the river, have been found hu an Skeletons lying in such pos itions as to indicate that the graveyard once extended to the James . We are told that the present

- lot is about one third the size of the original , and when we think of the thousands who perished at Jamestown in the early days we are not surprised that human r e mains have been found in nearly every part of the island . Virginians have at length awakened to a realizing sense of the importance of preserving what remains n of our first settlement . The a cient foundations of the town are being uncovered and every possible effort is being made to keep in good condition what is left of c the sa red obj ects in the church enclosure . So far as possible the tombstones have been mended and the in s cr i tion s m m p ade ore legible , further vandalism being

‘ prevented by a caretaker who lives on the island . Leaving the graveyard we walk thoughtfully past

1 861 r as s rown the earthworks of , now g g and forming part of a shady park peopled with mocking- birds and m “ cardinals . Beyond , we co e to the third ridge where recent excavations have laid bare the founda tions of a row of houses , one of them being the State House in front of which Bacon drew up his soldiers and demanded his commission of Sir William Berke h ley . The next one belonged to Colonel P ilip Ludwell

I 4

a es to s es e t J m wn, Pa t and Pr n under Whose direction the town was rebuilt after ’ Bacon s Rebellion . As the excavations proceed it will be possible to picture the town as it looked during its last days . No less than four monuments will be erected on m Jamestown Island during the sum er of 1 90 7 . Per haps the most imposing will be the marble shaft erect ’ ed by the Government to mark the s cene of the nation s o birth . Near it will be another shaft in memory f the

i B Norfolk branch first House of urgesses , built by the m n of the A . P . V . A . A bronze onument to Captai John Smith is to be erected on a terrace commanding a View of the river and near the monument to Poca b m ontas , the gift of the Pocahontas Me orial Associa

c tion . Over the foundations of the brick hurches the Colonial Dames of America have built a church as

c 1 nearly as possible like the brick one ere ted in 639 . m It contains many tablets , among the one to Rev .

Robert Hunt , the first English minister in America .

This church was presented to the A . P . V . A . on

1 1 1 0 . 1 May , 9 7 On May 3 the three hundredth anniversary of the landing at Jam estown was c ele b rated w c m m ith appropriate ere onies , A bassador

m r 1 nc 1 al Bryce of England aking the p p address . ll

HAMPTON ROADS AND THE JAMESTOW N TERCENTENNIAL

T is more than three hundred years since the Susan

Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery tied up

i n to the trees overhang ng the river at Jamestow .

As we have seen, the settlement then made had but a cen short and precarious existence, lasting less than a anni ersar f tury . The three hundredth v y o this Eng lish settlement, fraught with such portentous interest $ n 1 0 for these ited States , is now ( 9 7 ) being cele brated but not on the original Site , for that is , as it

for ever was , a low marshy spot, unfit habitation and ff m O ering no acco modations for Visitors . Instead, the ’ Jamestown Tercentennial is being held at Sewell s Point thirty miles down the river on the shore of Hampton Roads and nearer the place where the colo m fi r l n st a ded . ists . Captain John Smith tells us in his True Narration that venturing to land and explore the dense woods

c near the Shore , he and his men were driven ba k by savages who came stealthily towards them creeping on all fours and carrying their bows in their mouths . Before they could regain the ship several of the com pany received severe arrow wounds , but they suc ceeded in so frightening the Indians with their powder and shot that they were not attacked again for some

1 6

H a mpton R oads

lower Virginia peninsula, sometimes held his councils

s of war . Also within the Fair grounds are the remain of the Confederate batteries which supported the m Merri ac in its famous fight with the Monitor . With what tremendous interest would the men who manned the first American ironclads View the imposing array ’ of the world s iron battleships now gathered on the

1 862 t e very spot where , on March 9 , , h Confederate ram ” and the “ Yankee cheese box ” met in mortal com bat and by that meeting revolutionized naval warfare $ Every schoolboy can describe the scene— c an tell “ what happened the day before On board of the Cum

l O - of- m berland, p war ; how the balls fro the wooden Ships and the shore batteries rebounded from the ’ Merrimac s iron sides as if they were made of India rubber ; how there was consternation in the Union fleet and alarm at the White House ; how the Monitor reached Hampton Roads late on that terrible day ; and m how for four hours on the Sunday orning following, “ - - the hand to hand fight continued . David , the people “ m ” said , had co e out against Goliath . Captain John ’ — Wise who , standing on Sewell s Point , was an eye wit ness of the fight says in the The End of an Era that the Monitor “ presented the appearance of a saucy kingbird pecking at a very large and very black crow . Neither boat could ram the other and Shells rebounded from the armor of both . Finally a shell from the Mer

m - ri ac , passing between the iron logs of the pilot house of the Monitor , blinded gallant Lieutenant Worden . The Monitor continued in action in spite of this dis aster , and as she was able on account of her light draught to keep in shallow water where the Merrimac

1 8 Ha mpton R oads

could not follow , the latter soon retired to Norfolk .

Both sides claimed the victory . ‘ ’ Standing at Slewell s Point one can look out over ‘ ots Hampton Roads , one of the most beautiful sheets water in the world, and see that it is formed by three — rivers the James coming in from the west, the Nan semond from the south , and the Elizabeth from the

. n east . To the north is Old Poi t Com fort protected by r the guns of Fo t Monroe , and midway between this n or and the Exposition grou ds is the Rip Raps , Fort

Wool , an artificial island whose history is given in the the following chapter . To the northwest may be seen town of Hampton , the oldest continuous English set

e - $ tl ment in America , and the water fronts with some of the buildings of Hampton Institute and the National ’ m h Soldiers Ho e , while in the southwest at the mout of the James rise the huge grain elevators of Newport

. now News This town , which contains one of the largest dry docks in the world and is $ an important “ m in 1 62 1 co mercial center , was settled by Master Gookin out of Ireland who arrived with fifty men of his own and thirty passengers exceedingly well fur ” n i shed with all sorts of provisions and cattle . He Ne ce n named it New Port w in honor of his frie d,

chroni Sir William Newce of Ireland . A quaint old “ cler tells us that at Nuportsnews the cotton trees in a ’ y eer e grow so thicke as one s arme and so high as a man ; here anything that is planted doth prosper so ” well as in no place better . Looking south from Sewell ’ s Point one sees Craney h Island at the mouth of the Elizabeth River . T is was fortified during the War of 1 8 1 2 to guard the city of

1 9 Ha mpton R oads

n was an k Norfolk , and the garriso able to repulse attac 1 1 of the British under Admiral Cockburn in June 8 3 . Portions of an unfinished canal through which the

~

British hoped . to reach Norfolk without passing the harbor defenses may still be seen near Cape Henry . ’ ’ I Lambeth s Craney sland , together with Sewell s and

Points , was fortified by the Confederates during the ’ Civil W ar and the first action of that war on Virginia s ’ soil was an attack on Sewell s Point with no decisive

-l result by two vessels from O d Point. u So th of Craney Island is Portsmouth , where there h s n t a bee a navy yard since Colonial days , the firs the one being built by the English , but utilized by

Dun mure Virginians , after the departure of Lord dur for ing the Revolution, the building of the Virginia 1 Navy . In 80 1 it was purchased and transferred to n w the United States , being k o n as the Gosport Navy I n Yard . April 1 861 it was evacuated and burned and

the ships sunk by the Union army . The Merrimac , which afterwards took so conspicuous a part in the of war, was one the Ships sunk . She was raised, plated with iron (it is said according to models made by of Commodore James Barron Revolutionary fame) , was and renamed the Virginia, as she always after n i n wards k own by the Confederates . W hen they, r 1 862 turn , on the advance of the Union a my in May ,

of M ev ac after the battle the Monitor and errimac , uated the navy yard and the forts on Hampton Roads m the Merri ac , or Virginia, was burned near Craney —fi Island . After forty v e years her anchor has recently r been recove ed and may be seen at the Exposition . The present navy yard located partly in Portsmouth

2 0

Ha mpton R oads and partly in Norfolk is the largest in the United a States , s is true also of the Naval Hospital near Portsmouth on whose Site Once stood Fort Nelson of

Revolutionary times , later replaced by Fort Norfolk on the opposite shore . The first White men who Visited the site of Norfolk belonged to the expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh to

“ Roanoke Island ; while on a voyage of exploration as far as Chesapeake Bay some of its members found

Indians on the Elizabeth River . But it was not until 1 682 the nearly one hundred years later , in , that city was founded , the original Site of fifty acres being pur chased for ten thousand pounds of tobacco . Almost another century passed before Portsmouth was set ’ tl ed in St . Paul s Church , which was built in Norfolk a few years before the settlement of Ports 1 of e mouth , is one the oldest buildings in the pr sent city . Signs of very early Colonial occupation are to n be found near Norfolk in Princess A ne County, “ where at Oceana still stands the little Chapel by , the ” 1 680 K of Sea, built in , and near empsville the ruins “ ” 1 6 0 Old Hundred chapel built in 9 . The silver ser vice given to this church by Queen An ne is now in the h Kempsville c urch , only ten years its junior . The “ r W itchduck re name of a neighbo ing plantation , , calls the fact that there in the days of the Salem per

s ecution a young girl was drowned as a witch . By 1 770 Norfolk had grown to be the most popu m be lous and flourishing town in Virginia , Rich ond

“ at ing at that time a place of no significance . It was ’ on the height of its Colonial prosperity, New Year s 1 6 r Dun Day 77 , that Norfolk was bombarded by Lo d

O I Ha mpton R oads

W more , who had fled from illiamsburg after his das tar dl e y robbing of the Powder Horn . N arly fourteen hundred houses were destroyed at a loss of a million and a half dollars . One of the shells fired during the ’ bombardment is still imbedded in a wall of St . Paul s

Church . After the Revolution Norfolk was‘ rebuilt and in

r a 1 dl n rner creased p y in population and size . O the co of Church and Main streets may still be seen in the pavement two marble footprints marking the spot where Lafayette stood when he addressed the people ’ m the last during his me orable visit in 1 82 4 . W ithin twenty years an old landmark has been destroyed the “ wishing oak ” under which Powhatan ’ s warriors smoked the peace pipe with neighboring tribes . It of stood on the estate of Governor Tazewell , the Site o o the H tel Lorraine . Two dates in the hist ry of Nor folk stand out in the memory of her citizens— 1 855 when twenty - two hundred deaths occurred from yellow 1 8 fever ; and 57 the year of the great freeze when , in m January , passengers fro New York went from Old m Point to Norfolk on the ice . Rich ond is now the largest and richest city in Virginia , but Norfolk is the im second city in the state , being one of the most portant Shipping ports on the Atlantic seaboard .

Old Point Comfor t and For t M onr oe

the Dutch twice in the seventeenth cen tury invaded the harbor and burned the English shipping there . Finally in 1 72 7 a new and larger fort was built of brick and F n named ort George in honor O f the reig ing king .

During the Revolution , j ust before the surrender at n Yorktown , some additional fortifications were throw d up at Old Point Comfort by Count de Grasse, a miral of the French fleet . After the War of 1 8 1 2 it became evident that stronger fortifications were needed at Old Point Com fort and the matter began to be agitated by the G OV

rn n e me t. Five years after the war ( 1 8 1 9 ) two acres m on the Point were ceded to the Govern ent . On this

n Th e m la d the lighthouse now stands . state ade an additional cession to the Government in 1 82 1 of two hundred and fifty acres , or all the land east and south

of Mill Creek . A fort to enclose eighty acres was at in once begun . It was medieval character, with thick, high , granite walls surrounded by a broad and deep moat twenty- six acres in area and supplied with several

drawbridges . Two hundred and fifty cannon were m placed in deep e brasures , both , in the main fort and

in the water battery, and broad, grassy ramparts sur m m ounted the case ates . The stone work was done by White masons but all other labor was performed by

slaves hired at fifty cents a day fromtheir masters .

The fort , or more properly the fortress , since it is a

fort within a fort , was named for President Monroe .

' The garris on numbered at first between three and five

hundred men .

At the same time that Fort Monroe was begun , it was determined to add to the harbor defenses by mak

2 4

Old Poin t Comfor t and For t M onroe ing an artificial island on a shoal midway between Old ’ w Point Comfort and Sewell s Point opposite . The ater here was fifteen feet deep and the making of the island m n was an im ense task, necessitating the sinki g of hundreds of thousands of tons of stone and the ex

n i u . pe d t re of millions of dollars It was done , how was ever , and then a small army of men set to work to construct a fort of masonry similar to the one on the mainland , without the moat , but provided with large dark storerooms or dungeons built of solid masonry included within the walls . A rough railway was built

The around the island and huge derricks set up . masonry work on Fort Wool , as the new fort was of named , was still incomplete at the beginning the

W ar Civil , and although the construction proceeded

m c m for a ti e afterward, it soon be a e evident that with

m m ro ec the rapid i prove ent in guns , powder , and p j m tiles , then in progress , parapets of asonry would no ff longer a ord proper protection against naval attack . The massive granite walls of Fort Wool have lately been torn down , the old casemate batteries have been

- fi rin dismantled, and new batteries of rapid g guns have taken their place . The W ar Department has recently proposed the construction of a second artificial island for the more complete defense of the harbor . This island is to be built upon shoals about midway between Cape Charles and Cape Henry and when completed will be strongly

fortified . A sheltered harbor for vessels of war is to be provided . The total estimated cost of the new

island , including fortifications and harbor , as submit

2 5 Old Poin t Comfor t a nd For t M on r oe ted to Congress at its last session by the Secretary of m m War , is so ething over three illions of dollars . Fort Monroe is the largest regular work of the kind in the United States and at the time of its com pl etion in 1 830 was considered proof against any possi m t ble attack by sea . Its asonry walls , moa , casemates , and interior constructions , still remain intact, but the old smooth - bore guns with their old- fas hioned mounts m no have been re oved , and the fort proper forms part of the present system of harbor defenses . It is at pres ent used to provide barracks and quarters for the regular artillery garrison of about one thousand m en f m with their o ficers . The Artillery School for co

missioned officers of the coast artillery is - located at Of Fort Monroe , and all the junior ficers , including W graduates from the Military Academy at est Point, are required to take a special post- graduate course of study at this school in order to fit them for a proper performance of their professional duties . The walls Old of the fort enclose a fine level parade ground, the m scene of the daily guard ount and dress parade . It

- is ornamented by clumps of picturesque live oaks ,

which do not grow further north than Old Point . The fort has received many distinguished guests and pris m oners , and owns so e interesting war trophies , such as the gun from the “ Almirante Oquendo” captured dur

ing the battle of Santiago . It was at Fort Monroe that President Jefferson Davis was confined for a time

after the dissolution of the Confederacy “ The artillery defenses of Hampton Roads and the entrance to Chesapeake Bay constitute a most imp or m tant part of our syste of National defense . In the Old Point Comfor t and For t M onr oe event of war they must protect theNorfolk Navy Yard t with its valuable naval base, also the shipping and vas m im co mercial interests of the Chesapeake and, most a portant of all, they must make secure the water p roaches p to Washington and Baltimore . The heavy gun and mortar batteries which extend along the Shore front j ust outside and to the north of Fort Mon m m . roe , are of the very latest and ost for idable type b i m d The g guns , ounted upon isappearing carriages , are placed behind thick parapets of solid concrete and sand which completely guard them from exposure to

m x e the ene y e c pt at the instant of firing. Powerful searchlights are so placed along both sides of the main ship channel as to cross their beams and illumine the entire water areas within range of the guns for s er t e vice a night . The fire from coast defens guns must ff da in be directed as e ectively by night as by y , and no other harbor are the preparations for defense against night attack so complete in every detail of equipment and drill . Of considerable historic interest at Old Point Com H 1 0 2 fort was the old Hygeia otel , recently razed ( 9 ) ‘ had its n to make possible a military park . It beginni g in a small house built in 1 8 1 2 near the entrance to the

P ort e and consisting of one large room , which serv d

n - for both parlor and di ing room , and four chambers

n . o either side of it . The kitchen was in an outbuilding This hostelry was later considerably enlarged but was finally removed in 1 863 because it interfered with the en training of guns in the fort . It was carted away tire across Mill Creek On a tram car drawn by fifty m Govern ent teams . The Hygeia was at once rebuilt

2 7 Old Poin t Comfor t and For t M onr oe

on its later site close to the beach. but was only a m 1 8 small ra bling building . In 74 Mr . Harrison Phoe im bus purchased it , fitted it with all the modern rov em ents p , and added to it until it was large enough mm e to acco odate twelv hundred guests . Every pres e ident of the United States except Mr . Cl veland has e m been entertained th re, and a ong its guests have m m been nu bered prominent foreign diplomats , ad irals , m f a m m ar y o ficers , st tes en , and financiers , a ong whom

m Kalakaua may be entioned Jay Gould , King , and Li

. al Hung Chang The Chamberlain , with its sun g l er ies W m of m and inter gardens and its iles pro enades ,

has now superseded the Hygeia . $ Between Old Point Comfort and Hampton is the ’ m of National Soldiers Ho e , which stands north Mill ' Creek on the site of what was used during the war as ’ offi cer s m t the division of the Ha pton Hospi al . Before the war its main building was used for the Chesa ” 1 8 peake Female College , having been built in 54 . The seminary did not have a long life and the build ’ 1 8 ing was afterwards used by a boy s school . In 70 it m was purchased for the Govern ent , together with

forty acres of land , by General B . F . Butler for m as a Ho e for disabled soldiers , to supplement the

Homes already established in the North . Here live the n nearly four thousand veterans of Mexica , Civil ,

‘ - n and Spanish American wars , who are give a home and medical attendance and are provided with two m suits of clothes each year . The nu ber of buildings has increased to nearly seventy and the Government has purchased forty - three acres of land in addition to the original forty . Everything possible is done for the

2 8

Old Poin t Comfor t and For t M onr oe

of n comfort and pleasure the soldiers , the post fu d m derived fro sales in the store , restaurant , and beer m hall , providing fro four to six monthly entertain in n ments the theatre and paying the expenses of a ba d, chapel , and library . Three large buildings have been erected for hospital purposes and are supplied with every modern appliance for the sick . Nearly veterans have been cared for since the Home was es tabli shed and about of these now rest i n

National Cemetery near by . IV

O LD KECO$ GHTAN

T the end of the sixteenth century there stood somewhere near the Shore of Hampton River

an Indian village called Kecoughtan , said by Strachey in his History of Trav aile into Virginia to w m have consisted of three hundred Wig a s , sheltering a population O f one thousand members of the Kecough tan tribe . W m These igwa s , which were in the form of huge ovens , were made by inserting saplings in the earth , in their tops being afterward drawn to one point, which position they were permanently kept by binding n them together with withes . The framework was the An covered with mats and pieces of bark . Opening m was ade in either side , and at the top was a place for the smoke to pass out from the fire of pine logs built m on the earth in the centre of the Wigwa . At night the beds were drawn in a circle about the fire , and “ consisted of hurdles and reeds laid upon small poles , f m ” supported by posts rising only a foot ro the ground . o I n Up n these , mats and Skins were placed , and the dian in lying down would draw over him another mat

i kin m or s . t , using a third for a pillow In the day i e when not Kecou h hunting or fishing, the socially disposed g tan j oined his neighbors on one of the scaffolds of reeds or dry willows which were built at intervals in

30 Old Kecaaglttan

m the village . Here the en smoked and conversed while the women spread maize and fish to dry on the lofts above . m m The dress of these Indians was extre ely si ple , m consisting mainly of skins orna ented with shells,

n n - bo es . a d , teeth . They wore necklaces , ear rings , and ’ bracelets of birds claws , bits of copper, and strings of pearls , feathers in their hair , and on their bodies paints “ ”

to . of lovely colors , beautiful and pleasing the eye Some were also tattooed with black and red “ with little patches of lively colors in a f brav er fashion than those W ” in the est Indies . At meal time the Kecoughtan spread a mat on the ground and on this placed a dish of food . Before eat ing he took a small piece of food and threw it into the ff fire as an o ering to the evil spirit , at the same time mumbling a sort o f grace . The bill of fare varied with the season ; in March and April the Indians de pended ou fish and game ; in May they lived on straw m u sum berries , ulberries , oysters , and fish . D ring the mer they continued the fish and berry diet and added

l and n roasting ears , while in the fa l winter they cou ted m on . nuts , wild fowl , aize , and oy sters The principal root which they converted into food was the tuckahoe . This resembled the flag in its growth and was very abundant . In preparing it the Indians laid the roots in

an d . a pile covered them with leaves , ferns , and earth They then built a fire on either side which they allowed

- to burn for twenty four hours . Old chroniclers tell us that the Indians grew fat or lean according to the season but that actual famine was unknown . The Kecoughtan s are said to have been admirable

0 O I Old Keooaglztan husbandmen better husbands then in any parte else that we have observed” ) and to have had as many as of of three thousand acres cleared land , a large part the l and which was planted in maize . After clearing m of by the pri itive method girdling the trees , the ground was prepared for planting by means of a rude hoe made of a stick to which was attached the horn or

- shoulder blade of a deer . Maize , beans , peas , pump kins , gourds , and cymlins were planted in the same “ e field . A field of maize ( near Kecoughtan) long b fore the vessels of the first English explorers appeared of upon its waters , was almost the exact counterpart the same field planted with the same grain three hun dred years afterwards by the modern Virginia farmer . There would be the same number of stalks

i with the n to the hill , vines of beans clambering upo n the stalks , peas running over the grou d between the o u r ws, and pumpkins , bulky and yellow , peeping thro gh ' ” o the mass f green leaves . The grain was stored in m long baskets in houses made especially for the . The Indian garden was made near the Wigwam and was from one to two hundred feet square . In it were au grown muskmelons , gourds , and tobacco . In the tumn the Kecoughtan s gathered great quantities of persimmons and after drying them stored them away f like preserved dates or figs . The kernels o the chest nut and chinquapin were considered great delicacies when dried , beaten into flour , and converted into bread . The only salt in use in the ‘ village of Kecoughtan was

- the ash of stick weed and hickory, and the Indians had no knowledge of any spirits except the j uice of m the crushed fiber of the aize stalk . Water gourds

32

Old Kecoughtan conveniently turneth itself into Bayes and Creeks that it is a very pleasant place to inhabit , and is also a ” n convenient harbor for fishing a d other small boats . He found but eighteen wigwams instead of the three hundred mentioned by Strachey . Not long after this adventure Captain Smith was sent by the starving colonists at Jamestown to Ke cou htan n g to trade for cor . The Indians , knowing the extremity of the English and looking on them with less friendly eyes since they had gained a footing in the e land, held the corn at a high price, scorning the b ads and other trinkets which were the usual medium of n s exchange . Smith , finally seeing that frie dly overture would not avail , decided to resort to force , and run ning his boat ashore he and his men shot Off their mus kets , whereat the Indians fled to the woods . As soon as the English landed, however , some sixty or seventy painted savages rushed back singing and dancing and bearing before them their Okee” or idol which was made of painted skins stuffed with moss and loaded down with chains and ornaments of every description .

They were armed with clubs , targets , and bows and arrows , but were unable to withstand the shot of the m English and fled before the , leaving their god on the beach . This was immediately seized and held for ran som a l n oh , the frightened Indians p y g for the hideous

ect - W j with boat loads of venison , ild fowl , bread, oys ters , and corn . n Duri g the year that followed , the Indians seem to n have grow accustomed to the presence of the English , and remembering no doubt with respect and admira tion the prowess shown by the doughty captain on his

34 Old Keeougittan

last Visit, they entertained him right royally during the whole of Christmas week in 1 60 8 when he was “ extreame weatherbound at Kecoughtan . The wind, ” “ raine , frost , and snowe , says Captain Smith , caused us to keep Christmas amongst the Savages ; where wee nor l enti e of Were never more merrie , fedde on more p

good oysters , fish , flesh , wild foule , and good bread ;

nor never had better fires in England then in the drie , m m u ” war e , s okie houses of Keco ghtan . ’ This pleasant picture of the red man s hospitality is n the last that has come down to us . W he next we of P ochins hear and his warriors , they have set upon m ff and killed an English an , and for this o ense Sir

Thomas Gates has attacked and captured their town .

as 1 1 e This w in July 6 0 . To pr vent the return of the two Indians he built forts , Charles and Henry, on the a bank of the river, which he named South mpton in

t e was honor of h Earl of Southampton . This name m later contracted to Hampton . Corroborative testi ony

is borne to the Situation of the forts at Kecoughtan by . r at one Don Diego Molina , a Spanish spy taken prisone m 1 61 m en Point Co fort in 3 . In a letter to his govern t m s he speaks of two s all forts , one of them garri oned a with fifteen soldiers , half a le gue distant from his

prison at the Point . When Sir Thomas Dale arrived from England in 1 61 1 he found the settlers on Southampton River so improvident as to have neglected their spring planting

’

and he set all hands to work sowing corn . Possibly they had grown indolent through the prodigality of s n Nature , for it is said that the coloni ts at Kecoughta could live well with half the allowance the rest had

35 Old Keooaglttan

from the store because of the extraordin ary quantity f Of fish and game there . Probably too the system O working in common which had been maintained up to i n e a this t me had te ded to paralyze industry . The alt r n tio made by Sir Thomas Dale, who allotted to each man three acres of cleared ground requiring him to contribute two and a half barrels of corn to the public new n and store , provided a incentive to exertio proved n And most be eficial . so the little Colony became in time self- supporting and we hear nothing more Of im 1 61 providence nor anything of its history until July 9 , when the House of Burgesses met for the first time at n s Jamestown . Amo g the famous requests sent by thi Body to King James was one which included a petition that the settlement on Southampton River should be “ ” o n n h n A relieved f the heathe ame of Kecoug ta . reply was received early in the following year gr anting the request and naming the Whole of the lower penin n sula, extendi g from Newport News and the Poquoson ’ for to Chesapeake Bay, the king s daughter Elizabeth . Somewhat contracted the county remains to this day t n of n n n e Elizabe h City , the tow Hampto taki g its am

from the river . About twenty families formed the village at this n n n fi ne time , the eleve farmers amo g them raisi g o and s cr ps of tobacco corn , beside cultivating peache ,

and i . r apricots, other fruits n large orchards Afte the great massacre of 1 62 2 the little v illage increased somewhat in size owing to additions from outlying plantations where the people feared to remain on ac Of the n n n count India s . From all we can lear the tow was never in such desperate straits as the neighboring

36

Old Kecouglztan

of n d nt wth settlement Jamestow , an its subseque gro would seem to j ustify the Opi n1 ou of those historians who believe that the English would have been wiser had they made Kecoughtan their first Virginia settle ment .

37 V

THE VIRGINIA PENINSULA IN THE SEVEN TEENTH CENT$ R$

HE end of the first decade of the seventeenth century found on the extreme eastern end of of the Virginia peninsula , on the north shore m m Ha pton Roads , three s all English settlements de m on fended fro the Indians by four forts . Settlers arriving from England sometimes touched at Point Comfort where there was a tiny fortification named

— a one Fort Algernon collection of thatched cabins , “ ” slight house , and a store , the whole defended by

seven pieces of artillery and a garrison of forty men . — Two thirds of a league farther on , at Kecoughtan , de m fended by the two s all forts , Charles and Henry, the colonists found more comfortable quarters in which to rest after the long voyage ; and then they proceeded to Jamestown or remained to plant maize and tobacco on the fertile farms bordering the Southampton ( Hamp

m P ochin s ton) River , fro which , son of Powhatan , had

lately been driven . Life was easier at Kecoughtan than at Jamestown

but the conditions were of the crudest . The scattered dwelling houses Were chiefly cabins built of logs or

v en slabs and carefully fortified by palisades . No man tured into his fields , particularly after the massacre 1 62 2 of , without wearing a shirt of mail and carrying

38

I n tlze S ev enteentlz Centur y

firearms . Tobacco and sassafras were the chief ex ports but quantities of maize were raised and each colonist was compelled by law to plant annually for seven years six mulberry trees for the breeding of Silk worms . The climate was believed to Offer unusual advantages for Silk culture and men skilled in that industry came from Europe and settled in Elizabeth ” n or im City . French vig erons vinedressers were r po ted and established themselves at Buckroe, where we find that land patents were granted as early as 1 62 n t 3 , many French ames occurring in the cour

of how records of that time . Neither these industries , to of ever, seems have flourished for any length time and the colonists settled down to ordinary agricultural pursuits , cultivating their plantations along the bay shore and on both sides of the river with the help of indentured white servants and a few black Slaves . Churches were built early in the history of every settlement but were at first only rough frame buildings h r t at were later replaced by ectangular brick edifices , the walls of at least one of which still stand at Smith ld f n fi e o W . , Isle ight County In the absence Of tow s the church became in a sense the centre Of the social

life of the county, although service was not held reg ularly and spiritual matters came to be sadly neglected The r rst in all the Virginia parishes . Neg oes were at fi so few in number that no separate churches were built for them and they were permitted to attend the parish

church , while their children were brought with others he for of the for baptism . T rules the Observance ’ Sabbath were curiously strict . As early as Argall s time an edict was issued declaring that absence from

39 I n tlze S eoenteen t/z Century church on Sundays or holidays should be punished by ’ “confi nement for the night and one week s slavery to the ff Colony, for the second o ence the slavery should

' l and for a da . ast a month, for the third, a year and y About the middle of the century a man of Poquoson Parish who was caught fishing on S unday was com pelled as a punishment to build a bridge for a public road . The year 1 634 is memorable for the establishment of the in his as first successful free school America . T w known as the Syms school and was situated on the the Poquoson River in Elizabeth City County . Before end of the century the Eaton free s chool was started

“ t R ui n a a the head of Back River . After the evol t o house was rented in Hampton and the two schools united under the n ame of the Hampton Academy which eventually became part Of the public school system . Tutors were common in the better families of Vir “ ’ ginia in the seventeenth century and the parson s ” c - s hool was a well established institution . Masters were obliged to teach their bond apprentices to read and write and the law was enforced by the vestry under the o rt fol general supervision f the county cou . The lowing extract from the public records Will Show what was required :

1 8 6 t nt . 1 8 . July , 9 Elizabeth Ci y Cou y

“ of Ann Chandler, orphan Daniel Chandler, bound apprentice to Phyllemon Miller till 1 8 or day of mar ria e g , to be taught to read a chapter in the Bible, ye ’ L n and sem tress ord s Prayer and ten commandme ts , p ” work . 40 I n t/ze S eoen teen tlz Centur y

Elizabeth City was one of the eight boroughs into 1 2 which the Colony was at first divided . In 6 4 thirty persons were reported living at Buckroe and 3 1 9 in Elizabeth City including two Negroes ; while eight years later we fi nd that there were settlers at Fox AS Hill also . the century advanced the typical man sion house of the landed proprietor came to be a frame building of moderate size with a chimney at each end and containing from six to twelve rooms . The parti tions were covered with a thick layer of clay and then m whitewashed with lime ade from oyster shells . W hen bricks came into common use— having been made in the Colony and not brought from England— they were in n of and of e used ma y cases instead wood, a few thes e n n seventeenth century hous s still stand o the peni sula . “ ” Ri n fi eld o of nt g , the home of J seph Ring York Cou y f “ 1 0 o . who died in 7 3 , is one these It was customary to fence in the garden with palings to keep out hogs

and cattle , and the usual outbuildings including a

- o dove cot , stable, barn , henhouse, kitchen, milkh use , “ n t and quarters for the servants , stood ear the Grea ” li House, the whole being surrounded by a high pa i 1 Ne sade . For although by a treaty n 646 with w towance O echancanou h In , the successor of p g , the dians had ceded to the English all the territory between $ the ork and the James from the Falls to Kecoughtan , and it was death for an Indian to be foun d in this territory unless as a messenger wearing a badge of

striped cloth , yet the planters lived in continual fear of a new Indian massacre and took good care to bolt and bar doors and windows and to secure the gates of

the stockade before retiring at night .

41 I n tlte Se v enteen th Century

Until the middle of the century there were but few black slaves compared with the number of white ser 1 6 2 f vants . In 7 the population had reached o whom were indentured servants while only One en third as many were slaves . A few Indians were

e slaved but were never so valuable as the Negro s , one of the latter bringing pounds of tobacco while an u Indian was worth b t pounds . Later the price of an adult Negro slave in Elizabeth City County was

- fi v e about twenty pounds sterling . Nails and hinges were very scarce throughout the

r - Colony and gates were therefo e not usual , draw bars such as are still common in Virginia being used where they were needed in the rail fences . Travel was done mostly on horseback, the roads being often mere bridal paths , or when wider being so much worse than the proverbially bad Virginia roads of the present time as m m 1 662 to be al ost i passable for carriages . In an Act of Assembly was passed ordering roads forty feet wide “ r one to be made , one to the chu ch , to the courthouse ”

m . at Jamestown , and one fro county to county There was a ferry across the mouth of the Southampton

River , the ferryman being granted the privilege of running it for life on condition that he charged but one penny for the transportation of each passenger . , After the colonists had somewhat recovered from the disorganization caused by the events which cul

’ in ated m in Bacon s Rebellion , one of the first things that engaged their attention was the establishment of 1 680 towns for storehouses of tobacco . In in each county fifty acres of land were purchased by the public officers and all persons were encouraged to settle on

42

I n the Sev enteenth Cen tury

‘ was set apart for a day school for In dians but only a few ever availed themselves of these educational priv i leges and the attendance was increased by boys from “ u n the town . The co rse of study consisted of readi g, ” writing, and vulgar arithmetic . It was in the third year of this decade that the first post- Offi ce in Virginia was established by Governor f Nicholson . There was a central o fice at the capital and one in each county ; the postage for one sheet of paper was three cents for a distance not exceeding the n eighty miles . At this time largest perso al prop erty inventoried in Elizabeth City County in a single case was worth two hundred and eighty - two pounds f sterling . The average value o the land was a quarter of e $ t it a pound sterling per acr , while in ork Coun y was worth twice as much and in the newer counties much less .

Besides the planters in Virginia there were tanners , shoemakers , millers , vinedressers , and pitch and tar e makers . The people had their churches and fre of n schools , a college , plenty land, many servants , abu of in dance fish and game , and a free market England and the other colonies for their surplus products . The Indians were far beyond their borders and although pirates infected the seas their depredations were not so much felt as they were on the Carolina coast. The isolated life on the plantations had developed self- re liance e and other manly qualities , together with a lov of liberty which had already ShowIT itself in both ff n church and state a airs . The Virginia gentlema i could look back on a century of adventure , enterpr se , and growth . In secular matters , at least , the Colony was at the height of its prosperity . 44

VI

PIRATES OF THE VIRGINIA CAPES

HE seventeen th century w as the golden age of piracy i n America— a period which pro duced the most famous buccaneers of hi s o t ry, and whose annals are full of desperate en

' counters ou the high seas which always ended in of the triumph the black flag . There is n ot much doubt that the English Navigation Acts were r e s pons ible for the encouragement of piracy by the

ot , early colonies . It is n to be wondered at that when the colonists discovered that they could n either buy nor sell save in an English market which s et own w its prices , they should have become quite ill

ing to tolerate the l awless . traders who could af ford to sell for a song What had cost them only

“ s h hard blows . Neither was it trange that with suc e n couragement the pirates should have rapidly be c om e bolder and have extended their operations n a long the whole Atla tic coast .

The history of this time is filled wi th $ac counts on the one hand of the efforts of the colonists to evade the navigation laws and on the other of the s truggles of the home government to enforce the laws against pirates . Charles Town in South Caro f of s ea l ina was a favorite resort o the robbers the ,

45 Pir a tes of the Virginia C apes and although their welcome varied in warmth from n of time to time , yet u til the last decade the cen tury piratical vessels found safe anchorage in Charles Town harbor or in t he inlets and coves n along the coast . D uring the closi g years of the e century , however , a rapid change cam over public a n opinion in South Carolin regardi g piracy , and Charles Town stru n g up pirates at the entrance of to her harbor , scarcely waiting hurry through a formal trial . But driven from South Carolina by

ea- the enforcement of severe laws , the S robbers harried the North Carolina coast and were con ceal ed a nd befriended by some of the highest ffi o cials .

From the n ew. rendezvous they made expedi tions to the Virginia capes and even to the New

1 0 0 la England coast . In the year 7 piratical ves sel was seen b etween Cape Charles and Cape

to fi fth- Henry and reported the Shoreham , a rate — - of man war lying in Hampton Roads . Governor m Nicholson chanced to be at Kecoughtan at the ti e , and hearing the news went on board the Shoreham and wa s present at the engagem ent between the

Ships which resulted in the surrender of the pirate . One is carried back in imagination to that eventful twenty- ninth of April 1 70 0 by the epitaph still to be seen on a flat black slab on Pembroke Farm near Hampton— the site of one of the early churches to the m emory of the gallant Peter Heym an was b This stone given y His Excellency, Francis

E s n - Nicholson , q , Lieute ant and Governor General E s of Virginia, in memory of Peter Heyman , q ,

46 Pir a tes of the Virginia Capes grandson to Sir Peter Heyman of S ummerfi eld in ye county of Kent— he was collector of custo ms in ye lower district o f James River and went v olun ’ tarily on board ye king s ship Shoreham in pur suit o f a py r ate who greatly infested this coast m n after he had behaved hi self 7 hrs . with u daunted 2 courage, was killed with a small shot, ye 9 day of

April 1 70 0 . In the engagement he stood n ext the n an d Governor upo the quarter deck, was here n n ho orably i terred by his order .

Early in 1 7 1 7 a n otorious sea - robber by the nam e of Stede Bonnet— a wealthy m an of Barba does who had been driven by an unhappy marriage “ ” into the humour of gom g a py rati n g — made his

Off - of o first cruise the capes Virginia , in a slo p called the Revenge , and captured a number of mer m chant vessels, plundering and burning the and

dv entur sending their crews ashore . He led an a ll ous life filled with a manner of crimes , desperate — - fi hts sea g , and hair breadth escapes , and was finally executed at Charles Town after one of the most m s fa ous trials in the hi tory of the Colony . O n on e of his cruises Bonnet fell 1 n w1 th another famous pirate— perhaps the most disreputable that ever lived— whose name has always been associated m with Virginia, albeit ore on account of the grew som e trophy which a brave soldier forced him to contribute to the Colony than for any desperate or bloody deeds committed against the Virginians . Blackbeard must have been a revolting monster in appearance ; in fact his ambition w as to resemble the devil as closely as possible . He received his n ame from the fact that he w ore a black beard of extr aordi n ary l ength which he also $allowed to grow ' 47 Pira tes of the Virginia Capes

He i entirely up to his eyes . was n the habit Of twisting it with ribbons into small tails and turn i n g them up about his ears . W hen about to en gage i n a fight he would stick lighted matches under his hat on each side of his face and so make himself look like the real demon that he was . He wore a s ling over his s houlders i n which he car r of han m i n ied three brace pistols g g holsters . But even this wild s ea- robber had occas ion al n s for a he oo n lo ging quieter life , for t k adva tage Of the proclamation of George the Firs t offering pardon to all pirates who would surren der them

~a ov selves within year, and gave himself up to G e r n or h n e . C . Eden of N , taking the oat of allegia c “ I n re to the Crown . It was while living thus ” s pectabl e idleness that he took unfo himself hi s thirteenth wife— a young girl of sixteen $ The at tractions of the Old life proved too strong for Black beard however and after -a few m onths he went to he of sea again under t black flag . In the Bay Hon duras he met Stede Bonnet an d joined forces

i n with him , but soon discover ng that the gentlema from Barbadoes knew nothing of seamanship and

a in n b hi s w s held co tempt y crew , Blackbeard coolly deposed him , gave him a subordinate posi on hi s tion another vessel , added the Revenge to

own fleet , and making Ocracoke Inlet in North

Carolina his headquarters , again spread terror s along the coast . After committing several piracie near the Virginia capes he appeared once more be wn fore Charles To , captured all outgoing mer of chant vessels , and imprisoned a number its dis

48

Pira tes of the Virginia C apes

tested in the valuable m onograph on The Caro lina Pirates and Colonial Com merce issued by

Johns Hopkins University, that although Black beard was known as Ned Teach or Thatch of Bristol his real nam e was Drummond as vouched of for by one of his own family and name , respect ” in m able standing, Virginia near Ha pton . It is the more curious because the old mansion house ’ directly opposite Blackbeard s Point was owned for b m many years y a branch of the Drummond fa ily , possibly distant connections of the famous free booter . It is not strange perhaps that various ballads should have been written about the “ notorious s Blackbeard , certainly not that his tory should have appealed to a boy of thirteen fond of s crib h bling verses . Edward Everett Hale tells us in t e New England M agaz ine for June 1 898 that he dis

“ ‘ covered in a recently published volume called Real Sea Songs ” a ballad about Blackbeard written by

Benjamin Franklin when he was thirteen .

50 VII

THE VIRGINIA PENINSULA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENT$ R$

HE luxurious manner of living begun In the Virginia Colony in the last decade of the seventeenth century continued for more than m s half of the eighteenth . The pioneer with firear became “ a ruffled dignitary riding in his coach and ” four ; log huts and unpretentious brick dwellings

’ gave place to fine manor houses ; forests di s ap pear ed and were replaced by cultivated plantations ; the number of tobacco fields increased and with them the number of black S laves ; the tobacco was carried to England and the ships returned laden with rich cargoes , to discharge their treasures at ’ w a their owners wharves . It s a leisurely time . The men were deliberate both in work and pleasure ; they lingered over their wine and the1 r p1 pes ; they drove or rode long distances with their families to the plantations of their friends and remained for w m extended visits . The o en rode to hounds with the men and were as much at home on the or water as on land , handling a tiller trimming a sail as skillfully as their brothers . Many of the planters gathered in the capital

Vi r inia G az ette of during the winter , and in the g that period we find announcements of their pleas

5 1 I n the E ighteenth Century

be r ures . This evening will pe formed, we read, , “ of by the young Gentlemen the College , the Tra ” “ e d g y of Cato . Last Saturday being His ’

Maj esty s birthday , the same was observed here of with firing guns , illuminations and other demon s tr ations an d of loyalty , at night there was a hand some appearance of Gentlem en and Ladies at H i s ’ Honour the Governor s, where was a Ball and an

Elegant Entertainment . That this was not the “ ” w ay the other : half lived is shown by sundry n Tw o men advertiseme ts and notices . Negro runaway slaves— are a dvertised for ; two others are hanged for robbery ; a Negro W oman is burned for killing her m istress ; an Indian s ervant has com mitted a misdemeanor ; and down In Prince s s “ ” Anne County a witch is ducked . Yet on the whole it was a marvellously happy and picturesque and age . The slaves were , as a rule , well treated ’ n they were devoted to their masters i terests . Lower down on the peninsula the plantation s were ’ ‘ n small and the slaves few in umber . The long Shoremen lived by their nets and the small land a f holders by their farms . Hampton w s a port o entry as well as a shipping port for tobacco and

‘ there was con s equently much business in the way of cus toms and tonn age duties I n fact it was the place of greatest trade in Virginia and was also the county seat, with courthouse and prison (built

- - in pillory , whipping post, and ducking stool . r no There we e then telegraphs , railways , or elec

1 1 0 tric lights . In 7 a postal service was estab l i s he d that carried letters once a fortnight from

52

I n the E ighteenth Century

was not ti l Williamsburg to Philadelphia, but it l twenty years later that through the efforts of G ov er nor - n a for th Spottswood , then Postmaster Ge er l e A r e was merican Colonies , a regular mail se vic started between New En gland and the James

River . The tim e from Phil adelphia to W illi ams was to for n s fur burg reduced one week , but poi t ther South the post- rider did not start until enough mail had accumulated to m ake the j ourney worth while $ This same Governor Spottswood was perhaps the most picturesque figure of this picturesque age. He arrived in Virginia just one hundred years after Lord De la W arre built the two forts on Hampton

River to protect the infant town of Kecoughtan . He is remembered as on e of the best of the Co lonial n r n n far nd the gover o s, k ow beyo borders of W e of Virginia for his energy and love justice . have an interesting glimpse of the Indians of Tide ’ n Of water, Virginia, whe we read Spottswood s Visit in 1 7 1 6 to his mission school at Fort Chris “ “ e tanna . Here , says John Esten Cook, there wer

- seventy seven Indian children at s choo l . They were taught to write and to read the Bible and prayerbook . Sixty youths were present ( at the ’ time of the Governor s visit) with feathers i n their hair and ears ; their faces painted with blue and vermilion and with blue and red blankets aroun d ” their shoulders . In the same year that the Gov ernor visited his Indian mission he led a gallant expedition of Virginia cavaliers into the mountains that form ed the western boundary Of the province. 53 I n the E ighteen th Century

From the time that the spirited s oldier - governor “ thus founded the order of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe until his death at Temple Farm

1 0 on e near Yorktown in 74 , his life was of great activity and usefulness . Now we hear him asking his Burgesses why they continue to sit day after day and draw their pay for doing n othl n g I f the m c country is too poor , as they clai , to arry out m f needed easures or the public good . Later we look on with mingled amusement and regret when he is worsted in his quarrel with Com m issary ffi Blair and obliged to retire from o ce . Again we read with warm interest the story of his happy “ ” m 1 n ~ G ermanna fa ily life the enchanted castle at , as told by Colonel William Byrd of Westover . m Governor Spottswood was buried at Temple Far , m in the former na e of the Moore House , where

1 78 1 the Revolutio n came to an end with the sign ~ ing o f the articles of c apitulation by Lord Corn W allis I n 1 7 1 6 Hampton was a place of one hundred houses and the people lived in great comfort . There i was at this t me however no church in the Village ,

service being held in the courthouse . The first church appears to have stood on the east side of

m R ev . Ha pton River . The first minister was the W m m . Mease who is said to have co e to Virginia 0 with Sir Thom as Gates in 1 61 . The glebe land w as also on the east side of the river, as well as the com m on land of fifteen hundred acres and the ’ c ompany s land of three thousand acres . Here , “ ” near the Indian House Thicket was leas ed a piece

54

I n the E ighteenth Century of land by one of the early ministers of this parish

. of R e who , says Lyon G Tyler in his Cradle the

Of public , was the first exponent the idea that “ ” the only good Indian is a dead Indian , having published a letter expressing his belief that it would be useless to attempt to civilize the Indians until i their head men were put to death . It s a curious m coincidence that Ha pton Institute , which has ’ helped to prove the falsity of the minister s posi tion by training hundreds of Indians for useful citi z en shi p, Should stand , as it does , so near the spot “ formerly leased by this man of little faith . About the middle of “ the seventeenth century a new church m of was built at Pembroke Far , one mile west m Hampton , where four ancient to bstones still mark re its site . It was because this church was out m 1 6 1 2 8 pair that fro 94 to 7 , when the foundations ’ of old St . John s were dug, services were held in the courthouse , first in the old one and then in on 1 1 6 the new e built in 7 . ’ O f now St . John s Church , then , one the Oldest 1 2 8 in use in the United States , dates from 7 when it was built of bricks burned with wood taken “ ” from the School land - the School being the

n m o e established by Benj amin Sy s , the first free school in America . The bricks were called Eng lish ” but it was because they were made in English moulds and not because they were brought from

of m England . Bricks the sa e kind are found in ’ s 1 6 2 at the Jamestown tower , in St . Luke ( 3 ) ’ and mithfi el d . S , in St Paul s Norfolk, in f other early Colonial churches . One o the rectors 55 I n the E ighteenth Century

’ of t n S . Joh s writes to the Bishop of Lon don s om e time between 1 7 1 9 and 1 73 1 t hat hi s pari s h i s fifty mil eS Q i n circumference and contains three hundre d

one r and fifty families , that there are about hund ed c n ommunicants , and that the slave ow ers are care ful to instruct the young Negro childre n and bring 1 60 one them to baptism . In 7 of the parishioners bequeathed forty pounds sterling towards purchas “ ” out of s ing a bell England , provided the ve try and church wardens would undertake to build the

n Th Ol belfry within twelve mo ths . e d vestry book ( dating back to 1 75 1 ) tells of the contracts awarded a n for building and p inti g the belfry, and no doubt

h . the ell was purchased, for later records speak of “ the Old Q ueen Anne bell which hung in the tower ” n of o the west end the church . Since the middle of the s eventeenth century Elizabeth City Parish has been in possession of the oldest and most precious communion silver belong

m — a ing to the Episcopal Church in A erica cup ,

1 61 . chalice , and paten brought to Virginia in 9 They were the gift of one Mistress Robinson in England to the church at Smith ’ s (afterward m Southa pton) Hundred , which was destroyed dur , f 1 2 2 ing the Indian massacre o 6 . The silver was preserved by Governor Yeardley and after hi s w n death was kept at Jamesto n , bei g finally trans n ferred to Hampto , probably because the place was n amed for the same Earl of Southampton who gave ’ n s r his ame to Sm ith s Hundred . They have u

' 1 ed a v v three wars nd at least three great fires . By the middle of the eighte en th cen tury the end 56

I n the E ighteenth Century of the Col onial period was i n sight . The free life of the new world had created n ew modes of old of o thought , and ideas g vernment began to be seriously questioned . Democracy became popular and the idea of uniting for resistance to the de mands of the mother country began to agitate the

n s n colonies . Aristocratic Virgi ia ou ded the alarm and it was her sons who were the great leaders of — n ff n a n the Revolution Patrick He ry, Je erso , M so ,

t s e s . Washing on , Lee , Pendleton , and a ho t of oth r W n z a Among them was George ythe , a ative of Eli “ ” e r i e beth City County, whose home at Ch ste v ll s n o still stands . He was an eminent juri t , Cha cell r o s an d one of Virginia for m re than twenty year , of the signers Of the Declaration of Indepen den ce .

57 VIII

THE VIKINGS OF VIRGINIA

HE progress of revolutionary thought in the A merican Colon 1 es during the latter half of o the eighteenth century is well kn wn . Every school boy has his Revolutionary hero and knows by heart the celebrated speeches Of the famous

Virginian leaders . W hat Am erican has not fol lowed with breathless interest the stirring history ’ of his country s struggle for independence $ Who has not kept pace with Jefferson ’ s thought from

— a — the time he listened young law _ Student out side the door as Patrick Henry thundered against the right of the mother country to Vest the power of taxation in any other body than the Colonial m “ Assembly , ending with the fa ous words , If this m m ” be treason , ake the ost of it , to that other time more than ten years later when he drafted the D ec l aration of Independence which transformed Eng lishmen into Americans $ Who has not wintered with Washington in Valley Forge and exulted with him at Yorktown and been proud to honor his mem ory as the Father of his Country $ But familiar

as is the story of the Revolution , there is one chap m ter that has often been o itted , and it is one that is intimately connected with the history of the lower Virginia peninsula— the record of the gallant 58

The Vikings of Virginia ci ally exposed to his attacks and to t hos e of Britis h privateers . Many homes were b urned to the o a w car ground , crops were destr yed , and sl ves ere ’ O ff n D t ried to the W est I dies . unmore s las t ac was to bombard the city of Norfolk an d burn it to n nd the ground . The whole cou try was arous ed a the Committee of Safety was authoriz ed to pro n cure armed vessels for the protectio of the coast . I n April 1 776 there appeared i n the Virginia ’ Gaz ette a call for Ships carpenters and the building

i r n 1 f of the V g1 a Navy we nt on apace . Many o the s i n Ships were built at Hampton , ome Norfolk , i on the some in Accomac , some at the Sh pyard to Chickahominy . Others belonged the merchant

‘ marine and were purchased and armed for the s tate “ service , the new rigging having always the ’ rogue s yarn to distinguish it from that of the “ w - n merchant ships . For a hundred ild sea blow

” $ years had adventurers , pirates , and sea captains sailed their ships up and down the Chesapeake and in and out among its sinuous waterways ; fisher men lined the shores and had explored in their canoes every i nlet an d cove ; it was not diffi cult therefore to man the new ships with watermen of r i too eve y descr ption , only eager to chase the pri v ateers n and to defe d their homes . They became the Vikings of Virginia, dartin g hither and thither

“ in their fast- sailing craft an d surprising and cap

n n - turing ma y a plu der laden s hip . A Board of Naval Commission ers was appointed 1 6 ff n and in May 77 to direct the a airs of the avy, by midsummer a fleet of s eventy vessels was i n

60

The Vikings of Virginia

commission . It was rightly called a mos quito ” er fleet , for the vessels were all small , and they w e probably the fastest sailers in the world—e xcept the lateens of the Mediterranean . Then they were ‘ of such light draught that they were perfectly at the home in the shallow inlets , where they gave m ene y many a sting that W as long remembered .

' s n n s The fleet included frigates , brig , briga ti e , schooners , sloops , galleys , and armed pilot boats

- - . w s and barges Some ere row galley , one half decked over and provided with high and stron g bulwarks . These galleys looked like huge water spiders , being broad and flat and usually rigged as

s r schooner with two o three masts . They were “ ” used as lookouts or flying sen tinels as well as

for for transports troops , each being large enough to carry a com-pany of sixty - eight men with arms was and baggage . The a verage length of deck seventy feet and they were heavily armed, carry ing two twenty - four or thirty—tw o pounders in bow and stern and seven smaller guns along each Side . The largest ships carried thirty - two guns each ; one of them— the Glouces ter— w as a prison Ship and was moored in Hampton Creek or i n Eli z a of beth River . The ships the Virginia Navy sailed on n as fleets only two occasions , once in Hampto Roads to give help to the troops in Portsmouth and i n I n con once James River . each case the fleet no di s sisted of fourteen ships . As Virginia had ti n cti v e state flag it is probable that Patrick

’ Henry s famous banner was used in the n avy . Only one of the Virginia ships survived the war— the

61 The Vihings of Virginia

— gallant Liberty which fo ught in . twenty distinct actions and was twice sunk in the rivers . Instead

b em s he of g retained by the state , as should have r s e . been , she was old to a t ader in the W st Indies

Of all the brave and dashing Virginia Vikings , Comm odore Jam es Barron of Hampton was doubt m 1 less the aster spirit . He was born in 740 when hi IBarron of s father , Captain , was Commander m Fort George at Old Point Co fort . Here he lived for nine years , when a hurricane destroyed the fortifications and the family moved further up the peninsula . The boy James began his sea life when he was but ten years old ; he soon becam e second m ate and later was given comm and of a small v es sel , the Kecoughtan . He and his brother , Rich w t ard Barron , became pilots and ith their swif boats gave Governor Dunmore and his Tory friends m much trouble . On one occasion , before the for a

a o m tion of the State N vy, they were chased int Ha p ton by the British schooner Otter which however ran aground . They immediately attacked and f r . o burned her , the crew escaping In revenge this act , angry Captain Squires appeared in Hamp ton Creek with six arm ed sloops and made an at

on . tack the town But the townspeople , antici d pating this , had applie for help to the Committee

- r e of Safety . One hundred Culpeper minute men S on ded w n p and ith the Hampton militia , amo g w m be ho was James Barron , concealed themselves hind bushes and houses and made a fierce resist ance , sinking or destroying five of the sloops . It was in the summ er of the following year that the

62 The Vikings of Virginia

Virginia Navy was orgam z ed an d Hampton was not n agai attacked by the British . “ The story of the web - footed Barrons would al a most make naval history . James Barron the elder was made one of the three commodores of 1 f the State Navy and in 779 became senior o ficer , “ receiving his commission as commander- i n - chief of all the armed forces Of the Commonwealth” from Colonel Thomas Whiting of Hampton who P of $ was resident the Naval Board . Commodore Barron rendered Virginia valuable service during na i n the Revolutio ry War, not only his official capacity but by loaning money and stores and by

articu aiding in procuring supplies for the army , p l r a ly during the siege of Yorktown . He served n b o , B o , with his r ther Captain Richard arr ( during the whole war , commanding the famous ship Lib ert i n y many gallant fights . The Patriot which also has an interesting history was commanded by Captain Richard Barron for at least a portion of the time . The two sons of Commodore James Barron ,

, at James , the younger , and S amuel , were both tached to the State Navy, and afterwards won dis m tinction in the United States Navy , both beco ing commodores and being conspicuous for their brav ery and for their executive ability . m v Lieutenant Cunningha of the Virginia Na y , who when a prisoner in Portsmouth made such a daring and romantic escape , running the guard and

$ T h s c o mm s s on s n e b effe r s on i s now i n os i i i , i g d y J , p s e s s i n of M e a f L x m ton Va. on e o r s . an e o r r o e J i H p M g , , of the e s c en an o f om m o o r e Bar r on d d t s C d .

Os s The Vikings of Virginia swimming the river to j oin his wife in the woods

on the he s e was al s o a n a ot r id , ative Of H mpton . No offi cial record has been kept of the exploits of the State Navy, but we find scattered reports here of s and there daring feat and successful captures . The movements of the ships were not confined to or f r w e i n the Roads to the Bay , o e r ad that Sep tember I 776 six ships were ordered to the W est Indies to buy supplies ; and more than once their the I n n battles were fought outside capes . Ju e 1 6 77 the Barron brothers seized the Oxford , a off a e British transport, the c pes, taking prison rs two hundred and seventeen Highland soldiers ; and in July Captain Richard Barron captured in the same place a Tory Sloop from the West Indies and a large brig carrying provisions from Englan d . of of s Again , we read a son Commodore Jame Bar ron ( Captain Sam Barron) , who distinguished him ’ self i n an action with an enemy s vessel in Hamp it was . W ton Creek hen the enemy surrendered , found that more British were killed and woun ded than there were Americans on the Virginia ves s el . I n 1 e 779 , howev r, a British fleet appeared in Hamp ton Roads and captured a large number of Ameri can s a vessels , the smaller ones retiring to the h l 8 1 . 1 a low bays and rivers Later, in 7 , the ro dstead was again in possession of a British fleet filled with ’ Cornwallis s army , which had just evacuated Ports

of on e mouth . In May this year of the little Vir ginia vessels successfully eluded the whole of the

British fleet , passing directly through it under cover of night . It was probably about this time that the

64

The Vikings of Virginia

$ and n n ork Elizabeth City cou ties . The America s made a s tubborn resistance against overwhelming n and the n n a umbers , enemy, recog izi g M llory, who s s n and had refu ed a chance to escape , hot him dow r n b ff a him through with their bayonets . His u

vest, which was preserved by his family, was

pierced by eleven bayonet holes . W not hen Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown , a vestige of the Virginia Navy remained except the

o e n i o e Liberty . Commod r Barro retired to h s h m

at Hampton but, hearing that an English privateer had captured a Baltimore vessel bound to Hamp ton to n , true his Viki g spirit he hastily collected of a twenty his Old associates , manned schooner, n t n and gave chase to the Englishma , recap uri g the “ w a n Baltimore vessel . As long as there s a pla k to stand on or a flag to follow he fought for the ’ cause of his country s liberty— a worthy represen ta m tive of an illustrious fa ily . I$

HAMPTON IN THREE W ARS

URING the century between 1 770 an d 1 870 the little town of Hampton was visited by

three wars . Owing to the numerous arms of n of the sea that indent the coast eastern Virgi ia, Hampton and the outlying plantations were pe culi ar l to n the y exposed attacks by sea, and duri g Revolutionary period so great was the danger from this source that the gallant little State Navy was organized , as we have seen, for coast defense . Skirmishes between the militia and detachments from Dunmore ’ s and Cornwallis ’ s fleets in the

Roads , continued during the whole period of the ’ of s war, but after the repulse Captain Squire force in 1 775 there was no attack on Hampton dur ing the Revolution .

’ 1 6 a the Tradition says that in 77 , shortly fter

of . declaration of independence , the steeple St John’ s Church was struck by lightning and the royal coat of arms which had adorn ed it was the thrown to the ground . However that may be, people certainly threw Off the English yoke and n e made a stand for democratic equality . The cha g was apparent not only in government affairs but of in social and domestic matters . Simplicity dress m an d i n c beca e the rule , ceremony pomp publi 67 Ha mpton i n Thr ee Wars

w l functions ere discarded, c ass distinctions became l n weaker , and the great plantations dwindled of size . Fortunately the old English love outdoor

, c life and sports , and the ordiality and hospitality of his ancestors , remained to the Virginian ; and hunting, fishing, fox hunting, and the entertainment of guests are still the chief pleasures of the resi

' of dents Tidewater Virginia . The War of 1 8 1 2 was more destructive than the

Revolution in its effect on the town of Hampton . m m Ad iral Cockburn , who com anded a British fleet lying in the Roads made an attack on Hampton

2 1 8 1 of - at June 5 , 3 . Landing a force men ” ‘ h1 m s el f what is now Indian River , he sailed with m a d a a s ll fleet towar s H mpton Creek, appearing ’ off ~ Bla ckbeard s Point from whence he shelled the T he e n town . wat r front was protected by seve small guns and four hundred and fifty militia who were encamped at Little England ” farm (now known as West End) under com mand of Colonel

r h l m C utc fi e d . The little garrison repulsed the ene y a m for ti e , but the latter, joining the land party , ’ obliged Colonel C r utchfi eld s force to retreat up in the peninsula , in which direction many of the m habitants had already fled . The outrages per itted ‘ ’ by the British during their two days stay have made this occupation of A ' H ampton notorious in his tory . The town was given up to pillage and the inhabitants assaulted and robbed . This vandalism who is attributed to the French prisoners , formed part of the British force and were fresh from s im ilar scenes of plunder and outrage in Spain . 68

Ha mpton i n Thr ee Wars

. who Mr Richard B . Servant , was for many ’ years secretary of the vestry of St . John s Church , m t say s that when he ca e in o town, a boy of twelve , 1 8 1 after the British had evacuated it in 3 , he found that they had used the old graveyard as a slaughter house for cattle and that the church walls bore m arks of fires that the soldiers had kindled to cook m their eals . The interior of the church had been m used as a co mon barrack . Just before the war the old Q ueen Anne bell Of the parish had been r e m m “ ” oved to the militia ca p at Little England . The tongue had becom e loose and an axe that had been used to strike the hour and cracked the famous m 1 2 old bell . From this ti e to 8 4 the church was allow ed to go to decay and becam e a com mon

shelter for horses , cattle , and hogs . Religion must have been at a low ebb indeed to have allowed such

desecration of a sacred edifice in time of peace . It is said that when efforts were finally made to re was fi to store the church , it dif cult find more than

- r a half dozen pray e book s in the parish . The first suggestion to restore the c hurch property to its former c ondition was made in 1 82 2 or 1 82 3 by Mrs . mm Jane Hope , the eldest daughter of Co odore

James Barron . Her suggestion was acted upon to by Mr . Servant who succeeded in raising funds rebuild the walls of the graveyard and to place a

- wrought iron gate at the entrance . A meeting of the friends of the church followed and a vestry

c m m of w was ele ted , the e bers hich made a deter mined effort to raise funds for the repair of the m church . At this ti e nothing was standing but

69 Ha mpton in Thr ee Wars bare walls and a leaky roof ; nothing else r e m the ained but English tiles on the floor , all the r P chu ch furniture having been destroyed . ortu nately the vestry book had been carefully pre

a served by resident and is still intact , a moth m m eaten , cru bling volu e containing the parish rec

1 a ords since 1 75 . The church enclosure w s cleaned and occasional services held while the repairs were

m of going on , so e the worshipers sitting on the

1 8 0 bare tiles of the floor . Early in 3 these repairs were co mpleted and the church was consecrated by Bishop Moore . The old bell was recast and r e m the ained for many years the best bell in country .

- f For thirty one years the parish records o St . ’ c 1 861 John s ontinue unbroken ; then again , in , all

but the walls and the vestry b ook are sacrificed . m m On a idsu mer night , in order to prevent its oc cu ation p by Federal troops , Hampton was fired by the property owners of the town— offi cers and soldiers in the Confederate army— “ to demonstrate the intense earnestness of the people in the cause they had espoused and for which they considered no sacrifice too great . But five houses and the church walls remained standing on the site of the

c attra tive little village of Hampton . Only one of these houses is n ow standing . There were but few people in the town and these were notified of the m plans of General Magruder, the com anding ffi s o cer , who had reluctantly yielded to the wishe of the inhabitants to destroy their two hundred

’ thousand dollars worth of property . The Negroes 70

Ha mpton in Three Wars

remaining in Hampton crossed the Creek and took w 1 refuge ithin the Un on lines . Fort Monroe and all the peninsula as far as Hampton bridge were at this time in the hands of

the Federal troops under General Butler . The of m main body the army occupied Ca p Hamilton , a wilderness of tents lying between the Mill Creek bridge and the present grounds of Hampton Insti

tute . On both Sides of Mill Creek were large

a granaries and also c ttle yards , which were filled with two or three thousand head of cattle for the m Army of the Potomac . The ain building of the ’ ’ Soldiers Home was used as an officers hospital H T s and was known as Chesapeake ospital . hi was connected by a bridge with the Hampton Hos n pital , the general receiving poi t for sick and i wounded soldiers of the armies in Virg nia . It was organized in August and between t hat

1 86 . time and April 4, patients were received The hospital was placed On the present site of Hampton Institute and was a picturesque village

of about thirty cottage houses , one hundred and

- fi v e n - fi v e twenty by twe ty feet, forming a triangle n of hun which embraced a large law . A farm a dred acres was attached to the hospital and was “ ho cultivated mainly by contrabands , w flocked by thousands to the peninsula seeki ng the protection of of the Federal army . Twelve hundred them

were landed in on e night at Old Point wharf . The

Fo r m an y o f the fac ts r e lating to the H ampt on Hos p ital w e ar e i n d ebt e d to an ar ti cl e whi ch app eare d i n ' H ar er s Ma az ine u s 1 86 p g for A gu t 4. 71 Hampton i n Three Wars

road passing the hospital ran in . a nearly straight

’ lin e from the Hampton bridge to the offi cers hos pital and was provided with a horse - car li n e for the f 1 transportation o men and supplies . In 864 the convalescent soldiers built Bethesda Chapel in what ’ t e was afterwards h Soldiers Cemetery , and this was for a time the only church i n Hampton in n which s ervices were held . The tow was occupied n n s who during the war chiefly by co traba d , built rude shelters against the chimneys th at survived for the fire, and some years afterward only small,

- one s tory frame buildi ngs were to be foun d there .

The n - twe tieth century visitor to the trim little city , W h its s it brick blocks , paved treets , electric rail w s and s n ffi to ay , handsome dwelling , fi ds it di cult

- picture the war time desolation .

72

Ha mpton School s

$ n of - two s Academy , a consolidatio the free s chool established in the seventeenth century by Benj a

‘ m 1 m Syms ( 1 634) and Thomas Eaton T he funds owned by the trustees of this institution ffi n were not su cient for its entire support, and ma y children were permitted to attend who paid tui n tion , thus supplementing the fund . The instructio they received was of a high grade and the pr1 nc1

w as n . palship considered an honor . Mr . Joh B s Cary was its last principal , serving for seven year , until it became a part of the free - school system i n 1 1 n 85 . By an act of the As s embly the ew Board of S c hool Commissioners became the s uccessors of “ ” the Board of Trustees and Governors of the

Sym s - Eaton Academy and were invested with all the property belonging to that board This am t n in ounted to about e thousand dollars , the tere s t of which was used to supplement the local tax levy for school purposes . Other schools were s established in the various districts , and the subj ect taught were changed to those of the ordinary dis ’ tri c c m on t s hool . Fro Mrs . Armstrong s pamphlet the Syms - Eaton Academy we learned that the mortgage bonds in which the Syms - Eaton fun d had been invested were in the hands of Colonel

J . C . Phillips (of Hampton) , and were taken by n his family with their ow papers when , early in

$ Fo r a full ac c oun t of the Sy m s - E aton A cad emy s e e m a m M r m . Ar p a phl e t on the s ubj e c t by the l at e s . W s r o n for s a e b the H am on ha er of the A s s o t g , l y p t C p t i i n n i u i es Ad c at o n for the P r e s e rv ati on of Vi r g i i a A t q it . am n r e s s s s D or o h A rm s r on H o , Va. d Mi t y t g , p t 74

Ha mpton School s

l m Colonel Ewell , President of Wi lia and Mary

. o College After the war, C lonel Cary returned to Richmond where he served as superintendent of public schools and in various capacities on school m boards , always showing arked ability as an edu c ator .

In 1 854 there was established near . Hampton an other school which was well known during its short existence , the Chesapeake Female College ’ —now the m am building of the National Soldiers

w as on e Home . It built by a Baptist minister , P to Martin orey, who however failed make a suc cess of it and sold it in 1 859 to a board of trustees . A Colonel Raymond was principal until the war broke out and the school was disbanded . It was used during the war as a hospital for wounded offi cers and was afterwards purchased - by General

’

Butler who sold it to the Government . When Hampton was burned in 1 861 nothing was

O l or left of the d schools in fact of the town . The f ’ o . walls _ St John s Church were left standing and

ch1 mn e s those of one or two houses . Many y sur v i v ed the fire and against these were built tempo rary shacks . When the hospital wards were sold many of them were utilized in the town— some of m the for stores and several for the hotel , which also made use of hospital beds , tables, and chairs . While the old church was being rebuilt through the faithful efforts of the few rem aining m em bers of the society , the handful of worshipers had serv ’ ice , more or less irregularly , in the Odd Fellows

n Hall on Court Street , known as Patrick He ry 76

Ha mpton Schools graded school for freedmen was transferred to b of the Lincoln School , which had een built Old

w . hospital ards In this year also , the large school for the contrabands built by General Butler in 1 863 was m ade over to the American Missionary

Association by General Howard . A year later there were fourteen hundred pupils in the day schools and three hundred in the night schools . The question of the advisability of establishing a training school for colored teachers in this vicinity now began to be discussed in the Ameri can Mis i na a i s o Ma z ne. 1 866 rgy g In March , Captain Wilder Arm had been succeeded by General Samuel C . strong as superintende nt of contrabands and offi cer ’ Freedm en F m in charge of the s Bureau . ro the beginning he took special interest in the schools , having charge of those in ten countie s in eastern

Virginia . It was his suggestion that Ham pton would be a fitting spot for a permanent training school for colored teachers . In a letter written in July 1 867 he offered his services to the Am erican

s Missionary A sociation , and when it was finally de c ided by that organization to establish a normal m m school at Ha pton , General Ar strong, with his

ss n war mi ionary i heritance , his experience with

- n colored troops , and his common se se ideas of the

m of l - develop ent character by se f help , was felt to be the proper person to put at its head . The Chesa p eake Hospital was s uggested for the s ite of the school but by General Arm strong’ s earnest advice ” this was rej ected and Little Scotland , or the W of ood plantation , consisting one hundred and 78

$ l

VlRG INlA’ S SE ND L NIAL C APITAL CO CO O , W ILLIAMSBURG

HE capital of the Virginia Colony was trans ferred in 1 698 from Jamestown to Williams “ a in burg, seven miles aw y a more salubri ” l x the ous situation . The visitor to the C rad e of Republic” who would follow the fortunes of the l w o ittle colony , drives across the cause ay c nnect m ing the island with the ainland , and along the m sa e Winding, sandy road over which the early settlers traveled in the last years of the seventeenth c m entury , leaving behind them their ho es and their church in the little village on the river bank m m where they had seen uch isery but also , may m “ m . hap , uch happiness Willia sburg, or Middle

m - s Plantation , was at this ti e but thirty six year old and life there was m ost primitive . Stools and benches and strong four - posters constituted the furniture of the rude pioneer cabins and the horse L i n trough served as the fam ily w as h b as . But after it be c ame the capital conditions improved rapidly ,

substantial houses appeared, and silver as well as pewter began to shine on polished m ahogany side boards .

Even before this the colonists , most of whom w ere not in sympathy with Governor Berkeley

80 ’ ‘ Virginia J Second Col onial Capitol when he thanked God there were no free schools in Virginia and hoped there would be none for a hundred years , had begun to plan seriously for some opportunity for higher education if only that they need not be at the expense of sending their sons to England when they wished to study for a

. T o a profession be sure , Harv rd College had been o founded , but to g from Virginia to Massachusetts in those days was almost as much of an undertak o 1 ing as to g to England . So in 1 69 Commissary Blair (the same whose body now lies in the ancient graveyard at Jamestown) went across the water seeking a charter for a college . He succeeded in obtaining an appropriation of two thousand pounds in money and twenty thousand acres of land, with a tax of a penny a pound on all tobacco exported from Maryland and Virginia , together with the fees and profits arising from the offi ce of surveyor general The Commissary returned triumphant, with his charter and his contributions and was forthwith made President of W illiam and Mary f College , which o fice he held for fifty years . The colleg e was for some time as English as its name , the teachers being appointed by the Bishop of London w ho retained for himself the office of Chan

ll r n of c e o . It was not alone for the educatio their children that the Virginia colonists were solicitous . They felt a responsibility for the Indians among whom they were living and very early in the his tory of William and Mary the income from the English landed estate of Brafferton was set aside for the use of the Indians , a special building by

8 1 ' ’ Vzrgznia s Second Col onial Capital

om that name being put up for them . The first C m en c e m ent of the college was held in 1 70 0 and c ex ited much interest , the roads being filled with coaches and the river with sloops from the outlying n e P en n s l pla tations and ev n from New York , y a vani , and Maryland , while the Indians in gala cos tume came in afoot and added to the picturesque nes s of the scene . The c ollege was designed by Sir Christopher u two Wren , and was a s bstantial brick building of

‘ ‘ stories with dor rn er windows in the roof ; it con tained d , besides ormitories and classrooms , a li br a exten di n o e ry , and a chapel g t the rear . Her the House of Burgesses met until 1 70 5 when the of capitol was built at the opposite end the straight,

- a mile long D uke of Gloucester Street . This w s

‘ a l ai n tw o— r al s o p , story b ick building but in the of r form the letter H , with a po tico in front . Hard ‘ e by was the Raleigh Tavern , a wood n building,

$ on e full story in height W ith an attic above lit by m i n eight dor er w indows each wing . There was an entrance door near the centre of each front and over one of these a leaden bust of Sir W alter

i m s m r Rale gh . Its o t fa ous apa tment was the o m W had a d Apoll Roo , hich eep fireplace with a door on either side and was adorned with a carved wain‘sc‘ oting under the windows and over the W w mantel . hen Spotts ood became governor in ’ 1 1 7 4, the Governor s Palace , midway between the college and the capitol on an estate of four hun dred acres , was added to this group of historic of the buildings . In a public square in the centre

82

’ Vi rgi nza r Second Col onial Capital

town , Spottswood built also , in obedience to an

A c t of the Burgesses , the octagonal bri ck Powder

- Horn with its quaint, steep pitched roof . When first built it was surrounded by an outer wall and m m for ed a complete agazine , with powder room , m ar ory , and blacksmith shop .

m m 1 1 About this sa e ti e , in 7 5 , Bruton Church m m was co pleted , being built on plans ade by the

m c sa e energeti and versatile Governor Spottswood . This church was the c entre of the interesting group of buildings in Old W illiamsburg . Cruci

m ar m for in shape , the long abutted on the Palace Green and stretched along the D uke of Gloucester

Street , having a tower at the western end towards the college . It was built , like all the other early

m . public buildings , of brick ade in English moulds , e n and over these , specially at the easter end , the ivy soon threw a mantle of green . The windows were m ade of sm all square panes of plain white glass and m ost of them are still unbroken in spite

c of the ravages of tw o wars . The chur hyard was

c w en losed by a low brick wall ith a stone coping , the land being the gift of Sir John Page , ancestor of the present Page fam ily of Rosewell in G l ouces ter County . Flagstone walks led to the church doors and the aisles w ithin were paved with the

en same material . Up these aisles from the tower trance walked the stately Burgesses when they met for prayer before proceeding to the business of state , and here walked also each Sunday and on fast days the court processions— the governor and the council of state in their. gorgeous robes and 83 ’ Vi rgznia s Second Col onial Capital

The ’ carrying emblazoned banners . governor s pew ,

c elevated , large , and square , and anopied with rich

m c cri son velvet , oc upied one of the corners made

m the by the eeting of the transepts and nave , and high pulpit with its sounding board was placed on

c the opposite corner , the hoir behind it as in Eng

c c lish athedrals , and the hancel at the eastern end . It was a gay little capital— Ol d Williamsburg s o gay that it was said to resemble the Court of

St . James . Withal it was picturesque . Gentle m e n rode dressed i n bright colored velvets and f ru fles , the clergy in dignified black , and the j udges ' i n s car l et m , while the echanics appeared in red v flannel shirts , and with leathern aprons o er buck skin breeches . The students of William and Mary f wore academ ic dress . It was the age o the hoop

c G ov skirt , and on dress o casions such as a ball at ’ e rn or Spottswood s , the ladies wore over the hoop skirt trailing gowns of heavy brocade , while their hair was dressed very high and adorned w ith n feathers , ribbons , and lace . The Colonial gover ors lived in great state , driving to public functions in

i - a carriage drawn by six m lk white horses . Their families and those of the House of Burgesses added much to the brilliancy of the social life . In the middle of the eighteenth century theatre going was m added to the list of Colonial entertain ents , the “ Charming Sally bringing from England a com

- who pany of players in charge of Lewis Hallam , “ ” presented The Merc hant of Venice to Williams

u o ci tv b rg s e .

But life there was not a m ere butterfly existence .

84

’ Virginia s Second Col onial Capital

In attendance at William and Mary were the m ak . ers of the nation— for the nation was then in m an

— ff the h ing Je erson , author of the Declaration of I

c dependen e ; Harrison , Braxton , Nelson , and Wythe , of four of its signers ; Peyton Randolph , President the First Continental Congress ; and many others m pro inent in Revolutionary history . Washington took his degree as civil engineer at this college and was its first American Chancellor l It was in Wil l i am s burg in her m ansion on the Six Chim ney Lot that he wooed and won the Widow Custis . At the c apitol Patri c k Henry was a prominent figure and m his e phatic words , If that be treason , make the ” m m . ost of it , resounded fro its walls With Wash i n gton and Jefferson in legislative assembly in 1 6 m 7 9 , he drew up the fa ous resolutions asserting that the people of Virginia could be taxed only by

and it their own representatives , declaring to be both lawful and expedient for all the colonies to unite in protest against any violation of Am eri c an

w as rights . Henry one of those who , when the assembly was dissolved by Lord Botetourt and m again when it was disbanded by Lord Dun ore , m retired to the Apollo Roo of the Raleigh Tavern , the last tim e passing those resolutions which r e s ul ted in the assem bling of the First Continental

Congress . The Apollo Room of the Raleigh prob ably witnessed “ m ore scenes of brilliant festivity and politi c al excitem ent than any other single ” apartm ent in North America . Little William sburg was the birthplace of the r Revolution . In othe parts of the Colony the fires 85 ’ r e o o o l Virginia . S c nd C l nia Capital of revolution smouldered until fanned into flame ’ by Dunmore s stealing of the powder and his w an ’ ton act in the burning of Norfolk . Then indeed the demand for liberty became imperative and a reso lution was unanimously passed instructing the Vir ginia delegates to ask Congress to declare the

United Colonies free and independent states . When

the news was received in Williamsburg the town. went wild , church bells were rung, guns fired , and the the British flag was hauled down from capitol , i the thi rteen stripes being run up i n ts stead . After this demonstration things seem to have quieted down at the little capital ; the scen e had shifted to the Northern battlefields . It was in De cemb er of the first year of the war that the Phi Beta K appa Society , the oldest Greek letter fraternity in

the United States , was organized at William and

1 r eor Mary , and it was in 779 that the college was gan i z ed by Jefferson and the elective system intro d ff duce . . High tide had been reached in its a airs During the Revolution it lost its most important s o o o urces f revenue and has never rmegained its f rmer prestige . Virginia did not beco e the battlefield until Cornwallis began his retreat down the penin 1 8 1 hi m sula in June 7 . Lafayette followed closely on 6 a and July n action took place at Green Spring , ’ n o ce Governor Berkeley s country home , where the

c occu Ameri ans were repulsed . Cornwallis then pied Yorktow n and the surrender followed in O c tober . At this time Bruton Church was used as a ’ D n hospital . uri g its occupancy by Lafayette s s troops , the hou e of the president of William and 86

’ r e o o Virginia . S c nd C l onial Capital

n n n s a tique fur iture , paintings of a ce stor by famous s s s arti t of the last century , delightful old bras es , and m curious bits of china, and here there a gli pse

n s or of a Chippe dale taircase chair . The old Gar rett home there was spoken of in a Vi rgini a G az ette 1 6 of 7 3 . The oldest part of the house has a quaint staircase ; the only one like it in Virginia is at

Lower Brandon on the James . The front porch is tiled with square red brick tiles like those i n one of n d the old chancels at Jamestown , a its door has a curious old knocker of colored brass , showing its antiquity . In the center of the town still stand two buildings the designed by Sir Christopher Wren , courthouse , 1 6 old w built in 7 9 , and the Powder Horn , hich has m a seen any vicissitudes , having been alternately

market, a school , a church , and a dancing school . It is n ow a m useum and contains memorial win “ ” r dows to Nathaniel Bacon , J . , the rebel , and Alex “ ander Spottswood , the best governor Virginia ever ” had . Bruton Church was remodeled in 1 840 so as to be fairly unrecognizable with its partition midway n of the ave and its chancel against the partition . The town clock which was put into the steeple at

’ that time ceased for many years to m ark the flight of time but has n ow been put in order and strikes n the hours . The Jamestow font from which Poca bontas is said to have been baptized is on e of the n valued possessio s of Bruton Church , which has also fallen heir to the Jamestow n communion ser n 1 661 vice beari g the date , and owns two others

88

’ Virgini a s Second Col onial Capital

buildings indicate the present prosperity of the col . lege . In the interesting and ancient library which a has valuable Virginia department , and whose walls the are lined with engravings , portraits , and maps , of the charter the Phi Beta Kappa , and many other

v e of Vi r ini a Gaz ette relics , are preser d files the g , S outhern Li ter ar M es s en er a the y g , nd many valu of able antiques , among them the first edition Thom ’ 1 0 son s Seasons printed in London in 73 , and a

e 1 8 copy of Livy print d Venice in 49 .

9 0 $ ORKTOW N— THE W ATERLOO OF THE REVOLUTION

MONG the I n dians living i n Eastern Vir ginia under the dominion of King Powhatan Ches ki ack s on were the , who had a village a bluff overlooking the York ( then called the P a rnunkey ) and distant only ten or twelve miles from — ra his capital W e w ocomoco . This was the first of settlement on the site Yorktown . Later these Indian s moved across the river into Gloucester 1 6 0 e County , and colonists settled in 3 on or n ar the

site of their village, keeping its Indian name but changing the name of the river to the Charles . To keep out the savages and give the settlers a chance

ca was to raise ttle , it proposed to build a palisade stretching from Ch es kiack on the Charles to Mar ’ ’ tin s Hundred ( where Carter s Grove now stands) ” on an d the Powhatan , this was actually done in 1 6 34 at a cost of twelve hundred pounds . Although it took one hundred pounds a year to keep this pali

sade in repair, it probably more than paid for itself i n the profit that accrued to the colon ists from the

stock they were able to raise within it . A court was o held on Charles River in this same year , pr bably

he w n as on t spot no k own Temple Farm , from the

c ruins of a chur h with double walls found there ,

9 1 Tbe Wa terl oo of the R ev ol ution

which are believed by the antiquarian , President m Tyler of Willia and Mary College , to be those of the of village church York Parish . This plantation was afterwards the summer home of Governor

Spottswood and is now known as the Moore House . At Ches ki ack was built on e of the five warehouses

c in the Colony , to whi h planters were obliged to bring their crops to be inspected and from which they could be taken only to be shipped to England . m m Later , in order to increase the i portance of Ja es w town , the capital , they ere required to send their tobacco there to be shipped . Doubtless there was much evasion of these laws and the cave n ow known ’ as Cornwallis s Cave was probably dug o ut of the bluff by some enterprising planter to assist in this evasion . “ The city of Yorktown had its birth in the A c t for Ports passed in 1 69 1 which required the owners of certain plantations to sell town sites of fifty acres each for ten thousand pounds of tobacco . In York County it was the plantation of Benj amin Read from which fifty acres were sold and laid off in half- acre lots to establish Yorktown on what was henceforth known as the York River . And so , having a school and church , custom house and courthouse , stocks “ ” c eix sten ce and pillory , the city led a pla id for m nearly a century , cultivating the sa e fields that the m Indians had , though i poverishing the once fertile n f soil by conti ual planting o tobacco . The planters shipped their money crop (tobacco) to England and received i n exchange the necessitie s of life ; for re c r eation they fished and sailed on their broad river ,

9 2

The Wa terl oo of the R ev ol ution

enjoying all the gayeties of pre - Revolutionary life

in the Virginia Colony . That life in Yorktown was not too pri mitive may of be j udged from the appearance the Nelson House , a fine specimen of Colonial architecture Wi th its

lofty rooms and solid walls . Up and down its cir cular stone steps fashionable Colonial dames tripped to party or ball or to a visit at a neighboring planta

tion , and numerous gallants no doubt attended

them . The small windows , solid shutters , and mas

' sive door indicate that even in the midst of the gayety there was need of protection from attack by t ff he . W Indians George Mason , ashington , Je erson , and Lafayette have slept in this house and thither Cornwallis retired after being shelled out of Secre ’ tary Nelso n s house on the hill . The historic man o f m sion the Nelsons was built by Tho as Nelson , “ ” known as Scotch Tom , the father of William Nel ’ of son , President the King s Council , and the grand ‘ father of General Thom as Nelson; signer of the Declaration of Independence and war Governor of

Virginia , the most patriotic and illustrious of his

race . When money was needed to pay the troops n during the Revolution and to run the Gover ment , ’ as Virginia s credit was low , he borrowed money on his personal credit to such an extent that after s his death his vast estates went for the public debt ,

leaving his family penniless . 1 8 1 Q uiet little Yorktown suddenly became , in 7 ,

the central figure of the Revolutionary stage . In

order to capture Arnold , who had burned Richmond

and raided the plantations on the James River ,

93 The Wa terl oo of the R ev ol ution

W ashington decided to send both the American and

French forces into Virginia . Cornwallis , assuming c of s no ommand the British forces , ent Ar ld back to New York and tried to destroy Lafayette ’ s army in the interior of Virginia, but not succeeding in this he returned to the sea and w as ordered to en H o trench himself at Yorktown . w s ecurely he did this and how when he wished to leave hi s trenches he - could not, being completely hemmed in and at the mercy of the combined forces under the per s of W al l onal command ashington , the world knows .

ou - w ou If y visit Yorktown to day , hat y may not remember of the eleven - day siege will be re called to your m emory by the intensely patriotic and enthusi asti c keeper of the National Cemetery hard by the h battlefield . He will s ow y ou in the distance the lin e of breastwo rks completely encircling the v il w on lage , ith Fort Hamilton the right overgrown n with clambering blackberry vi es , and the whole circle gay with the yello w flowers of the broom ; and though you know that these are fortifications of a later struggle and that the redoubt taken by dashing m young Colonel Ha ilton has long since disappeared , you do not refuse to give your imagination rein and

- repeople the trenches before Yorktown . You see ’ Washington s line forming a crescen t before the breastworks ; on the right American troops under on R ocham Lafayette , the left the French under ’ $ o beau . u see De Grasse s fleet in the river, the ff tall masts rising over the blu , and you realize that $ ou no retreat for the British is possible that w ay .

94

The Wa terl oo of the R ev ol ution storm and a black night and make the British turn $ c . i ba k Yes , sir , He did The Lord be pra sed . And now he tells you that you are stan ding j ust where l out the British army marched slow y and dej ectedly , carrying their arms and with colors cased , between the American and French ranged in lines a mile of long on either side the road . Washington was on horseback with his aides at the head of the m m m A erican line and Count Rocha beau , si ilarly surrounded , at the head of the French line . Corn who of wallis , had signed the articles capitulation e f in the Moore House thr e hours be ore , was rep resented by one of his generals who conducted the

. t s surrender A monument , recently erec ed , mark the probable site of the event .

$ ou drive on by a broom - bordered and grass grown road to the Moore House on a bluff near the m m shore about a ile fro the village , and look with interest at the spot where on e of the m ost momen m tous events in the history of A erica took place . The antique roof and the rooms with corner fi r e places bespeak the age of the house , and its situa tion on the breezy bluff indicates the attraction i t had for busy Governor Spottswood when he wished to rest from the cares of state in the gay little cap old W . ital , illiamsburg D riving into sleepy York town , which has evidently never recovered from the m m bo bard ent, you stop to examine the tall and stately mon ument erected to the American soldiers who fell during the siege , and note in the village the

c m an ient custo house , once the fashionable rendez vous for the young gentlemen about town . That it

96

$ III

RICHMOND AND THE JAMES RIVER PLANTATIONS

2 1 6 N June 9 , 77 , the Virginia Colony ceased n n to be and the Commo wealth bega . The

e of 1 on nt. f Conv ntion 775 , accou o Lord ’ D m e un or s attitude , had been obliged to leave the — — Colonial capital Williamsburg and met in St .

_ ’ c John s Chur h in the little village of R ichmon d . n rn of Here Patrick Henry , soo to be made Gove or

o m m o - the C m onwealth , ade his w rld famous speech , ending with the oft- quoted W ords : Giv e me liberty r o give me death . The public records s oon fol

’ n n s and w lowed the Co ventio , for afekeeping, ith them the offices of the government ; thus Ri chmond ’ s l n s s became Virginia third capita , by the ece sitie of war n i n 1 an , the removal bei g made legal 779 by

Act of the Assembly . At this time there were less than three hun dred

n for not houses in Richmo d , it had been in existence n s n s in s much more tha thirty year , and tow tho e s n ot i n n day did grow , like mushrooms , a s i gle night . It was founded by Colonel W illiam Byrd of W on who in 1 i n his estover the James , wrote 733 “ ” “ Journey to the Lan d of Eden : W hen we got home we laid the foundations of two large cities ’ one at Shacco s to be called Richmond and the other

98

The J ames Riv er Pl antations have heard the voices of more dis tin gui s hed s tates o i s a n — as n men . The r ll call lo g one Tyler, M o , a n ff s n W s M diso , Monroe , Je er o , ythe , Chief Ju tice n I n 1 861 ‘ Marshall , John Ra dolph of Roanoke . the n ac cide ts of war again made Richmond a capital , s of s and Con thi time the Confederate State , the federate Congress during the four years of its exist ence met in the capitol building . Recently two n n large wi gs have bee added to it, making it much m ore beautiful and imposing . In the rotunda ’ s H oudon s s s of W s n s stand famou tatue a hingto , aid to be one of the most priceless pieces of marble i n s s s the world . The eque trian tatue of W a hington in i Capitol Square s also a wonderful piece of work . It was drawn by hand by enthusiastic citizens from t n the s hip landing to i s present position . Arou d the pedestal of the monument s tand figures of some of “ the founders of the n ation — Virgin ians all as n s ff w George M o , Thoma Je erson , Andrew Le is ,

s . Patrick Henry , James Madison , and John Mar hall

Richmon d is a city of mon ume nts . Prominent among the others are the equestrian statue of Lee an n d the mo nument to Sto ewall Jackson . Richmond churches are closely associated with — ’ St . s its history John , the oldest , with Patrick

1 88 s Henry and the Convention of 7 , made up of uch as W men Madison , Monroe , Marshall , Mason , ythe , n n m Pe dleton , Harriso , and Ed und Randolph . The Monumental Church is built upon the site of the theatre which was burn ed i n 1 8 1 1 with great loss n ns urn of life , and co tai in an the ashes of the vic f tims , among whom was the governor o the state .

1 0 0

The J a mes Riv er Pl antations

Colonial y ears it is closely as s ociated with the plan tati n s on s for s n as s o the Jame , their owner in ma y c e f s have houses in the capital also . The Byrds o W e t

ns an d n n and over, the Harriso of Berkeley Bra do , the Carters of S hirley are names as well known in Richmond as i n their s tately mans ions overlooking “ ” ’ n o a the broad Powhata . The f under of Virgini s c m in apital, Honorable Willia Evelyn Byrd, sleeps the garden at Westover under a mon ument on hi was W hich the curious may read s biography . He — “ the most illustrious of his line one of the bright n est stars in the social s kies of Colonial Virgi ia .

W . He was the author of the estover MSS , a fasci nating account of plantation life in hi s gen eration . m ” His Me oirs , published several years ago , are “ also of great interest . His daughter, The Fair in Evelyn , whose portrait hangs the drawing room of at Lower Brandon , was the greatest beauty her time and has been appropriated by Mary Johnston “ ” s as one of the characters in Audrey . W e tover house is one of the best specimens of Colonial archi tecture in America . All the lofty room s are wain s cote d to the ceiling ; the twisted balustrades of the stairs at the back of the great hall are of s olid ma b n of ogany . The va dalis m the soldiers during the Civil War destroyed much of quaint interest and n priceless value , but the restoratio has been thor ough and the house is probably the best preserved of Virginia Colonial houses .

Berkeley , the adj oining plantation , was the birth

c f o pla e o President Harrison . It als is in a good n f s tate of preservation . I common with mos t o the

1 0 2

The J ames Riv er Pl anta tions made by bullets over the door and in other w ays old within the house . It contains valuable silver , and $ ih historic portraits . pper Brandon was originally cluded in the Brandon estate . The house was severely damaged durin g the war and has n ever been fully ’ w i s . a s n s re tored C rter Grove , belo Jamestow , a “ K ” fine old mansion built by ing Carter , a wealthy ’ n I was th s n in f o Colon ial pla ter . t e ce e Jef ers n s n R time of his u s uccessful wooing of ebecca Burwell .

1 0 4 INDE$

’ r r o m c e s Hope, 1 2 m ee of Safe 60 62 A h C itt ty , , ’ r m s r n - omm n on o , G en . S . C 7 8 79 s ver , S t. Jo n s 5 6 A t g C u i il h , ; rn o en e c 9 3 9 9 0 3 ames o n 8 8 r on 89 A ld , B di t, , , 1 J t w , ; B ut , r er c oo or n a s Lor : i n am on A till y S h l , 6 C w lli , d H pt

. . V . A . , or of p r es er a oa s 64 65 , 67 $ or o n v , A P w k R d , ; kt w on m at Ja es o n , 1 1 1 4 am a n , 8 6 ca e 9 2 ti t w , , C p ig ; v , ; 1 5 ams r 8 7 s e e 9 3 - 9 6 : Willi bu g, i g , ’ acon a n e B s C s e , 1 2 ra s an , 1 9 ; a er 2 0 tl C y I l d b tt y, ; ’ Bacon s Re e on 1 0 , 1 4 1 5 42 rn n of Mer r imac 2 0 b l b , li , , , u i g m m r i C r utch fi el d l C o . 6 e o a n o 8 8 . l wi d w , , , 8 r r o o nn n a Ba n, omm ore ames , mod m, e .. escape 63 C d J Cu i gh Li ut , el of ron - c a 2 0 o r D a e S i r os arr a at i l d , ; bi g aphy l , Th , , iv l 62 - 66 K eco n 3 5 3 6 ughta , ,

arr on c ar Da s r es . ef er s on at . B , Ri h d , vi , P J f , Ft

rr n on roe - 2 B a o : S am e and ames the , 6 ; i n chmon , u l J , Ri d o n er 63 %l y u g , ’ s s D r s s 2 Ba e s o ce, 1 2 eG a e, o n , 4 9 4 Ch i C u t , er e e 1 0 2 De l a ar r o 9 3 B k l y , W e, L rd , , 5 D n-mor 2 Ber e e , S i r W m. , 1 4 8 1 u e, ord , 0 ; s ea n of k l y , L t li g e es a a e 7 2 un o er 5 9 om a r men B th d Ch p l , g p wd , ; b b d t ac ear 47 - 5 0 a a 0 of Nor o 60 62 8 Bl kb d , ; b ll d , 5 f lk , , , ’ ‘ ac ear s o n 49 68 E a on c oo 8 6 ms c oo Bl kb d P i t, , t S h l , 6 Sy S h l z a 1 a r , D r . ames r 1 3 ; com E be h R ver 9 , 2 1 Bl i J , g li t i , m s s ar 4 3 c r er for E z a e o n t n am n i y , ; ha t Wil li b th City C u y ; i g x n am an d Mar Co e e 8 1 and e e , 3 6 ; ne r es s er s , v li y ll g t t i d , a r ar a r a e 1 3 3 8 r s r ee s c 40 o Bl i , S h , g v , ; fi t f hool , ; p p ul n 4 1 a f on n e e e, 47 , ati o , ; v e o s aves . B t, St d lu l o e o r or 8 5 s a e 8 9 42 ; pr oper 4 4 ; expos re t o B t t u t, L d, ; t tu , ty , u B r aflfer to a 43 8 1 8 9 a ac 5 9 ree- s oo s s n H ll , , , tt k , ; f ch l y r an on o er 1 0 2 1 0 3 - 1 0 4 tem 7 3 B d , L w , , , ran on $ per 1 0 4 or A ern on , 3 8 B , p lg d , F t r on r c 8 3 6 8 8 - 8 9 C ar e s 3 5 B ut Chu h , , 8 , h l , r ce m as s a or 1 5 eor ge 2 3 62 B y , A b d , G , , c r oe 3 8 4 1 en r 3 5 Bu k , , H y ,

r es s es 1 0 2 mon men 1 5 Mon r oe . 1 9 , s or and d e Bu g , , 1 ; u t, hi t y t s s 2 4 i r at ams r 8 2 8 3 en e . . 2 6 ; n ivi W a , Willi bu g, , C l ’ 1 7 7 er G en . B . F . b s o er s , Butl , , uy S ldi ome 2 8 7 6 n comman N e s on 2 1 H , , ; i d l , Nor o 2 1 . on r oe 7 1 f Ft M , lk , er c oo 7 8 Woo , s ee R p Rap s Butl S h l , l i m n f F ox 1 r C ol . W . o er o ch , 4 By d , , f u d Ri Hill ’ m on 9 8 r a e 0 2 F r eed m en s B r ea 7 8 d , ; g v , 1 u u , i r am am on 7 1 a es , S os . , cap r es K e C p H ilt , G t Th tu 2 4 cou htan 3 5 ape ar es 5 , 6 g , C Ch l ,

a e en r an n at 7 7 ar r e ome, 8 8 C p H y , l di g , , 1 G tt h o s e 1 7 2 0 2 5 6 os por Nav $ ar 2 0 lighth u , ; , , 4 G t y d , ’ ar er s r o e 1 0 4 am on exan er 9 4 9 5 C t G v , H ilt , Al d , , am on : ear s c oo 40 s e a r C ol . o n B . 7 4 7 5 p s , ; , C y , J h , , H t ly h l it ‘ am er n o e 2 8 ol d r ave a r , 4 6 ; por Ch b l i H t l , g y d t r s ar es o n r es or of r a es of en r , 5 2 ; c r c , 5 4 ; Ch l T w , t pi t , t y fi t hu h n ’ 4 5 47 s econ c r c , 5 5 ; S . Jo s, , d hu h t h n n s a ea e B a 1 6 2 3 2 6 2 7 5 5 ; i n Revo o , 62 , 67 ; i e p , , , , Ch k y , luti war of 1 8 1 2 68 69 r n n 5 9 60 , , ; bu i g, 2 8 7 6 7 0 s c oo s 1 8 5 0 7 3 - 7 9 es apea e o e e , ; ( Ch k C ll g , h l m C h es k i ack n an s r ea 41 amp on ca e , s ee S ms I di , T ty , H t A d y y a e 9 1 a s a e 9 1 Sc oo v ; p , ill g , li d h l 2 oc r n m r a 2 0 a ac on amp on os p a , 8 , 7 1 C kbu , Ad i l , ; tt k H t H it l m n 1 9 s am on 68 a p on s e , ; e 5 5 , H pt , H t I titut it , n o on a D am es of mer ca 1 5 7 1 ; b e n n s , 7 8 , 7 9 C l i l A i , gi i g on r a an s 7 1 7 7 7 8 am on M ar ca em 7 5 p , b , C t d , , H t ilit y A d y — INDE$ Continued

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a p on Riv er, s ee S outham a n r p a e . ca re of H t M y d , Li ut , ptu mon ac ear Bl kb d , m - Ha pton Road s : 1 6 2 1 ; n aval er r mac r n a s or 2 0 M i ( Vi gi i ) , hi t y, s a at E x os on 1 7 p p , e an a on 3 ams di l y iti Middl Pl t ti , 66 W illi ba ttle of Mon itor an d Mer r i burg ma 1 c , 8 , s r r o n d n s 1 9 u u i g , ; C r ee 2 4 2 8 7 1 Mill k , , , e en s es 2 6 ca re of d f , ; ptu pi oore o s e 9 2 9 6 M H u , , r a 4 n e , 6 ; V r a Nav 61 65 t i gi i y , on or an d er r mac a e 1 8 M it M i , b ttl , a r r s on Na an e 1 0 3 H i , th i l , Mor l l l enta l rc c mon , R Chu h i h d , en r a r c 5 7 5 8 5 9 8 5 H y , P t i k , , , ; , iéé an ’ b n er , 5 9 61 , Nation a l Soldier s Home : 1 9 ; d e H O M r n e s . a e 69 p , J , s cr on 2 8 a s es a ea e ipti , ; Ch p k n R ev . o er a 1 , R b , b e 5 Hu t t t l t , os a 7 1 ceme er 2 9 H pit l , ; t y, e a ote s or 2 7 Hyg i H l , hi t y , Na a os a v l H pit l , n an s : as s aves , 42 ; p an to Na a on c s res ons e for I di l l vig ti A t , p ibl e ca e 43 44 , , ; s c ool at F t . rac 45 du t h pi y , r s an n a , 5 3 ; B r affer on Na $ a r s or 2 0 Ch i t t v , t , ‘ y d hi y a 8 1 8 9 , , . S ee a l s o K e Necotowan ce rea 4 1 H ll , t ty , cou h an h g t , C es k i ak n an s Ne r oes : r s car o 1 0 no s e I di g fi t g , ; p Ja mes o n : 7 1 5 ; s e lemen 7 a r a e c r c es 3 9 n m er t w tt t , t hu h , ; u b , s e of an n 1 3 s p 41 42 5 1 a ue 42 rea it l di g, ; hi , , ; v l , ; t t ’ oa of ma en s an d r s car men 5 2 a s m 5 6 a l d id fi t t , ; b pti , ; C p t o of s a g ves , 1 0 ; s ave from ar ar n 65 a er r n l d M k St li , ; ft bu m as s acr e 1 2 r es 1 0 d e i n of am on 7 0 s c oo s , ; fi , ; g H pt , ; h l ~ s er i n of 1 1 - o , ; br ea a er at am on , 7 7 7 9 t kw t , H pt “ 1 1 r r e 1 4 mon n n os 9 3 r a e 9 7 ; thi d idg , ; u Ne s o G e . , ; g v , m l , Th en s . 1 5 ; er cen en n a 1 5 Ne s on o s e 9 3 t T t i l , , l H u , ’ 1 6, 1 7 Ne or a 7 1 1 wp t , C p t , , ames o n c r c : r s 9 Ne or Ne s 1 1 s e emen 1 9 J t w hu h fi t , wp t w , ; ttl t , r s r b c , 1 0 o er 1 0 1 3 N c o s on G ov 44 46 fi t i k ; t w , , , i h l , , n fo a on s , 1 2 ; r a e ar Nor o : i n W ar of 1 8 1 2 2 0 g v , u d ti y d f lk , ; r s or n e a o of br c , n a ar 2 1 2 7 s e e men t ti i k vy y d, , ; ttl t, 1 5 comm n on s er ’ l ; v 8 8 2 1 . a s 2 1 i n R ev o u u i il , ; ; St P ul , ; on on a er s or f t, ti l t hi t y , m n n 2 m r m n J a e s o s a : n o o n 1 1 2 ; bo ba e , 60 t w I l d t w , d t r n n ° n a h a 2 1 p es e co on 1 2 mon Ocea a , pe b t e S e , t diti , u Ch l y m en s Ol d o n 3 66 o n om or t , P i t, P i t C f t ames er 7 s or c a s s oc a O ech an can ou h 1 3 J Riv , ; hi t i i p g , , ’ on s an a on s 9 3 ace s a ns ti pl t ti , , P P i , ’ 1 0 2 - 1 0 4 ar s on s s c oo 40 P h l , effer s on os r n 9 , 5 7 , 5 8 , 8 5 8 6, age, Si Jo , 8 3 , 7 J Th , P h 9 9 M r ar 7 ea e s . 7 , P k , M y . K eco an : 3 0 - 3 8 s s of e er s r ught ; vi it P t bu g, - o n m 3 3 3 5 or s 3 5 P em r o e ar m r a e ar . 46 J h S ith , ; f t , , b k F , g v y d m r n z 8 3 8 ; c an e of n a e 3 6 Be a Ka ppa , o a e , 6 h g , Phi t g i d

cou htan n an s mee n s s C ol . g I di ti g Phillip , , C r r n 2 8 o n m , 1 6 3 3 3 5 ; oeb s , a s o , with J h S ith , , Ph u H i a e an d man n er of e ra es 45 - 5 0 vill g lif , Pi t 3 0 - 3 5 r ea es 4 1 r a es oa 49 ; t ty with whit , Pi t R d , “ Kem s e 0 1 d n re oca on as : ace of mar r a e p vill , Hu d d P h t pl i g c r c 2 1 an d a s m 1 3 mon men hu h , b pti ; u t , Kn s of o en or s es oe 5 4 1 5 res c e of o n m 9 7 ight G ld H h , ; u J h S ith , ; a a e e i n Nor o 2 2 ome 1 0 2 L f y tt , f lk , h , n co n c oo P och i n s mee n o n Li l S h l . , ti g with J h r n r om Ke oc o . 7 7 Sm , 3 3 ; ve f L kwo d , J C ith d i

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