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Total Receipts of School Funds for the Year Ending July 31, 1908. (From report of Division Superintendent of Schools.)
From State funds $13,968 92 " County school tax 12,355 38 " District school tax 14,640 82 " All other sources 322 30 " Balance on hand August 1, 1907 6,644 60 ————— Total $47,931 97 Total expenditures 42,788 58 ————— Balance on hand August 1, 1908 $5,143 39
School population, Number of Schools, Enrollment and Attendance by Races and Districts, 1906-1907. (From report of State Superintendent of Schools.)
+ -+ -+ -+ School No. of Whole number Population. Schools opened. enrolled. Districts. + + + + + + +Total. White. Colored. White. Colored. White. Colored. + + + + + + + Broad Run 748 228 19 4 538 131 669 Jefferson 619 216 15 4 446 196 642 Leesburg 381 143 9 3 358 107 465 Lovettsville 614 34 13 1 498 24 522 Mercer 628 482 15 7 467 277 744 Mt. Gilead 695 457 16 6 493 231 724 Town of Leesburg 255 130 6 3 196 121 317 + + + + + + Total 3,940 1,690 93 28 2,996 1,087 4,083 + + + + + + +
Religion.
The Church, with her faiths, her sacraments, and a part of her ministry, was an integral part of the colonization of the County from the beginning and continuously. Everywhere, with the spreading population, substantial edifices for public worship were erected and competent provision made for the maintenance of all the decencies and proprieties of Christian religion. The influence of these institutions, and of the faith which they embodied, was most benign and salutary. They gave to the age of the Revolution its noble character and its deep-seated principles, the force and momentum of which have come down, with gradually decreasing power, to our own day. But with these institutions and with their proper effect and influence was mingled the fatal leaven of secularity.
* * * * *
All the leading denominations are represented in Loudoun by churches and congregations to the extent shown by the following table of statistics, representing conditions as they existed at the close of the calendar year 1906, and based upon the returns of individual church organizations so far as received by the Census Office, through which Bureau they were obtained for initial publication in this work.
=================================================================== Total Communicants number of or members. Denomination. organizations. Total number reported. - All denominations 97 7,606 Baptist bodies: Baptists Southern Baptist Convention 11 1,199 National Baptist Convention (colored) 15 1,235 Free Baptists 2 55 Primitive Baptists 6 171 Friends: Society of Friends (Orthodox) 2 122 Religious Society of Friends (Hicksite) 3 278 Lutheran bodies: General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States of America 4 645 Methodist bodies:[17] Methodist Episcopal Church 19 1,179 Methodist Episcopal Church (South) 21 1,716 Colored Methodist Episcopal Church 1 45 Presbyterian bodies: Presbyterian Church in the United States (South) 4 345 Protestant Episcopal Church 7 416 Reformed bodies: Reformed Church in the United States 1 140 Roman Catholic Church 1 60 - -
[Footnote 17: Leesburg had, until a year or so ago when it was razed, one of the oldest Methodist churches in America. The building, a large stone structure, long abandoned, with galleries around three sides, stood in the midst of an old Methodist graveyard in which are tombstones more than a century old. It was built, according to report, in 1780.
Leesburg is the oldest Methodist territory in the bounds of the Baltimore Conference in Virginia, and it was here that the first Methodist Conference held in the State convened May 19, 1778.]
Historical.
FORMATION.
In 1742, Prince William County, a part of the stupendous Culpeper grant, was divided and the county of Fairfax created and named in honor of its titled proprietor. Commencing at the confluence of the Potomac and Occoquan rivers, the line of demarcation followed the latter stream and its tributary, Bull Run, to its ultimate source in the mountain of that name, from which point it was continued to the summit of said mountain, pursuing thereafter a direct course to the thoroughfare in the Blue Ridge, known as "Ashby's Gap."
In 1757, Fairfax was divided and the territory west of its altered boundary christened "Loudoun County." The new line followed the stream called Difficult Run, from its junction with the Potomac to its highest spring-head, and from that point was continued in a direct line to the northeast border of Prince William County. This boundary was afterwards changed and the present line between Loudoun and Fairfax substituted (see "Boundaries," page 17).
The following are excerpts from the proceedings of the Virginia House of Burgesses that led to the creation of Loudoun County in May, 1757. The act authorizing the division of Fairfax and establishment of Loudoun is given intact:
On April 20, 1757, a "petition of sundry Inhabitants of Fairfax County, praying a Division of the said County, was presented to the House and read, and referred to the Consideration of the next Session of Assembly."
On Friday, April 22, 1757, "Mr. Charles Carter, from the Committee on Propositions and Grievances, reported, that the Committee had had under their Consideration divers Propositions, from several Counties, to them referred, and had come to several Resolutions thereupon, which he read in in Place, and then delivered in at the Table, where the same were again twice read, and agreed to by the House, as follow:"
"Resolved, That the Petition of sundry Back-Inhabitants of the said County of Fairfax, praying the same may be divided into two distinct Counties, by a Line from the Mouth up the main Branch of Difficult-Run to the Head thereof, and thence by a streight Line to the Mouth of Rocky-Run, is reasonable."
The following Monday the bill was again presented to the House by Charles Carter, of the Committee of Propositions and Grievances, and Friday, April 29, 1757, was ordered engrossed and read a third time.
Monday, May 2, 1757, the engrossed Bill, entitled, "An Act for dividing the county of Fairfax," was read a third time, passed by the House, and sent to the Council for their "concurrence." It received the assent of the governor Wednesday, June 8, 1757.
An Act for Dividing the County of Fairfax. (Passed May 2, 1757.)
I. WHEREAS, Many inconveniences attend the upper inhabitants of the county of Fairfax, by reason of the large extent of the said county, and their remote situation from the court-house, and the said inhabitants have petitioned this present general assembly that the said county may be divided: Be it, therefore, enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That from and after the 1st day of July next ensuing the said county of Fairfax be divided into two counties, that is to say: All that part thereof, lying above Difficult-run, which falls into Patowmack river, and by a line to be run from the head of the same run, a straight course, to the mouth of Rocky run, shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of Loudoun: And all that part thereof below the said run and course, shall be one other distinct county, and retain the name of Fairfax.
II. And for the due administration of justice in the said county of Loudoun, after the same shall take place: Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the first day of July a court for the said county of Loudoun be constantly held by the justices thereof, upon the second Tuesday in every month, in such manner as by the laws of this colony is provided, and shall be by their commission directed.
III. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be constructed to hinder the sheriff or collector of the said county of Fairfax, as the same now stands entire and undivided, from collecting and making distress for any public dues, or officers fees, which shall remain unpaid by the inhabitants of the said county of Loudoun at the time of its taking place; but such sheriff or collector shall have the same power to collect or distrain for such dues and fees, and shall be answerable for them in the same manner as if this act had never been made, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the court of the said county of Fairfax shall have jurisdiction of all actions and suits, both in law and equity, which shall be depending before them at the time the said division shall take place; and shall and may try and determine all such actions and suits, and issue process and award execution in any such action or suit in the same manner as if this act had never been made, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
V. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That out of every hundred pounds of tobacco, paid in discharge of quit rents, secretary's, clerk's, sheriff's, surveyor's, or other officers fees, and so proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity, there shall be made the following abatements or allowances to the payer, that is to say: For tobacco due in the county of Fairfax ten pounds of tobacco, and for tobacco due in the county of Loudoun twenty pounds of tobacco; and that so much of the act of the assembly, intituled, An Act for amending the Staple of Tobacco, and preventing frauds in his Majesty's customs, as relates to anything within the purview of this act, shall be, and is hereby repealed and made void.
DERIVATION OF NAME.
Loudoun County was named in honor of Lord Loudoun, a representative peer of Scotland, who, the year before its establishment, and during the French and Indian war, had been appointed captain-general and governor-in-chief of the province of Virginia, and commander-in-chief of the British military forces in the Colonies.
His military avocations, however, prevented him from entering upon the duties of the gubernatorial office, and it is believed that he never visited the colony of Virginia. Dinwiddie continued in the control of its affairs, while Loudoun turned his attention to military matters, in which his indolence, indecision, and general inefficiency were most conspicuous and disastrous. Franklin said of him: "He is like little St. George on the sign-boards; always on horseback, but never goes forward."
Until his early recall to England, contemporaneous writers and brother officers mercilessly criticised Loudoun "whom a child might outwit, or terrify with a pop-gun."
Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia contains the following succinct account of the public services rendered by this noted Scotchman:
"John Campbell, son of Hugh, Earl of Loudoun, was born in 1705, and succeeded his father in the title in November, 1731. In July, 1756, he arrived in New York with the appointment of governor-in-chief of Virginia, and also with the commission of commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, but, proving inefficient, returned to England in 1757. He was made Lieutenant-General in 1758, and General in 1770. He died April 27, 1782, and was succeeded by Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, as governor of Virginia, in 1768."
SETTLEMENT AND PERSONNEL.
The permanent settlement of Loudoun began between the years 1725 and 1730 while the County was yet a part of Prince William and the property of Lord Fairfax, the immigrants securing ninety-nine-year leases on the land at the rate of two shillings sterling per 100 acres. The above-noted interim saw a steady influx of the fine old English Cavalier[18] stock, the settlers occupying large tracts of land in the eastern and southern portions of the County or most of the territory extending from the Potomac River southward to Middleburg and from the Catoctin and Bull Run mountains eastward to the eastern border of the County. It is more to this noble and chivalric strain than to any other that Loudoun owes her present unrivalled social eminence.
[Footnote 18: This stock was the first to introduce and foster slavery in the County.—Goodhart's History of the Loudoun Rangers.]
John Esten Cooke's faithful and eloquent delineation of Virginia character is peculiarly applicable to this Cavalier element of Loudoun society. Some conception of that author's grandiose style and intimate knowledge of his subject may be gained from the following passage:
"The Virginian of the present time has ingrained in his character the cordial instincts and spirit of courtesy and hospitality which marked his ancestors. He has the English preference for the life of the country to the life of the city; is more at home among green fields and rural scenes than in streets; loves horses and dogs, breeds of cattle, the sport of fox-hunting, wood-fires, Christmas festivities, the society of old neighbors, political discussions, traditions of this or that local celebrity, and to entertain everybody to the extent of, and even beyond, his limited means. Many of these proclivities have been laughed at, and the people have been criticised as provincial and narrow-minded; but after all it is good to love one's native soil, and to cherish the home traditions which give character to a race. Of the Virginians it may be said that they have objected in all times to being rubbed down to a uniformity with all the rest of the world, and that they have generally retained the traits which characterized their ancestors."
The northwestern part of the County, known as the "German Settlement," a section of about 125 square miles, extending from Catoctin Mountain westward to the Short Hill Mountains and from the Potomac River southward to near Wheatland, was originally settled by a sturdy and vigorous race of Germans,[19] principally from Pennsylvania, but a few from New York, in which two colonies they had settled on their arrival, only a few years before, from the Palatine states of Germany. They came to Loudoun between the years 1730 and 1735,[20] about the time of the Cavalier settlements.
These German settlers were a patient, God-fearing people, naturally rugged, and very tenacious in the preservation of their language, religion, customs and habits. Every stage in their development has been marked by a peaceable and orderly deportment—a perfect submission to the restraints of civil authority.
[Footnote 19: The first sheep were brought to the County by these settlers.—History of the Loudoun Rangers.]
[Footnote 20: 1732 was most likely the year in which the earliest of these German settlers arrived in Loudoun.]
The earliest of these German arrivals, with native foresight and a proper appreciation of the dangers incident to border settlement in that day of bloody Indian atrocities, came to Loudoun in an organized body, embracing sixty or more families.
Many of the males were artisans of no mean ability, and plied their respective trades as conscientiously and assiduously as others, in the rude manner of the times, tilled their newly-acquired acres.
In this way, a congenial, stable, and self-sustaining colony, founded on considerations of common safety and economic expediency, was established amongst these storied hills of frontier Virginia.
Almost simultaneously with these settlements came other emigrants from Pennsylvania and the then neighboring colonies, among them many members of the Society of Friends or Quakers.[21] Not a few of this faith came direct from England and Ireland, attracted by the genial climate, fertile soils and bountiful harvests, accounts of which had early gained wide-spread circulation. They chose homes in the central portion of the County, southwest of Waterford and west of Lessburg, that section being generally known as the "Quaker Settlement."
Each summer brought them new accessions of prosperity and devout brethren to swell their numbers; and soon they had caused the wilderness to blossom as the rose. Here they found freedom of religious and moral thought, a temperate climate, and the wholesome society of earnest compatriots.
Then, as now, a plain, serious people, they have left the impress of their character—thrifty, industrious, and conspicuously honest—upon the whole of the surrounding district.
[Footnote 21: The term Quaker, originally given in reproach, has been so often used, by friend as well as foe, that it is no longer a term of derision, but is the generally accepted designation of a member of the Society of Friends.—Loudoun Rangers.]
No concerted violence, it is believed, was offered these settlers by the Indians who seem to have accredited them with the same qualities of honesty, virtue, and benevolence, by the exercise of which William Penn, the founder of the faith in Pennsylvania, had won their lasting confidence and esteem.
The Quaker is a type with which all the world is familiar and needs no particular portrayal in this work. The Quakers of Loudoun have at all times remained faithful adherents of the creed, their peculiar character, manners, and tenets differing to no considerable extent from those of other like colonies, wherever implanted.
It is doubtful if any race has done more to stimulate and direct real progress, and to develop the vast resources of Loudoun, than that portion of our earlier population known as the Scotch-Irish. Their remarkable energy, thrift, staidness, and fixed religious views made their settlements the centers of civilization and improvement in Colonial times; that their descendants proved sturdy props of the great cause that culminated in the independence of the United States is a matter of history.
EARLY HABITS, CUSTOMS, AND DRESS.
HABITS.
The earliest permanent settlements of Loudoun having been separately noted in the foregoing paragraphs a generalized description of the habits, customs, and dress of these settlers, as well as their unorganized pioneer predecessors and the steady promiscuous stream of home-seekers that poured into the County until long after the Revolution, will now be attempted.
The early settlers, with but one class exception, had no costly tastes to gratify, no expensive habits to indulge, and neither possessed nor cared for luxuries. Their subsistence, such as they required, cost but little of either time or labor. The corn from which they made their bread came forth from the prolific soil almost at the touch of their rude plows. Their cattle and hogs found abundant sustenance in the broad pastures which, in the summer, yielded the richest grass, and in the woods where, in the fall, the ground was strewn with acorns and other like provender.
The pioneer lived roughly; the German from the Palatinate kept house like the true peasant that he was; the planter lived somewhat more sumptuously and luxuriously; but, in nearly every case, the table was liberally supplied. Hominy, milk, corn-bread, and smoked or jerked meats seem to have been most popular with the humbler classes.
Ice was not stored for summer use, fruits were few and not choice, and the vegetables limited; our ancestors, at that time, having no acquaintance with the tomato, cauliflower, egg-plant, red-pepper, okra, and certain other staple vegetables of today. The Indians had schooled them in the preparation of succotash with the beans grown among the corn, and they raised melons, squashes, and pumpkins in abundance.
Corn for bread was broken in a mortar and ground in a grater or hand-mill. Mills, in the early days, were few and far apart, some of the back-settlers being compelled to travel many miles for their grist. This condition gave origin to the adage "first come first served," and frequently carried the late arrivals over night and, at times, prolonged the trip to procure a few bushels of meal three or four days. "Band-mills," run by horses, and small water mills, where the situation permitted, came into use to supply the demand of larger ones. The building of a good mill, it must be confessed, was hailed with greater satisfaction than the erection of a church.
The more primitive of these peoples ate from wooden trenchers and platters; sat upon three-legged stools or wooden blocks; used bear's grease in lieu of lard and butter, and cut their foods with the same sheath-knives used in disembowelling and skinning the deer killed by their rifles. They had no money and their scant furniture was essentially crude, sometimes including a few pewter dishes and plates and spoons, but usually nothing beyond wooden bowls, trenchers, and noggins, with gourds and squashes daintily cut. The horse trough served as a wash-basin, and water buckets were seldom seen. The family owning an iron pot and a kitchen table were esteemed rich and extravagant, and china and crockery ware were at once practically unknown and uncraved. Feather-beds and bedsteads were equally eschewed, these hardy men who had conquered the wilderness not disdaining, when night came, to sleep upon a dirt floor with a bear-skin for covering.
With muscles of iron and hearts of oak, they united a tenderness for the weak and a capability for self-sacrifice worthy of an ideal knight of chivalry; and their indomitable will, which recognized no obstacle as insuperable, was equalled only by their rugged integrity which regarded dishonesty as an offense as contemptible as cowardice. For many years they dwelt beyond the pale of governmental restraint, nor did they need the presence of either courts or constables. Crimes against person, property, or public order were of so infrequent occurrence as to be practically unheard of. In moral endowments—even if not in mental attainments—these sturdy pioneers of Loudoun were, it must be admitted, vastly superior to many of those who followed them when better facilities for transportation rendered the County more accessible.
Society before and for many years after the Revolution was easy, agreeable, and somewhat refined. Traveling was slow, difficult, and expensive. For society, the inhabitants were mainly dependent upon themselves; the ties of social life were closely drawn. Books, newspapers, and magazines were rare; men and women read less, but talked more, and wrote longer and more elaborate letters than now. "Cheap postage has spoiled letter writing." Much time was spent in social visits; tea parties, and supper parties were common. The gentlemen had their clubs and exclusive social gatherings, sometimes too convivial in their character, and occasionally a youth of promise fell a victim to the temptations of a mistaken hospitality. "Gaming was more common among respectable people than at the present day."
CUSTOMS.
Of leisure, all classes at all times had a superabundance, and it was cheerfully devoted to mutual assistance without thought of recompense, except in kind. If anyone fell behind through sickness or other misfortune, his neighbors would cheerfully proffer their services, often making of the occasion a frolic and mingling labor with amusement.
On days set apart for the pulling of flax and wheat-cutting, the neighbors and their children assembled in happy mood and as cheerfully applied themselves to their gratuitous tasks. While the men were pulling the flax or reaping and shocking the wheat, the women at the house were preparing the harvest-noon feast. The rough table, for which the side and bottom boards of a wagon were frequently used, was placed when practicable under the shade of a spreading tree in the yard. The visitors contributed from their meagre store such additional dishes, knives, forks, and spoons as were needed. Around the table, seated on benches, stools, or splint-bottom chairs, with such appetites as could only be gained from honest toil in the open field, the company partook of the bounties set before them. These consisted, in addition to the never-failing corn-bread and bacon, of bear and deer meat, turkey, or other game in season, and an abundance of vegetables which they called "roughness." The bread, styled "jonny-cake," was baked on journey or "jonny" boards, about two feet long and eight inches wide. The dough was spread over the boards which were then placed before the fire; after one side was browned, the cake was reversed and the unbaked side turned toward the flames.
However strictly it might be abstained from at other times, a harvest without whisky was like a dance without a fiddle. It was partaken of by all—each one, male and female, drinking from the bottle and passing it to his or her nearest neighbor. Drinking vessels were dispensed with as mere idle superfluities.
Dinner over, the company scattered, the elders withdrawing in a body and seating or stretching themselves upon the ground.
After the filling and lighting of the inevitable pipe, conversation would become general. The news of the day—not always, as may be imagined, very recent—was commented upon, and then, as now, political questions were sagely and earnestly discussed. Stories, mainly of adventure, were told; hairbreadth escapes from Indian massacre recounted and the battles of late wars fought again beneath the spreading branches of the trees. Meanwhile, the boys and girls wandered off in separate and smaller groups, singing and playing and making love much in the manner of today.
Another amusement of those days, and one that did not fall into disfavor for many years thereafter, was what was known as "shucking bees." To these gatherings were invited both old and young. Stacks of corn in the husk were piled upon the ground near the crib where the golden ears were finally to be stored. Upon the assemblage of the guests, those with proud records as corn-huskers were appointed leaders, they in turn filling the ranks of their respective parties by selection from the company present, the choice going to each in rotation. The corn was divided into approximately equal piles, one of which was assigned to each party. The contest was then begun with much gusto and the party first shucking its allotment declared the winner. The lucky finder of a red ear was entitled to a kiss from the girls.
Supper always followed this exciting contest and after supper came the dance. Stripped of dishes, the tables were quickly drawn aside and the room swept by eager hands. Then came the struggle for partners and the strife to be "first on the floor." Usually the violin furnished the only music and the figures most in favor were the reel and the jig, in which all participated with a zest and abandon unknown to the modern ballroom. "They danced all night till broad daylight and went home with the girls in the morning," some on foot and some on horseback, practically the only means of getting there.
"Dreadful prodigality" does not too extravagantly describe the drinking habits of the people of Virginia in the latter half of the eighteenth century. They consumed an enormous quantity of liquors in proportion to their numbers, and drank indiscriminately, at all hours of the day and night. West India rum was the favorite drink of the people, because the cheapest, and was bought by the puncheon. Most every cellar, especially in the Cavalier settlements, had its barrel of cider, Bordeaux and sherry and Madeira wines, French brandies, delicate Holland gins, cordials, syrups, and every sort of ale and beer. Drunkenness was so common as to excite no comment, and drinking after dinner and at parties was always hard, prolonged, and desperate, so that none but the most seasoned old topers—the judges, squires, and parsons of six-bottle capacity—ever escaped with their sea-legs in an insurable condition.
While a large proportion of the home-seekers that had settled in the County immediately after the Revolution had received a rudimentary education, and had lived among communities which may be said to have been comparatively cultured, most of them were hardy, rough, uncultivated back-woodsmen, accustomed only to the ways of the frontier and camp. Many of them had served in the war of the Revolution and all of them in the border wars with the Indians. Though brave, hospitable and generous, they were more at ease beneath the forest bivouac than in the "living-room" of the log-cabin, and to swing a woodman's axe among the lofty trees of the primeval forest was a pursuit far more congenial to their rough nature and active temperament than to mingle with society in settled communities. Their habits and manners were plain, simple, and unostentatious. Their clothing was generally made of the dressed skins of the deer, wolf, or fox, while those of the buffalo and elk supplied them with covering for their feet and heads. Their log-cabins were destitute of glass, nails, hinges, or locks.
Education during the early settlements received but little attention in Loudoun, and school-houses, always of logs, were scarcely to be seen. Schools were sometimes opened at private houses or at the residence of the teacher; but "book larnin" was considered too impracticable to be of much value.
While the standard of morality, commercial as well as social, was of a high order, few of these settlers were members of any church. Many of them, however, had been reared in religious communities by Christian parents; had been taught to regard the Sabbath as a day of worship, and had been early impressed with a sense of the necessity of religious faith and practice. Some of the prominent citizens encouraged these views by occasionally holding meetings in their cabins, at which the scriptures and sometimes sermons were read and hymns sung, but no prayers were offered. The restraining and molding influence of these early Christian efforts upon the habits and morals of the people was in every respect wholesome and beneficial. The attention of the people was arrested and turned to the study and investigation of moral and religious questions, and direction was given to the contemplation of higher thoughts and the pursuit of a better life.
In the meantime, other elements were introduced which effected a radical change in the habits of the people for both good and evil. The first settlers lived in the country, in the woods and wilds, whose "clearings" were far apart. Not one in ten of them had dwelt in any town, or even visited one having as many as a thousand inhabitants. And now there came the merchant, the lawyer, the doctor, and the mechanic, who resided in the towns which began to grow and to take on new life. Most of these had enjoyed superior advantages, so far as related to education and that worldly wisdom which comes from experience in older communities. Some of them had come from across the ocean and others from the large American cities, bringing with them manners, customs, furniture, and wares, of which the like had never been seen by the oldest inhabitant.
And thus were gradually introduced the methods and appliances of a more advanced civilization. The pioneer and his wife, hearing of these things, would occasionally "go to town" to "see the sights," and would there discover that there were many useful and convenient articles for the farm and kitchen which might be procured in exchange for their corn, bacon, eggs, honey, and hides; and although the shrewd merchant was careful to exact his cent per cent, the prices asked were little heeded by the purchaser who was as ignorant of the value of the commodities offered as he was delighted with their novelty and apparent usefulness.
DRESS.
The subject of dress is approached with reluctance and its description diffidently essayed. But the task has seemed mandatory as the manners of a people can not otherwise be fully understood. The stately, ceremonious intercourse of the sexes, the stiff and elaborate walk of Loudoun men and women of Colonial and post-Revolutionary times is traceable almost solely to the costuming of that period. How could ladies dance anything but the stately minuet, when their heads were veritable pyramids of pasted hair surmounted by turbans, when their jeweled stomachers and tight-laced stays held their bodies as tightly as would a vise, when their high-heeled shoes were as unyielding as if made of wood, and their trails of taffeta, often as much as fifteen yards long, and great feathered head-dresses compelled them to turn round as slowly as strutting peacocks? How could the men, with their buckram-stiffened coat-shirts, execute any other dance, when their elaborate powdered wigs compelled them to carry their hats under their arms, and their swords concurrently required dexterous management for the avoidance of tripping and mortifying falls?
Children were laced in stays and made to wear chin supports, gaps, and pads so as to give them the graceful carriage necessary to the wearing of all this weight of stiff and elaborate costume, which was all of a piece with the character of the assemblies and other evening entertainments, the games of cards—basset, loo, piquet, and whist—with the dancing, the ceremonious public life of nearly every class of society, with even the elaborate funeral ceremonies, and the sedulousness with which "persons of quality" thought it incumbent upon themselves to maintain the distinctions of rank as symbolized in costume.
The tie-wig, bob-wig, bag-wig, night-cap-wig, and riding-wig were worn by the gentleman of quality as occasion required. At times he wore, also, a small three-cornered cocked hat, felt or beaver, elaborately laced with gold or silver galloon. If he walked, as to church or court, he carried, in addition to his sword, a gold or ivory-headed cane, at least five feet long, and wore square-toed, "low-quartered" shoes with paste or silver buckles. His stockings, no matter what the material, were tightly stretched over his calves and carefully gartered at the knee. If he rode, he wore boots instead of shoes and carried a stout riding whip. About his neck was a white cravat of great amplitude, with abundant hanging ends of lace. His waist-coat was made with great flaps extending nearly down to the knee and bound with gold or silver lace. His coat, of cloth or velvet, might be of any color, but was sure to be elaborately made, with flap-pockets, and great hanging cuffs, from beneath which appeared the gentleman's indispensable lace ruffles. His knee-breeches were of black satin, red plush, or blue cloth, according to his fancy. They were plainly made and fitted tightly, buckling at the knee. At home, a black velvet skull-cap sometimes usurped the place of the wig and a damask dressing-gown lined with silk supplanted the coat, the feet being made easy in fancy morocco slippers. Judges on the bench often wore robes of scarlet faced with black velvet in winter, and black silk gowns in summer.
The substantial planter and burgher dressed well but were not so particular about their wigs, of which they probably owned no more than one, kept for visiting and for Sabbath use. They usually yielded to the custom of shaving their heads, however, and wore white linen caps under their hats. During the Revolutionary War wigs were scare and costly, linen was almost unobtainable and the practice of shaving heads accordingly fell rapidly into desuetude. Sometimes the burgher's hat was of wool or felt, with a low crown and broad brim, turned up and cocked. About his neck he wore a white linen stock, fastening with a buckle at the back. His coat was of cloth, broad-backed, with flap-pockets, and his waist-coat, of the same stuff, extended to his knees. He wore short breeches with brass or silver knee-buckles, red or blue garters, and rather stout, coarse leather shoes, strapped over the quarter. He wore no sword, but often carried a staff, and knew how to use it to advantage.
Mechanics, laborers and servants wore leather-breeches and aprons, sagathy coats, osnaburg shirts and hair-shag jackets, coarse shoes, and worsted or jean stockings, knit at home.
The dress of the women of these classes was shabbier still, their costumes, for the most part, comprising stamped cotton and white dimity gowns, coarse shift (osnaburg), country cloth, and black quilted petticoats. In the backwoods and the primitive German settlements the women all wore the short gowns and petticoats, also tight-fitting calico caps. In summer, when employed in the fields, they wore only a linen shift and a petticoat of home-made linsey. All their clothing, in fact, was home-made.
The ladies of quality, however, as has been intimated, dressed extravagantly, frizzed, rouged, wore trains, and acted as fashionable women have done from the immemorial beginning of things.
The pioneers dressed universally in the hunting shirt or blouse, sometimes fringed and decorated, and perhaps the most convenient frock ever conceived. It fit loosely, was open in front, reached almost to the knees, and had large sleeves, and a cape for the protection of the shoulders in bad weather. In the ample bosom of this shirt the hunter carried his bread and meat, the tow with which to wipe out the barrel of his rifle, and other small requisites. To his belt, tied or buckled behind, he suspended his mittens, bullet-pouch, tomahawk, and knife and sheath. His hunting-shirt was made of dressed deer-skin—very uncomfortable in wet weather—or of linsey, when it was to be had. The pioneer dressed his lower body in drawers and leathern cloth leggins, and his feet in moccasins; a coon-skin cap completing the attire.
His wife wore a linsey petticoat, home-spun and home-made, and a short gown of linsey or "callimanco," when that material could be obtained. She wore no covering for the feet in ordinary weather, and moccasins, coarse, "country-made" shoes, or "shoe-packs" during more rigorous seasons. To complete the picture Kercheval, the historian of the Shenandoah Valley, is here quoted: "The coats and bed-gowns of the women, as well as the hunting-shirts of the men, were hung in full display on wooden pegs around the walls of their cabins, so that while they answered in some degree the purpose of paper-hangings or tapestry, they announced to the stranger as well as the neighbor the wealth or poverty of the family in the articles of clothing."
* * * * *
It is to be hoped that the desultory sketch furnished above will not be found uninteresting despite its imperfections. Many details have been omitted or neglected, but enough has been written to illustrate in a general way the qualities for which our ancestors were most distinguished, for which their characters have excited most comment and perhaps deserved most praise.
As a whole, they were a generous, large-hearted, liberal-minded people, and their faults were far fewer than their virtues. The yeomanry, in their own rude, rough-and-ready manner, reflected the same sort of personal independence of character and proud sense of individuality as the social aristocracy.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
Little can be learned of Loudoun's participation in the last great French and Indian War (1754-1763). It had its beginning three years prior to her admission into the sisterhood of Virginia counties, and the services she must have rendered during that period are, of course, accredited to Fairfax, of which county she was then a part. The few existing or available records of the remaining six years of warfare, as of the entire period, are imperfect and unlocalized and would baffle the most experienced and persevering compiler.
The only deductions that have seemed at all noteworthy are here presented:
The General Assembly of Virginia, on April 14, 1757, passed an act providing for the appointment of a committee to direct the pay of the officers and soldiers then in the pay of the Colony, of "the rangers formerly employed, and for the expense of building a fort in the Cherokee country," for the pay of the militia that had "been drawn out into actual service, and also for provisions for the said soldiers, rangers, and militia...."
In the following schedule are given the names of Loudoun payees and the amount received by each:
L s. d. To Captain Nicholas Minor 1 00 00 AEneas Campbell, lieutenant 7 6 Francis Wilks 1 17 James Willock 1 15 John Owsley and William Stephens, 15s. each 1 10 Robert Thomas 10 John Moss, Jr. 4 John Thomas, for provisions 5 John Moss, for provisions 2 8 William Ross, for provisions 2 _ _ _ 7 13 2
By a later act of the same body commissioners were empowered "to examine, state, and settle the accounts of such pay, provisions, arms, etc.," of the six counties from which they were appointed, "and all arrears whatsoever relating to the militia."
The following list of Loudoun beneficiaries, with the amounts opposite, is reproduced in the identical form in which it was then submitted:
L s. d. "1757. To Robert Adams, assignee of Stephen Thatcher, for his pay, 5 12 6 Do. do of Thomas Bond, for do., 4 10 Thomas Gore, for a rifle gun impressed, 4 10 Stephen Emorie, for dressing guns for militia, 13 James Clemons, for a gun impressed, 4 10 1763. Captain Moss, for 60 days' pay at 6s., 18 Lieutenant Gore, for do. at 3s., 6d., 10 10"
REPRESENTATION.
Colonial Assemblies.—General Assembly of 1758-'61, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of 1761-'65, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of October, 1765, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of 1766-'68, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of May, 1769, Francis Peyton and James Hamilton; General Assembly of 1769-'71, Francis Peyton and James Hamilton (the latter vacated his seat during the session of May 21, 1770, to accept the office of coroner. He was succeeded by Josiah Clapham); General Assembly of 1772-'74, Thomas Mason and Francis Peyton; General Assembly of 1775-'76, Josiah Clapham and Francis Peyton.
State Conventions.
Below will be found a compendium of Virginia conventions, with the names of the delegates returned by Loudoun County. Few, if any, counties of Virginia have had an abler or more influential representation in the various State conventions. From the meeting of the first to the adjournment of the last Loudoun has been represented by fifteen of her wisest and most prominent citizens.
Convention of 1774.—Met August 1, 1774. Adjourned August 6, 1774. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Thomas Mason.
Convention of March 20, 1775.—Met at Richmond, Monday, March 20, 1775. Adjourned March 27, 1775. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.
Convention of July 17, 1775.—Met at Richmond, July 17, 1775. Adjourned August 26, 1775. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.
Convention of December 1, 1775.—Met at Richmond, December 1, 1775. Adjourned January 20, 1776. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.
Convention of 1776.—This convention met in the city of Williamsburg, on Monday, May 6, 1776, and "framed the first written constitution of a free State in the annals of the world." Adjourned July 5, 1776. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.
Previous conventions did not frame constitutions, but they directed the affairs of the colony, and, in a measure, controlled the destinies of her people. Like the convention of 1776, they were instead revolutionary bodies.
Convention of 1788.—This convention met in the State House in the city of Richmond, June 2, 1788, to ratify or reject the Constitution which had been recommended to the States by the Federal Convention on the 17th of September, 1787, at Philadelphia. Adjourned sine die June 27, 1788. Loudoun delegates: Stephen T. Mason and Levin Powell.
Convention of 1829-'30.—Assembled in Richmond on the 5th day of October, 1829. Tenth District (Loudoun and Fairfax) delegates: James Monroe, Charles Fenton Mercer, William H. Fitzhugh, and Richard H. Henderson.
Convention of 1850-51.—Met at the Capitol in the city of Richmond, on Monday, October 14, 1850. Adjourned sine die, August 1, 1851. District of Loudoun delegates: John Janney, John A. Carter, and Robert J.T. White.
Convention of 1861.—Met February 13, 1861. Adjourned sine die, December 6, 1861. Loudoun delegates: John Janney and John A. Carter. The former was elected President of the Convention. Both voted against the ordinance of secession, April 17, 1861. Mr. Janney's resignation as President of the Convention was tendered on November 14, 1861.
Convention of 1864.—(Restored Government of Virginia.) Met February 13, 1864. Adjourned sine die, April 11, 1864. Loudoun delegates: John J. Henshaw, James M. Downey, and E.R. Gover.
Convention of 1867-'68.—Met at Richmond, Tuesday, December 3, 1867. Adjourned April 17, 1868. Loudoun delegates: Norborne Berkeley and George E. Plaster.
Convention of 1901-'02.—Met June 12, 1901. Adjourned sine die, June 26, 1902. Loudoun and Fauquier district delegates: Henry Fairfax and Albert Fletcher.
THE REVOLUTION.
Loudoun's Loyalty.
The story of the Revolution and the causes which led to that great event are properly treated in a more general history than this purports to be. If, in the few succeeding pages, it can be shown that Loudoun County was most forward in resisting the arbitrary aggressions of the British government and that the valor and patriotism she evinced during the Revolution was equal to that of her sister counties, who had suffered with her under the yoke of British oppression, then the primary object of this sketch will be accomplished. Her blood and treasure were freely dedicated to the cause of liberty, and, having once entered the Revolution, she determined to persevere in the struggle until every resource was exhausted.
Armed with flint-lock muskets of small bore and with long-barreled rifles which they loaded from the muzzle by the use of the ramrod; equipped with powder horn, charges made of cane for loading, bullet molds and wadding, but bravely arrayed in home-spun of blue, and belted with cutlass and broadsword by the side, cockade on the hat and courage in the heart, her revolutionary soldiers marched to the music of fife and drum into battle for freedom against the power and might of the mother country.
Resolutions of Loudoun County.
In 1877, the following article appeared in a Leesburg newspaper under the caption "Loudoun County a Hundred Years Ago:"
"Major B. P. Nolan, grandson of Burr Powell, has just put us in possession of a verified copy of the proceedings of a public meeting held at Leesburg, Loudoun County, on the 14th of June, 1774, nearly one hundred and five years ago. It is interesting, not merely for its antiquity, but as showing the spirit of independence that animated the breasts of our liberty-loving countrymen two years before the Declaration of American Independence in 1776. The original document was found among the papers of Col. Leven Powell, at one time member of Congress from this district, who died in 1810. His son, Burr Powell, forwarded a copy to R. H. Lee, Esq., who in 1826 was about to publish a second edition of his 'Memoirs of the Life of R. H. Lee,' of Revolutionary fame."
* * * * *
The proceedings or resolutions follow:
"PUBLIC MEETING IN LOUDOUN IN 1774."
"At a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants of the County of Loudoun, in the Colony of Virginia, held at the Court-House in Leesburg the 14th of June, 1774, F. Peyton, Esq., in the Chair, to consider the most effectual method to preserve the rights and liberties of North America, and relieve our brethren of Boston, suffering under the most oppressive and tyrannical Act of the British Parliament, made in the 14th year of his present Majesty's reign, whereby their Harbor is blocked up, their commerce totally obstructed, their property rendered useless—
"Resolved, That we will always cheerfully submit to such prerogatives as his Majesty has a right, by law, to exercise, as Sovereign of the British Dominions, and to no others.
"Resolved, That it is beneath the dignity of freemen to submit to any tax not imposed on them in the usual manner, by representatives of their own choosing.
"Resolved, That the Act of the British Parliament, above mentioned, is utterly repugnant to the fundamental laws of justice, in punishing persons without even the form of a trial; but a despotic exertion of unconstitutional power designedly calculated to enslave a free and loyal people.
"Resolved, That the enforcing the execution of the said Act of Parliament by a military power, must have a necessary tendency to raise a civil war, and that we will, with our lives and fortunes, assist and support our suffering brethren, of Boston, and every part of North America that may fall under the immediate hand of oppression, until a redress of all our grievances shall be procured, and our common liberties established on a permanent foundation.
"Resolved, That the East India Company, by exporting their tea from England to America, whilst subject to a tax imposed thereon by the British Parliament, have evidently designed to fix on the Americans those chains forged for them by a venal ministry, and have thereby rendered themselves odious and detestable throughout all America. It is, therefore, the unanimous opinion of this meeting not to purchase any tea or other East India commodity whatever, imported after the first of this Month.
"Resolved, That we will have no commercial intercourse with Great Britain until the above mentioned act of Parliament shall be totally repealed, and the right of regulating the internal policy of North America by a British Parliament shall be absolutely and positively given up.
"Resolved, That Thompson Mason and Francis Peyton, Esqs., be appointed to represent the County at a general meeting to be held at Williamsburg on the 1st day of August next, to take the sense of this Colony at large on the subject of the preceding resolves, and that they, together with Leven Powell, William Ellzey, John Thornton, George Johnston, and Samuel Levi, or any three of them, be a committee to correspond with the several committees appointed for this purpose.
"Signed by—
"John Morton, Thomas Ray, Thomas Drake, William Booram, Benj. Isaac Humphrey, Samuel Mills, Joshua Singleton, Jonathan Drake, Matthew Rust, Barney Sims, John Sims, Samuel Butler, Thomas Chinn, Appollos Cooper, Lina Hanconk, John McVicker, Simon Triplett, John Wildey, Joseph Bayley, Isaac Sanders, Thos. Williams, John Williams, William Finnekin, Richard Hanson, John Dunker, Thomas Williams, James Nolan, Samuel Peugh, William Nornail, Thomas Luttrell, James Brair, Poins Awsley, John Kendrick, Edward O'Neal, Francis Triplett, Joseph Combs, John Peyton Harrison, Robert Combs, Stephen Combs, Samuel Henderson, Benjamin Overfield, Adam Sangster, Bazzell Roads, James Graydey, Thomas Awsley, John Reardon, Henry Awsley, Edward Miller, Richard Hirst, James Davis, Jasper Grant."
Revolutionary Committees.
The County Committee of Loudoun for 1774-'75 was composed of the following members:
Francis Peyton, Josias Clapham, Thomas Lewis, Anthony Russell, John Thomas, George Johnston, Thomas Shore, Jacob Reed, Leven Powell, William Smith, Robert Jamison, Hardage Lane, John Lewis, James Lane, George Johnston, Clerk.
The appended findings of this as well as a later committee exemplify the work of these Revolutionary bodies.
"At a meeting of the Committee of Loudoun County, held at Leesburg on Friday, May 26, 1775....
"The Committee, taking into consideration the conduct of the Governour relative to the powder which was, by his express orders, taken secretly out of the publick Magazine belonging to this Colony, in the night of the twentieth ult., and carried on board the Magdaline schooner.
"Resolved, nemine contra dicente, That his Lordship, by this and other parts of his conduct which have lately transpired, has not only forfeited the confidence of the good people of this Colony, but that he may be justly esteemed an enemy to America; and that as well his excuse published in his Proclamation of the fourth instant, as his verbal answer to the address presented him on that occasion by the city of Williamsburgh, are unsatisfactory and evasive, and reflect, in our opinion, great dishonour on the General Assembly and inhabitants of this Colony, as from the latter a suspicion may be easily deduced, that the Representatives of the people are not competent judges of the place wherein arms and ammunition, intended for the defense of the Colony, may be safely lodged, and that the inhabitants (unlike other subjects) can not, in prudence, be trusted with the means necessary for their protection from insurrection, or even evasion; so in the former a very heavy charge is exhibited against the best men among us, of seducing their fellow-subjects from their duty and allegiance; a charge, we are confident, not founded in reality, and which, we believe, is construed out of the discharge of that duty which every good man is under, to point out to his weaker countrymen, in the day of publick trial, the part they should act, and explain, on constitutional principles, the nature of their allegiance, the ground of which we fervently pray may never be removed, whose force we desire may never with reason be relaxed, but yet may be subservient to considerations of superior regard.
"The Committee being informed by some of the officers who commanded the Troops of this County that marched on the above occasion, that the reason of their marching no farther than Fredericksburgh was, their having received repeated requests from the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esq., to return home, assuring them that the peaceable citizens of Williamsburgh were under no apprehensions of danger, either in their persons or properties; that the publick treasury and records were perfectly safe, and that there was no necessity for their proceeding any further; three of the other Delegates appointed to the Continental Congress, the only civil power we know of in this great struggle for liberty, being of the same opinion.
"Resolved, nemine contra dicente, That under such circumstances we approve the conduct of the said Officers and Troops.
"Resolved, nemine contra dicente, That we cordially approve the conduct of our countrymen, Captain Patrick Henry, and the other volunteers of Hanover County, who marched under him, in making reprisals on the King's property for the trespass committed as aforesaid, and that we are determined to hazard all the blessings of this life rather than suffer the smallest injury offered to their persons or estates, on this account, to pass unrewarded with its equal punishment.
"Resolved, nemine contra dicente, That it be recommended to the Representatives of this County, as the opinion of this Committee, that they by no means agree to the reprisals, taken as aforesaid, being returned.
"Ordered, That the clerk transmit immediately a copy of the preceding resolves to the Printers of the Virginia and Pennsylvania gazettes, to be published.
"By order of the Committee.
"GEORGE JOHNSTON, Clerk."
In session in Loudoun, May 14, 1776:
"Richard Morlan being summoned to appear before this Committee, for speaking words inimical to the liberties of America, and tending to discourage a Minute-man from returning to his duty; and also publickly declaring he would not muster, and if fined would oppose the collection of the fine with his gun: The charge being proved against him, and he heard in his defense, the Committee think proper to hold the said Morlan up to the publick as an enemy to their rights and liberties; and have ordered that this resolution be published in the Virginia Gazette.
"CHRISTOPHER GREENUP, Clerk."
Soldiery.
Loudoun, at the time of the Revolution, was one of the most densely populated counties in the State. Her militia, according to the returns of 1780 and 1781, numbered 1,746, which number was far in excess of that reported by any other Virginia county.
It is probable that a few Loudoun patriots served in Captain Daniel Morgan's celebrated "Company of Virgina Riflemen," thus described by a line officer of the Continental Army: "They are remarkably stout and hardy men; many of them exceeding six feet in height. They are dressed in white frocks, or rifle shirts, and round hats. These men are remarkable for the accuracy of their aim; striking a mark with great certainty at two hundred yards distance. At a review, a company of them, while on a quick advance, fired their balls into objects of seven inches diameter at the distance of two hundred and fifty yards. They are now stationed on our lines, and their shot have frequently proved fatal to British officers and soldiers, who expose themselves to view even at more than double the distance of common musket shot."
The Germans of Loudoun were intensely loyal to the cause of freedom, many serving in Armand's Legion, recruited by authority of Congress during the summer of 1777, and composed of men who could not speak English.
Quaker Non-Participation.
During the period preceding the Revolution, important offices had been bestowed on the Friends or Quakers of Loudoun and they exercised a decided influence in the government of the County. They, however, withdrew participation in public affairs on the approach of war; and, to the determination of the American patriots to throw off the yoke of British tyranny, they opposed their principles of non-resistance, not only refusing to perform military duty, but also to pay the taxes levied on them, as on all other citizens, for the prosecution of the War of Independence.
This non-conformity to the military laws of the State from conscientious motives, brought them into difficulty, as will be seen in the annexed extract from Kercheval's History of the Shenandoah Valley:
"At the beginning of the war, attempts were made to compel them to bear arms and serve in the militia; but it was soon found unavailing. They would not perform any military duty required of them, not even the scourge would compel them to submit to discipline. The practice of coercion was therefore abandoned, and the legislature enacted a law to levy a tax upon their property, to hire substitutes to perform militia duty in their stead. This, with other taxes, bore peculiarly heavy upon them. Their personal property was sold under the hammer to raise the public demands; and before the war was over, many of them were reduced to great distress in their pecuniary circumstances.
"This selling of Quakers' property afforded great opportunity for designing individuals to make profitable speculations. They continued to refuse to pay taxes for several years after the war, holding it unlawful to contribute their money towards discharging the war debt. This being at length adjusted, no part of our citizens pay their public demands with more punctuality (except their muster fines, which they still refuse to pay)."
Loudoun's Revolutionary Hero.
John Champe, the tall and saturnine sergeant-major of Lee's celebrated partisan legion, was a resident of Loudoun County. Readers of Lee's "Memoirs of the War" will recall the account of Champe's pretended desertion from the Continental armies. This perilous adventure was undertaken for the threefold purpose of capturing the traitor Arnold, saving the life of the unfortunate Andre, and establishing the innocence of General Gates, who had been charged with complicity in Arnold's nefarious intrigue. His investigations secured the complete vindication of Gates; but, failing in his other attempts, he drifted with the Red Coats to North Carolina, where he deserted their ranks and rejoined the American forces under General Greene.
That officer provided him with a good horse and money for his journey, and sent him to General Washington. The commander-in-chief "munificently anticipated every desire of the sergeant, and presented him with a discharge from further service, lest he might, in the vicissitudes of war, fall into the enemy's hands; when, if recognized, he was sure to die on a gibbet." His connection with the army thus abruptly, though honorably, severed, with no little regret we are to suppose, he straightway repaired to his home near Leesburg.
In after years, when General Washington was called by President Adams to the command of the army organized to defend the country from French hostility, he inquired for Champe, with the avowed purpose of placing him at the head of a company of infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, through whom the inquiry had been made, dispatched a courier to Loudoun County in search of Champe. There he learned that the intrepid soldier and daring adventurer had removed to Kentucky, where he soon afterward died.
Some interesting anecdotes concerning Champe are related in a portion of Captain Cameron's private journal, published in the British United Service Journal. Champe was assigned to his company, a part of Arnold's British legion, upon his arrival in New York.
Army Recommendations.
The following list of militia officers were "recommended by the gentlemen justices of the county Court for Loudoun County, Virginia, to the Governor for appointments from March, 1778, to December, 1782:"
[22]"March, 1778: James Whaley, Jr., second lieutenant; William Carnan, ensign; Daniel Lewis, second lieutenant; Josias Miles and Thomas King, lieutenants; Hugh Douglass, ensign; Isaac Vandevanter, lieutenant; John Dodd, ensign. May, 1778: George Summers and Charles G. Eskridge, colonels; William McClellan, Robert McClain and John Henry, captains; Samuel Cox, major; Frans Russell, James Beavers, Scarlet Burkley, Moses Thomas, Henry Farnsworth, John Russell, Gustavus Elgin, John Miller, Samuel Butcher, Joshua Botts, John Williams, George Tyler, Nathaniel Adams and George Mason, lieutenants; Isaac Grant, John Thatcher, William Elliott, Richard Shore and Peter Benham, ensigns. 1778, August: Thomas Marks, William Robison, Joseph Butler and John Linton, lieutenants; Joseph Wildman and George Asbury, ensigns. 1778, September: Francis Russell, lieutenant, and George Shrieve, ensign. 1779, May: Joseph Wildman, lieutenant, and Francis Elgin, Jr., ensign. 1779, June 14: George Kilgour, lieutenant, and Jacob Caton, ensign. 1779, July 12: John Debell, lieutenant, and William Hutchison, ensign. 1779, October 11: Francis Russell, captain. 1779, November 8: James Cleveland, captain; Thomas Millan, ensign. 1780, February 14: Thomas Williams, ensign. 1780, March: John Benham, ensign. 1780, June: Wethers Smith and William Debell, second lieutenants; Francis Adams and Joel White, ensigns. 1780, August: Robert Russell, ensign. 1780, October: John Spitzfathem, first lieutenant; Thomas Thomas and Matthew Rust, second lieutenants; Nicholas Minor, Jr., David Hopkins, William McGeath and Samuel Oliphant, ensigns; Charles Bennett, captain. 1780, November: James Coleman, Esq., colonel; George West, lieutenant-colonel; James McLlhaney, major. 1781, February: Simon Triplett, colonel; John Alexander, lieutenant-colonel; Jacob Reed, major; John Linton, captain; William Debell and Joel White, lieutenants; Thomas Minor, ensign; Thomas Shores, captain; John Tayler and Thomas Beaty, lieutenants; John McClain, ensign. 1781, March: John McGeath, captain; Ignatius Burnes, captain; Hugh Douglass, first lieutenant; John Cornelison, second lieutenant; Joseph Butler and Conn Oneale, lieutenants; John Jones, Jr., ensign; William Taylor, major first battalion; James Coleman, colonel; George West, lieutenant-colonel; Josiah Maffett, captain; John Binns, first lieutenant; Charles Binns, Jr., second lieutenant, and Joseph Hough, ensign. 1781, April: Samson Trammell, captain; Spence Wiggington and Smith King, lieutenants. 1781, May: Thomas Respass, Esq., major; Hugh Douglass, Gent, captain; Thomas King, lieutenant; William T. Mason, ensign; Samuel Noland, captain; Abraham Dehaven and Enoch Thomas, lieutenants; Isaac Dehaven and Thomas Vince, ensigns; James McLlhaney, captain; Thomas Kennan, captain; John Bagley, first lieutenant. 1781, June: Enoch Furr and George Rust, lieutenants; Withers Berry and William Hutchison (son of Benjamin), ensign. 1781, September: Gustavus Elgin, captain; John Littleton, ensign. 1782, January: William McClellan, captain. February, 1782: William George, Timothy Hixon, and Joseph Butler, captains. 1782, March: James McLlhaney, captain; George West, colonel; Thomas Respass, lieutenant-colonel. 1782, July: Samuel Noland, major; James Lewin Gibbs, second lieutenant, and Giles Turley, ensign. 1782, August: Enoch Thomas, captain; Samuel Smith, lieutenant; Matthias Smitley, first lieutenant; Charles Tyler and David Beaty, ensigns. 1782, December: Thomas King, captain; William Mason, first lieutenant, and Silas Gilbert, ensign."
[Footnote 22: Abstract from Court Order Book G., pages 517-522.]
Court Orders and Reimbursements.
Needy families of the Revolutionary soldiers of Loudoun were supplied with the necessaries of life as per the following orders:
"1778, November 9th: John Alexander to furnish Elizabeth Welch, her husband being in the army.
"1778, Nov. 15th: George Emrey to furnish the child of Jacob Rhodes, said Jacob being in the Continental army. William Douglass to furnish Mary Rhodes, her husband being in the army. George Summers to furnish William Gilmore, his son being in the army.
"1778, Dec. 14: Leven Powell to furnish Andrew Laswell.
"1779, Feb. 8th: Samuel Triplett to furnish the wife of Hugh Henderson. Josias Clapham to furnish Ann Philips.
"1779, March 8th: Farling Ball to furnish the widow of Joseph Collens and the wife of William Eaton. William Stanhope to furnish Ann Barton.
"1779, April: John Lewis, Gent, to furnish the wife of Shadrack Reeder. Hardage Lane to furnish Sarah Gilmore, wife of William, whose son is in the army. William Ellzey to furnish wife of Shadrack Reeder. Josias Clapham appointed to apply to the Treasurer for 500 pounds to be placed in the hands of John Lewis, Gent, to supply the necessaries of life for those who have husbands or children in the Continental army.
"1779, May: Farling Ball to furnish Edward McGinnis and William Means. John Alexander to furnish Ann Bartan. (William Stanhope to furnish Ann Barton, July 1779.)
"1779, August: Robert Jamison to furnish Conard Shanks, whose son is in the army. Jonathan Davis to furnish Mary Stoker. Pierce Bayly do. wife of Joel Coleman.
"1780, March: John Tyler do. Jemima Coleman.
"1780, July: Simon Triplett to furnish Jemima Coleman, wife of Joel, not exceeding two barrels of flour and 200 pounds of Pork.
"1780, September: John Alexander to furnish Ann Barton one barrel of corn and fifty pounds of Pork. Josias Clapham do. Catherine Henderson, widow of Adam Henderson. William Cavans to furnish Ann Richards, her husband being in the army, and Isabella Collens, widow of Joseph.
"1780, November: Wm. Bronough do. Sarah Russell, wife of Samuel.
"1781, April: William Owsley to supply Hannah Rice & two children, the family of James Rice, who died in the Continental army.
"1781, May: Adam Vincel to supply Mary Tritipoe, wife of Conrad, her husband being in the army.
"1781, Sept.: Joseph Thomas to supply the widow of David Hamilton (a soldier who was killed in the Continental army).
"1782, Jan.: John Tyler, Gent, to furnish the family of Cornelius Slacht (he being an 18 months' draft).
"1782, Feb.: John Lewis, Gent, to furnish Eleanor Wilcox (a soldier's wife).
"1782, March: William Douglass to furnish Eleanor Wilcox, agreeable to an order of the last Court directed to John Lewis, Gent, the said Lewis declining."
"Treasurer to pay sundry persons for furnishing supplies as per their several accounts:
"1778, May 12: William Ellzey, Esq., L3 8s. 9d., on account of wife of John Stoker and L2 10s. ditto for wife of Shadrack Reeder. Wm. Douglass, L50 14s. 6d. as per acct.
"1778, June 9: Andrew Adam, L13 5d., for Margaret Hill (service).
"1778, Aug. 10: Farling Ball. L4 16s. 9d. John Alexander, L5.
"1778, Sept. 14: Leven Powell, Gent, L6 1s. William Douglass, Gent, L47 7s. John Tyler, L3 19s. 6d.
"1778, Sept. 15: Farling Ball, Gent, L1 17s. 6d.
"1778, Nov. 9: Andrew Adam, L16 15s.
"1778, Nov. 15: Daniel Losh, L24 6s. 9d. Geo. West, Gent, L3 10s. Farling Ball, ditto, L2.
"1778, Dec. 14: Joshua Daniel, Gent, L9 15s. John Orr, L7, 16s.
"1779, Feb. 9, Farling Ball, L18 13s. 9d. Wm. Douglass, L53 9s. 1d. Chas. Binns, L3 on acct. of widow of Hamilton.
"1779, April: John Alexander, L68 15s. Daniel Losh, L10 37s. William Douglass, Gent, L28 16s. Andrew Adam, L17 13s. Wm. Ellzey, L24 2s.
"1779, May: Geo. West, Gent, L42 14s.
"1779, June: Andrew Adam, L12 3s. 6d. John Orr, L43 16s. Wm. Douglass, L18 16s. Farling Ball, Gent, L175 5s.
"1779, July: John Alexander, L18.
"1779, August: Jacob Tracey, L20 for nursing and burying Sophia Harris, the wife of a continental soldier.
"1779, Oct: Pierce Bayly, Gent, L10. Simon Triplett, L43, 9s. 10d. Robert Jamison, L30. Jonathan Davis, L32 10s. Farling Ball, L61 10s. 6d. Wm. Douglass, Gent, L51 15s.
"1779, John Orr, Gent, L93 8s. 3d. Leven Powell, Gent, L69 10s. Wm. Stanhope, Gent, L4 4s.
"1780, Jan.: Jonathan Davis, Gent, L50. Wm. Stanhope, Gent, L4 4s.
"1780, February: Thomas George, L206. Israel Thompson, L119 2s. George Emrey, L46 19s.
"1780, March: Hardage Lane, Gent, L83 8s.
"1780, April: Thomas George, L15. Farling Ball, Gent, L99 6s. Wm. Douglass, Gent, L69 10s.
"1780, June: John Tyler, Gent, L40. Pierce Bayly, Gent, L20.
"1780, August: John Orr, Gent, L500. Wm. Douglass, Gent, L44.
"1780, November: Thomas George, L221. Farling Ball, L50. George Tyler, Gent, L8. George Emrey, Gent, L163 12s.
"1781, March: John Orr, Gent, L431 16s. Wm. Cavans, L120.
"1782, Feb.: John Orr, as per acct., for furnishing Mary Butler, a soldier's wife, with necessaries."
Close of the Struggle.
On the 25th of November, 1783, the British army evacuated New York. The independence of the United States had been acknowledged by the British Government and the war was ended. During the following month most of the Continental troops from Loudoun returned to their homes, many of them to spend the remainder of their days in hard-earned peace.
WAR OF 1812.
The Compelling Cause.
Following the Revolution, a number of new towns sprang into being, educational institutions multiplied, the population of the County steadily increased, and the people were industrious, enterprising, and happy.
A second difficulty, however, soon interrupted this tranquillity, and the quarrel between the two governments was referred to the arbitrament of the War of 1812, fought by the United States against England for maritime independence.
The honor of the new republic was assailed on the high seas by the insistence of Great Britain of a right to search American vessels for fugitive British subjects. A doctrine which America regarded as established by the Revolution, to wit, that a citizen of a foreign country could voluntarily surrender his native citizenship and swear allegiance to another government, was disputed by Great Britain, who held that "once an Englishman was to be an Englishman always." Upon this ground American vessels were held up on the ocean by English men-of-war and searched to such an extent that within the eight years of forbearance over 6,000 men were taken from the ships of the United States and forced into the British navy.
This audacious conduct thoroughly aroused the indignation of the American people, in which resentment it is supposed the people of Loudoun warmly concurred. Seeing that bloodshed was necessary in order to maintain the national honor, and spurred by urgent petitions, President Madison recommended to Congress a declaration of war, which was accordingly promulgated June 18, 1812.
State Archives at Leesburg.[23]
When the British were on their way from Bladensburg to Washington, in August, 1814, James Monroe, then Secretary of State, had been for several days with General Winder, reconnoitering the enemy, and watching the movements of both armies. Knowing the weakness of the American forces, he believed Washington to be in great peril. He dispatched a letter to President Madison, advising the removal of the official records. Stephen Pleasanton, then a clerk in the State Department, made immediate preparation for the removal of the books and papers in that department. He had linen bags hastily made and placed in them the State archives, which were then loaded in wagons and hauled across the chain bridge, over the Potomac, to the grist mill of Edgar Patterson, two miles above Georgetown. Not feeling sure of their safety there, he had them reloaded on wagons and conveyed to Leesburg, where they were placed in an unoccupied building,[24] the key of which was given to a recently ordained clergyman, named Littlejohn. There they remained until the last hostile Briton had reached Baltimore, when they were carefully hauled back to Washington.[25] Thus we saved the precious documents of the revolutionary war, as well as our state archives, and thus does Leesburg boast, with abstract truthfulness, that for a little more than two weeks it was the Capital of the United States.
[Footnote 23: Anonymous.]
[Footnote 24: Perhaps the most precious of these documents was the Declaration of Independence, which it has been asserted, was deposited here.]
[Footnote 25: Mrs. A.H. Throckmorton, in an interesting narrative to which allusion is made elsewhere in this volume, differs with the authority here quoted as to the disposition of these important papers. She says: "For one night they remained in the court-house here (Leesburg) and were then carried several miles out in the country to the estate of "Rockeby," now owned by Mr. H.B. Nalle,... and securely locked within the old vault and remained out of reach of the enemy for two weeks."]
THE MASON-McCARTY DUEL.
The duel, February 6, 1819, between Armistead T. Mason and John M. McCarty, both residents of Loudoun County, was the second "affair of honor" to be settled on the now famous field of Bladensburg. They were cousins, who became enemies during Mason's brief term in the United States Senate. Mason, known as "The Chief of Selma," was a graduate of William and Mary College and the commander of a cavalry regiment[26] in the war of 1812. He later became brigadier general of the Virginia militia. He married and took up his residence at Selma plantation, four miles north of Leesburg. Wishing to make it possible for the Quakers of Loudoun to contribute their share toward the support of the army, Mason introduced in the Senate a bill to permit, in case of draft, the furnishing of substitutes on payment of $500 each. For this McCarty branded him a coward, and thence sprung a succession of bitter quarrels, the real basis of which was a difference of political opinions. The details of both sides of the feud were published weekly in the Leesburg "Genius of Liberty," and later were issued in pamphlet form as campaign material.
[Footnote 26: Many of the Germans of Loudoun served in this regiment which participated in the Battle of Baltimore.]
Mason's side was defeated. He earnestly wished to avoid a duel, but McCarty continued to provoke him, with the hope of compelling him to fight. This he finally decided to do. He left his home without revealing his intentions and on reaching Washington made his final preparations with great deliberation. "The Chief of Selma" fell February 6, 1819, his heart pierced by the ball of his antagonist. He was but 32 years of age. His body was borne to Leesburg, where it was buried in the Episcopal churchyard, with an imposing Masonic ritual. The grief of his slaves was painful to witness. His only child became an officer in the United States army, and was mortally wounded in the battle of Cerro Gordo.
HOME OF PRESIDENT MONROE.
"Oak Hill," the country seat of James Monroe, ex-President of the United States and author of the world-famed Monroe Doctrine, is situated near Aldie, in Loudoun County, on the turnpike running south from Leesburg to Aldie, about nine miles from the former and three from the latter place.
The main building, with an imposing Grecian facade, was planned by Monroe while in the presidential chair, and its construction superintended by William Benton, an Englishman, who served him in the triple capacity of steward, counselor, and friend. The dimensions are about 50 by 90 feet; it is built of brick in a most substantial manner, and handsomely finished; has three stories (including basement), a wide portico fronting south, with massive Doric columns thirty feet in height, and is surrounded by a grove of magnificent oaks, locusts, and poplars, covering several acres. It has been said that prior to his inauguration he occupied a wooden dwelling of humble pretensions standing within a stone's throw of its palatial progeny. Monroe's term of office expired March 4, 1825, and soon after the inauguration of his successor he retired to "Oak Hill," which immediately became, like Monticello and Montpelier, although to a lesser degree, a center of social and political pilgrimages.
The financial affairs of its owner were seriously embarrassed from the first, and he labored in vain to obtain justice from the country he had served so long and so well, at heavy pecuniary cost and loss. His old friend, Lafayette, now once more prosperous, sent an offer of assistance with a delicacy and generosity which did him honor. A little was done at last by Congress, but not enough, and the day came when "Oak Hill" was offered for sale.
While residing here, the post of regent of the University of Virginia, which was instituted in 1826, was accepted by Mr. Monroe as not inconsistent with his view of the entire retirement from public life becoming an ex-President. Associated with him in the discharge of his duties as regent, as in so many long years of patriotic toil, were Jefferson and Madison.
When the State of Virginia called a convention for the revision of her constitution, Mr. Monroe consented to become a member. He took an active interest in the affairs of his own neighborhood, discharging the duties of a local magistrate.
Mrs. Monroe died at "Oak Hill" on September 23d, 1830, and after her departure the old man found his lonely farm life insupportable. He had previously visited much with his daughters, and he now went to live with Mrs. Gouverneur, in New York. He wrote to Mr. Madison, April 11, 1831:
* * * * *
"It is very distressing to me to sell my property in Loudoun, for besides parting with all I have in the State, I indulged a hope, if I could retain it, that I might be able occasionally to visit it, and meet my friends, or many of them, there. But ill health and advanced years prescribe a course which we must pursue...."
GENERAL LAFAYETTE'S VISIT.[27]
The greatest social event in the history of Leesburg was the visit of General Lafayette, August 9, 1825. The great Frenchman, accompanied by President John Quincy Adams, had visited ex-President Monroe at "Oak Hill," from which place the august procession, headed by two troops of cavalry, made the eleven mile journey to Leesburg. Lafayette, the President, the ex-President and the chairman of the Town Council, rode in the first carriage, drawn by four white horses. On reaching Leesburg, they were greeted by six companies of militia, among them a few old soldiers of the Revolution. At the firing of the national salute, Lafayette descended from his carriage and shook hands with those veterans and heroes.
[Footnote 27: This account of General Lafayette's visit, save for a few minor alterations and one or two supplementary facts, is from the pen of Mrs. A. H. Throckmorton, of this County, having formed part of an historical sketch of Leesburg contributed by her to the old Richmond Times, July 19, 1902.]
Standing on his front porch, Dr. McCabe, the town's Mayor, delivered an address of welcome to which Lafayette responded. Across the street at Osborne's Hotel[28] a reception was tendered him, after which the distinguished visitor was driven through the principal streets of the town. On reaching the court-house square, then, as now, a large inclosure shaded by giant trees, Lafayette, on alighting from the coach, kissed a tiny maiden upheld in the arms of her negro nurse. The little girl was Mrs. Wildman, who after reaching a venerable age departed this life in the summer of 1901.
[Footnote 28: A fine stone mansion, still standing, and the residence of the late Colonel John H. Alexander, during his lifetime one of the foremost lawyers of the State.]
Lafayette passed up an avenue formed on the right by boys and girls and the young ladies of Leesburg Female Academy, and on the left by the youths of the Leesburg Institute. The former wore white, with blue sashes, and their heads were tastefully adorned with evergreens. They held sprigs of laurel with which they strewed the great guest's pathway. The lads wore red sashes and white and black cockades.
One of them pronounced an address of welcome, and was amply rewarded by a grasp of the hero's hand. As Lafayette ascended the portico of the court-house a little girl stepped forward, holding a wreath of laurel, and said:
Hail Patriot, Statesman, Hero, Sage! Hail Freedom's friend, hail Gallia's son, Whose laurels greener grow in age, Plucked by the side of Washington.
Hail, champion in a holy cause, When hostile bands our shores beset; Whose valor made the oppressor pause, Hail, holy warrior, Lafayette?
She, too, was honored by a grasp of Lafayette's hand as well as a kiss. After an oration by Ludwell Lee, the distinguished party returned to the hotel where they were entertained by a delegation of the ladies of the village, while another delegation superintended the spreading of a banquet on court-house square. Two hundred persons participated in this banquet. The numerous toasts were remarkable for loftiness of thought and elegance of diction. President Adams launched the following sentiment:
"The living records of the war of Independence like the prophetic books of the Sibyl, increasing in value as they diminish in numbers."
Lafayette toasted General Bolivar, "who has felt true patriotism, and understood true glory." Another toast was "To the memory of Washington, fresh as the passing moment, lasting as eternity."
It is estimated that 10,000 persons witnessed the festivities. Lafayette, after a brief sojourn at the plantation of Ludwell Lee, departed for a visit to Madison at "Montpelier," and Jefferson, at "Monticello."
MEXICAN WAR.
Scarcely a generation had passed, during which the whole country passed through several years of financial distress, when the United States became involved in a brief successful war with Mexico, caused chiefly by the resistance of that country to the "annexation of Texas." But it is not within the scope of this sketch to follow the history of that foreign struggle. It is sufficient to say that the people of Loudoun favored most heartily the annexation of Texas, and responded, indirectly of course, to the small quota of men and money required by the Government.
The entire United States force employed in the invasion of Mexico was composed of 26,690 regulars and 56,926 volunteers, not including those serving in the navy. The losses of men by death from disease and wounds were about 11,000, and the number killed in battle, about 1,500. The cost in money amounted to $150,000,000. The gain consisted of the cession of extensive territory stretching to the Pacific Ocean, several thousand miles of valuable sea coast and an immense bound of the United States into international power. In the accomplishment of this general result Loudoun sent many of her sturdiest sons, who served from the State in various bodies throughout the war.
SECESSION AND CIVIL WAR.
Loudoun County in the Secession Movement.
The election of Lincoln and attendant success of the Republican party revived the determination of the South to secede from the Union.
Just at this juncture the prosperity of Loudoun was unprecedented, and the threatened dissolution was a serious menace to her progress. General trade had recently been greatly stimulated, and the resources of the County were being daily multiplied.
Following the resolute lead of the other southern States, the legislature of Virginia, on January 14, 1861, authorized a State convention to consider the advisability of secession, and the members elected in pursuance thereof met in the capitol, at Richmond, at 12 o'clock a.m., on Wednesday, the 13th day of the February following. They constituted what was perhaps the ablest body of men that ever assembled in the State, and the friends and foes of secession were alike represented. The delegates from Loudoun were John Janney and John A. Carter, both of whom had represented her in the constitutional convention of 1850,51.
Roll call was followed by the election of a permanent chairman, Mr. Janney, of Loudoun, receiving a majority of the whole number of votes cast. Two of the members were then designated a committee to wait upon the president of the convention to inform him of his election and conduct him to his seat. Whereupon he addressed the convention as follows:[29]
[Footnote 29: The unabridged publication in this work of Mr. Janney's speech of acceptance has seemed specially appropriate. It is the plea of a Loudoun man for conservative action boldly put forth at a time when men's passions were inflamed almost beyond human credulity, and while he himself was the presiding officer of a body which had met to decide the destiny of the Old Dominion and whose deliberations were to be watched with breathless interest by the people of both hemispheres.] |
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