NELSON.
Nelson was formed in 1807, from Amherst, and named from
Thomas Nelson, governor of Virginia in 1781. It is about 26
miles long, and 20 broad. The face of the country is broken and
mountainous, particularly as it approaches the Blue Ridge. The
mountains contain generally a fine rich soil; and their intervening
valleys, and the low grounds upon the streams, are fertile. Tobacco
was formerly more cultivated than at present, but the less
land-exhausting crops of wheat and rye have succeeded. An increased
attention is being paid to husbandry, and the old injudicious
modes of culture are being done away with. As a whole,
the county is a fertile and wealthy one. Population in 1840,
whites 6,168, slaves 5,967, free colored 152; total, 12,287.
Lovingston, the county-seat, is on a branch of the Tye River,
near the centre of the county, on the stage-road from Lynchburg
to Charlottesville, 105 miles northwesterly from Richmond. It is
beautifully situated in a cove surrounded by romantic mountainous
scenery. The religious denominations are Methodist, Baptist,
and Presbyterian. It has several mercantile stores, and a population
of about 300. At New Market, at the influx of the Tye
River into the James, in the southern part of the county, there is
a tobacco inspection, where several hundred hogsheads of tobacco
are annually inspected. The annual amount of tobacco produced
in the county, is over two millions of pounds. Faber's Mills, in
the west part, contains a Baptist church and a few dwellings.
