 | CHAPTER III History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 |  |
CHAPTER III
Early Explorations of Southwest Virginia by the White
Man.
From the time of the first settlement at Jamestown in 1607, the
English Colony had grown rapidly and had expanded until their
western borders were in view of the Blue Ridge. With the usual
vigor and enterprise of the Anglo-Saxon, we find, in the year 1641,
a number of the citizens of Virginia petitioning the House of Burgesses
for permission to undertake the discovery of a new river of
land west and southerly from the Appomattox, and, in March, 1642,
we find the House of Burgesses passing an act granting such permission.
The act is as follows:
"Forasmuch as Walker Austin, Rice Hoe, Joseph Johnson and
Walter Chiles, for themselves and such others as they shall think
fitt to joyn with them, did petition in the Assembly in June 1641
for leave and encouragement to undertake the discovery of a new
river of unknowne land bearing west southerly from Appomattake
river, Be it enacted and confirmed, that they and every one of them
and whom they shall admit shall enjoy and possess to them, their
heirs, executors, administrators or assigns all profit whatsoever they
in their particular adventure can make unto themselves by such
discovery aforesaid, for fourteen years after the date of the said
month of January, 1641, provided there be reserved and paid into
his Majesty's use by them that shall be appointed to receive them,
the fifth part of Royal Mines whatsoever; provided also, that if they
shall think fit to employ more than two or three men in the said
discovery they shall then do it by commission from the Governor of
the Councill."[1]
It is well to preserve this the earliest known evidence of the desire
of any man to hunt out the very country we now occupy.
The names of a portion of these first daring spirits, Austin, Johnson
and Chiles, afterwards became familiar to our own country,
and while no evidence is at hand to establish the fact, yet it is more
than probable that these men by their efforts made possible the
future success of Walker, Draper, Inglis, Wood, and others.
The record of the next effort to reach this portion of the wilderness
by the enterprising citizens of Eastern Virginia is to be found
in an act of the House of Burgesses of Virginia passed in July,
1653, more than a hundred years before a permanent settlement
was effected on the waters of the Clinch or Holston rivers.
The Act is as follows. Passed July, 1653:
"Whereas, an act was made in the Assembly, 1642, for encouragement
of discoveries to the westward and southward of this
country, granting them all profits arising thereby for fourteen
years, which act is since discontinued and made void, it is by
this Assembly ordered that Colonel William Clayborne, Esq., and
Captain Henry Fleet, they and their associates with them, either
jointly or severally, may discover, and shall enjoy such benefits,
profits and trades for fourteen years as they shall find out in places
where no English ever have been and discovered, nor have had particular
trade, and to take up such lands by patents proving their
rights as they shall think good: nevertheless, not excluding others
after their choice from taking up land and planting in these new
discovered places, as in Virginia now versed. The like order is
granted to Major Abram Wood and his associates."
The three gentlemen, William Clayborne, Henry Fleet and Abraham
Wood, mentioned in this act, each represented a shire in the
Virginia House of Burgesses, and were intent, no doubt, upon the
acquisition of wealth and the development of the country.
We have no information that leads us to believe that any of the
persons named in the preceding act, with the exception of Colonel
Abraham Wood, at any time made an effort to accomplish the
purpose of that act.
Dr. Hale, in his book entitled "Trans-Alleghany Pioneers,"
makes the following statement:
"The New river was first discovered and named in 1654 by Colonel
Abraham Wood, who dwelt at the falls of the Appomattox, now
the site of Petersburg, Va."
Being of an adventurous and speculative turn, he got from the
Governor of Virginia a concession to explore the country and open
up trade with the Indians to the west. There is no record as to
the particular route he took, but as the line of adventure, exploration
and discovery was then all east of the mountains, it is probable
near the present Virginia and North Carolina lines."
I do not know from what source Dr. Hale obtained this information,
and I give it for what it is worth.
It is reasonable to believe that Colonel Wood made this trip,
and, to support this view, three circumstances may be mentioned.
First. The House of Burgesses of Virginia had authorized Colonel
Wood, along with others, in July of the preceding year, to
discover a new river of unknown land where no English had ever
been or discovered. Secondly. A gap in the Blue Ridge, lying
between the headwaters of Smith river, a branch of the Dan, in
Patrick county, and of Little river, a branch of New river, in Floyd
county, is to this day called Wood's Gap. Thirdly. The present
New river was known at first as Wood's river. It is known that
at the time Thomas Batts and a company of men acting under the
authority of Colonel Wood visited this section in the year 1671,
Wood's Gap and New river had been previously visited and named
by Colonel Wood.
In the year 1671, Thomas Batts and several other persons
traveled from the falls of the Appomattox, the present site of Petersburg,
Va., acting under a commission from Governor Berkley,
to explore the country west of the Blue Ridge mountains and the
South Sea.
It is worthy of notice that at the time this expedition was undertaken
it was believed that the waters flowing westward beyond the
Appalachian mountains emptied into the South Sea.
This was the first effort made to explore the country west of the
Blue Ridge, of which any record has been preserved.
A journal of this expedition was made by Thomas Batts, one of
the company. The first entry in this journal is as follows:
"A commission being granted the Hon. Maj. Gen. Wood for
ye finding out of the ebbing and flowing of ye waters behind the
mountains in order to the discovery of the South Sea: Thomas
Batts, Thomas Wood, Robert Fallen, accompanied by Perachute, a
great man of the Appomattox Indians, and Jack Nesan, formerly
servant to Majr. Genl. Wood, with five horses, set forward from
Appomattox town in Va., and about eight of the clock in the morning
being Fryday Septr. 1st. 1671, and traveling about forty miles,
took up their quarters and found they had traveled from Okenechee
the time through that portion of Virginia, near the present line
between this State and North Carolina, but when they reached the
foot of the Alleghany Mountains where the same merges into the
Blue Ridge, now in Floyd Co. Va., they turned to the north west
at a low place in the said mountain known as Wood's Gap; and
after some time they came to a river which Genl. Wood had named
Wood's River.[2] This river for many years thereafter was known
as Wood's River, and many of the early patents in that section
of the country describe the lands as located upon Wood's River."
The entry in this diary of date the 16th of Sept. says: "About
ten of the clock we set forward and, after we had traveled about
ten miles, one of the Indians killed a deer; presently after they
had a sight of a curious river like the Thames agt. Chilcey (Chelsea),
which having a fall yt made a great noise, whose course was
N. and so as they supposed, ran W. about certain pleasant mountains
which they saw to the westward. At this point they took up their
quarters, their course having been W. by N. At this point they
found Indian fields with cornstalks in them. They marked the
trees with the initials of the company, using branding irons, and
made proclamation in these words: `Long live King Charles ye 2nd.
king of England, France, Scotland, Ireland and Virginia and all
the terrytories thereunto belonging, defender of the faith.'
"When they came to ye river-side they found it better and
broader than they expected, fully as broad as the Thames over agt,
Maping, ye falls much like the falls of the James River in Va., and
imagined by the water marks it flowed there about three feet. It
was then ebbing water. They set up a stick by the water, but
found it ebbed very slowly."
At this point their Indian guides stopped, and refused to go any
farther, saying that there dwelt near this place a numerous and
powerful tribe of Indians that made salt and sold it to the other
tribes, and that no one who entered into their towns had ever been
able to escape. Thereupon the trip was abandoned and they
started on their return to their homes without having accomplished
the object of the exploration, to-wit: the finding of the South Sea.
But the journal adds that when they were on the top of the hill
they took a prospect as far as they could see and saw westwardly
from water, and supposed they might be from some great bog.
Many writers suppose that this exploring party, after reaching
the New river, descended the same to the falls of the Kanawha,
but it is more than probable that after they reached the river they
ascended the same, and the stopping point mentioned in the diary
was in Southwest Virginia, and near where the New river first
enters Virginia.
Upon the return of this company to their homes Governor Berkley
was very much interested in their report, but strange as it
may seem to the reader, no further attempts were made by authority
of the Government of Virginia for forty years to explore
the country west of the mountains.
It will be seen from the journal of Thomas Batts that he and
his associates, and, beyond a doubt, Colonel Abraham Wood anticipated,
by more than half a century, Governor Spotswood and
his Knights of the Golden Horse-Shoe, in the exploration and discovery
of the country west of the Blue Ridge mountains.
The next effort made to explore the region west of the mountains,
of which we have any account, occurred in 1716, forty-five
years after the journey made by Thomas Batts, above described,
and sixty years subsequent to the visit of Colonel Abraham Wood.
In the month of August, 1716, Governor Alexander Spotswood,
with several members of his staff, left Williamsburg by coach and
proceeded to Germania, where he left his coach and proceeded on
horseback. At Germania this party was supplemented by a number
of gentlemen, their retainers, a company of rangers, and four
Meherrin Indians—about fifty persons in all.
They journeyed by way of the upper Rappahannock, and on the
thirty-sixth day out, being September 5, 1716, they scaled the Blue
Ridge at Swift Run Gap, now in Augusta county.
John Fontaine, a member of this company, has left a journal of
this expedition, and therein thus describes what occurred when
they reached the summit of the Blue Ridge: "We drank King
George's health and all the royal family's at the very top of the
Appalachian mountains."
The company then descended the western side of the mountain,
and, reaching the Shenandoah river, they encamped upon its banks.
Fontaine thus preserves an account of what occurred:
"The Governor had graving irons, but could not grave anything,
the stones were so hard. I graved my name on a tree by the riverside,
and the Governor burried a bottle with a paper enclosed on
which he writ that he took possession of this place in the name
and for King Geo. 1st. of England. We had a good dinner, and
after it we got the men together, and loaded all their arms, and
we drank the King's health in champaign and fired a volley, the
Princess's health in Burgundy and fired a volley, and in claret
and fired a volley. We drank the Governor's health and fired another
volley. We had several sorts of liquers, viz. Virginia Red
Wine and White Wine, Esquebaugh, brandy, shrub, rum, champaign,
cavory, punch water, cider, etc.
"We called the highest mountain Mount George and the one we
crossed over Mount Spotswood."
Governor Spotswood, from the fertility of the soil, gave the
name of Euphrates to the river (now Shenandoah), and he believed
the same emptied into the great lakes and flowed northward.
The Governor, upon his return to Williamsburg, instituted the
Order of the Golden-Shoe, and presented to each of the gentlemen
accompanying him a small horse-shoe made of gold inscribed with
the motto: Sic jurat transcendere montes, "Thus he swears to cross
the mountains."
Governor Spotswood, in a letter written in 1716, says: "The
chief aim of my expedition over the great mountains in 1716 was
to satisfy myself whether it was practicable to come to the lakes."
The country thus described was a part of Sussex county, the
western boundary of which was undefined. Spotsylvania was
formed from Sussex in 1720, Orange from Spotsylvania in 1734,
all of said counties including the territory now within the bounds
of this county.
All this information is necessary to a history of Washington
county, because Washington county was formed from the territory
we are now dealing with, and, for the better reason, that the promoters
of our early settlements and the founders of our early government
came from the Valley of Virginia.
In the year 1726, two men named Mackey and Sallings explored
the Valley of Virginia.
John Peter Sallings, one of the two explorers of the valley
this immediate section as early as 1726.
Withers, in his history entitled "Border Warfare," thus describes
the captivity of Sallings:
"Sallings," he says, "was taken to the country now known as
Tennessee, where he remained for some years. In company with
a party of Cherokees, he went on a hunting expedition to the salt
licks of Kentucky and was there captured by a band of Illinois
Indians, with whom the Cherokees were at war. He was taken to
Kaskaskia, and adopted into the family of a squaw, whose son
had been killed. While with these Indians he several times accompanied
them down the Mississippi river, below the mouth of
the Arkansas, and once to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Spaniards in Louisiana, desiring an interpreter, purchased
him of his Indian mother, and some of them took him to Canada.
He was there redeemed by the French Governor of that province,
who sent him to the Dutch settlement in New York, whence he
made his way home after an absence of six years.
The earliest visit to this section of Virginia by an Anglo-Saxon
of which we have any record or knowledge was made by Dority, a
citizen of Eastern Virginia, who in the year 1690 visited the Cherokee
Indians in their home, south of the Little Tennessee, and
traded with them. There can be no reasonable doubt that from
a very early period, long preceding the making of a permanent
settlement by the white man in this section, many of the citizens
of Virginia living east of the mountains carried on, in many instances,
an active trade with the Indians living south of the Little
Tennessee and in Kentucky.
This section was uninhabitated by the Indians for many years
previous to the explorations of the white man, and the wilderness
was full of game of almost all kinds. Their flesh was valuable,
and the skins and furs taken in one season by a single hunter would
bring many hundreds of dollars, and thus many daring hunters
were induced to visit this section long before any white man thought
of settling the lands.
In confirmation of this idea Mr. Vaughan, of Amelia county,
Va., who died in the year 1801, was employed about the year 1740
to go as a packman with a number of Indian traders to the Cherokee
nation.
The last hunter's cabin he saw as he traveled from Amelia
county, Va., to East Tennessee was on Otter river, a branch of
Staunton river, now in Bedford county. The route he traveled
was an old trading path following closely the location of the Buckingham
road to a point where it strikes the Stage Road in Botetourt
county; thence nearly upon the ground which the Stage
Road occupies, crossing New River at Inglis' Ferry; thence to
Seven Mile Ford on the Holston; thence to the left of the road
which formed the old Stage Road; thence on to the North Fork
of Holston, above Long Island in Tennessee, crossing it where
the Stage Road formerly crossed it, and on into the heart of Tennessee.
This hunter's trail, or Indian trace, was an old path when he
first saw it, and he continued to travel the same until 1754, trading
with the Indians.
In the year 1730, John and Isaac Van Meter obtained from Governor
Gooch, of Virginia, a patent for forty thousand acres of land
to be located in the lower valley, and this warrant was sold in 1731
to Joist Hite, of Pennsylvania, who, in 1732, brought his family
and sixteen other families and located a few miles south of the
present site of Winchester, Va., and this is generally believed to
be the first settlement by a white man west of the Blue Ridge.
Emigration to this new land was rapid, and soon reached beyond
the confines of Hite's possessions.
About the time of the Hite settlement John Lewis, Peter Sallings
and — Mackey made settlements in the valley. Lewis
settled on Lewis' creek near the present site of Staunton, Sallings,
at the forks of James river and Mackey, at Buffalo Gap.
Within less than one year the population of the country near
the settlement made by Lewis was considerable, so rapid was the
migration to the new land.
The early settlers in this portion of Virginia had to contend
with titles obtained by individuals and companies for large tracts
of land, and such grantees were usually favorites of the King or
of the King's councillors.
On the 6th of September, 1736, William Gooch, Lieutenant-Governor
of Virginia, issued a patent for the "Manor of Beverly,"
covering one hundred and eighteen thousand and ninety-one acres
of land lying in the county of Orange between the great mountains
Beverly, of Essex, became the owner of the entire grant.
This patent covered most of the fine lands in the Valley of Virginia
near Staunton and Waynesboro, and soon thereafter Governor
Gooch granted Benjamin Borden five hundred thousand acres
of land situated south of Beverly Manor and on the waters of the
James and Shenandoah rivers.
Each of the grants above described was to become absolute, provided
the patentees succeeded in settling a given number of families
thereon in the time named in the grant, and as a result the patentees,
Hite, Beverly and Borden, solicited and obtained settlers
from America and Europe.
Benjamin Borden, upon the receipt of his grant, immediately
visited England, and in 1737 returned with a hundred families,
among whom were the McDowells, Crawfords, McClures, Alexanders,
Walkers, Moores, Matthews and many others, the founders
of many of Virginia's distinguished families.
In 1738, the counties of Frederick and Augusta were formed out
of Orange. The territories embraced within these two counties included
all of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge and was, almost without
exception, a howling wilderness occupied by the Indians and
wild beasts. It is evident from the statement contained in the act
establishing Augusta county that there had been a rapid and considerable
increase of the population in the valley.
The act establishing the county of Augusta provided that the
organization of the county should take place when the Governor
and Council should think there was a sufficient number of inhabitants
for appointing justices of the peace and other officers and
creating courts therein.
While the act establishing Augusta county was passed in 1738,
the county was not organized until 1745. The first court assembled
at Staunton on December 9, 1745, at which time the following
magistrates were sworn in, having been previously commissioned
by the Governor of Virginia—viz.: James Patton, John Buchanan,
George Robinson, James Bell, Robert Campbell, John Lewis, John
Brown, Peter Scholl, Robert Poage, John Findley, Richard Woods,
John Christian, Robert Craven, John Pickens, Andrew Pickens,
Thomas Lewis, Hugh Thompson, John Anderson, Robert Cunningham,
James Kerr and Adam Dickenson.
James Patton was commissioned high sheriff, John Madison,
clerk, and Thomas Lewis, surveyor of the county.
It is worthy of note that James Patton, the first sheriff of Augusta
county, was the first man to survey and locate lands within
the boundaries of Washington county as originally formed, and the
land by him acquired composed a considerable part of the best lands
within this county.
The idea of offering the dissenters from the Church of England
inducements to settle the lands west of the mountains had often
been suggested and earnestly advocated by many of the prominent
men in the Virginia Colony, but no move in that direction
was taken until about the time of the first settlement of the lower
Valley, at and after which time the Governor and Council of Virginia,
with but little hesitancy, permitted the erection of dissenting
churches in the Valley, and encouraged the immigration of settlers
whenever possible.
The result of this action was a flood of settlers, emigrants from
Scotland and Ireland, who came by way of Pennsylvania, mostly
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians in belief. They passed into and settled
in the Valley, and in a few years the Valley from Harper's Ferry
to New river was populated with a progressive, liberty-loving people
second to none on earth.
Colonel James Patton, who came from the north of Ireland in
1736, was one of the first and most influential settlers of the Valley
of Virginia.
In the year 1745, he secured a grant from the Governor and
Council of Virginia, for one hundred and twenty thousand acres
of land west of the Blue Ridge, and he and his son-in-law, John
Buchanan, who was also deputy surveyor of Augusta county, located
lands on the James river, and founded and named Buchanan
and Pattonsburg, villages that were built on the opposite sides of
the James river, now in Botetourt county.
In the year 1748, Dr. Thomas Walker, who afterwards, on the
29th day of September, 1752, qualified as a deputy surveyor of
Augusta county; Colonel James Patton, Colonel John Buchanan,
Colonel James Wood and Major Charles Campbell, accompanied
by a number of hunters, John Findlay being of the number, explored
Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee, and located and
the grant to Colonel James Patton.
We give below a list of the first surveys made on the waters of
the Holston and Clinch rivers.
This information is derived from the surveyor's records
of Augusta county at Staunton, Va. Each of the above surveys
is signed by Thomas Lewis, surveyor of Augusta county, and in
the left-hand corner of the plot, recorded with each survey, are
written the letters J. B., the initials of John Buchanan, deputy
surveyor of the county.
It is evident from this record that John Buchanan surveyed the
several tracts of land first located in Washington county, and that
he was on the waters of the Indian or Holston river surveying as
early as the 14th day of March, 1746.
It will be observed from an inspection of this list of surveys
that on April 2, 1750, there was surveyed for Edmund Pendleton
3,000 acres of land lying on West creek, a branch of the South
Fork of Indian river, which tract of land now lies in Sullivan
county, Tennessee.
This tract was patented to Edmund Pendleton in 1756 upon the
idea that the Virginia line, when run, would embrace these lands.
It is worthy of note that these early explorers and the many
hunters and traders who had previously visited this section called
the Holston river the Indian river, while the Indians gave it the
name of Hogoheegee, and the French gave it the name of the
Cherokee river.
All of the lands surveyed in this county previously to 1748 are
described in the surveys as being on the waters of the Indian river.
These explorers returned to their homes delighted, no doubt, with
the excellent lands they had visited, but nothing resulted from their
efforts save the acquisition of a knowledge of the country.
At the time Dr. Walker and his associates made their trip of
exploration above described they were followed as far as New river
by Thomas Inglis and his three sons, Mrs. Draper and her son and
daughter, Adam Harman, Henry Leonard and James Burke, pioneers
in search of a home in the wilderness. Lands were surveyed
for each of them, which lands are described in the respective surveys
as lying on Wood's river, or the waters of Wood's river. Here
| Date. | Name. | Location. | Local Name. | Acres. |
| Mar. 19, 1748 | James Davis | Head Branch Indian River | Davis' Fancy | 1,300 |
| Nov. 16, 1746 | James Patton | N. W. side Indian R., Mouth Cedar Run | 640 | |
| Mar. 14, 1746 | James Patton | Waters South Fork Indian River | Crab Apple Orchard | 770 |
| Mar. 14, 1746 | James Patton | Middle Fork Indian River | Kilmackronan | 2,600 |
| Mar. 29, 1750 | Thomas Walker | Castles Creek, Branch Indian River | Burk's Garden | 6,780 |
| Mar. 26, 1747 | James Wood | Holston or Cedar Creek | 2,193 | |
| Mar. 24, 1749 | James Wood | Holston or Cedar Creek | 2,800 | |
| Dec. 19, 1750 | John Shelton | Mockizen Creek, Branch Indian River | 1,400 | |
| Mar. 15, 1748 | John Shelton | Indian River | 995 | |
| Oct. 16, 1750 | John Shelton | Branch Clinch River | 1,000 | |
| Oct. 14, 1750 | John Shelton | Crabapple Orchard, Waters Clinch R. | 650 | |
| Oct. 2, 1748 | John Shelton | Middle Fork Indian River | 940 | |
| Oct. 17, 1748 | John Shelton | South Side North Fork Indian River | 150 | |
| Jan. 15, 1751 | Jos. and Esther Crockett | Head South Fork Indian River | 450 | |
| Mar. 14, 1748 | Charles St. Clair | South Fork Holston River | 996 | |
| April 2, 1750 | Edmund Pendleton | Branch Indian River | 950 | |
| April 2, 1750 | Edmund Pendleton | Branch Indian River | Renfro's Creek | 676 |
| April 6, 1750 | Edmund Pendleton | Middle Fork Indian River | Shallow Creek | 3,000 |
| Feb. 22, 1749 | John Taylor | Waters Indian River | Sapling Grove | 1,946 |
| Feb. 23, 1749 | John Taylor | Shallow Creek | Timber Grove | 1,000 |
| Mar. 19, 1749 | John Taylor | Shallow Creek | Forks | 720 |
| Feb. 19, 1749 | John Taylor | Middle Fork Indian River | 1,150 | |
| Dec. 31, 1748 | Chas. Campbell | North Fork Indian River | Campbell's Choice | 1,400 |
| Dec. 12, 1748 | Chas. Campbell | Branch of North Fork | Buffalo Lick | 330 |
| Nov. 24, 1747 | John Buchanan | Indian River | Wasp Bottom | 1,000 |
| Nov. 21, 1747 | John Buchanan | Indian River | Richland | 550 |
| Oct. 14, 1747 | John Buchanan | Middle Fork Indian River | Royal Oak | 740 |
| Nov. 10, 1748 | John Buchanan | Middle Fork Indian River | Holly Bottom | 1,250 |
| Mar. 15, 1748 | Chas. Campbell | Indian River | Gooseberry Garden | 130 |
| Mar. 21, 1749 | Chas. Campbell | Middle Branch Indian River | Buffalo Bottom | 220 |
| Mar. 23, 1749 | Chas. Campbell | Middle Branch Indian River | Papau Bottom | 300 |
| Oct. 23, 1750 | Chas. Campbell | Middle Branch Indian River | Indian Camp | 135 |
the first on Wood's or New river.
The name given to this new settlement was "Draper's Meadows."
The surveys, with accompanying plats for these, the first settlers
on any of the waters flowing into the Mississippi, are exceedingly
interesting and instructive.
These first settlers were immediately followed by a large number
of other persons.
The Alleghany mountains having been crossed and the waters
flowing into the Mississippi reached, the pioneer rapidly sought to
bring the wilderness under his dominion. The first company of
settlers at Draper's Meadows were at once increased by new arrivals,
and numerous tracts of land west of New river and near
what were afterwards known as the Lead Mines occupied. Among
the early settlers in that section of Southwest Virginia were the
Crocketts, Sayers, Cloyds, McGavocks and McCalls.
James Burke, with his family, settled in 1753 in what has since
been known as Burk's Garden, and Charles Sinclair in Sinclair's
Bottom. Stephen Holston built his cabin within thirty feet of the
head spring of the Middle Fork of Indian, since called Holston
river, some time previous to 1748, and thus Burke, Sinclair and
Holston gave names to the localities of their early settlements.
A colony of people called "Dunkards" settled on the west side of
New river near Inglis' Ferry, and in the year 1750 Samuel Stalnaker,
with the assistance of Dr. Walker and his associates, erected
his cabin on the Holston nine miles west of Stephen Holston's
cabin.
It is worthy of mention in this place that in this year, 1749,
the commissioners appointed by the Legislatures of Virginia and
North Carolina continued the boundary line between Virginia
and North Carolina to a point on Steep Rock Creek,[3]
in this county.
Dr. Walker and his associates had met Samuel Stalnaker on the
waters of the Holston in April, 1748, between the Reedy Creek
settlement and the Holston river, at which time it is evident, from
a journal kept by Dr. Walker, that Stalnaker told Walker and his
associates of the Cumberland Gap, and made an engagement with
Dr. Walker to pilot him upon a trip to Kentucky at a subsequent
date.
The French had established settlements on the waters of the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and claimed, by right of discovery
and occupancy, as territory belonging to the French crown, all
the lands west of the Alleghany mountains, and were actively asserting
their right to all of this territory at all times and by every
possible means. It is claimed that the French had established a
fort near the Broad Ford of the Tennessee river, and had opened
and operated mines in the territory now included in Eastern Kentucky;
and it is well known that the French traders were to be
found in nearly all of the Indian villages east of the Mississippi
river and west of the Alleghany mountains.
The English Government and the American Colonies denied the
pretensions of the French crown, and looked with jealousy upon
every movement made by France in the direction of the accomplishment
of her claim.
As a result, on the 12th day of July, 1749, the Governor and
Council of Virginia granted to the "Ohio Company" 500,000 acres
of land, to be surveyed and located south of the Ohio river, and
to forty-six gentlemen, styling themselves the "Loyal Company,"
leave to take up and survey 800,000 acres of land in one or more
surveys, beginning on the bounds between this State and North
Carolina and running to the westward and to the north seas to
include the said quantity, with four years' time to locate said land
and make return of surveys.
The "Ohio Company" employed Christopher Gist, one of the
most noted surveyors of that time, to go, as soon as possible, to the
westward of the Great Mountains, and to carry with him such a
number of men as he thought necessary, in order to search out and
discover the lands upon the river Ohio and other adjoining branches
of the Mississippi, down as low as the Great Falls thereof, now
Louisville, Kentucky.
He was also directed to observe the passes through the mountains,
to take an exact account of the soil and products of the lands, the
width and depth of the rivers, the falls belonging to them, the
course and bearings of the rivers and mountains, and to ascertain
what Indians inhabitated them, with their strength and numbers.
Pursuant to his instructions, he set out from the old town on
the Potomac river, in Maryland, in October, 1750, and spent many
days on the lands south of the Ohio river, in the present State
Pound Gap, at which gap he crossed and passed down Gist's river
to Powell's and Clinch valleys. On Tuesday, the 7th day of May,
1751, he came to New river and crossed the same about eight miles
above the mouth of Bluestone river. On Saturday, the 11th, he
came to a very high mountain, upon the top of which was a lake
or pond about three-fourths of a mile long northeast and southwest,
and one-fourth of a mile wide, the water fresh and clear,
its borders a clean gravelly shore about ten yards wide, and a fine
meadow with six fine springs in it.
From this description it is evident that Gist visited Salt Lake
mountain, in Giles county, Va., as early as 1751, and found the
lake as it now is.
It is evident from this journal that the traditions that we
so often hear repeated about this lake are nothing more than mythical,
and that this lake existed as it now is at the time of the earliest
explorations of the white man. Colonel Gist then passed south
about four miles to Sinking Creek and on to the settlements.
In the meantime the "Loyal Company" were not idle, but, having
employed Dr. Thomas Walker for a certain consideration,
sent him on the 12th day of December, 1749, in company with
Ambrose Powell, William Tomlinson, Henry Lawless and John
Hughes, to the westward in order to discover a proper place for a
settlement. A journal of this trip will be found in the Appendix
to this work, and the reader will find a perusal of this journal exceedingly
interesting, as Dr. Walker and his associates passed directly
through what might reasonably be termed the centre of
Washington county.
It will be necessary, in speaking of this journal of Dr. Walker's,
to call the reader's attention to only a few incidents connected
with the trip, which we will do as briefly as possible.
On March 15, 1750, they came to the "Great Lick," now the
present site of the city of Roanoke, Va., at which place they
bought corn of Michael Campbell for their horses, at which time
Dr. Walker remarks: "This Lick has been one of the best places
for game in these parts, and would have been of much greater
advantage to the inhabitants than it has been if the hunters had
not killed the buffaloes for diversion and the elks and deer for
their skins."
It has been the prevailing opinion that there were no buffaloes
east of the Blue Ridge, and while the Great Lick, or Roanoke
City, is west of the Blue Ridge, it is altogether probable that buffaloes
in their range did oftentimes travel beyond the mountains;
at any rate it is known that Colonel Byrd killed buffaloes in 1729
on the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina and
south of Roanoke.
They thence went up the Staunton river, now called the Little
Roanoke river, to William Inglis'. Dr. Walker, at this point,
notes the fact that William Inglis had a mill which is the furthest
back, except one lately built by the sect of people who called
themselves of the Brotherhood of Euphrates, or "Duncards," who
are the upper inhabitants of the New river and lived on the west
side of the same.
It is well to note at this point that the present village of Blacksburg
is near the locality occupied by William Inglis in 1750. The
Dunkards spoken of by Dr. Walker lived on the west side of New
river opposite Inglis' Ferry, several miles above the crossing of
the Norfolk and Western railroad. Their next stopping point was
on a small run between Peak Creek and Reed Creek, or between
Pulaski city and Max Meadows of the present day. They next
camped near James McCall's on Reed Creek, and on the 22d of
March they reached a large spring about five miles below Davis'
Bottom, on the Middle Fork of Holston river, where they camped;
they moved thence down the Middle Fork of Holston, where they
again camped, and Ambrose Powell and Dr. Walker went to look
for Samuel Stalnaker and found his camp, he having just moved out
to settle. They assisted Stalnaker in building his house, and spent
the Sabbath about one-half a mile below him. On Monday, the
26th, they left the frontiers of civilization, Stalnaker's settlement
being the farthest west at that time. Their trip was not eventful
until the 30th, on which day they caught two young buffaloes, and
on the 31st they traveled down the Reedy creek to the Holston
river at the foot of Long Island, where they measured an elm
tree twenty-five feet in circumference three feet from the ground.
They crossed the North Fork of the Holston about one-half a
mile above the junction of the North and South Fork rivers at
a ford. At this point they discovered evidences of Indians. They
found, in the fork between the North and South Forks of Holston
around which there were an abundance of bones and many pieces
of mats and cloth. On the west side of the North Fork of Holston
river they found four Indian houses, and four miles southwest
of the junction of the North and South Forks of Holston
river they discovered an Indian fort on the south side of the main
Holston river.
On April 2d they left the Holston river and traveled in a northwest
direction toward Cumberland Gap, passing over Clinch mountain
at Loony's Gap, it is thought. They reached the Clinch river
above the present location of Sneedsville, in Hancock county, Tennessee,
and on the 12th day of April they reached Powell's river,
ten miles from Cumberland Gap. It is well to note at this point
that Ambrose Powell, one of Dr. Walker's companions, cut his
name upon a tree on the bank of this river, which name and tree
were found in the year 1770 by a party of fifteen or twenty Virginians
on their way to Kentucky on a hunting expedition, from
which circumstance the Virginia Long Hunters gave it the name
of Powell's river, which name it still retains. On the 13th they
reached Cumberland Gap, which gap Dr. Walker afterwards named
Cumberland Gap in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, the son
of George II, and the commander of the English forces, on the
16th of April, 1746, at Culloden, where he defeated, with great
slaughter, the Highland forces, refusing quarter to the wounded
prisoners.
On the 17th of April he reached the Cumberland river and
named it at that time. On the 23d a part of this company was
left to build a house and plant some peach stones and corn. On
the 28th Dr. Walker returned to his company and found that
they had built a house 12×8 feet, cleared and broken up some
ground and planted corn and peach stones.
This was the first house built by an Anglo-Saxon in the State
of Kentucky, and it was used and occupied as late as 1835. The
location of this house is on the farm of George M. Faulkner, about
four miles below Barboursville, Ky. They thence traveled in a
northeast direction, crossing Kentucky river and New river and
striking the waters of the Greenbrier, and on the 13th day of
July Dr. Walker reached his home. On this journey they killed
thirteen buffaloes, eight elks, fifty-three bears, twenty deer, four
killed three times as much meat if they had wanted it.
It is to be recollected that this trip and the building of the cabin
in the wilderness of Kentucky was all in the interest of the "Loyal
Company."
About this time the "Ohio Company" entered a caveat against
the "Loyal Company," and the Loyal Company got into a dispute
with Colonel James Patton, who had an unfinished grant below
where this company were to begin, and no further progress was
made by the company until June 14, 1753.
In the year 1748, Mr. Gray, Mr. Ashford Hughes and others
obtained a grant from the Governor and Council for 10,000 acres
of land lying on the waters of the New river, which grant was
soon afterwards assigned to Peter Jefferson (father of Thomas
Jefferson), Dr. Thomas Walker, Thomas Merriweather and David
Merriweather, which lands were surveyed and principally settled
in the early days of the settlement of this section.
About the same time the Governor and the Council of Virginia
granted to John Lewis, of Augusta, and his associates 100,000
acres of land to be located on the Greenbrier river, and thus the
English Government sought to displace the French in their efforts
to settle and hold the lands west of the Alleghany mountains.
On the other hand, the movements of the English were closely
watched by the French, who were equally determined to defeat
them in their aspirations. A company of French soldiers in 1752
were sent south as far as the Miami river to notify the English
traders among the Indians to leave the country, which they refused
to do, and thereupon a fight ensued between the French and
Indians, in which fourteen Miami Indians were killed and four
white prisoners were taken, and thus began the contest which resulted
in the loss to France of all her possessions in Canada and
east of the Mississippi river.
In April of the year 1749, the house of Adam Harmon, one of
the first settlers near Inglis' Ferry, on New river, was visited by
the Indians, and his furs and skins stolen.
[4]
This was the first Indian depredation committed on the white
settlers west of the Alleghany mountains.
In the month of November, 1753, the House of Burgesses of
settle on the waters of the Mississippi, which act we here copy in
full:
1. Whereas, it will be the means of cultivating a better correspondence
with the neighboring Indians if a farther encouragement
be given to persons who have settled on the waters of
the Mississippi, in the county of Augusta; and, whereas, a considerable
number of persons, as well his majesty's natural born subjects
as foreign Protestants, are willing to come into this Colony
with their families and effects and settle upon the lands near the
said waters in case they can have encouragement for so doing; and,
whereas, the settling of that part of the country will add to the
security and strength of the Colony in general and be a means of
augmenting his majesty's revenue of quit rents;
2. 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 all persons being Protestants
who have already settled or shall hereafter settle and reside
on any lands situated to the westward of the ridge of mountains
that divide the rivers Roanoke, James and Potowmack, from the
Mississippi in the county of Augusta, shall be and are exempted
and discharged from the payment of all public county and parish
levies for the term of fifteen years next following, any law, usage,
or custom to the contrary thereof, in any wise notwithstanding.[5]
The English Government were exceedingly anxious to encourage
the settlements on the waters of the Mississippi and thereby
strengthen their frontiers and fortify their claim to the lands lying
west of the Alleghany mountains, and, in keeping with this desire,
the Governor and Council of Virginia, on June 14, 1753, renewed
the grant to the "Loyal Company" and allowed them four years'
farther time to complete the surveying and seating of said land, and
on the 6th day of July following Dr. Thomas Walker, their agent,
proceeded with all convenient speed to survey said land and to sell
the same to purchasers at three pounds per hundred acres, exclusive
of fees and rights. The basis of the operations of Dr. Walker
was in Southwest Virginia, and by the end of the year 1754 he had
surveyed and sold 224 separate tracts of land containing 45,249
acres, which surveys were made in the name of the several purchasers
occupied by settlers.
During this time James Patton was actively at work surveying
and selling lands to settlers under his grant from the Governor and
Council, and the tide of emigration was fast settling towards Southwest
Virginia, when the French-Indian war of 1754-1763 came on,
which war began in all its fury about this time, and thereby Dr.
Walker, agent for the "Loyal Company," and James Patton and
others were prevented, for the time being, from further prosecuting
their enterprises in surveying and settling this portion of Virginia.
In the spring of 1754, numbers of families were obliged, by an
Indian invasion, to remove from their settlements in Southwest
Virginia, and these removals continued during the entire war. It
will be well here to note the fact that the lands held by Stephen
Holston, James McCall, Charles Sinclair and James Burke, the
earlier settlers of this portion of Virginia, were held by them under
what were known at that time as "corn rights—that is, under the
law as it then stood, each settler acquired title to a hundred acres
for every acre planted by him in corn, but subsequent settlers, as
a general rule, held their lands under one of the above-mentioned
grants. Stephen Holston, who settled at the head spring of the
Middle Fork of Holston some time prior to 1748, did not remain
long at this place, but sold his right to James Davis, who, on the
19th of March, 1748, had John Buchanan, deputy surveyor of
Augusta county, to survey for him at this point a tract of land containing
1,300 acres, to which he gave the name of "Davis' Fancy,"
and the descendants of James Davis occupy a portion of this land
to this day.
Stephen Holston, when he had disposed of his rights to Davis,
constructed canoes, passed down the Holston, Tennessee and Mississippi
rivers to Natchez, Mississippi, and thence returned to Virginia,
and settled in Culpeper county, where he lived in 1754; afterwards,
in 1757, he was captured by the Indians, but, making
his escape, he returned to the waters of the Holston, and served
under Colonel Christian upon the expedition to Point Pleasant in
1774, and in the expedition against the Cherokees in 1776. Many
of his descendants are to be found in East Tennessee at this time.
At the beginning of the year 1753 two families resided on Back
creek; James Reed, at Dublin, Va. (from whom Reed creek derived
Burk's Garden; Joseph and Esther Crockett, at the head waters
of the South Fork of Holston river; James Davis, at the head
waters of the Middle Fork of Holston river, and a family of Dunkards,
by the name of McCorkle, on the west bank of New river
near Inglis' Ferry. Of these facts we have record evidence.
Many other families resided west of New river, of whom we have
no record.
And thus closes the record of the first efforts made to explore
and settle Southwest Virginia by the white man.
| CHAPTER III History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 | |