Early Charlottesville recollections of James Alexander, 1828-1874. Reprinted from the Jeffersonian republican |
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December 24, 1873 |
 | Early Charlottesville |  |
December 24, 1873
Forty-Five Years Ago.—On the north side of the
Public Square was situated the stone jail; at that time
no high walls, as at the present day, enclosed any part
of it. The jailor was William Watson, who carried on
the business of saddler and harness making in one of the
rooms on the lower floor. He owned and had for his
residence the house[7]
on Park Street,[8]
now the property
of Thomas Wood, Esq.
county, was the judge of the Superior Court, till
the new constitution of 1829-30 went into effect. Since
then[11] the judges have been Lucas P. Thompson, of
Augusta, Richard Field, of Culpeper, Egbert R. Watson,[12]
of this county, and the present incumbent, Henry
Shackelford, of Culpeper county.
The clerk of this and the County Court was Alexander
Garrett,[13]
who had for his deputy, many years, his
brother, Ira Garrett, who entered the Clerk's office as
far back as 1807 or 1808, and in 1830 was appointed
clerk of the County Court and after the adoption of the
revised constitution of the State, which went into effect
in 1852, and which gave the election to the people, was
elected clerk of both the Circuit and County Courts.
He held these offices till displaced by Gen. Canby,[14]
and
afterwards served as assistant to Dr. Points, the clerk.
Mr. Garrett lived till he was nearly eighty years of age,
and we believe, for the sixty odd years that he was in the
Clerk's office, never was absent more than once or twice
from any session of the Courts, during all that time; and
his office was never closed during office hours. Mr.
Garrett was not only attentive to business but accurate,
gentlemanly, polite and courteous.
The County Court, in 1828, and onwards, numbered
among its justices some of the most substantial and best
citizens in the county. We call to mind the following:
the present time in England, prosecuting his claims as
heir to the Jennings estate of several millions of pounds
sterling; Col. Samuel Carr[15] elected State Senator in
1835, Col. William Woods, James Jarman, Garrett
White, John Watson, father of Judge E. R. Watson,
Micajah Woods, John Rodes, Opie Norris, William D.
Meriwether, Col. John R. Jones, Dr. Frank Carr, Col.
Th. J. Randolph, Benjamin Ficklin, and Dr. Charles
Cocke, for several years State Senator.
The lawyers then practising at the bar were, Philip
P. Barbour,[16]
for many years, member of Congress,
Judge of the United States Court, dying at Washington
during the session of the Court in that city; James
Crawford, John H. Peyton,[17]
State Senator from Augusta
County; William C. Rives,[18]
member of the Virginia
Legislature, and in 1829 elected to the United
States House of Representatives, and in after years,
twice a member of the United States Senate, twice
days Representative in the Confederate House of Representatives
from the Albemarle Congressional District;
Gen. William F. Gordon, member of both Houses of
the Virginia Legislature, and also of the United States
House of Representatives. He first proposed the subtreasury
system, or management of its finances by the
separate instrumentalities of the Government, without
the aid of Banks. And when this policy was afterwards
urged by the Gov't the honor of having originated it was
universally accorded him; Cha's Downing, in later years
a member of Congress from Florida. He was a fluent
speaker and gifted writer. He wrote the account of the
visit of Gen. Lafayette to Mr. Jefferson, and his reception
by the people of this county, and the dinner given
to him at the University in 1824; Thos. W. Gilmer,[19]
elected in 1829, and for years afterwards, to the Virginia
House of Delegates, Governor of Virginia in 1840, and
elected to the United States House of Representatives
next year, then appointed by President Tyler, Secretary
of Navy, and lost his life on board of the Princeton, by
the bursting of the monster gun. Valentine W. Southall,
for many years Commonwealth's Attorney, member
of the Virginia Legislature, and of the Convention,
which passed the act of Secession from United States in
1861; Rice W. Wood, elected to the house of Delegates
by the whole community; Boucher Carr, Commonwealth's
attorney, he was a man so conscientious in the
discharge of his duty, that he refused to engage in the
prosecution of a person whom he believed not guilty, or
to defend one that he felt satisfied was guilty; Henry T.
Harris, Francis B. Dyer, John M. Martin, Wm. H.
Meriwether, J. A. G. Davis, afterwards Professor of
Law in the University of Virginia, and was shot by a
student in November, 1840, from the effects of which he
died. Alexander Rives, now United States District
Judge, was, we think, in 1829, the junior member of the
Albemarle bar; Maj. James Garland, member of the
Legislature for Nelson County, and of the U. S. House
of Representatives from this district, and at the present
time judge of the court in Lynchburg and is in the 82d
year of his age. Thomas J. Michie,[20] of Staunton, also
practised in the courts here for many years, and was
prosecuting attorney in the Superior Court.
In 1826 John Watson, Esq. was high sheriff, Nelson
Barksdale farmed the office, and with Col. J. J. Bowcock
and J. Frank Fry, were the deputy sheriffs for the
two years. In 1828 Wm. D. Meriwether was high sheriff,
the office, and were the deputy sheriffs for the term of
two years. The senior Magistrate, in those days, was
the high sheriff for the term of two years, who generally
farmed out the office for a money consideration, but
could, if he desired, perform the duties himself. In
1852, the people, for the first time, elected the sheriffs.
The first election that we witnessed was in April,
1829. W. C. Rives was elected to Congress, Th. W.
Gilmer and Rice W. Wood to the House of Delegates
and Gen. Wm. F. Gordon to the State Senate; Hugh
Nelson,[21]
who had recently returned as Minister from
Spain, was the opposing candidate.
On the eastern side of the square, where Mrs. Isabella
Leitch now resides,[22]
there stood an old dilapidated
almost the year 1828, been occupied as a tavern, and was
known as the Swan Tavern. The landlord of this house
was John Jouette, whose son in 1781, had been down the
country, and was returning, when he had a sight of General
Tarleton and his troop of cavalry, on their way to
this town to capture Mr. Jefferson, whom they believed
to be Governor of Virginia,[23] and the members of the
legislature, then in session in Charlottesville. Young
Jouette rode a fleet horse, and by taking a route shorter
than the main road, reached Charlottesville in time to
give warning of the approach of the enemy, thus enabling
Mr. Jefferson and family, and all the members of
the Legislature, except two or three, to make their escape,
troops. This Mr. Jouette, years afterward, emigrated
to the State of Kentucky, and was made a Judge
at Law.
In 1808, a man by the name of John (called Jack)
M'Coy, was barkeeper in this Swan tavern; he was murdered
and thrown into the well on the premises. The
landlord, who was absent on the night that the murder
occurred, was accused of being concerned in it, but he
was acquitted. The late Ira Garrett was a boarder in
the house at the time, and was a witness in the case when
it was investigated by the court. No clue as to who committed
the murder was ever afterwards obtained.
On the vacant lot adjoining the hotel there was a battery;
where men and boys played ball; quoits were
pitched and marbles played. It was not unusual to see
men of fifty and boys of ten or twelve playing together.
This was a general resort for recreation, especially
two or three hours before sunset. On a square
or two north of this, on Sunday evenings, young men
and boys sometimes resorted to exercise their limbs
in jumping.
This street received its name from the fact that it led to the
Park Mill, north of the town and owned by Dr. George Gilmer of
Pen Park. Later, it was Cochran's Mill, and Cochran's Pond was
a favorite skating place for two generations. The miller's old
stone house still stands.
Following the removal of the county seat from Scottsville to
Charlottesville, 1762, a courthouse of slight and temporary construction,
but with a portico, was erected, probably near the site of
the present Clerk's Office. In The Court House of Albemarle
County, by W. Sam Burnley, ([n. p.], 1939), pp. 6-7, we learn
that a paper, discovered in 1938 in a closet of the Clerk's Office,
proved to be the bond of William Cabell, dated Nov. 13, 1762,
with John Harvie his security in the sum of one thousand pounds,
for the building of this courthouse. It was to reproduce the
Henrico courthouse, with the exception of a certain floor laid in
eight-inch tile where its model used flagstone. The cost was to be
three hundred and seventy-five pounds, ten shillings. The courthouse
at Scottsville had been a copy of that of Goochland, and was
"thirty-six feet long and twenty feet wide, from outside to outside"
(Mary Rawlings, Ante-Bellum Albemarle [Charlottesville, Va.,
1935], p. 32), so we may assume that this new one was no smaller.
In 1803 the north or rear wing of the present building was erected.
Geo. Divers, Wm. D. Meriwether and Isaac Miller were appointed
to draw the plan, the cost not to exceed five thousand dollars. The
committee was also directed, when the new house was finished, to
remove the old one, with the rubbish incident to the work. This
north wing long served as the town's public building, and the
churches of the community used it in rotation. The Court Square
was first enclosed in 1792, Pillory, stocks and whipping post stood
here, and as late as 1857 the whipping post was restored.
In 1825 a commission, consisting of Joseph Coffman, John M.
Perry, John Winn, Alexander Garrett, Micajah Woods and Opie
Norris was directed to have two offices erected on the northeast
corner of the Square for the commonwealth's attorney and the
sheriff, and in 1855 an engine house was built on the west side of
the Square and two offices in line with it on the east side. A front,
much ornamented with towers and gables, was built in 1859, and
after the War between the States this was altered by George W.
Spooner into the present front with columns. See Woods, Albemarle
County, p. 83.
Judge Stuart was educated at the College of William and
Mary and fought in the Revolutionary army. During his entire
army service he carried with him the official seal of the Phi Beta
Kappa Society, of which he was vice-president. Years after his
death, this was found in a secret drawer of his desk. When the
Society was revived in 1849, his son transferred the seal to the
officers, but since the Civil War days it has been lost sight of.
Judge Stuart served in the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate,
as a presidential elector, and as member of the Convention of
1788. Lyon G. Tyler, ed., Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography
(5 vols., New York, 1915), Vol. II, pp. 153-54.
In 1885—a decade after the original publication of these
Recollections—John M. White was appointed to this office, which
he filled with distinction until his death in 1913. Judge White
was born in Norfolk County, Va. As a boy he ran away from the
Virginia Military Institute to join Mosby's command, with which
he fought through the remainder of the war. In addition to his
legal work he was a successful business man, having been president
of the Peoples National Bank for nearly twenty years. Exofficio,
he was head of the Miller Manual School, to which he gave
much time, and he was also active in the affairs of the Episcopal
Church. Philip Alexander Bruce et al., History of Virginia, (6
vols., Chicago and New York, 1924), Vol. IV, p. 181.
Egbert R. Watson was the son of John Watson of "Forest
Hill," near Milton. He studied law under Judge Hay, President
Monroe's son-in-law, while serving as Mr. Monroe's secretary at Oak
Hill in Loudoun County. He was admitted to the Charlottesville
bar in 1830, represented the county in both Houses of the Virginia
legislature, and served as Judge of the Circuit Court following
the War between the States. He was an elder in the Presbyterian
Church.
John M. Carr, grandson of Major Thomas Carr, preceded
Alexander Garrett as Clerk of the Circuit Court. He served nine
years, resigning in 1818. Woods, Albemarle County, p. 79.
Gen. Edward R. S. Canby was Military Commander of "District
No. I," as Virginia was designated during the reconstruction
period. Mr. Garrett, however, was removed from office (for refusal
of the iron-clad test oath) under Gen. George Stoneman,
Canby's predecessor. Ibid., pp. 121-122.
Col. Samuel Carr of the Dunlora family was an officer of
cavalry in the War of 1812 and nephew of Jefferson. His brother
owned Carrsbrook. Col. Carr served in the State Senate for the
terms 1837-1839, succeeding Dr. Charles Cocke, who served
1831-35, and also 1840-1843.
Of Orange County. Served as Speaker of the House of
Representatives. While in Congress he opposed all appropriations
for public improvements, and all import duties. Died, 1841.
Tyler, Encyc. of Va. Biography, Vol. II, pp. 83-84.
John Howe Peyton was also for many years in the Virginia
Legislature. He was an active member of the Whig party and
opposed secession. A brilliant reputation at the bar.
Wm. Cabell Rives served three terms in Congress and was
three times Senator from Virginia. Ibid., Vol. II, pp. 91-92.
Thomas Walker Gilmer must have been a colorful individualist.
Upon his election as Governor he toured the State to examine
all public works, defraying all expenses from private funds. In
one year he resigned, following the failure of the legislature to
support him in a dispute with New York State. He was at once
elected to Congress. Died at age of forty-one. Ibid., Vol. II, p. 53.
This eminent jurist studied law in the office of his uncle,
Chapman Johnson. He was the father of five sons, four of whom
lost their lives in the Confederate army. His surviving son, Henry
Bowyer Michie, in his later years lived here and edited the Charlottesville
Chronicle. He was the father of Armistead Rust Michie
and the late Thomas J. Michie of the law publishing firm, The
Michie Company of Charlottesville, and of the late George R. B.
Michie of the Peoples National Bank. Descendants of the Staunton
lawyer to the fourth generation are among our citizens.
Born at Yorktown, 1768, son of Governor Nelson. Speaker
of the Virginia House of Delegates, Judge of the General Court,
in Congress, 1811-1823, Minister to Spain, 1823-1824. Made his
home at Belvoir, Albemarle County. Died, 1836. Ibid., Vol. II,
p. 121.
Still standing. Now the Red Land Club, corner of Park
Street and East Jefferson. Of the Jouetts, Woods' Albemarle
County, pp. 240-41, tells us: "Among the earliest entries on the
Court records in 1745, is a notice of the death of Matthew Jouett,
and the appointment of John Moore as his executor. It can
scarcely be doubted that John Jouett, who was for many years a
prominent citizen of Charlottesville, was a son of this Matthew.
In 1773 John purchased from John Moore one hundred acres adjoining
the town on the east and north, and at that time most
likely erected the Swan Tavern of famous memory. . . . In
1790 he laid out High Street, with the row of lots on either side.
. . . He kept the Swan until his death in 1802. . . . At
the time of his death, and for many years after, no public place of
burial in the town existed. According to the custom of that day,
he was most probably buried in the yard in the rear of his house,
and his remains lie somewhere in the square on which the old
Town Hall is situated. . . . The general tradition about
Charlottesville has always been, that it was John Jouett, Sr., who
performed the exploit of outstripping Tarleton. . . . As to the
grave of the elder Jouett, there is a cluster of fine old box in the
rear of the Matacia home, 610 East High Street (to the rear of
the Town Hall), which is believed to mark the site of the burial
plot, the grave, according to belief, being within ten feet of a
spot now marked by a cherry tree.
Jefferson was Governor at this time. The raid occurred
June 3-4, 1781; in the excitement which followed, criticism of Mr.
Jefferson arose, and on June 12 a resolution was introduced in the
House of Delegates that "an inquiry be made into the conduct of
the Executive of this State for the last twelve months". It was
made, and the Governor was unanimously exonerated of all blame,
the chief mover, George Nicholas, becoming from this time one of
his close friends and supporters. Mr. Jefferson, however, refused
to stand for re-election. Lyon G. Tyler et al., History of Virginia
(6 vols., Chicago and New York, 1924), Vol. II, pp. 212-13.
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