University of Virginia Library

Daniel Sheffey was born at Frederick, Md., in 1770, and was bred a shoemaker, in
his father's shop. His education was inconsiderable; but possessing an ardent desire for
knowledge, he passed his leisure in reading, and became particularly fond of astronomical
and mathematical studies. Arrived at manhood, he travelled on foot, with his
"kit" on his back, to Winchester. From thence he walked through the valley of Virginia,
stopping at various villages on his route, and earning sufficient money by his
trade, to pay his expenses, until he at last arrived at Abbeville, Wythe county. He
was a stranger, friendless and destitute. "Here he commenced his trade once more.
The novelty and originality of his character, and the flashes of genius which enlivened
his conversation, often compelled his new-tried friends to look on the eccentric youth
with wonder." Becoming popular, he was received into the office of Alexander Smyth,
Esq., and after being admitted to the bar of Wythe county, was employed in the most
important suits. After some years he settled in Staunton, and obtained a lucrative
practice. He often represented Augusta in the House of Delegates, and, in 1811, was
chosen as a member of Congress. "His speech, in favor of a renewal of the charter
of the first bank of the United States, was a masterly combination of sound judgment
and conclusive facts: for three hours profound silence reigned; and the most experienced
statesmen were astonished at this exhibition of his talents." He was opposed to the
declaration of war in 1812. On one occasion, he gave John Randolph, whose bitter
sarcasm few could withstand, a most severe retort. In commenting upon a speech of
Mr. Sheffey's, he said that "the shoemaker ought not to go beyond his last." In an
instant Sheffey retorted, "if that gentleman had ever been on the bench, he never would
have left it."[1]

Mr. Sheffey was a plain man; his accent German, his pronunciation not agreeable;
yet the most refined audience always paid him profound attention. He seized upon the
strong points of a case, and maintained them with unconquerable zeal. "Like Patrick
Henry, he was the artificer of his own fortune, and like him, in after-life, lamented that

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After passing over a hilly and picturesque country, the road opened upon a fertile
valley, which though in places narrow, was of considerable length—and when seen
from an elevated position, appeared like the bed of an ancient lake, or as it really is,
the alluvial border of a flowing stream. The strata of limestone hills followed their
usual order of parallel lines to the great mountains of our continent, as though a strong
current had once swept through this magnificent valley, forming in its course islands
and promontories, which are now discoverable in numerous short hills and rocky bluffs,
that are either naked and barren, or covered with a growth of stately trees. It was at
such a projection, that we first descried the gray summits of what seemed a ruinous
castle—resembling those which were raised in fendal times to guard the passes of the
Rhine, or like such as are still seen in mouldering majesty on many an Alpine rock.
These summits or towers, of which there were seven, lifted their heads above the lofty
elms, like so many antique chimneys in the midst of a grove; but, on approaching them
nearer, our pleasure was greatly increased to find them rise almost perpendicularly from
the bed of a stream, which, winding around their base, serves as a natural moat to a
building not made with mortal hands.

These rocks in their formation resemble the palisades on the Hudson River—but are
more regular in their strata, which appears to have been arranged in huge masses
of perfect workmanship, with projections like cornices of Gothic architecture, in a state
of dilapidation. Those who are acquainted with the structure of the Cyclopean walls
of the ancients, would be struck with the resemblance.

John Lewis was a native and citizen of Ireland, descended from a family of Huguenots,
who took refuge in that kingdom from the persecutions that followed the assassination
of Henry IV., of France. His rank was that of an Esquire, and he inherited a
handsome estate, which he increased by industry and frugality, until he became the
lessee of a contiguous property, of considerable value. He married Margaret Lynn,
daughter of the laird of Loch Lynn, who was a descendant of the chieftains of a once
powerful clan in the Scottish Highlands. By this marriage he had four sons, three of
them, Thomas, Andrew, and William, born in Ireland, and Charles, the child of his old
age, born a few months after their settlement in their mountain home.

The emigration of John Lewis to Virginia, was the result of one of those bloody affrays,
which at that time so often occurred to disturb the repose, and destroy the happiness
of Irish families. The owner of the fee out of which the leasehold of Lewis was
carved, a nobleman of profligate habits and ungovernable passions, seeing the prosperity
of his lessee, and repenting the bargain he had concluded, under pretence of entering for
an alleged breach of condition, attempted by the aid of a band of ruffians, hired for his
purpose, to take forcible possession of the premises. For this end, he surrounded
the house with his ruffians, and called upon Lewis to evacuate the premises without delay,
a demand which was instantly and indignantly refused by Lewis; though surprised
with a sick brother, his wife, and infant children in the house, and with no aid but
such as could be afforded by a few faithful domestics. With this small force, scarce
equal to one-fourth the number of his assailants, he resolved to maintain his legal rights
at every hazard. The enraged nobleman commenced the affray by discharging his
fowling-piece into the house, by which the invalid brother of Lewis was killed, and Margaret
herself severely wounded. Upon this, the enraged husband and brother, rushed
from the house, attended by his devoted little band, and soon succeeded in dispersing the
assailants, though not until the noble author of the mischief, as well as his steward, had
perished by the hand of Lewis. By this time the family were surrounded by their sympathizing
friends and neighbors, who, after bestowing every aid in their power, advised
Lewis to fly the country, a measure rendered necessary by the high standing of his late
antagonist, the desperate character of his surviving assailants, and the want of evidence
by which he could have established the facts of the case. He therefore, after
drawing up a detailed statement of the affair, which he directed to the proper authorities,
embarked on board a vessel bound for America, attended by his family and a band of

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For many years after the settlement at Fort Lewis, great amity and good will existed
between the neighboring Indians and the white settlers, whose numbers increased apace,
until they became quite a formidable colony. It was then that the jealousy of their red
neighbors became aroused, and a war broke out, which, for cool though desperate courage
and activity on the part of the whites, and ferocity, cunning, and barbarity on the
part of the Indians, was never equalled in any age or country. John Lewis was, by this
time, well stricken in years, but his four sons, who were now grown up, were well qualified
to fill his place, and to act the part of leaders to the gallant little band, who so nobly
battled for the protection of their homes and families. It is not my purpose to go
into the details of a warfare, during which scarcely a settlement was exempt from
monthly attacks of the savages, and during which Charles Lewis, the youngest son of
John, is said never to have spent one month at a time out of active and arduous service.
Charles was the hero of many a gallant exploit, which is still treasured in the memories
of the descendants of the border riflemen, and there are few families among the Alleghanies
where the name and deeds of Charles Lewis are not familiar as household words.
On one occasion, Charles was captured by the Indians while on a hunting excursion, and
after having travelled some two hundred miles, barefoot, his arms pinioned behind him,
goaded on by the knives of his remorseless captors, he effected his escape. While travelling
along the bank of a precipice some twenty feet in height, he suddenly, by a strong
muscular exertion, burst the cords which bound him, and plunged down the steep into the
bed of a mountain torrent. His persecutors hesitated not to follow. In a race of several
hundred yards, Lewis had gained some few yards upon his pursuers, when, upon leaping
a prostrate tree which lay across his course, his strength suddenly failed, and he fell prostrate
among the weeds which had grown up in great luxuriance around the body of the
tree. Three of the Indians sprang over the tree within a few feet of where their prey lay
concealed; but with a feeling of the most devout thankfulness to a kind and superintending
Providence, he saw them one by one disappear in the dark recesses of the forest.
He now bethought himself of rising from his uneasy bed, when lo! a new enemy appeared,
in the shape of an enormous rattlesnake, who had thrown himself into the deadly
coil so near his face that his fangs were within a few inches of his nose; and his enormous
rattle, as it waved to and fro, once rested upon his ear. A single contraction of the
eyelid—a convulsive shudder—the relaxation of a single muscle, and the deadly beast
would have sprung upon him. In this situation he lay for several minutes, when the
reptile, probably supposing him to be dead, crawled over his body and moved slowly away.
"I had eaten nothing," said Lewis to his companions, after his return, "for many days;
I had no fire-arms, and I ran the risk of dying with hunger, ere I could reach the settlement;
but rather would I have died, than made a meal of the generous beast." During
this war, an attack was made upon the settlement of Fort Lewis, at a time when the
whole force of the settlement was out on active duty. So great was the surprise, that
many of the women and children were captured in sight of the fort, though far the greater
part escaped, and concealed themselves in their hiding places, in the woods. The
fort was occupied by John Lewis, then very old and infirm, his wife, and two young women,
who were so much alarmed that they scarce moved from their seats upon the
ground floor of the fort. John Lewis, however, opened a port-hole, where he stationed
himself, firing at the savages, while Margaret reloaded the guns. In this manner he
sustained a siege of six hours, during which he killed upwards of a score of savages, when
he was relieved by the appearance of his party.

Thomas Lewis, the eldest son of John Lewis and Margaret Lynn, labored under a
defect of vision, which disabled him as a marksman, and he was, therefore, less efficient
during the Indian wars than his brethren. He was, however, a man of learning and
sound judgment, and represented the county of Augusta for many years in the House
of Burgesses; was a member of the convention which ratified the constitution of the United
States, and formed the constitution of Virginia, and afterwards sat for the county of
Rockingham in the House of Delegates of Virginia. In 1765, he was in the House of
Burgesses, and voted for Patrick Henry's celebrated resolutions. Thomas Lewis had
four sons actively participating in the war of the revolution; the youngest of whom,
Thomas, who is now living, bore an ensign's commission when but fourteen years of age

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Andrew, the second son of John Lewis and Margaret Lynn, is the Gen. Lewis who
commanded at the battle of Point Pleasant. (See his memoir in Bottetourt co.)

Charles Lewis, the youngest of the sons of John Lewis, fell at the head of his regiment,
when leading on the attack at Point Pleasant. Charles was esteemed the most
skilful of all the leaders of the border warfare, and was as much beloved for his noble
and amiable qualities as he was admired for his military talents.

View in Weyer's Cave.

William, the third son, was an active participator in the border wars, and was an officer
of the revolutionary army, in which one of his sons was killed, and another maimed
for life. When the British force under Tarleton drove the legislature from Charlottesville
to Staunton, the stillness of the Sabbath eve was broken in the latter town by
the beat of the drum, and volunteers were called for to prevent the passage of the British
through the mountains at Rockfish Gap. The elder sons of Wm. Lewis, who then resided
at the old fort, were absent with the northern army. Three sons, however, were at
home, whose ages were 17, 15, and 13 years. Wm. Lewis was confined to his room by
sickness, but his wife, with the firmness of a Roman matron, called them to her, and
bade them fly to the defence of their native land. "Go my children," said she, "I spare
not my youngest, my fair-haired boy, the comfort of my declining years. I devote you
all to my country. Keep back the foot of the invader from the soil of Augusta, or see
my face no more." When this incident was related to Washington, shortly after its occurrence,
he enthusiastically exclaimed, "Leave me but a banner to plant upon the
mountains of Augusta, and I will rally around me the men who will lift our bleeding
country from the dust, and set her free."

I have frequently heard, when a boy, an anecdote related by an old settler, somewhat
to this effect: The white, or wild clover, is of indigenous growth, and abounded on the
banks of the rivers, &c. The red was introduced by John Lewis, and it was currently
reported by their prophets, and believed by the Indians generally, that the blood of the
red man slain by the Lewises and their followers, had dyed the trefoil to its sanguine
hue. The Indians, however, always did the whites the justice to say, that the red man
was the aggressor in their first quarrel, and that the white men of western Virginia had
always evinced a disposition to treat their red brethren with moderation and justice.

Within a few hundred yards of it, is Madison's cave, described by Jefferson. This,
however, has superior attractions. No language can convey an adequate idea of the
vastness and sublimity of some, or the exquisite beauty and grandeur of other of its innumerable
apartments, with their snowy-white concretions of a thousand various forms.
Many of these, with their striking and picturesque objects, have names exceedingly inappropriate,
which to mention would degrade any description, however well written, by
the association of the beautiful and sublime, with the vulgar and hackneyed. Washington
Hall, the largest apartment, is 250 feet in length. A foreign traveller who visited
the cave at an annual illumination, has, in a finely written description, the following notice
of this hall:

"There is a fine sheet of rock-work running up the centre of this room, and giving it
the aspect of two separate and noble galleries, till you look above, where you observe the
partition rises only 20 feet towards the roof, and leaves the fine arch expanding over your
head untouched. There is a beautiful concretion here, standing out in the room, which
certainly has the form and drapery of a gigantic statue; it bears the name of the Nation's
Hero, and the whole place is filled with those projections, appearances which excite
the imagination by suggesting resemblances, and leaving them unfinished. The
general effect, too, was perhaps indescribable. The fine perspective of this room, four
times the length of an ordinary church; the numerous tapers, when near you, so encumbered
by deep shadows as to give only a dim religious light; and when at a distance,
appearing in their various attitudes like twinkling stars on a deep dark heaven; the amazing
vaulted roof spread over you, with its carved and knotted surface, to which the
streaming lights below in vain endeavored to convey their radiance; together with the
impression that you had made so deep an entrance, and were so entirely cut off from the
living world and ordinary things; produces an effect which, perhaps, the mind can receive
but once, and will retain forever."

"Weyer's Cave," says the writer above quoted, "is in my judgment one of the
great natural wonders of this new world; and for its eminence in its own class, deserves
to be ranked with the Natural Bridge and Niagara, while it is far less known than either.
Its dimensions, by the most direct course, are more than 1,600 feet; and by the more
winding paths, twice that length; and its objects are remarkable for their variety, formation,
and beauty. In both respects, it will, I think, compare, without injury to itself,
with the celebrated Grotto of Antiparos. For myself, I acknowledge the spectacle to
have been most interesting; but, to be so, it must be illuminated, as on this occasion. I
had thought that this circumstance might give to the whole a toyish effect; but the influence
of 2,000 or 3,000 lights on these immense caverns is only such as to reveal the objects,
without disturbing the solemn and sublime obscurity which sleeps on every thing.
Scarcely any scenes can awaken so many passions at once, and so deeply. Curiosity,
apprehension, terror, surprise, admiration, and delight, by turns and together, arrest and
possess you. I have had before, from other objects, one simple impression made with
greater power; but I never had so many impressions made, and with so much power,
before. If the interesting and the awful are the elements of the sublime, here sublimity
reigns, as in her own domain, in darkness, silence, and deeps profound."

There died in this county, in February, 1844, a slave, named Gilbert, aged 112 years.
He was a servant to Washington at the time of Braddock's defeat, and was afterwards
present, in the same capacity, at the surrender of Cornwallis.