University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER I.

The settlement of Virginia was a slow and gradual process.
Plantations were for the most part opened on the
water courses, extending along the banks of the James, and
on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
It was more than a century after the landing at Jamestown
before white men made the passage of the Blue Ridge. As
soon as that event was noised abroad, it was speedily followed
up, and in the space of the next twenty years the tide
of population had touched the interior portions of the colony,
one stream pushing westward from the sea coast, and
another rolling up the Shenandoah Valley from the wilds of
Pennsylvania.

Besides the restless spirit animating the first settlers, the
occupation of the country was hastened by the rage for speculation.
The laws of the colony allotted fifty acres for
every person transported into its territory; and men of
wealth, in addition to availing themselves of this provision,
largely invested their means in the purchase of land. While
the wilderness was thus peopled, the institutions of civil
government did not linger far behind. As growing numbers
reached the frontiers, and were removed a great distance
from the seats of justice and trade, these necessities of
civilized life were soon established. One by one, the older
counties were cut in two, the limits of the new ones stretching
westward as far as the limits of the colony itself. Those
recently formed were at first represented by public buildings
made of logs, and by the scattered clearings and cabins of
the pioneers; but men of knowledge and experience were
always at hand to hold the reins of government and administer
the laws. At once the courthouse was erected, and the
power of the magistrate exerted to preserve peace and order
in the community.

The county of Goochland was formed in 1727, a little
more than ten years after Gov. Spotswood's expedition to
the Blue Ridge. The first settlements within the present

bounds of Albemarle were made while they were still parts
of that county and Hanover. They ascended the courses
of the South Anna, the James, the Rivanna and the Hardware,
and were met by others proceeding from the foot of
the Blue Ridge, and planted by immigrants who had come
up the Valley, and crossed that mountain at Woods' Gap.

The first patents were taken out on June 16, 1727. On
that day George Hoomes obtained a grant of thirty-one
hundred acres "on the far side of the mountains called Chesnut,
and said to be on the line between Hanover and Spotsylvania,"
and Nicholas Meriwether a grant of thirteen
thousand seven hundred and sixty-two acres "at the first
ledge of mountains called Chesnut," and said to be on the
same line. That was the first appropriation of the virgin
soil of Albemarle, as it is at present. These locations
occurred in the line of the South Anna River, up which the
increasing population had been slowly creeping for a number
of years. The patent to Nicholas Meriwether included the
present seat of Castle Hill, and the boundaries of the Grant,
as it was termed by way of eminence, were marks of great
notoriety to surveyors, and others interested in the description
of adjacent lands, for a long period afterwards.

The next patent for twenty-six hundred acres was obtained
nearly two years later by Dr. George Nicholas. This land
was situated on James River, and included the present village
of Warren. In the year following, 1730, five additional
patents were issued: one to Allen Howard for four hundred
acres on James River, on both sides of the Rockfish at its
mouth; one to Thomas Carr for twenty-eight hundred acres
on the Rivanna at the junction of its forks, and up along the
north fork; one to Charles Hudson for two thousand acres
on both sides of the Hardware, the beginning evidently of
the Hudson plantations below Carter's Bridge; one to
Secretary John Carter for nine thousand three hundred and
fifty acres "on the Great Mountain on Hardware in the fork
of the James," and to this day called Carter's Mountain;
and one to Francis Eppes, the grandfather of Mr. Jefferson's
son-in-law of the same name, for six thousand four hundred

acres "on the branches of the Hardware, Rockfish, and
other branches of the James"—one of the branches of Hardware
being still known as Eppes Creek. The same year
Nicholas Meriwether located four thousand one hundred and
ninety acres more, adjoining his former tract, and running
over the South West Mountain on Turkey Run, taking out
an inclusive patent for seventeen thousand nine hundred and
fifty-two acres in one body. From the recital of this patent,
it appears that Christopher Clark was associated in the first
grant, although it was made out to Nicholas Meriwether
alone.

In 1731 only three patents were obtained within the present
county: one by Charles Lewis for twelve hundred acres on
both sides of the Rivanna, at the mouth of Buck Island
Creek; one by Charles Hudson for five hundred and forty
acres on the west side of Carter's Mountain; and one by
Major Thomas Carr for two thousand acres "on the back
side of the Chesnut Mountains." Several other patents were
taken out the same year along the Rivanna within the present
limits of Fluvanna County, one of which was by Martin
King, whose name is still kept in remembrance in connection
with the road which runs from Woodridge to the Union
Mills, where was a ford also called by his name.

In 1732 were made eight grants, still confined to the James
River, and the western base of the South West Mountain.
One of these was made to Thomas Goolsby for twelve hundred
acres "on the north side of the Fluvanna," that is, the
James; another in the same region to Edward Scott for five
hundred and fifty acres "at a place called Totier;" another
for four hundred acres to John Key, the head of a family
which subsequently owned all the land between the South
West Mountain and the river from Edgemont to the bend
below the Free Bridge; and another to Dr. Arthur Hopkins
for four hundred acres "on the south side of the Rivanna,
running to the mouth of a creek below Red Bank Falls,
called Lewis' Creek." This last entry included the site of
the future town of Milton.

Only four patents were taken out in 1733. None of them

reached further west than the west bank of the Rivanna under
the shadow of the South West Mountain. One was obtained
by Charles Lynch for eight hundred acres, which extended up
the Rivanna from the mouth of Moore's Creek, and included
the plantation of Pen Park.

In 1734 thirteen grants were made. These were mainly
located near the bases of the South West Mountain on the
Rivanna and Mechunk. One was obtained by Henry Wood,
the first clerk of Goochland, and great grandfather of V. W.
Southall, for two hundred acres on the south side of the
Rivanna at the mouth of Buck Island Creek, increased subsequently
to nearly three thousand in different tracts; and
another by Edwin Hickman, Joseph Smith, Thomas Graves
and Jonathan Clark for three thousand two hundred and seventy-seven
acres on the north side of the Rivanna, running
down from Captain MacMurdo's place and embracing the
estates of Pantops and Lego. Another formed a notable
exception to what had hitherto been the rule. It was the
first to leave the streams, and strike out towards the middle
of the county. It was obtained by Joel Terrell and David
Lewis for twenty-three hundred acres, and shortly after for
seven hundred more, lying on both sides of the Three Notched
Road and extending from Lewis's Mountain, which it included,
to a point near the D. S. The Birdwood plantation
was comprehended in this tract.

From this time the county was settled with greater rapidity.
Most of the entries thus far noted were made in large
quantities, and by wealthy men for the purpose of speculation.
Few of those who have been mentioned occupied their
lands, at least in the first instance. They made the clearings
and entered upon the cultivation which the law required in
order to perfect their titles, but it was done either by tenants,
or by their own servants, whom they established in "quarters."
Now, however, a new order of things began. Grants
were more frequently obtained in smaller amounts by persons
who left the older districts with the design of permanently
residing in the new country. Accordingly in 1735 the number
of patents rose to twenty-nine. Not that this number

was constantly maintained; in some years, on the contrary,
it greatly diminished. The population of the colony was yet
comparatively sparse. The whole Piedmont region, and the
fertile plains of the Valley were simultaneously opened, and
held out strong inducements to settlers; and at the same
time, inviting sections in the western portions of North and
South Carolina were presented in glowing colors before the
public eye, and soon drew largely on the multitudes given to
change. Still the county steadily filled up. Patents were
taken out this year on Green Creek in its southern part, on
the south fork of Hardware near the Cove, on the south fork
of the Rivanna, on Meadow Creek, on Ivy Creek, and on
Priddy's and Buck Mountain Creeks in the north. Among
the patentees were John Henry, father of the famous orator,
to whom were granted twelve hundred and fifty acres situated
on tributaries of the south fork of the Rivanna called Henry,
Naked and Fishing Creeks, the same land afterwards owned
by the Michies southwest of Earlysville; William Randolph,
who was granted twenty-four hundred acres on the north side
of the Rivanna and Mountain Falls Creek, including the
present Shadwell and Edge Hill; Nicholas Meriwether, who
was granted a thousand and twenty acres west of the
Rivanna, embracing the plantation known as the Farm;
Peter Jefferson, who was granted a thousand acres on the
south side of the Rivanna, including Tufton; Abraham
Lewis, who was granted eight hundred acres on the east side
of Lewis's Mountain, then called Piney Mountain, including
the present lands of the University; Thomas Moorman, who
was granted six hundred and fifty acres, extending from the
branches of Meadow Creek to the south fork of the Rivanna,
"including the Indian Grave low grounds;" Michael Holland,
who was granted four thousand seven hundred and
fifty-three acres on both sides of Ivy Creek, including the
present Farmington estate; and Charles Hudson, who was
granted two thousand acres on Ivy Creek adjoining the
Holland tract, and lying southwest of Ivy Depot.

In 1736 Robert Lewis obtained a patent for four thousand
and thirty acres on the north fork of Hardware in the North
Garden.

Nineteen patents were taken out in 1737. Michael Woods,
his son Archibald, and his son-in-law, William Wallace,
secured grants for more than thirteen hundred acres on
Lickinghole, Mechum's River and Beaver Creek, embracing
the present Mechum's Depot and Blair Park. The same day
Michael Woods purchased the two thousand acre patent of
Charles Hudson on Ivy Creek. These transactions took
place at Goochland C. H., or more likely at Williamsburg;
and this fact lends probability to the tradition that the Woods
settlement occurred at the mouth of Woods's Gap in 1734.
Crossing from the Valley into an unbroken forest, as Michael
Woods did, it is almost certain that he made a clearing and
built a cabin, and thus established his right to the estate the
law gave, before he set himself to acquire a knowledge of the
surrounding country and its owners, and to make large purchases.
The axe had commenced to resound amidst the
deep solitudes at the foot of the Blue Ridge, while yet no
white settler had gone beyond the Rivanna at the South
West Mountain. The same year, 1737, Henry Terrell, of
Caroline, obtained a grant of seventeen hundred and fifty
acres on the head waters of Mechums, including the present
village of Batesville. As a suggestion of special interest, it
may be mentioned that in October of that year a William
Taylor patented twelve hundred acres lying on both sides of
Moore's Creek. It can scarcely be questioned, that this was
the tract of land which in process of time passed into the
hands of Colonel Richard Randolph, which was sold by him to
the county, and on which was laid out in 1762 the new
county seat of Charlottesville.

It was not until 1739 that the first patent was located on
Moorman's River. David Mills was by that instrument of
writing granted twenty eight-hundred and fifty acres on its
north fork. Two years later Dennis Doyle obtained the grant
of eight hundred acres on the same stream, and from him
was derived the name it has borne ever since. The same
year, 1741, Thomas Moorman patented seven hundred and
fifty acres lower down the main river, and as often as men
now speak of it, they perpetuate the memory of his name.

All sections of the county had at that time been occupied in
some degree, and the work of laying claim to its unappropriated
lands constantly progressed from year to year. As
late however as 1796, Matthew Gambell procured the grant
of twenty five thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight acres
lying in Albemarle, Orange and Rockingham Counties near
Seamond's Gap; and still later in 1798, John Davidson,
who subsequently removed to Hardin County, Ky., took out
a patent for eighteen hundred and seventy-seven acres on
Buck's Elbow.

Reference has been made to the entry of bodies of land
extending over a wide area. It may be further stated, that
Major Thomas Carr patented altogether upwards of five
thousand acres; George Webb, of Charles City, in 1737
upwards of seven thousand, near a mountain north of Earlysville
still called by his name; Secretary John Carter in
1738, ten thousand within the present limits of Amherst;
John Chiswell in 1739, nearly thirty thousand on Rockfish
River, mainly within the present bounds of Nelson; William
Robertson in 1739, more than six thousand on Naked and
Buck Mountain Creeks; Robert Lewis in 1740, more than
six thousand on Ivy Creek; Ambrose Joshua Smith in 1741,
more than four thousand on Priddy's Creek; Samuel Garlick,
of Caroline, in 1741 and 1746, thirty-six hundred on Buck
Mountain Creek; Rev. Robert Rose in 1744, more than thirty-three
thousand within the present counties of Amherst and
Nelson; Rev. William Stith, President of William and
Mary, from 1740 to 1755, nearly three thousand, and Dr.
Arthur Hopkins in 1748 and 1765, nearly four thousand,
on Totier and Ballenger's Creeks; and Allen Howard in
1742, more than two thousand on the lower waters of Rockfish.

Mr. Jefferson, in a brief sketch of his family, wrote of his
father, "He was the third or fourth settler, about the year
1737, of the part of the county in which I live."

The act establishing the county of Albemarle was passed
by the Legislature in September, 1744. It ordained its
existence to begin from the first of January, 1745; and the

reason alleged for its formation was the "divers inconveniences
attending the upper inhabitants of Goochland by reason
of their great distance from the courthouse, and other
places usually appointed for public meetings." The dividing
lines were directed to run from the point of fork of James
River—that is, from the mouth of the Rivanna, where Columbia
now stands—north thirty degrees east to the Louisa
line, and from the same point a direct course to Brook's
Mill, and thence the same course continued to the Appomattox
River. These boundaries embraced the county of Buckingham,
parts of Appomattox and Campbell, and the
counties of Amherst, Nelson and Fluvanna, the Blue Ridge
being the western line. That portion of the present county
north of a line running past the mouth of Ivy Creek with the
course of north sixty-five degrees west, remained in Louisa
for sixteen years longer.

In accordance with a custom already begun of commemorating
the governors of the Commonwealth, the name of
Albemarle was given to the new county, from the title of
William Anne Keppel, second Earl of Albemarle, at that
time Governor General of the colony.

The organization took place the fourth Thursday of February,
1745, doubtless on the plantation of Mrs. Scott, near
the present Scottsville, where the next court was directed to
be held. The commission of the first magistrates was dated
the second of the preceding January. Those present were
Joshua Fry, Peter Jefferson, Allen Howard, William Cabell,
Joseph Thompson and Thomas Ballou. Howard and Cabell
administered the oaths to Fry and Jefferson, and they in
turn to the others. The oaths taken were those of a Justice
of the Peace, and of a Judge of a Court of Chancery, and the
Abjuration and Test oaths were subscribed,—the former
renouncing allegiance to the House of Stuart, and the latter
affirming the receiving of the sacrament according to the
rites of the Church of England. William Randolph was
appointed Clerk by a commission from Thomas Nelson,
Secretary of the Council, and Joseph Thompson, Sheriff,
Joshua Fry, Surveyor, and Edmund Gray, King's Attorney,

by commissions from William Gooch, the Governor; and all
were sworn in. Patrick Napier and Castleton Harper were
made Deputy Sheriffs, and Benjamin Harris, Deputy Clerk,
the following May. As appears from the Deed Books, John
Fleming was also Deputy Clerk. Thomas Turpin was
appointed Assistant Surveyor, and John Hunter, Adrian
Angle, John Hilton, John Harris, Robert White and Abraham
Childress, Constables. The civil offices being filled,
the military side of the organization was duly constituted.
Joshua Fry received the appointment of Lieutenant of the
county, Peter Jefferson of Lieutenant Colonel, and Allen
Howard of Major. William Cabell, Joseph Thompson,
Charles Lynch, Thomas Ballou, David Lewis, James Daniel,
James Nevel, and James Martin were sworn as Captains.
Charles Lynch, Edwin Hickman and James Daniel having
been named magistrates, were subsequently inducted into
office by taking the oaths. Of these officers, Jefferson,
Howard, Cabell and Lynch had already been magistrates,
and Jefferson had also acted as Sheriff, in Goochland. The
William Randolph, who was the first Clerk, was unquestionably
Colonel William Randolph, of Tuckahoe, who had
some years before entered the tract of land known as Edge
Hill.

The original attorneys who practiced in the courts of the
county, were Edmund Gray, Gideon Marr, William Battersby—whose
daughter Jane, the wife of Giles Allegre, was
the mother-in-law of the eminent statesman and financier,
Albert Gallatin—James Meredith, Clement Read and John
Harvie. All except Harvie, and probably Meredith, resided
on the south side of James River.

The routine of public business was at once begun and
prosecuted with stated regularity. The location of the courthouse
was a matter of deep interest. It was a conceded
point that it should be fixed on James River. Jefferson,
Howard, Lynch and Ballou were appointed to view the river
and make a report; and as the result, Samuel Scott, son of
Edward, agreed with proper security to erect at his own cost
a courthouse, prison, stocks and pillory, as good as those

of Goochland, the site to be selected by the Court, provided
it was placed on his land. The site actually chosen was on
the plantation of his brother Daniel, and is still pointed
out about a mile west of Scottsville and a quarter of a mile
north of the river bank.

During the next three years a number of ordinaries were
licensed—Giles Allegre, to keep one on Mechunk; Daniel
Scott and John Lewis each, one at the courthouse; William
Battersby, opposite the courthouse; John Anthony,
in the Glendower section; James Fenly, Isaac Bates and
Gideon Marr, in Buckingham; William Morrison, in the
Rockfish Valley; Charles Bond, on Briery Creek, a branch
of the lower Hardware; Joseph Thompson, in the vicinity
of Palmyra; Hugh McGarrough, not far from Afton, and
John Hays, probably in the same neighborhood; and William
Cabell, at his ferry at Warminster. Daniel Scott was
licensed to establish a ferry from the courthouse landing
to the opposite side of the river, and William Battersby, one
from his land to the mouth of Totier Creek on Daniel Scott's
land.

The roads received much attention. At that time they
were not so much to be worked, as to be opened and cleared;
and permission to this end was readily granted under the
restriction, that they should not be conducted through any
fenced grounds. John Henderson was summoned to show
cause why a road should not be cleared through his land
from the Three Notched Road to the Hardware River; that
is, from near Milton to the vicinity of Mount Air. John
Defoe was made Surveyor of the road from Number Twelve
to Number Eighteen—numbers used to designate the distance,
probably from the courthouse to certain trees, as
mention is subsequently made of the road from the late
Secretary's Ford to the Twelve Mile Tree. David Lewis
was Surveyor of the road over Capt. Charles Lynch's Ford,
or Ferry; this was a road which ran from some point
on the Three Notched Road near the University, over the
shallows of the Rivanna, a short distance southeast of the
Pen Park mansion, and down the west side of the South

West Mountain. Andrew Wallace was Surveyor of the road
from the D. S. to Mechum's River Ford—Archibald and
Michael Woods, Jr. to assist in clearing it—and William
Woods from Mechum's River to Michael Woods's Gap on the
Blue Mountains. Benjamin Wheeler was Surveyor from his
place into the "Four Chopped Road" to Woods's Gap.
William Harris petitioned for a road from his plantation on
Green Creek to the South River—that is, the James—on the
lower side of Ballenger's Creek; and Robert Rose, Clerk,
petitioned for one from his place on Tye River to Leake's,
in the neighborhood of William Harris. The hands of Col.
Richard Randolph, Rev. Mr. Stith and William Harris, were
ordered to clear a road from the Green Mountain Road near
the head of Hog Creek, to the courthouse Road below Mr.
Stith's Quarter. The tithables of the late Secretary at ClearMount—which
must have been at Blenheim, or in that
vicinity—were directed to work on the road from James
Taylor's Ford to Martin King's Road, that is, from below
Carter's Bridge to Woodridge; and his servants living above
the mountains, together with the inhabitants on Biscuit Run,
were to keep the road from David Lewis's to the late Secretary's
Mill. This mill was on the north fork of Hardware,
a short distance above its junction with the south fork. Fry
& Lynch were appointed to apply to the Louisa Court, to
continue the road over King's Ford on the Rivanna—at
Union Mills—from the county line to Louisa C. H. These
are a few instances of the care and energy devoted to this
important object.

Howard and Daniel were appointed to list the tithables on
the south side, and Lynch, Cabell, Hickman and Ballou,
those on the north side, of the Fluvanna River. The number
of tithables in 1745 was thirteen hundred and ninety-four, in
1746 fourteen hundred and seventy-nine, and in 1747 seventeen
hundred and twenty-five. They were taxed twenty
pounds of tobacco per poll. Taking Mr. Jefferson's calculations
in his Notes on Virginia as a basis, this would make
the whole population of the county as it then was, white and
black, in 1745 about four thousand two hundred and fifty;

in 1746 four thousand five hundred; and in 1747 five thousand
two hundred and seventy-five. According to the Census
Reports, the progress of the population of the county within
its present limits, has been as follows:

                       

1790—	12,585.
1800—	16,439.
1810—	18,268.
1820—	32,618.
1830—	19,747.
1840—	22,618.
1850—	22,924.
1860—	32,379.
1870—	25,800.
1880—	26,625.
1890—	27,554.
1900—	28,473.

The population of Charlottesville was for the first time
taken separately from that of the county in 1870. Its numbers
are as follows:

       

1870—	2,838.
1880—	2,676.
1890—	5,591.
1900—	6,449.

Eleanor Crawley was sentenced to receive fifteen lashes on
her bare back, well laid on, for stealing linen of the value of
eleven pence—a little over fifteen cents—and Pearce Reynolds
to receive twenty-one, for stealing a handkerchief of the same
value. James, a negro of William Cabell, for stealing
twelve pence, was burnt in the hand, and given thirty-nine
lashes at the whipping post. In a suit James Fenly gained
against Samuel Stephens, and Stephens choosing to be
whipped rather than be imprisoned, the Sheriff was ordered
to administer twenty-one lashes. The grand jury presented
George McDaniel for profane swearing—two oaths within two
months—and Abraham Childress for failing to clear the road
of which he was surveyor. On motion of David Reese, the
testimony of John and Stephen Heard, and of Patrick Nowlin,
was recorded, certifying that a piece was bit out of Reese's
left ear, in a fray with Nowlin. The testimony of Thomas
Nunn and his wife Kate was recorded, showing that they had
been imported about fourteen years before, and had never
received their dues; and subsequently their two children,
Mary and Lucretia, were directed to be bound out by the
Church wardens of St. Anne's parish.

The Court was mindful to protect its own dignity. For
misbehavior in its presence, Martin King was ordered into
custody, and bound over for a year, and Martin King, Jr.
and James Fenly were placed in the stocks.

The scalps of wolves were reported in large numbers. One
hundred and forty pounds of tobacco were allowed for the
scalp of an old wolf, and seventy-five for that of a young
one, that is, one under six months old. When tobacco
ceased to be a circulating medium, twelve and six dollars
were given as the premiums. These reports continued with
more or less regularity in subsequent years down to 1849,
the last on record, when Isaac W. Garth was awarded
twelve dollars for killing an old wolf. Jonathan Barksdale,
Samuel Jameson, William Ramsey and Ryland Rodes, are
names which appear most frequently in this connection. In
1835 Lewis Snow received a dollar and a half for the scalp of
a red fox. The Court agitated the removal of these premiums
once or twice after 1849, but there is no indication
that their offer was ever made.

The foregoing particulars were compiled from the first
order book of the County Court, a venerable relic of the past
of great interest. Unhappily the records for many years
following have been lost.