Historical collections of Virginia containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c., relating to its history and antiquities, together with geographical and statistical descriptions : to which is appended, an historical and descriptive sketch of the District of Columbia : illustrated by over 100 engravings, giving views of the principal towns, seats of eminent men, public buildings, relics of antiquity, historic localities, natural scenery, etc., etc. |
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GREENBRIER. |
 | Historical collections of Virginia |  |
GREENBRIER.
Greenbrier was formed in 1777, from Botetourt and Montgomery,
and named from its principal stream. Its mean length is 46 miles,
mean breadth 32½, and area 1409 square miles. The surface is
broken, and part of it mountainous. The mountains are infested
with reptiles, such as the rattlesnake, copperhead, blacksnake, &c.;
there are some deer, wild turkeys, pheasants, wolves, wild-cats,
panthers, bears, and a variety of small game. The horses raised
in this region are distinguished for durability. The land on Greenbrier
River, which runs centrally through the county, is very fertile;
the mean elevation of the farms above the ocean is at least
1,500 feet. There was manufactured in this county in 1840,
114,932 pounds of maple sugar. Pop., whites 7,287, slaves 1,214,
free colored 194; total, 8,695.
Frankfort, 10 miles NE. of Lewisburg, contains a Methodist
church and about 50 dwellings. In March, 1669, Col. John Stuart,
Robert McClenachan, Thomas Renick, and Wm. Hamilton,
settled here. They, as well as all those that immediately followed,
were from Augusta county. This was the first permanent settlement
in the county.
Lewisburg, the seat of justice for the county, lies on the James
River and Kanawha turnpike; 214 miles west of Richmond, 263
from Washington; about 150 from Guyandotte, on the Ohio River,
9 miles W. of the White Sulphur, and 13 from the Blue Sulphur
Springs. This town was established by law in October, 1782, and
the act appointed the following gentlemen trustees, viz.: Samuel
Lewis, James Reid, Samuel Brown, Andrew Donnelly, John Stuart,
Archer Mathews, Wm. Ward, and Thomas Edgar. It contains
6 mercantile stores, 1 newspaper printing office, 1 Baptist, 1 Presbyterian,
and 1 Methodist church, 1 academy, and a population of
about 800. It is a flourishing village, the most important in this
whole region, and the place where the western branch of the court
of appeals hold their sittings.
Lewisburg stands on the site of the old Savannah Fort, and is
the place where the army of Gen. Lewis rendezvoused in 1774, previous
to the battle of Point Pleasant. They constructed the first
road ever made from here to Point Pleasant on the Ohio, distant
about 160 miles. The old fort at this place stood about 100 yards
SE. of the site of the present court-house, on land now (1843) belonging
to Mr. Thomas B. Reynold, and the widow of Mr. Wm.
Mathews. It was erected about the year 1770.
The first church—a Presbyterian—erected at Lewisburg, was about the year 1795.
It is a stone edifice, and is now occupied by that denomination. Previously, the same
society had a log church, about a mile and a half NW. of the village, near the present
residence of Mr. Chas. Rogers. Their first clergyman was the Rev. John M'Cue. There
were then some Baptists in the county; their clergyman was the Rev. John Alderson.
Lewisburg derived its name from the Lewis family. In olden time it was called "the
Savannah," being a kind of a prairie.
The following details respecting the early settlement of the
county, the difficulties with the Indians, &c., are from Stuart's
"Memoir of the Indian Wars and other Occurrences:"
About the year 1749, a person, who was a citizen of the county of Frederick, and
subject to paroxysms of lunacy, when influenced by such fits, usually made excursions
into the wilderness, and in his rambles westwardly, fell in on the waters of Greenbrier
River. At that time, the country on the western waters was but little known to the
English inhabitants of the then colonies of America, being claimed by the French, who
had commenced settlements on the Ohio and its waters, west of the Alleghany mountains.
The lunatic being surprised to find waters running a different course from any
he had before known, returned with the intelligence of his discovery, which did abound
with game. This soon excited the enterprise of others. Two men from New England,
of the name of Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell, took up a residence upon Greenbrier
River; but soon disagreeing in sentiment, a quarrel occasioned their separation, and
Sewell, for the sake of peace, quit their cabin, and made his abode in a large hollow tree.
In this situation they were found by the late General Andrew Lewis, in the year 1751.
Mr. Lewis was appointed agent for a company of grantees, who obtained from the governor
and council of Virginia, an order for one hundred thousand acres of land lying on
the waters of Greenbrier River; and did, this year, proceed to make surveys to complete
the quantity of said granted lands; and finding Marlin and Sewell living in the neighborhood
of each other, inquired what could induce them to live separate in a wilderness
so distant from the habitations of any other human beings. They informed him that
difference of opinion had occasioned their separation, and that they had since enjoyed
more tranquillity and a better understanding; for Sewell said, that each morning when
they arose and Marlin came out of the great house and he from his hollow tree, they saluted
each other, saying, Good-morning, Mr. Marlin, and Good-morning, Mr. Sewell, so
that a good understanding then existed between them; but it did not last long, for Sewell
removed about forty miles further west, to a creek that still bears his name. There
the Indians found him and killed him.
Previous to the year 1755, Mr. Lewis had completed for the grantees, under the order
of council, upwards of fifty thousand acres;—and the war then commencing between
England and France, nothing further was done in the business until the year 1761, when
his majesty issued his proclamation commanding all his subjects within the bounds of
the colony of Virginia, who were living, or who had made settlements on the western
waters, to remove from them, as the lands were claimed by the Indians, and good policy
required that a peaceable understanding should be preserved with them, to prevent hostilities
on their part. The order of council was never afterwards carried into effect, or
his majesty's consent obtained to confirm it.
At the commencement of the revolution, when the state of Virginia began to assume
independence, and held a convention in 1776, some efforts were made to have the order
of council established under the new order of things then beginning to take place. But
it was not confirmed; and commissioners were appointed, in 1777, to grant certificates
to each individual who had made settlements on the western waters, in the state of
improvements; which certificates gave the holder a right to four hundred acres for his
settlement claim, and the pre-emption of one thousand more, if so much were found
clear of prior claims, and the holder chose to accept it. The following year, 1778,
Greenbrier was separated from Botetourt county, and the county took its name from the
river, which was so named by old Colonel John Lewis, father to the late General, and
one of the grantees under the order of council, who, in company with his son Andrew,
exploring the country in 1751, entangled himself in a bunch of green briers on the river,
and declared he would ever after call the river Greenbrier River.
After peace was confirmed between England and France, in the year 1761, the Indians
commenced hostilities, in 1763, when all the inhabitants in Greenbrier were totally
cut off by a party of Indians, headed by the Cornstalk warrior. The chief settlements
were on Muddy creek. These Indians, in number about sixty, introduced themselves
into the people's houses under the mask of friendship, and every civility was offered them
by the people, providing them victuals and accommodations for their entertainment,
when, on a sudden, they killed the men, and made prisoners of the women and children.
From thence they passed over into the Levels, where some families were collected
at the house of Archibald Clendenin, (where the Hon. Balard Smith now lives.) There
were between fifty and one hundred persons, men, women, and children. There the
Indians were entertained, as at Muddy creek, in the most hospitable manner. Clendenin
having just arrived from a hunt, with three fat elks, they were plentifully feasted. In
the mean time, an old woman, with a sore leg, was showing her distress to an Indian,
and inquiring if he could administer to her relief; he said he thought he could; and
drawing his tomahawk, instantly killed her and all the men almost, that were in the
house. Conrad Yolkom only escaped, by being some distance from the house, when the
outcries of the women and children alarmed him. He fled to Jackson's River and
alarmed the people, who were unwilling to believe him, until the approach of the Indians
convinced them. All fled before them; and they pursued on to Carr's creek, in Rockbridge
county, where many families were killed and taken by them. At Clendenin's a
scene of much cruelty was performed; and a negro woman, who was endeavoring to
escape, killed her own child, who was pursuing her crying, lest she might be discovered
by its cries. Mrs. Clendenin did not fail to abuse the Indians with terms of reproach,
calling them cowards, &c., although the tomahawk was drawn over her head, with
threats of instant death, and the scalp of her husband lashed about her jaws. The
prisoners were all taken over to Muddy creek, and a party of Indians retained them
there till the return of the others from Carr's creek, when the whole were taken off
together. On the day they started from the foot of Keeney's Knob, going over the
mountain, Mrs. Clendenin gave her infant child to a prisoner woman to carry, as the
prisoners were in the centre of the line, with the Indians in front and rear, and she
escaped into a thicket, and concealed herself until they all passed by. The cries of the
child soon made the Indians inquire for the mother, who was missing; and one of them
said he would soon bring the cow to her calf. Taking the child by the heels he beat its
brains out against a tree, and throwing it down in the path, all marched over it, till its
guts were all trampled out with the horses. She told me she returned that night, in the
dark, to her own house, a distance of more than ten miles, and covered her husband's
corpse with rails, which lay in the yard, where he was killed in endeavoring to escape
over the fence, with one of his children in his arms; and then she went into a corn-field,
where great fear came upon her, and she imagined she saw a man standing by her,
within a few steps. The Indians continued the war till 1764, and with much depredation
on the frontier inhabitants, making incursions as far as within a few miles of
Staunton.
An end was put to the war in the fall of that year by the treaty
which Col. Boquet held with the Indians, near Muskingum. In
the spring of 1774, another Indian war—known as Dunmore's war
—broke out. In the fall of that year, a portion of the army under
Gen. Lewis, destined to act against the Indians, assembled at Camp
Union, (now Lewisburg,) and from thence marched on through the
wilderness to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, where they met
and defeated the Indians under their famous leader, the brave and
generous Cornstalk. For an account of this action, the battle of
Point Pleasant, see Mason county.
In 1778, an attack was made by about 200 Indians, upon Donnally's
Fort. This fort stood about 100 yards E. of the present
residence of Mr. Anthony Rader, on Rader's run, 10 miles N. of
Lewisburg. It was a double log-house, with a chimney in the
centre, and was surrounded by a stockade of split logs. The house
was destroyed about the year 1825, at which time many bullets
were found in the timbers. Dick Pointer, the old negro who acted
so gallantly in its defence, died only a few years since. The state
had purchased his freedom in reward for his services. He was
buried with the honors of war. The account of the attack on
Donnally's Fort is here given from the memoir of Mr. Stuart:
Intelligence having been conveyed to Col. Donnally of the approach of the Indians,
he lost no time to collect in all his nearest neighbors that night, and sent a servant to
my house to inform me. Before day about twenty men, including Hammond and Prior,
were collected at Donnally's, and they had the advantage of a stockade fort around and
adjoining the house. There was a number of women and children, making in all about
sixty persons in the house. On the next day they kept a good look-out, in momentary
expectation of the enemy.
Colonel Samuel Lewis was at my house when Donnally's servant came with the intelligence;
and we lost no time in alarming the people, and to collect as many men for
defence as we could get at Camp Union all the next day. But all were busy; some flying
with their families to the inward settlements, and others securing their property, so
that in the course of the day, we had not collected near one hundred men. On the following
day we sent out two scouts to Donnally's, very early in the morning, who soon
returned with intelligence that the fort was attacked. The scouts had got within one
mile, and heard the guns firing briskly. We determined to give all the aid we could to
the besieged, and every man who was willing to go was paraded. They amounted to
sixty-eight in all, including Colonel Lewis, Captain Arbuckle, and myself. We drew
near Donnally's house about two o'clock, P. M., but heard no firing. For the sake of
expedition we had left the road for a nearer way, which led to the back side of the house,
and thus escaped falling into an ambuscade, placed on the road some distance from the
house, which might have been fatal to us, being greatly inferior to the enemy in numbers.
We soon discovered Indians, behind trees in a rye-field, looking earnestly at the
house. Charles Gatliff and I fired upon them, when we saw others running in the rye,
near where they stood. We all ran directly to the fort. The people, on hearing the
guns on the back side of the house, supposed that it was another party of Indians, and
all were at the port-holes ready to fire upon us; but some discovering that we were their
friends, opened the gate, and we all got in safe. One man only was shot through his
clothes.
When we got into the fort, we found that there were only four men killed. Two of
them who were coming to the fort, fell into the midst of the Indians, and were killed.
A servant of Donnally's was killed early in the morning on the first attack; and one
man was killed in a bastion in the fort. The Indians had commenced their attack
about daylight in the morning, when the people were all in bed, except Philip Hammond
and an old negro. The house formed one part of the fort, and was double, the kitchen
making one end of the house, and there Hammond and the negro were. A hogshead
of water was placed against the door. The enemy had laid down their guns at a stable,
about fifty yards from the house, and made their attacks with tomahawks and war-clubs.
Hammond and the negro held the door till they were splitting it with their tomahawks:
they suddenly let the door open, and Hammond killed the Indian on the
threshold, who was splitting the door. The negro had a musket charged with swanshot,
and was jumping about in the floor asking Hammond where he should shoot?
Hammond bade him fire away among them; for the yard was crowded as thick as they
could stand. Dick fired away, and I believe, with good effect; for a war-club lay in
the yard with a swan-shot in it. Dick is now upwards of eighty years old, has long
been abandoned by his master, as also his wife, as aged as himself, and they have made
out to support their miserable existence, many years past, by their own endeavors. This
is the negro, to whom our Assembly, at its last session, refused to grant a small pension
to support the short remainder of his wretched days, which must soon end, although
his humble petition was supported by certificates of the most respectable men in the
then in the house.
The firing of Hammond and Dick awakened the people in the other end of the house,
and up stairs, where the chief of the men were lying. They soon fired out of the windows
on the Indians so briskly, that when we got to the fort, seventeen of them lay dead
in the yard, one of whom was a boy about fifteen or sixteen years old. His body was
so torn by the bullets that a man might have run his arm through him, yet he lived
almost all day, and made a most lamentable cry. The Indians called to him to go into
the house.
After dark, a fellow drew near to the fort and called out in English that he wanted
to make peace. We invited him in to consult on the terms, but he declined our civility.
They departed that night, after dragging eight of their slain out of the yard; but we
never afterwards found where they buried them. They visited Greenbrier but twice
afterwards, and then in very small parties, one of which killed a man and his wife, of
the name of Munday, and wounded Capt. Samuel McClung. The last person killed
was Thomas Griffith; his son was taken, but going down the Kenawha, they were
pursued, one of the Indians was killed, and the boy was relieved, which ended our wars
in Greenbrier with the Indians, in the year 1780.
The White Sulphur Spring of Greenbrier, the most celebrated
of all the watering-places of Virginia, is 9 miles easterly from
Lewisburg, about 170 from the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, 242
SW. of Washington City, and 205 W. of Richmond. It is thus
described by a late visitor:
The White Sulphur Spring is situated some 6 or 8 miles from the height of the
Alleghany, on the western declivity, in an extensive valley beautifully embosomed with
hills and mountains. It was known to the Indians as one of the most important licks
of the deer and the elk. As early as 1772, a woman was brought here on a litter 40
miles, whose disease had baffled all medical skill. A tree was felled, and a trough dug
and filled with the mineral water, which was heated by putting hot stones into it. In
this the patient was bathed, while, at the same time, she drank freely of the fountain.
In a few weeks she went from her bark cabin perfectly restored. The fame of this cure
attracted many sick persons to the spring, and they soon commenced throwing up rude
log cabins. But the dreariness of the mountains, the badness of the roads, and the
poverty of the accommodations, repelled all but the desperate from these health-giving
waters till 1818, when they fell into the hands of Mr. Calwell, the present enterprising
owner. From that time the place has continued rapidly to improve. Mr. Calwell's
estate includes from ten to twelve thousand acres, much of which is fine interval soil.
All the buildings, for one or two miles around the spring, belong to him. Nature has
done every thing to make this an enchanting spot. The valley opens about half a mile
in breadth, winding in length from east to west, with graceful undulations, beyond the
eye's reach. The fountain issues from the foot of a gentle slope, terminating in the low
interval upon a small and beautiful river. The ground ascends from the spring eastward,
rising to a considerable eminence on the left, and spreading east and south into a
wide and beautiful lawn. The lawn and walks cover perhaps fifty acres. A few rods
from the spring, at the right, are the hotel, the dining-hall, the ball-room: all the rest of
the ground is occupied mainly with cabins. These are rows of contiguous buildings, one
story high, mostly of wood, some of brick, and a few of hewed logs white-washed.
The framed cabins are all painted white. Directly to the right of the spring, and very
near it, is Spring row; further eastward, with a continuous piazza shaded with vines, is
Virginia row; at right-angles with this, crossing the lawn in the middle, is South Carolina
row; heading the eastern extremity of the lawn is Bachelor's row; on the north
side of the lawn, beginning nearest the spring, are Alabama, Louisiana, Paradise, and
Baltimore rows—the last of which is the most elegant in the place. Without the enclosure,
southward from the fountain, is Broadway; and a little west from this, on the
Guyandot road, is Wolf row. The appearance of these cabins, painted, decorated,
looking forth from the green foliage, and tastefully arranged, is beautiful and imposing.
I have an analysis of the spring by Professor Rogers, the distinguished state geologist,
but am not permitted to communicate the proportions, as he wishes to reserve that
fraction of interest for his forthcoming work. The solid matter procured by evaporation
from 100 cubic inches, weighs 63.54 grains, composed of sulphate of lime, sulphate of
![illustration](https://iiif.lib.virginia.edu/iiif/uva-lib:427324/full/!1600,1600/0/default.jpg")
VIEW AT THE WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS OF GREENBRIER.
The above view, taken near Mastin's hotel, shows only a portion of the erections at this, one of the most popular watering place in the
Southern States. Virginia Row is shown in front, Baltimore Row beyond, and Greenbrier Mountain in the distance.
chloride of sodium, chloride of calcium, peroxide of iron, phosphate of lime, sulphate
and hydrate of sodium, organic matter, precipitated sulphur, iodine. The gaseous
matter consists of sulphurated hydrogen, carbonic acid, nitrogen, and oxygen. It is
obvious, from this analysis, that the water must exert a very positive agency upon the
system. Its remedial virtues extend chiefly to diseases of the liver, kidneys, alimentary
canal, and to scrofula, rheumatism, and neuralgia.
The fountain is covered with a stately Doric dome, sustained by twelve large pillars,
and surmounted with a colossal statue of Hygeia, looking towards the rising sun.
The Blue Sulphur Spring, in this county, is also quite popular.
The improvements are extensive, and the location one of
much natural beauty. The water tastes like that of the White
Sulphur. Subjoined is the analysis:
Analysis.—Solid ingredients in the Blue Sulphur Water.—Sulphate of lime; sulphate
of magnesia; sulphate of soda; carbonate of lime; carbonate of magnesia; chloride
of magnesium; chloride of sodium; chloride of calcium; hydro-sulphate of sodium
and magnesium; oxide of iron, existing as proto-sulphate; iodine, sulphur, organic matters.
Gaseous ingredients.—Sulphurated hydrogen; carbonic acid; oxygen; nitrogen.
The spring is a very bold one, furnishing fifteen gallons of water to a minute; there
is a great deal of red, white, and black, and other deposites from the water.
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