 | A history of Caroline county, Virginia |  |
PORT ROYAL
It is recorded in the Legislative Journals of the Council of
Colonial Virginia, Volume 2, page 941, that on October 3, 1744,
the Council received a message from the House of Burgesses
stating that the House had passed "A Bill entitled an Act for
establishing a town near Roy's Warehouse in the County of
Caroline etc." This message was read the first time when it was
presented, and the second and third times on the following day,
whereupon it was resolved by the Council "That the Bill do pass."
Thus begins the history of Port Royal. This documentary
evidence substantiates the statement of Hayden that Thomas
Roy founded Port Royal, and that the town was called Port
Roy for several years.
Thomas Roy married Judith Beverly Kenner prior to 1740.
She was the widow of Rev. Rodham Kenner, an Episcopal minister.
A daughter of Thomas Roy and Judith Beverly Kenner, Elizabeth
by name, married James Miller whose name frequently appears
in the ancient minutes of Kilwinning-Crosse Lodge of Masons.
Mr. Miller was a Scot and remained loyal to the crown, although
his son was an officer in the Revolutionary Army. James Miller's
portrait was painted by Copely and photographic copies of the
same are now in the possession of his descendants, Mrs. J. E.
Warren, of Newport News, and Mrs. J. H. Rives, of Richmond.
The town of Port Royal is situated on the Rappahannock
River, 22 miles below Fredericksburg and 15 miles east of Bowling
Green, the county seat. It once had an excellent harbor and
enjoyed a large tobacco trade direct with England. Before the
advent of the railroad, when the county relied chiefly on the
river for transportation, it was a place of no small importance.
Tradition has it that Port Royal was considered for the site of
the National Government.
Many famous families and persons have had residence in
Port Royal. Here lived Rev. Jonathan Boucher, George Fitzhugh,
author and professor, Captain Sally Tompkins, of Civil War fame,
and many others. Nearby lived the eminent John Taylor,
James Taylor, John Penn, Colonel Butler, William Bernard, the
Lightfoot, Robb, Magruder, Gravatt, Pratt, Micou, Farish,
Catlett, Gilchrist and other equally prominent families. On the
opposite bank of the Rappahannock, at Port Conway, President
academies nearby at different periods which gave a cultural
atmosphere to the community not surpassed elsewhere in Virginia.
Indeed no part of the South had a more brilliant social
life than this town and its environs.
With the coming of the railroad and the lessened importance
of the river as a channel of commerce, Port Royal, like many
other river towns in the South, dwindled in importance and today
it is but the ghost of its former glory. There are now a few stores,
a bank, a hotel, a garage, and possibly a half hundred residences.
The bank has resources of approximately $75,000 and is conducted
by Dr. J. M. Holloway, R. F. Tankard, W. H. Carter, Latane
Sale, C. K. Hearn, W. T. Powers and A. F. Turner. Many of
these are descendants of men and women who lived in Port Royal
in the days of its prosperity.
| A history of Caroline county, Virginia | |