University of Virginia Library

FURTHER NOTES ON THE MINORS OF "TOPPING CASTLE"

John Minor, I, was born in 1707 and on November 14, 1732
was m. to Sarah Carr, dau. of Thomas Carr and Mary Dabney,
of Caroline county. He received as a gift from his father-in-law
the estate known as "Topping Castle," which was situated
on the north bank of the North Anna River in Caroline. He
served the county as a Justice, was a man of superior intellect, and
had a prominent place in the life of colonial Caroline.

Of the eleven children of John Minor and Sarah Carr the eldest
was John Minor, II, better known as "Major John, of Topping
Castle." Major John Minor was b. November 13, 1735, m.
Elizabeth Cosby in 1755, and d. March 21, 1800. He was one
of the most prominent and successful men in Caroline in his
day. Unlike his father, he never held public office of any kind.
He was a successful planter, and, in addition to the care of his
own extensive plantations, he managed the affairs of General
Thomas Nelson while that gentleman was engaged in affairs of
State. He visited the plantations of the General monthly and
saw that the several overseers were properly attending to their
duties. There is a story to the effect that when on these rounds
which covered many miles, the plantations being widely separated,
Major Minor always rode a bob tailed black cob of great endurance,
and never slower than a brisk canter. If he met any
one who wished to talk to him, the person had to turn, take the
Major's gait, and ride on with him until the conversation was
finished.

Among Major Minor's children was a daughter, Diana Minor,
who m. Richard Maury and was the mother of Commodore
Matthew Fontaine Maury. There is a tradition that in a bath
tub at "Topping Castle" young Matthew F. Maury demonstrated
that a boat could be built which would function under water,
thus forecasting the submarine which came into service many
years later. Other children of Major John Minor were Lancelot
Minor, father of John B., and Lucian, who were professors of
law at the University of Virginia and the College of William
and Mary respectively; and Dr. Charles Minor, an eminent physician,
of Charlottesville.

The third child of Major Minor, was John Minor, III, who,
like his father, was born at "Topping Castle," in Caroline in 1761,
and who, with his wife, is buried in the old Masonic burying ground

in Fredericksburg, where a red marble mausoleum marks the grave.
He entered the Revolutionary Army when a mere boy and was
with his distinguished father, Major Minor, at the siege and
surrender of Yorktown. After peace was declared he studied
law under George Wythe and settled in Fredericksburg where he
achieved reputation both for his knowledge of law and his
eloquence. He was m. 1st, to Mary Berkely, of "Airwell,"
Hanover county, in 1790, who died a few months after their
marriage; and 2d to Lucy Landon Carter, of "Cleve," King
George county. She was a dau. of Landon Carter and Mildred
Washington Willis, of Fredericksburg. When the War of 1812
broke out John Minor, III, was made a General in the Virginia
line and was stationed in and around Norfolk. At the close of
the war he returned to the practice of law. While trying a famous
case at Culpeper General Minor was so impressed by the clear
and intelligent testimony of a lad who appeared in court as a
witness, that he afterward sought out the boy and asked him to
go back to Fredericksburg with him and attend school there.
The lad accepted the offer, went to Fredericksburg, lived with
John Minor, received his academic training, studied law, and
became famous in after years as Benjamin Botts, counsel for
Aaron Burr, when Burr was tried for high treason. Botts named
his eldest son John Minor in honor of his benefactor. General
Minor also befriended William Wirt at Culpeper Court House
when Wirt as a young lawyer was struggling with an adverse
bench in the county court. Wirt related the incident afterward
and added, "There was never a more finished and engaging
gentleman nor one of a more warm, honest and affectionate
heart. He was a most excellent lawyer, with a persuasive flow
of eloquence, simple, natural, graceful and most affecting where
there was room for pathos of the true sort which flows from a
feeling heart and a noble mind."

General Minor was a member of the House of Delegates in
1790 and introduced two bills looking to the emancipation of
slaves, the first providing for the gradual emancipation, and the
second for transportation and colonization, and although both
bills had the approval of Thomas Jefferson, no action was taken
on them by the House. He was an intimate friend of President
Monroe and was one of the Electoral College which cast the vote
of the State of Virginia for Monroe on his second election to
the Presidency. The Electoral College met as usual in Richmond

and the citizens of the city tendered them a public dinner
in the State Capitol. General Minor was designated to speak
on this occasion, and while doing so in his usual eloquent manner,
was stricken with apoplexy and was carried into one of the
committee rooms where he died in a few moments, at about 11:00
P. M. At the same evening there were gathered around the
parlor fire at "Cleve" in King George a number of the members
of the family of General Minor's wife, among them her brother-in-law,
Mr. William McFarland, a lawyer and poet. At eleven
o'clock he left the company to retire, but in a moment returned in
a somewhat alarmed condition and declared that he had seen
General Minor in the gallery upstairs—yet he was sure it was
only his ghost. He was laughed at and told that it was only
his impressionable fancy, so he started up again, but soon returned
with the same story, whereupon the whole company went
with him, but, not being so impressionable as Mr. McFarland, the
ghost was not seen. Early next day they learned that at the very
moment Mr. McFarland had seen the ghost of General Minor
upstairs the General had died in Richmond, and afterward Mr.
McFarland's fancies were more esteemed. This story is well
authenticated in the Minor family records and leads one to
believe that there are minds so peculiarly sensitive that impressions
may be made on them by occurrences at a distance,
to which the average mind is wholly oblivious.

General Minor retained the ancestral estate, "Topping Castle,"
in Caroline, until his death, using it as his summer home. His
town home, "Hazel Hill," at the lower end of Fredericksburg is
said to have been one of the finest places in or around the city.
The house was surrounded by beautiful grounds some fifty acres
in extent, and here General Minor lived in grand style and dispensed
hospitality with a lavish hand. "Hazel Hill" was a
strategic point during the Civil War and at the battle of Fredericksburg
the house was riddled by shells.

General Minor had seven children: Mary Beverly who m.
William M. Blackford and became the mother of Charles M.
Blackford, of Lynchburg, from whose story of the Minors in the
Virginia Magazine the foregoing is taken: (2) Lewis Willis, who
distinguished himself in the United States Navy; (3) Rev. Launcelot
Byrd Minor, who was a famous missionary to Africa from the
Episcopal church; (4) Charles Landon Carter Minor, of the
United States Army; (5) James Monroe Minor, of the United

States Navy; (6) Lucius H. Minor, of Hanover, and (7) John
Minor, IV.

The only daughter died in 1896 at the home of her son, Professor
Launcelot Minor Blackford, Principal of the Episcopal
High School, of Alexandria, in the ninety-third year of her age.
John Minor, IV, being born at "Hazel Hill" and therefore not a
native of Caroline, as were his forefathers, does not come within
the scope of this work. Suffice it to say that he maintained the
high standards and traditions of his family, was a man of
superior education, a lawyer, a writer of ability, a lover of children
and a benefactor to struggling young men. Among his
many proteges were two well-known artists, Leutze who painted
"Washington Crossing the Delaware," and "Westward the Star
of Empire Takes its Way," and Elder who painted "The Battle
of the Crater." John Minor, IV, died unmarried in Fredericksburg
on January 12, 1862.