 | CHAPTER VI History of Virginia |  |
Beverley Randolph, Governor,
December 1, 1788 November 30, 1791.
He was the son of Col. Peter Randolph, of "Chatsworth"
Henrico County, Surveyor General of the Customs for the
Middle district of America. He was educated at William and
Mary College, where he graduated in 1771, and during the
American Revolution he was a member of the House of Dele
gates from 1777 to 1781. In 1787 he was president of the
Governor's Council, and in 1788 he became Governor, serving
by annual election three years. He died in February, 1797,
at his residence, "Green Creek," in Cumberland County,
Virginia.
Among the many acts of the Legislature with which his
administration was concerned, the following may be
mentioned:
An act to cede to the United States two acres at Cape
Henry in Princess Anne County for the erection of a light
house. The act provided that after seven years, if the light
house was not erected, or was suffered to fall into decay or be
rendered useless, the property or the soil and jurisdiction
over the same should revert to the Commonwealth. This work
had been long in contemplation, and in February, 1727, the
General Assembly of Virginia had passed a law on the subject.
Another had been passed in 1752, but little or nothing was
done under either law. In 1772 the General Assembly passed
another act for the erection of the lighthouse, in conjunction
rock was brought to Cape Henry from Mr. Brooke's quarry
on the Rappahannock river. But the American Revolution
caused another delay.
Now under the auspices of the Federal Government a new
and successful start was made.
An act to erect the district of Kentucky, into an independent
State. Passed November 25, 1789.
An act for the cession of ten miles square, or any lesser
quantity of territory within this State to the United States for
the permanent seat of the General Government. Passed June
28, 1790.
In 1846 this portion of the District of Columbia was
returned to Virginia on the petition of the inhabitants.[97]
An act appropriating a further sum of money for building
the Capitol. Passed December 19, 1789. After the removal of
the seat of government from Williamsburg to Richmond in
1779, an act was passed for locating the Capitol, Governor's
house and other public buildings on Shockoe hill. The Revolution
prevented any actual construction, but in 1785 Mr. Jefferson,
then minister of the United States at Paris, was
requested by the directors of the public buildings, Messrs.
Buchanan and Hay, to procure for them a plan for the Capitol.
Mr. Jefferson responded and, in June, 1786, sent them a model
of the Maison Quarrée at Nismes, which he pronounced "one
of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful and precious
morsel of architecture left us by antiquity." It was a Roman
temple built by Caius and Lucius Cæsar and repaired by
Louis XIV. The model thus sent was accepted by the
directors, and the Capitol erected accordingly.
An act for cutting a navigable canal from the waters of
Elizabeth River in Virginia to the waters of Pasquotank
River in the State of North Carolina (known as the Dismal
Swamp Canal). Passed November 25, 1790.
An act directing a seal for the High Court of Chancery.
formed in October, 1777, and consisted at first of three judges,
Edmund Pendleton, president, George Wythe and John Blair,
but in October, 1788, it was reduced to one judge, George
Wythe, who under this act was to have executed a seal for his
court.
An act concerning Peter Francisco. Passed December 20,
1790. Francisco was noted for his great strength and served
gallantly in the Revolution. (See William and Mary College
Quarterly, XIII, 213-219.) The act allowed him a sum of
money for his valor and the loss of a horse.
An act concerning the southern boundary of this State.
Passed December 7, 1790. By this act the line commonly
called Walker's Line was declared the southern boundary of
the Commonwealth. In 1728 Col. William Byrd of Westover,
in Charles City County, acting for Virginia, had run the
boundary line from the Atlantic Ocean, through the Dismal
Swamp to Peter's Creek. In 1749 Col. Peter Jefferson, father
of Thomas Jefferson, and Joshua Fry, professor of mathematics
in William and Mary College, continued the line ninety
miles further to Steep Rock Creek, supposed to be on the
parallel of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. In 1778 another
survey was attempted, but the commissioners from the
two states differed so widely on principles, that two lines
were run instead of one, known as Walker's and Henderson's
lines, after the two leading commissioners from each State,
Dr. Thomas Walker and Richard Henderson. After thirteen
years North Carolina accepted Walker's line and this act confirmed
and established it.
But North Carolina having ceded the territory, known as
Tennessee, to the United States before this act was passed,
it became necessary to run the boundary line with that State.
Commissioners appointed in 1799 ran a line midway between
Walker's and Henderson's lines, which was ratified by the
Virginia Assembly in 1802-03.
Previously, in 1785, commissioners appointed in 1779 on
and on the part of Pennsylvania, George Bryan, John Ewing,
and David Rittenhouse, had agreed upon a line between Virginia
and Pennsylvania, which was duly accepted by the two
States. It continued Mason and Dixon's line five degrees
westward, thence northward on a meridian line to the Ohio.
By this agreement Pittsburg, site of old Fort Duquesne, fell
in Pennsylvania, and not in Virginia, as had been long claimed.
There were also many acts passed relative to the establishment
of academies, for opening and improving the navigation
of different rivers, and for establishing towns.
| CHAPTER VI History of Virginia | |