University of Virginia Library

ABINGDON, VIRGINIA—ITS HISTORY.

The present location of Abingdon was immediately upon the
Indian trail from the south and the Indian trail from the northwest,
which, passing through Cumberland Gap, crossed the southern
trail at about the present location of Hurt's store, in the town
of Abingdon, in the direction of North Carolina.

When Dr. Thomas Walker and his company of explorers visited
Southwestern Virginia in the years 1749-1750, they followed this
Indian trail, and on July 14, 1752, King George II. of England
granted to Dr. Thomas Walker a large body of land surrounding
and including the site of the town of Abingdon and supposed to
contain 6,780 acres.

This is the first record that we have of the early exploration of
the lands upon which the town of Abingdon has been built.

Dr. Walker made no immediate effort to settle the lands secured
by his grant, and the next mention that we have of this locality
was in the year 1760, in which year Daniel Boone and Nathaniel
Gist left the home of Boone, in North Carolina, and, crossing the
Holston mountains, encamped in what is now known as Taylor's
Valley, from which point they passed down the Holston river to
near Glenn's Mill, and thence to the present location of Abingdon,
where they encamped on the second night, near where Black's

Fort was afterwards built at a spring. Boone and Gist were upon
a hunting expedition at the time and were accompanied by their
dogs. Soon after nightfall, the hunters were greatly disturbed by
the appearance of a large number of wolves. Their dogs were assailed
with such fury that Boone and Gist with great difficulty
succeeded in repelling the attack of the wolves and preserving their
lives, several of their best dogs being killed. From this circumstance
the present location of Abingdon received its first name,
"Wolf Hills." The wolves had their home in the cave that underlies
the town of Abingdon, the entrance to which is upon the lot
now occupied as a residence by Captain James L. White.

The creek that passes through the eastern and southern portions
of the town about this time received the name of Castle's Creek,

Abingdon, Virginia, 1902. Looking East from Fruit Hill.

Abingdon, Virginia, 1902. Looking South from Fruit Hill.

which name, about fifteen years afterwards, was changed to Eighteen
Mile Creek, and the creek west of Abingdon was given the
name of Wolf Hill Creek, which names are retained until this time.

Some time between the years 1765 and 1770, James Douglas,
Andrew Colvill, George Blackburn, Joseph Black, Samuel Briggs,
James Piper and several other persons settled upon lands surrounding
and including the present location of Abingdon, under
purchases from Dr. Thomas Walker, which lands were afterwards
conveyed to the settlers in the year 1774.

By this time, 1774, the immediate vicinity of the present location
of Abingdon was settled by large numbers of people, and during
this year a church was built near the entrance gate of the present
cemetery, west of the town of Abingdon, under the direction
of the Rev. Charles Cummings and under the auspices of the Presbyterian
Church.

The early settlers of this section of Virginia at this early date
recognized the importance of this locality, and as the natural instinct
of the Indian had made this the passing point of two great
Indian trails, so the same instinct of the white man caused him to
recognize this as a central location for his operations.

Captain Joseph Black, who settled on Eighteen Mile Creek
nearly south of the present residence of Colonel Arthur Cummings,
with the assistance of his neighbors, erected a small fort near his
residence for the protection of the neighborhood from attacks
by the Indians, which fort was called "Black's Fort," and this fort
was used until the summer of 1776.

In the spring of this year, 1776, the Cherokee Indians, after
twelve years of comparative peace and friendliness, decided to wage
a war against the whites, and to exterminate or drive them from
the waters of the Holston and Clinch rivers; and in the month of
July news came to the settlement, which extended down as far as
Eaton's Fort, seven miles east of Long Island of Holston, that
Dragging Canoe, a noted Indian chief, at the head of seven hundred
Indian warriors, was marching upon the settlements, which
news created great consternation, and every settler, with but few
exceptions, gathered his family and traveled with all speed for the
older settlements.

There was but one public highway passing through this section

at that time, which was known as the Great road and passed
directly by Black's Fort.

By the 20th of July, 1776, fully four hundred men, women and
children, had assembled at Black's Fort, and, at the suggestion of
their leaders, determined to build a substantial fort and contest
the further progress of the Indian invasion.

While the building of this fort was in progress, the battle of
Long Island Flats was fought and resulted in an overwhelming
victory for the settlers. The news of this battle reached Black's
Fort on the following day.

Upon the receipt of this good news, the Rev. Charles Cummings
had all work upon the fort suspended, assembled the multitude,
and, kneeling in prayer, thanked God for the deliverance of the
people.

The work upon the fort was continued until completed and, when
completed, it was one of the best forts upon the frontiers.

During the week following the battle of Long Island Flats the
settlers at Black's Fort were greatly annoyed by small bands of Indians
traveling through the settlements, killing the settlers indiscriminately,
burning their homes and driving off their property.

Three parties of Indians came within the vicinity of Black's
Fort. One party scalped Arthur Blackburn and left him for dead,
another succeeded in killing and scalping Jacob Mongle, and a
third party assailed the Rev. Charles Cummings, his negro servant,
Job, William Creswell and James Piper, and succeeded in
killing William Creswell and crippling James Piper by shooting
off one of his fingers.

After the battle at Long Island Flats, the settlers were greatly
encouraged, and, at the same time, felt very much outraged at the
depredations of their Indian neighbors, and a portion of the settlers
at Black's Fort, with the assistance of a few men from Bryan's
Fort, succeeded in killing and scalping eleven out of a party of Indians
that visited the home of James Montgomery, near the South
Fork of Holston river, about eight miles south of Abingdon. The
scalps of the eleven Indians were brought to Black's Fort and
tied to the end of the longest pole that could be found in the vicinity,
and this pole was planted at the gate of the fort as a warning,
we suppose, to future invaders that they would meet a like
fate.

The county of Washington was established by an Act of the
Assembly of Virginia in the fall of the year 1776, and by the
provisions of that Act Black's Fort was designated as the first place
of meeting of the County Court of the new county. The time of
the meeting was fixed as January 28, 1777.

Tradition says there was a great contest between the citizens of
this county as to the location of the county seat, a portion of the
citizens advocating the present location of the Presbyterian church
at Green Spring as the proper location for the county seat.

But several important inducements decided the contest in favor
of Black's Fort; to-wit: first, the fact that Black's Fort was directly
upon the line of the Great road passing through this section, and,
secondly, because Dr. Thomas Walker, Joseph Black and Samuel
Briggs agreed to give to the county of Washington one hundred and
twenty acres of land for the purpose of locating the town and
assisting in discharging the cost of the erection of the necessary
public buildings, and, in addition, Dr. Walker agreed to deed to
the trustees of the town of Abingdon, for a nominal consideration,
four hundred and eighty-four acres of land adjoining the one hundred
and twenty above spoken of.

It cannot be doubted that the selection was a wise one, especially
in view of the mutilation of the territory of Washington county
as originally formed, by the formation of new counties by the General
Assembly of Virginia, and the encroachments upon Virginia
territory by the State of Tennessee. The county seat was as nearly
centrally located as possible.

The four hundred and eighty-four acre tract of land which Dr.
Walker agreed to sell to the trustees of the town of Abingdon for
a nominal consideration was conveyed to said trustees by Daniel
Smith, attorney in fact for Dr. Walker, on October 7, 1781.

The power of attorney from Dr. Walker constituting Daniel
Smith his attorney in fact to convey said lands was executed September
9, 1777 and was witnessed by Thomas Jefferson, Reuben
Lindsay and George Dives.

Shortly after the organization of the County Court of Washington
county, Virginia, to-wit: on April 29, 1777, the County Court
entered an order appointing

• Arthur Campbell,

• Daniel Smith,

• William Edmiston,

• William Campbell,

• Joseph Martin,

• John Coulter,

• Robert Craig,

trustees to dispose of the lands given to the county by Walker, Black
and Briggs.

It will be observed that the present location of Abingdon, at the
time in question, was without a name, and, as far as I can ascertain,
it did not receive the name of Abingdon until the summer of this
year.

The one hundred and twenty acres of land given to the county by
Walker, Black and Briggs were surveyed by Captain Robert Doach,
and, immediately after the appointment of the trustees above
named, they directed John Coulter to survey and lay out the main
street of the town of Abingdon, which was accordingly done.

The County Court, on the 27th day of August, 1777, directed
James Dysart, the sheriff of Washington county, to employ some
person or persons, upon the best terms he could, to remove to some
convenient place, where the town was to stand, the logs and other
timber which had been placed at Mr. Black's for the purpose of
building a magazine, to be used in building a courthouse. The
sheriff, pursuant to this order, selected the present location of the
yard of Mrs. James W. Preston as a convenient place for the same,
and let the contract for the building to Samuel Evans.

The County Court, at the same time, directed the sheriff of the
county to build a prison fourteen feet square, with square timbers,
twelve inches each way, and with a good shingle roof, and in lieu
of a stone wall to line the side walls and also the under floor with
two-inch plank, and to put in each plank nine iron spikes six inches
long; and the sheriff, pursuant to directions, let the contract for
the building of the prison to Abraham Goodpasture.

At the time of the building of the courthouse, the County Court
of Washington county had erected what was known as stocks, just
west of the courthouse and on Main street.

These consisted of a platform some five or six feet above the
ground, with a centrepiece about seven feet above the platform.
To this were attached movable boards, one at the foot of the platform
and another about four feet above the first. In these boards

were holes, through which the head, hands and feet of the culprit
were thrust."[27]

It is said that one application of this mode of punishment made
a lasting impression upon offenders.

To George Martin was given the contract for making irons for
criminals, and to Hugh Berry that of making nails to be used in
the erection of the courthouse and prison.

The courthouse and prison were not completed until the year
1779, at which time the County Court directed David Carson and
Joseph Black to lay off the prison bounds, and on the 17th day of
June, 1779, David Carson and Joseph Black, after laying off the
prison bounds, made the following report:

From this report it will be observed that numbers of white oak
saplings were standing within the present limits of the town of
Abingdon as late as the summer of 1779.

It is hardly necessary to be said at this point that the prison
bounds thus laid out were used, until the year 1850, as a place of
confinement for delinquent debtors, and it would be a matter of
great surprise, could the present generation read the names of the
prominent citizens of this county who were confined within these
prison bounds because of the non-payment of their debts.

As soon as the Main street of the town was located and the lots
on the north and south sides of said street surveyed, the trustees of
the town proceeded to sell and dispose of said lots; but, finding some
difficulty in disposing of said lots by reason of some uncertainty
in their title to said property, eleven members of the County Court
in the fall of the year 1777 addressed the following petition to the
General Assembly of Virginia:

To the Honorable, the Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of
Delegates:

The petition of the court of Washington county.

Whereas a certain tract or parcel of land is given by the Honorable
Thomas Walker, Joseph Black and Samuel Briggs, and also
another tract of land is agreed to be sold at a certain rate by the
said Walker for the benefit of the aforesaid county to erect their
public buildings on, and as this court has already fixed upon a
place on said land for their courthouse and prison, and has also laid
off a part thereof for a town, and whereas it is apprehended that it
would much conduce to the speedy settling of the aforesaid town
and advance the value of the lots if an Act of Assembly should pass,
enabling the said court or their trustees to receive titles from the
above-named gentlemen for the land given and sold, and also to
enable them to lay off, sell and make conveyances to the purchasers,

and grant such privileges and immunities to the settlers on such
lots, as to citizens in like cases have been granted, in the premises
we submit to the consideration of your honorable House, and pray
you to grant us such redress as you judge just and right, and your
petitioners, as in duty bound, shall pray, etc.:

• George Blackburn,

• John Kinkhead,

• William Edmiston,

• James Montgomery,

• John Campbell,

• Andrew Colvill,

• William Campbell,

• John Snoddy,

• Daniel Smith,

• Thomas Mastin,

• Arthur Campbell.

This petition was referred to the proper committee on November
8, 1777, but was not again heard of until the fall of the year 1778.

Washington county's representatives in the Legislature at this
time were William Cocke and Anthony Bledsoe, neither of whom
had any particular interest in the welfare of the proposed town.
But in the spring of the year 1778, Arthur Campbell and Anthony
Bledsoe were elected to the Legislature of Virginia from Washington
county, and, as a result of the efforts of Arthur Campbell, the
town was incorporated in December, 1778.

For some reason which I cannot explain, the trustees appointed
by the County Court of Washington county, Virginia, on April 29,
1777, with but two exceptions, never acted in the capacity of trustees,
William Edmiston and Robert Craig being the exceptions,
but on the 6th of June, 1777, William Edmiston, Robert Craig,
James Armstrong, Robert Preston and Robert Campbell, terming
themselves trustees for the town of Abingdon, met at Christopher
Acklin's, in said town, and proceeded to business and surveyed
a part of said town, namely the inner lots; after which the board
adjourned until the next day, the 7th of June, 1777, on which day
the trustees ordered an alley to be laid off, one pole wide, adjoining
the lower end of the lots on the south side of Main street; and
that a street be laid off, three poles wide, ten poles from said alley,
and that the land between the alley and said street be laid off in
half acre lots, and that the land on the south side of said street
be laid off in acre lots, and that said street be known by the name
of Water street; and to the alley between Water and Main streets
was given the name of Troopers' alley.

Robert Preston was directed to survey said lots and to deliver a
draft of the same to Christopher Acklin, who was directed to sell
said lots at public outcry at the following June court, which lots
were accordingly disposed of by Christopher Acklin at public
auction.

There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the first settler
within the bounds of Abingdon. Charles B. Coale makes the statement
that the first house erected in the town was by Dr. Smith,
who built his house about the year 1760, on the lot now occupied by
Mrs. Henry S. Preston.

The statement of Mr. Coale is evidently a mistake, as this portion
of Virginia was not settled in the year 1760.

There can be no question that Christopher Acklin, as early as
June, 1777, had a house built and was living upon the lot now occupied
by the county courthouse.

As previously stated, in the month of October, 1778, the town of
Abingdon was established by Act of the Assembly, and Evan
Shelby, William Campbell, Daniel Smith, William Edmiston, Robert
Craig and Andrew Willoughby were named as trustees for said
town, and the title to the one hundred and twenty acres of land
given by Dr. Walker and others was vested in fee simple in said
trustees by said Act,[28] and said trustees or any three of them were
empowered to make conveyances of such lots in said town as had
been previously sold and of such as might be sold thereafter.

Considerable power was conferred upon said Board of Trustees,
as will be seen by an inspection of the Act establishing the town.

The name given to the town was evidently suggested by Colonel
Arthur Campbell, through whose influence the Act incorporating the
town was passed.

While the object in view in giving the name, Abingdon, to the
town is not known, several statements in regard thereto have been
made by different writers upon the subject, one statement being
that the town was given the name of Abingdon as a compliment
to Martha Washington, the wife of General Washington, it being
the name of the parish in which she worshipped in girlhood[29] ;

another statement being that the town was named in honor of Lord
Abingdon, a young English nobleman of Scotch descent, with whom
William Campbell was well acquainted, Lord Abingdon being very
much in sympathy with the ideas of his Scotch kinsfolk living in
America, in their contest with England.

Daniel Boone, at this time, was known as the greatest explorer
and hunter on the frontiers, and the name may have originated
with him. Abingdon, Pennsylvania, situated about twelve miles
north of Philadelphia, was his first residence in America, and, for
many years, was the home of many of his family.

The lands deeded to the trustees of the town of Abingdon
included four hundred and eighty-four acres in addition to the
one hundred and twenty acres given by Dr. Walker and others and
vested in said trustees by Act of the Assembly. These four hundred
and eighty-four acres lay north and northeast of the town of
Abingdon of the present day; and while Main and Water streets
were laid off previously to 1778, and lots on either side of said
streets surveyed, the lands included within the four hundred and
eighty-four acre survey were not surveyed until August, 1781,
during which month Daniel Smith surveyed and divided said four
hundred and eighty-four acres into nineteen tracts containing from
thirteen to fifty-six acres to the lot, which tracts of land were
denominated the outer lots of said town.

"The lands on which the town is built were given to the county
of Washington by Dr. Thomas Walker, of Albemarle county, and
by Samuel Briggs, who owned the tract adjoining to the east, and
Joseph Black, who owned the one to the west of the town. I first
saw the town hill in 1782, and then there were on it a log courthouse
about twenty-five feet square, standing opposite Dunn's Hotel
across the street—a small log jail on the lower corner of the present
public lot; Christopher Acklin's Tavern on the southeast corner of
the public square; John Yancey's Tavern, on the lot where Dunn's
Hotel stands; and William Dryden's Tavern on the lot where Mr.
Mitchell's dwelling stands, that formed the then town of Abingdon.
In 1782, Yancey sold his house and lot to John Campbell, and
shortly afterwards Dryden sold his to Dr. Alexander Smith, the
first husband of Mrs. Conn."

Acklin and Smith now entertained all who called on them, Acklin
those who were fond of their brandy, Smith the more temperate.

Two Irishmen, named Dan and Manasas Friel, at this time
appeared with a cargo of merchandise and opened their goods in a
room in John Campbell's dwelling house. They soon built a storehouse
across the street and, for ten or twelve years from 1783,
sold goods and made a handsome property. They then removed to
Wythe, and Manasas to a valuable farm near Fort Chiswell. About
the time they had located themselves in their new storehouse, William
Bagnell and Mrs. Bagnell came to the town and built a large
cabin on the lot east of Dunn's Hotel. This couple were from
Baltimore and merit special notice.

William Bagnell was a dwarf about four feet, nine inches, high,
and diminutive in form. Mrs. Bagnell was just the opposite in
every respect—a large, athletic woman of good figure, rather handsome
than otherwise, and intelligent. They appeared to be about
thirty years of age. Bagnell's Tavern soon attracted attention and
commanded company. Mrs. Bagnell had been evidently well
accustomed to the noise and confusion of a drinking establishment,
and acted in her cabin with good authority. She was often visited
by an old man and two sons from the foot of Iron mountain, who
never left without having a drunken frolic. On one occasion they
continued their bacchanalian riot until late in the night and until
Mrs. Bagnell was fairly worn down with it and refused to let them
have any more whiskey. They begged and pled and threatened, but
her ladyship was firm to her purpose and would not yield. They
then commenced beating her and running her around the cabin,
they pursuing and she retreating and defending herself. At length
she was able to escape up a ladder to the loft, and there she shouted
murder with all her strength. The town was roused and all came
to her relief and to hear what was the matter. The three bacchanalians
retreated into the street and bade defiance, and Mrs. Bagnell
complained of being much hurt. The sheriff made his appearance
and was ordered by a justice to arrest the men. He summoned a
posse, and for a short time there was a general engagement; at
length the men were taken and committed to jail. In the melee
several persons were seriously injured, but the prosecutions failed.

Henry Dickenson came to town to live and built on the corner lot
on which William King's old brick house stands. Near the same
time Captain William Y. Conn arrived from Alexandria with a
cargo of merchandise, built a storehouse across the street from

Dunn's Hotel and opened goods. Alexander Smith died and Mrs.
Smith, then a beautiful young widow, continued the house, which
was always crowded with the best company. John Greenway came
from Pennsylvania, purchased out Henry Dickenson and built his
blacksmith shop on the corner.[30] All this time the society of two or
three genteel families and the constant intercourse of well-informed
strangers made Abingdon a most agreeable place.

Although the country was settled with a well-informed population
generally, yet there was in it a mixture of all sorts. The leading
characters of one class were Edward Callahan and his wife Succy.
Where they originally came from I do not know, but they were
themselves originals. Edward was a hunter by profession, and
when they emigrated to Holston he selected for his residence the
banks of the north fork twenty-five miles below Abingdon, at a point
where he could see the top of Clinch mountain through a gap
in the river knobs. Here he lived many years. Succy was a cake
woman, but with the cakes she sold something to drink. She made
her appearance on the first day of every court, with a cartload of
cakes, pies and drinkables, halted in the middle of the street and
made an awning for herself and commenced business. Edward
followed on foot at the tail of the cart in the full dress of the
hunter, with rifle and shot pouch, and his fine, well-taught hunting
dog at his heels, and when he had gotten Succy fairly started at
her business he moved off with his peltry to transact his own business.
Succy was a shrewd woman and adopted all sorts of evasions
to avoid paying license, and sometimes she was hard pressed by the
grand jurors and Attorney-General Dunlop. On one occasion she
was nearly at her wit's end about retailing whiskey, when John
Campbell, the clerk, said something to the court in mitigation,
and the justices, being very willing to accept any excuse, let Succy
off. She never forgot the kindness, and fifteen years afterwards
I, the son of John Campbell, was riding in that part of the country
and was benighted at Succy's cabin, when she treated me with a
kindness and hospitality which I shall never forget and in a manner,

too, that showed she knew how to act her part. I have named two
originals of each sex."[31]

In the year 1786, Abingdon was a considerable village, boasting
of two hotels, one occupying the present location of the Bank of
Abingdon and kept by James Armstrong, and the other, kept by
Mrs. Mary McDonald, on the south side of Main street nearly opposite
the courthouse. There were no buildings west of the present
residence of the late S. N. Honaker, and from this point to the western
limits of the original town was a wild plum and chinquapin
thicket, with a few large white oak trees interspersed.

The residence of Daniel Friel occupied the location of the present
residence of Mrs. Kate Preston, while the residence of Mrs.
Smith occupied the present location of the residence of Mrs. John D.
Mitchell, the residence of Dr. Groce occupying the position of what
is known as the White House, on the south side of Main street, while
to the west of Dr. Groce's residence there lived several families, one
by the name of Wise, another by the name of Redpath (James). A
house built by William Brice stood on the present location of the
Colonnade Hotel. These were about all the houses to be found in
the town in the year 1786.

A writer upon this subject makes the statement that General
John Armstrong, Secretary of War under President Madison, and
General Francis Preston Blair, of Missouri, were born on the lot
occupied by Dr. Groce; but it is more probable that General Armstrong
was born at the home of his father, James Armstrong, and
that General Blair was born at the residence of his father, James
Blair, both of whom lived in Abingdon.

The next effort made to extend the town was at a meeting of the
Board of Trustees at the house of William Y. Conn, on the 12th
day of January, 1789.

At this meeting it was ordered that all that part of said town
lying north of the lots on the north side of Main street be laid off
into one-fourth-acre lots, that an alley be left at the north end of
the lots fronting on Main street, and that a street be laid off ten
poles north of said alley, said street to be three poles wide. To
the alley was given the name of Chinquapin alley, and to the street
thus proposed was given the name of Office or Valley street.

Robert Preston was directed to survey said land and to deliver
particular plats to Andrew Russell, and Christopher Acklin was
directed to sell said lots at public outcry, as directed by the Act
incorporating the town.

It will be observed that Valley street, as originally proposed,
was three poles wide, but at a meeting of the trustees on the 4th
of October, 1798, it was ordered that the street known as Valley or
Office street be altered and made four poles wide, ten poles north of
Chinquapin alley. This alteration in the width of Valley street was
induced by the fact that the owners of the lands along said street
by their improvements had evidenced that they believed that said
street was four poles wide. At the same meeting of the trustees,
Andrew Russell was elected secretary and was directed to record a
plan of the inner and outer lots of said town.

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees on the 22d of November,
1798, Slaughter street was opened two poles wide, running from
Valley street in a northwestwardly course to the northern boundary
of the town land, but for some reason the name Slaughter street
has been given to the cross street running from Valley street to
the railroad and crossing the Main street near the Presbyterian
church.

The original town, as it was in 1798, contained three streets running
east and west, known as Water, Main and Valley streets, with
two alleys north and south of Main street and known as Troopers'
and Chinquapin alleys, the cross streets being Tanners' street, which
crosses Main street near to and west of the residence of Captain
James L. White; Cross street, now known as Court street, crossing
Main street, east of the courthouse; Brewers' street, crossing Main
street near to and west of the residence of Mrs. Bessie Watson, and
Slaughter street, which began at Main street and ran a northwestwardly
course to the boundary of the town land.

Most of the lots within the town of Abingdon were sold at public
auction, previously to the year 1798. The names of such purchasers
as have been preserved are given in another place.

In the month of October, 1798, Andrew Willoughby resigned
as one of the trustees of the town of Abingdon, and an election
to fill the vacancy was held on the 3d day of November, 1798.
The election was held at the court-house in said town, and only the
freeholders living within the town were permitted to vote.

The candidates voted for were Andrew Russell and Frederick
Hamilton, and the freeholders voting in said election were:

• William Brice,

• John Gold,

• Frederick Hamilton,

• C. Watkins,

• Robert Dukes,

• James Longley,

• Joseph Hays,

• Jacob Baker,

• Joseph Acklin,

• Connally Findlay,

• James White,

• William Greenway,

• Solomon Marks,

• James Armstrong,

• Samuel Glenn,

• Patrick Lynch,

• Michael Deckard,

• John McCormick,

• James Redpath,

• Andrew Russell.

It will be seen from an inspection of this poll-list that the freeholders
living within the bounds of Abingdon in 1798 were few
in number.

On the 18th day of April, 1793, the County Court of Washington
county, Virginia, directed that twenty-five pounds out of the
bonds arising from the sale of lots in the town of Abingdon be
appropriated towards building a market-house on the courthouse
lot; and James Armstrong, James Bradley, John McCormick and
Claiborne Watkins were appointed commissioners to superintend
the building of the same; and in September of the same year, the
court appropriated twenty pounds to complete a well upon the public
lot.

The market-house, when completed, was placed in charge of the
officers of the town, and Tuesdays and Saturdays were the regular
market days, and it was made an offence for any person to sell
butchers' meats at other times and places in the said town. This
institution was maintained for many years subsequent to 1793, and
as late as the year 1810 the law governing the subject was strictly
enforced.

A Masonic lodge was organized in Abingdon at the residence of
James White on the 3d day of October, 1796, and, by the year
1800, this lodge had erected a Masonic hall in the town on Lot No.
50, Water street, the present location of the new jail. A part of
this building was used by the Abingdon Academy from the year
1803 until about the year 1820.

In 1798 Henry Clay and Captain Henry St. John Dixon came to

Abingdon together for the purpose of settling, provided the country
suited them. The former, after looking around for a week or two,
proceeded on to Kentucky, where his mother had settled after her
second marriage, and the latter, having become acquainted with
the family of Mr. Dick White, on the farm now owned by William
Clark, married one of his daughters and lived for many years where
the Stonewall Jackson Institute now stands.[32]

On the 20th of March, 1799, the County Court appointed William
King, James Armstrong, John Eppler and Robert Craig
commissioners to report a plan for a new stone prison, which was
afterwards built on the public square in the rear of the present
courthouse, James White being the contractor, at the price of
$1,532.25.

By Act of the General Assembly of Virginia of date January 10,
1803, the corporate limits of Abingdon were extended to the west
as far as Lot No. 16, which addition to the town has since been
known as "Craig's addition" to the town of Abingdon. On the
13th of January, 1803, the General Assembly authorized the trustees
of the town of Abingdon to conduct a lottery for the benefit
of Abingdon Academy, the proceeds to be used in purchasing a
library, philosophical and mathematical apparatus and anything
else necessary for the use of the said Academy. By this same Act
the Academy was chartered, with many of the prominent citizens
of the town as trustees, evidencing the disposition of the citizens
of Abingdon, at this early day, to afford their children every
necessary facility for securing an education.

The General Assembly of Virginia, during the first fifty years of
the history of Abingdon, adopted numerous laws extending the
time of the property owners for building houses upon the lots
purchased of the town, as required by the Act of the Assembly in
the year 1778.

On the 3d day of August, 1802, an election was held for trustees
to succeed Andrew Willoughby, who had died, and Robert
Craig and James Armstrong, who had removed from the town.
The candidates voted for by the freeholders of the town were
Andrew Russell, James White, Frederick Hamilton and John

McClelland, the three first named being elected. The freeholders
voting in this election were as follows:

• William King,

• John McClelland,

• John McCormack,

• W. Greenway,

• A. Russell,

• Samuel Glenn,

• Pat Lynch,

• John Gold,

• James Longley,

• G. T. Conn.

Between the years 1800 and 1810, a new courthouse was built
upon the public square, which courthouse served the county until
the year 1848. This courthouse was built of brick and was a very
substantial structure.

By the year 1806, the town and county had grown in importance
to such an extent that a newspaper, a badly-needed institution, was
established in the town of Abingdon by John G. Ustick, the name
of the paper being "The Holston Intelligencer and Abingdon
Advertiser."

The first postoffice in Southwestern Virginia was established at
Abingdon on the 25th day of April, 1793, with Gerrard T. Conn
as postmaster, and this was the only postoffice to be found in the
county of Washington, until the year 1833. It is hard to believe
that the citizens of this county for forty years had but one post-office
and one place at which they could mail their letters and receive
their mail.

From the year 1793 until about 1835, Abingdon was the centre
of the business life of Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee and
Kentucky; all mails for the sections named were distributed at the
Abingdon postoffice; and a large per cent. of the wholesale trade
for the same section was controlled and supplied by Abingdon
merchants.

Such was the condition of affairs in Abingdon at the beginning of
the war of 1812, and, with the first evidences of war, the patriotism
of the citizens of the town knew no bounds.

A number of brick buildings had been erected in Abingdon,
among the number being the brick building erected by William
King, which building is still standing on the east side of Court
street, opposite the courthouse, and is beyond question the oldest
building in the town of Abingdon.

Abingdon was visited by its first great fire on Thursday night,

September 10, 1812. A description of the fire and the damage
done thereby is here copied from a newspaper published in Abingdon
on the following Saturday.[33]

"At the hour of midnight of Thursday night last we were alarmed
by the cry of Fire! which proved to be in the new brick building of
Colonel Francis Preston, which was in a few moments so far consumed
as to preclude all hopes of its salvation. The flames continued
to rage until the following property was consumed: Colonel
Francis Preston's frame dwelling house, brick building, ice-house
and every stick of timber on his lot; two houses occupied by Mr.
John McCormack, with their out-houses; Mr. Estill's office, Mr.
William McKee's dwelling house, his new frame store, compting
room, kitchen, etc.; Major James White's saddle shop, dwelling
house, kitchen, etc., and the building occupied by John McClellan,
Esq.

"This dreadful destruction of property was the work of some fiend
of hell. An attempt was made to fire the new courthouse, but the
exertions of a single person, a slave, saved it. Captain F. Smith,
who was early on the spot, discovered the fire in the court-house.
He entered when the flames had risen to the height of a man's
head. He was about to abandon the building, when Mr. William
Trigg's yellow man JOE ran in, caught up in his arms the combustibles
on fire, threw them into the street and saved the building.
This was done at the hazard of his life. If the courthouse had
been consumed, we apprehend not a building in the western precinct
of the town would have escaped.

"The citizens are about to reward JOE by presenting him with a
sum of money. A subscription will be handed the citizens of the
town for that purpose. Gentlemen of the County who feel an interest
in the welfare of Abingdon, and who may happen to be in
town can have an opportunity of contributing by calling on Benj.
Estill, Esq., Capt. F. Smith, or Andrew Russell, Esq."

The Board of Trustees for the town of Abingdon, between the
years 1808 and 1812, adopted a number of by-laws and ordinances
which conduced very much to the peace and good order of the town.
They began by first adopting rules and regulations for the government
of the trustees at their regular meetings.

Secondly. They adopted an act to enforce the attendance of the
trustees.

Third. An act describing the duties and regulating the fees of the
town sergeant.

Fourth. An act to levy a tax on the tithables and property in the
town of Abingdon.

Fifth. An act to protect property in the town of Abingdon against
fire.

Sixth. An act concerning out-houses.

Seventh. An act laying off the streets and alleys into precincts
for the purpose of keeping the same in repair.

Eighth. An act to regulate the building of chimneys to houses
and blacksmith shops.

Ninth. An act to prevent obstructions and remove nuisances from
the streets and alleys of the town.

Tenth. An act to restrain negroes and mulattoes from being disorderly
and for other purposes.

Eleventh. An act to preserve good order in the town of Abingdon.

Twelfth. An act to establish market days in the town of Abingdon.

Thirteenth. An act concerning houses of evil fame.

Fourteenth. An act to prohibit the female of the dog kind from
running at large in the town of Abingdon.

Fifteenth. An act fixing the marks of the hogs owned by the citizens
of the town of Abingdon.

Sixteenth. An act to restrain negroes from wandering about the
streets after night.

Seventeenth. An act allowing witnesses for their attendance before
a justice of the peace.

Eighteenth. An act respecting patrols in the town of Abingdon.

This last act was passed on Friday, 11th day of September, 1812,
the day after the fire heretofore mentioned.

Among the laws adopted by the Board of Trustees at this time was
one that provided that "any woman found quarreling or rioting in
the streets or alleys or in any other part of said town to the disturbance
of the inhabitants, shall be punished by ducking, as is prescribed
by the Act of the Assembly of this Commonwealth." This
law was adopted on the 29th of April, 1809.

The by-laws and ordinances adopted by the trustees were excellent

in their character, and could not be improved upon by the lawmakers
of this day.

At the time in question and until the year 1833, Abingdon was
without sidewalks, and her citizens had nothing more than a dirt
footway on either side of the street.

On the 26th of June, 1811, the Board of Trustees, by an ordinance,
declared that "there shall be nine feet laid off in front of the
lots on Main street, the main cross and Valley streets for a footway,
and the same shall be kept constantly clear and free from obstructions
for the convenience of passengers; and that the footways in all
other streets of the town shall be seven feet wide."

About this time numerous trees were planted along the footways
above mentioned, some of which are to be seen at this day, notably
the large trees along Main street west of the courthouse and fronting
the residence of Mrs. Bessie Watson.

If the Board of Trustees of Abingdon held meetings or made a
record of their proceedings from the year 1812 until the year 1828
I cannot find it.

The General Assembly of Virginia of the 30th of December, 1819,
adopted a new charter for the town of Abingdon, extending the corporate
limits of the town east to the creek near the tan-yard of Lindsay
& Newland; thence to Valley street; thence following the outer
limits of Valley street to the old town.

It is impossible to give any of the particulars of this extension of
the town, as no record of the Board of Trustees for this period has
been preserved.

On May 9, 1828, the trustees of the town re-enacted, with but few
changes, the by-laws and ordinances adopted by the Board of Trustees
in the years 1808 and 1812.

The additional by-laws adopted were:

First. An act to impose a tax on public shows.

Second. An act to prevent mischievous dogs from running at
large in the streets and alleys of the town.

Third. An act concerning coal-houses.

Fourth. An act to restrain hogs from running at large in the
town of Abingdon.

Fifth. An act concerning small-pox, and

Sixth. An act to require the sidewalks or footways on the main
street of Abingdon to be paved.

On the 13th of June, 1833, the following members of the Board
of trustees—to-wit: Andrew Russell (President), J. W. Paxton,
Thomas Findlay, John M. Preston, Daniel Lynch, Charles C. Gibson,
Elias Ogden and Jacob Lynch—met at the courthouse in the
town of Abingdon and enacted the following law:

"Whereas the inhabitants of the said town are now engaged in
the laudable enterprise of MacAdamizing the Main Street between
the sidewalks or footways, and it is deemed proper by this Board
that the said sidewalks or footways shall be paved with brick, and
curbstones shall be placed next the street, in order to place the said
Main Street in proper repair, and that this repairing should be
made in front of each lot by the owner thereof,

"First. Be it enacted by the Trusteees of the town of Abingdon,
that every owner of a lot on the Main Street in said town be and
he is hereby required, within twelve months from the time said
MacAdamizing shall be completed, to pave with brick the footway
in front of his lot, and every person failing herein shall, for
every month the said foot way in front of his lot shall remain
unpaved, pay a fine of five dollars, to be recovered as other fines are
recovered by law.

"Second. Be it further enacted, that every owner of a lot or
part of a lot on said Main Street be and he is hereby required
to deliver or cause to be delivered, in front of his lot on or before
the 15th day of August next, to John Kellar, the superintendent
of the MacAdamizing of said street, a sufficient quantity of curbstones
to curb the side of the foot way in front of his lot, which
curb-stones shall be at least twenty inches in depth and twelve
inches in width and not less than five or more than seven inches
thick. Every person failing herein shall pay a fine of eight dollars
for every lot he or she shall own, or in that proportion for a
greater or lesser piece of ground, which fines, or so much thereof
as may be necessary, shall be appropriated to the purchase of the
curb-stones hereby required to be delivered."

The approach to the courthouse from the east and west previous
to 1830 was exceedingly steep, the courthouse standing upon
the summit of an oval-shaped hill on the north side of Main street
and facing south. The approach from the east was not only steep,
but large limestone rocks, to a great extent, rendered the street
almost impassable.

As early as the year 1830, Colonel John Kellar, who was superintendent
of the streets in the eastern precinct of the town, spent
a considerable sum of money in blasting the rocks out of the street
east of the courthouse, and soon thereafter a number of the enterprising
citizens of the town, by private subscription, undertook the
macadamizing of the main street of the town. The subscribers to
this cause, with the amount contributed by each, as far as I can
ascertain, were as follows:

                     

Andrew Russell,	$ 17 71
John Gibson,	10 00
Chas. S. Bekem,	5 00
John Preston, Jr.,	5 00
Samuel Logan,	20 00
Elias Ogden,	25 00
John Hall,	3 00
Daniel Sheffey,	30 00
John S. Preston,	40 00
General Francis Preston,	50 00
John M. Preston,	500 00

If there were other contributors to this fund, no record of names
or amounts contributed has been preserved. The work of macadamizing
Main street was done by Jacob Clark under the supervision
of Colonel John Kellar.

The county of Washington and the town of Abingdon assisted in
discharging the cost of macadamizing the main street, the private
subscriptions not being sufficient for the purpose.

Washington county was represented in the General Assembly of
Virginia in the year 1834 by Colonel John Kellar in the Senate and
Thomas McCulloch in the House of Delegates.

Colonel John Kellar was one of the most enterprising citizens
that ever lived in the town of Abingdon, and, as a result of his
efforts in behalf of the town, he succeeded in having the General
Assembly of Virginia, on the 11th day of March, 1834, adopt a new
charter for the town of Abingdon, which charter completely changed
the form of government and greatly extended the corporate limits
of the town.

Under this new charter the limits of the town were as follows:
Beginning on the northeast corner of the bridge near the currying
shop of George V. Litchfield, and in a line with the lands of John N.

Humes; thence northwardly on said line to a point in a line parallel
to the northern boundary of the inner lots of the said town; thence
westwardly on said parallel and along the said line to the line of the
land of Alexander Findlay; thence with the said Findlay's line to a
point parallel to the southern line of Valley street; thence with the
said parallel westwardly to a point parallel to the western line of the
lot on which Jacob Loehr formerly lived; thence in a direct line
southwardly to the line of said lot and along the same to the alley;
thence with said alley to Lot No. 17 in Robert Craig's plan; thence
with the eastern line of said Lot No. 17, and continuing in the same
direction to a point parallel to the southern boundary of the inner
lots first laid off for the said town; thence to the said southern boundary
and along it to the southwestern boundary of Samuel Bailie's
lots; thence with the line of said lot to the gate at the corner of
General Francis Preston's and John N. Hume's land; thence in a
straight line to the beginning.

This charter provided that all the free white inhabitants of said
town should be a body corporate by the name and style of Mayor,
Council and Inhabitants of the town of Abingdon, and by that name
sue and be sued, etc.

This charter directed that on the first Monday in May, 1834, and
annually thereafter on the first Monday in May, the inhabitants of
said town legally authorized to vote for members of the General
Assembly and the freeholders therein who may not be inhabitants
and all other housekeepers therein not thus qualified shall assemble
at the courthouse of the county, in said town, and shall there and
then elect ten persons, being freeholders in said town, who shall be
called and denominated a Council, and one other person who shall be
denominated a Mayor. The Council thus chosen were directed to
hold two regular meetings in each and every year—one the first Monday
after they were elected and the other on the first Monday in
December, and at such other times as they shall be assembled by the
Mayor. The Council were authorized to appoint a clerk and treasurer,
and the Mayor was authorized to appoint the town sergeant,
surveyors and superintendents of the streets, and such other powers
were conferred upon the Mayor and Council of the town as were
necessary for the government and improvement of the same.

This charter has been followed in all subsequent amendments of

the laws of the town, and it is from this source that we derive our
present form of town government.

The first Mayor and Council elected under this charter were as
follows:

Mayor—John M. Preston.

Council—Daniel Lynch, Augustus Oury, John S. Preston, Jeremiah
Bronough, R. R. Preston, Benjamin Estill, John Kellar, Peter
J. Branch, Daniel Trigg, Chas. S. Bekem.

Clerk and Treasurer—Jacob Lynch.

Sergeant—Jacob Clark.

The Mayor and Council thus elected adopted the necessary laws
for the government of the town, and in doing so they followed, to a
great extent, the laws adopted in the years 1808 and 1812 by the
Board of Trustees of the town.

The one act adopted by the town of Abingdon that is worthy of
notice at this point was an act to regulate the sale of ardent spirits
in the town, adopted June 12th, 1837. This act provided that, "If
any person within the corporation of Abingdon shall sell by retail
(other than an ordinary keeper), to be drunk in or at the place
where sold, or in or upon the premises of which such person has control,
or within the said corporation, any wine, rum, brandy or other
ardent spirits, or a mixture thereof, he or she so offending shall pay
a fine to the said corporation of $5.25 for each offence."

A description of Abingdon as it was in the year 1835 has been preserved,
which description is as follows:

"It is situated on the great valley road, about 8 miles north of
the Tennessee boundary, at the southeast side of a mountain ridge,
about seven miles distant from either of the two main forks of the
Holston River. A part of the town stands on a considerable eminence,
beneath which there is a cavern containing a lake.

"Abingdon contains, besides the ordinary county buildings, between
150 and 200 dwelling-houses, many of them handsome brick
buildings. A portion of the inhabitants are followers of Baron
Swedenborg, in other words belong to the New Jerusalem Church,
but they possess no house of worship and their preacher occasionally
occupies one or the other of the Methodist houses.

"There is an academy for females and one for males, (both brick
edifices) 2 hotels kept in good style, 3 taverns principally used for
the accommodation of wagoners, 1 manufacturing flour mill, 9 mercantile

houses, some of which are wholesale establishments and sell
goods to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually,
3 groceries, 1 woolen and 2 cotton manufactories and one
well-established nursery.

"There are 4 tanyards with saddle and harness manufactories attached
to them, 10 blacksmith's shops, 1 hat manufactory and store,
6 wheelwrights and wagon makers, 2 cabinet warehouses, 3 bricklayers,
2 stone masons, 3 house-carpenters, 3 watch-makers and jewelers,
2 boot and shoe factories, 3 house and sign painters, 2 coppersmiths
and tin-plate workers and 3 tailors.

"Abingdon is rapidly increasing in population and trade. Old
houses are giving place to handsome brick buildings, which the opulent
and enterprising citizens are daily erecting. The main street
has lately been MacAdamized at considerable expense, but greatly to
the improvement of its utility, beauty and comfort.

"As a specimen of the flourishing condition of this town, we must
mention that a quarter acre lot, situated near the courthouse, recently
sold for upwards of $4,000. There is a distributing postoffice
here. Population, 1,000 persons, of whom thirteen are resident attorneys,
and 3 regular physicians.

"County Courts are held on the 4th Monday in every month;
quarterly, in March, June, August and November.

"Judge Estill holds his Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 2nd Monday after the 4th of April and September."

It may excite some surprise when told that in this large and well-populated
county there were in 1831 but two postoffices, the one in
Abingdon and the other at Seven-Mile Ford; but since the severance
of Smyth the one at Seven-Mile Ford is now in that county, in consequence
of which there is not, to our knowledge, any other postoffice
in this county except the one at Abingdon, the county seat. The
merchants doing business in the town of Abingdon at this time
were: William McKee & Co., Edward M. & John C. Greenway, John
M. Preston, Col. James White and Findlay & Mitchell, and with
such merchants Abingdon was the centre of trade for all the surrounding
country. All goods were brought to Abingdon from Baltimore
by wagon.

The practicing physicians in Abingdon at the time were Drs.
Earl B. Clapp, James W. Paxton and Alexander R. Preston.

There was but one church in the town, and that was a frame

structure occupied by the Methodist Episcopal church, and one
in the vicinity, and that was the Presbyterian church situated west
of the entrance gate to the Sinking Spring Cemetery. That church
was a very old log-building, weatherboarded on the outside and
ceiled inside, and to this old-fashioned house nearly all the people
gathered from the town and surrounding country for the worship
of God.

Upon the arrival of Rev. Lewis F. Cosby in Abingdon in March,
1831, efforts were immediately set on foot to build a Methodist
Protestant church, which church was erected that year upon the
present location of that church. The Presbyterians, being
stimulated thereby, at once undertook the erection of a new church,
and in the same year their new church, now Temperance Hall, was
completed and occupied.

The County Court of Washington county, on the 24th of July,
1838, upon the application of John W. Stevens, captain of a company
of artillery, granted permission to erect a gun-house upon the
public lot, and John M. Preston, Elias Ogden and Jacob Lynch
were directed to superintend the erection of it. This company was
organized as a result of the agitation preceding the Texas Revolution,
and Captain Stevens organized this company of artillery
from the patriotic youth of Abingdon.

On the 23d day of October, 1838, a new county jail was completed
on the public lot at the corner of Court and Valley streets, and
the prison bounds were so extended as to include the new jail.

On the 16th day of November, 1841, Andrew Russell, after more
than forty years of active participation in the government of the
town of Abingdon, departed this life, and appropriate resolutions
were adopted by the County Court of Washington county, Virginia,
in token of respect to his name.

On the 27th of May, 1844, the County Court of Washington
county appointed John M. Preston a commissioner to have a well
dug upon the jail lot, which was done, and this served large numbers
of the people of the town until the year 1901.

In the year 1846, the citizens of Washington county were very
greatly interested in the war between the United States and Mexico,
Captain A. C. Cummings and General Peter C. Johnson taking an
active part in the efforts made to organize the citizens of this
county and enlist them in the service of their country, and on the

25th of March, 1846, the County Court entered the following
order:

"On motion of Arthur C. Cummings, Captain of the Artillery
attached to the 164th Regiment of Virginia Militia, and it appearing
to the court that the cannon which was sent out for the use of the
said company is being injured for want of a shed to place the said
cannon under to protect it from the weather, it is therefore ordered
that leave be granted the said Cummings to have a suitable shed
erected for the purpose aforesaid on the lower end of the public lot
on which the courthouse stands, provided he can procure the same
to be done at an expense not exceeding the sum of twenty dollars,
and that the same be levied in the next County levy."

A number of the citizens of this county served in that war under
Captain Cummings, while General William E. Jones and Lieutenant
John Preston Johnston did valiant service for their country,
Johnston losing his life in the service.

In the spring of the year 1847 the County Court of Washington
county, Virginia, authorized the building of a new courthouse
for the county in the town of Abingdon, which courthouse was
completed by the year 1850, the court occupying a house of the late
James White as a court-room from the year 1847 to 1850.

Herbert M. Ledbetter was the undertaker of said building, and
William Fields assisted in the completion of the building. Upon
the completion of the courthouse Connally F. Trigg and Jacob
Lynch were appointed commissioners to secure tables and chairs for
the new courthouse and to have the courthouse bell removed and
hung therein.

It was also directed that the portico to the new courthouse should
be enclosed with an iron railing; that the public lot should be enclosed
and suitable pavements provided. The floors of the courthouse
were ordered to be carpeted.

At a meeting of the stockholders of the Exchange Bank of Virginia,
held at Norfolk, Va., in the month of May, 1849, a branch
bank was ordered to be established at Abingdon, with a capital of
$100,000, and during the same month this branch bank was
organized at Abingdon by the election of the following officers:
President, Dr. Daniel Trigg; cashier, Robert R. Preston; directors,
John C. Greenway, David Campbell, Beverly R. Johnston, Jacob
Lynch, Isaac B. Dunn and Thomas L. Preston.

This was Abingdon's first bank, and the town has not been without
a bank since that time, with the exception of a short period in
the fall of the year 1893.

Upon the 30th of May, 1850, a peculiar order was entered by the
County Court, which was as follows:

"It appearing to the Court that there is now no overseer of the
streets and alleys in the western end of the town of Abingdon, and
that there is at present no Mayor in said town who could appoint
an overseer, and it further appearing to the Court that the street
in said town called Slaughter or Butcher Street south of the Main
Street is in such bad repair as to render it unsafe to pass over it with
a vehicle of any kind or for man on horseback; it is therefore ordered
that Norman Crawford be and he is hereby authorized and directed
to proceed and cause the said street to be put in such repair as to
render the passage along the same safe and convenient for wheel
carriages and horsemen, and that the expense thereof be levied out
of the next county levy."

On the 27th of April preceding, James H. Dunn, with ten other
prominent citizens of the town, were elected Mayor and councilmen,
and why this order was entered cannot be ascertained from the
records preserved.

In the year 1856, the Mayor and Council of Abingdon appointed
E. M. Campbell, W. J. Deady and John C. Campbell a committee
to have Slaughter street graded and macadamized, which was accordingly
done.

At the April term, 1853, of the County Court of this county, the
court appointed John M. Preston, Peter J. Branch and Beverly R.
Johnston a committee to plant trees in the public square north of
the courthouse, which duty was performed and the trees thus planted
remained in the square until the year 1902, when they were cut down
and removed from the premises.

On the 31st day of March, 1856, a fire of considerable proportions
consumed a portion of the western end of the town. A description
of the fire and the damage done, as given by the "Virginian"
at the time, is here copied.

"On Saturday morning last, about 2 o'clock, our town was visited
by the most destructive fire that has occurred here since 1812. The
hour at which it commenced, when the whole population was buried
in slumber, and the place, in the midst of the largest collection of

combustible material in the town, rendered it but the more resistless
and disastrous. It broke out in the extensive coach factory of
Mr. Henry Sinon, and in the course of an hour five large buildings,
four of them wood, were consumed, besides numerous out-buildings
that were either burned or torn down. Mr Sinon lost his dwelling,
his shops and every building upon his premises, besides everything
they contained, except a portion of his furniture. Some forty-odd
new carriages and buggies were destroyed, as well as all his lumber,
tools, materials, books and papers, involving a total loss of everything
he possessed, except his family and part of his furniture and
apparel.

"The house recently purchased for the Gift Enterprise was also reduced
to ashes, and the buildings of Mr. William Rodefer, adjoining,
were demolished to arrest the progress of the flames. On the
opposite side of the street Mr. Michael Shaver lost two tenements,
one his old family residence on the corner, and the other a new
two-story brick, recently erected.

"The wind, coming from the west, for a time threatened the destruction
of the whole town, as the flames broke out at various times
and places upon the roofs of many of the neighboring buildings.
Under all the circumstances, the dryness of the weather, the stiff
northwest breeze, the combustible material of the buildings, the inflammable
contents of the large, well-filled coach shop, the hour
of the night and consequent relaxation of the muscles and energies
of the people, and the scarcity of water, the wonder is that the
destruction of property was not greater, but when the people did
get there and had their blood warmed up, they put forth all their
energies and fought the devouring element manfully. The whole
population was out, men, women, children and servants, and all
performed their duty.

"The loss is a heavy one, probably between $30,000 and $40,000,
and the whole is supposed to have been the work of an incendiary.
A negro girl of Mr. Sinon's, who had previously forboded or threatened
evil to the family, is now in jail under suspicion.

"Messrs. Crawford, Ellis, Joseph A. Brownlow and H. B. Tunnell
are the other persons whose families were left without shelter, all
of whom, so rapid was the progress of the flames, lost a portion
of their household property. A broad expanse of blackened earth

with a number of tall, ghost-like chimneys, is all that is left of the
best improved portion of the west end of Abingdon.

"In addition to Mr. Sinon's loss of carriages, Mr. Greenway lost
four, Mr. Robertson two, and Messrs. T. L. Preston, B. K. and
M. H. Buchanan, Thos. G. McConnell, J. M. Rose and others one
each.

"On Saturday evening a meeting of the citizens was held for the
purpose of relieving, as far as possible, the destitution of the sufferers,
at which John M. Preston, Esq., was called to the chair
and John G. Kreger appointed Secretary. The Chairman explained
the object of the meeting and appointed Revs. McChain,
Baldwin, Dickey, and Barr and Wm. Y. C. White, Esq., a committee
to wait upon the people for such aid as they might be disposed
to contribute. The last we heard of the effort, upwards of
$1200 had been raised, which, for the citizens of town and vicinity,
is exceedingly liberal."

By this time the Virginia and Tennessee railroad was approaching
Abingdon, and on the 1st day of April, 1854, the Council of Abingdon
passed an ordinance allowing the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
Company to enter the town and to use the streets and cross
streets of the town, provided they place their depot in the town or
at the eastern end thereof, and the citizens of the town presented
a petition to the authorities of the new road asking that the same
be located at the Knob Road, or the eastern end of the town.

In addition to what the Council of the town did to secure the
depot of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Company, the citizens
of the town petitioned the railroad authorities to place their depot
at the eastern end of the town, but Thomas L. Preston agreed to
give the railroad three acres of land at the present location of the
Norfolk and Western depot, and the depot of the railroad was established
at that point, the railroad being completed as far as Abingdon
by the year 1856.

John D. Mitchell, the Mayor of Abingdon, departed this life on
Tuesday morning, March 15th, 1859, and on the following morning
the Council of the town convened at the courthouse and appointed
Dr. E. M. Campbell, S. W. Carnahan and James C. Greenway
a committee to draft and report suitable resolutions, which
committee reported on the evening of the same day. The resolutions
were as follows:

"Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to call suddenly from
our midst John D. Mitchell, Esq., our worthy officer and esteemed
citizen, therefore:

"Resolved, That it is with deep regret we have heard of the sudden
death of our Mayor and friend, John D. Mitchell, Esq., and
that in his death the community has lost a long tried and faithful
public servant and an esteemed and worthy citizen, and this body
an efficient and honored presiding officer.

"Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the family of the
deceased.

"Resolved, That the members of the Council and its officers
wear a badge of mourning for thirty days.

"Resolved, That this preamble and these resolutions be entered
upon the record of the Council.

"Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings be transmitted to
the family of the deceased.

"Resolved, That the editors of the `Virginian' and `Democrat'
be requested to publish the foregoing preamble and resolutions in
their respective papers."

This is the only death of a Mayor of the town while in office in
the history of the town.

Nothing further of importance occurred previously to the spring
of 1861, the opening of the war between the States. In the spring
of this year the following officers of the town were elected:

Mayor, Samuel W. Carnahan; Councilmen, James K. Gibson,
Thomas S. Stuart, Milton Y. Heiskell, Jacob Lynch, John G.
Kreger, Isaac Benham, Newton K. White, William Keller, John W.
Johnston and William Rodefer; Sergeant, B. C. Clark.

The charter of the town was amended by Act of the Assembly on
the 18th of March, 1852, and by this charter the town was authorized
to construct water works for the town, but the question
had to be submitted to the voters of the town for their approval or
disapproval.

By an order of the Council an election was ordered for the second
day of July, 1853, which election was held, but the result cannot
be given, as no record of the same has been preserved. It is probable
that the vote was adverse, as the question is not mentioned again
in the records.

At the first meeting of the new Council, on the 9th of July, 1861,
the following orders were entered:

"Ordered that the Mayor appoint a patrol of the citizens, regardless
of age, to patrol the town of nights, who are able to render
such service."

"On motion the Mayor is directed to appoint a committee to
wait upon those who sell liquor in the town and request them not
to sell liquor to the soldiers in and about Abingdon."

"On motion it was made the duty further of said committee to
request of officers permitting their men to come to Abingdon to
require of them to leave their side-arms in their camp quarters."

The record of the town government from this time until the
summer of 1863 has not been preserved.

At a meeting of the Town Council on the 18th of August, 1863,
the Mayor was appointed a committee to ascertain at what price a
negro man, suitable for work on the streets, could be purchased
by the corporation. The committee reported on September 1st,
1863, that a negro man suitable for the purpose could be purchased
of Mr. Seabright for $1,800. Thereupon, it was moved
and seconded that the negro man be purchased, upon which motion
a vote was taken and resulted in a unanimous vote against
the purchase of the negro, otherwise we might now have to record
the corporation of Abingdon as a slave-owner.

At the same meeting of the Council, C. S. Bekem and E. M. Campbell
were appointed a committee to select a suitable piece of ground
outside of the present enclosure of the Sinking Spring Cemetery
as a burial ground for Confederate soldiers, to ascertain the cost
of the same, and report to the next meeting of the Council, but
this committee was discharged on the 18th of April, 1864, without
reporting, and a resolution was adopted requesting Captain M. B.
Tate, post-quartermaster, to make some arrangements as to a proper
location for the burial of Confederate soldiers and enclosing the
same.

Quite a number of Confederate dead are buried in the Sinking
Spring Cemetery, and their graves to-day are unmarked, and not
the slightest effort has recently been made to keep green the graves,
or fresh in memory the brave souls who died in defence of their
country, and, as they were taught to believe, in a righteous cause.
Could these brave men again appear in the flesh and see their

surroundings, how justly could they reproach their fellow-soldiers,
descendants and kinsmen, for their failure to discharge such an
obligation to the worthy dead.[34]

By the latter part of August, 1863, numbers of wounded soldiers
and officers were in Abingdon, and the enemy not thirty miles
distant, and on September 1st, 1863, the owners of carriages in and
around Abingdon lent every assistance in transporting the sick and
wounded to Washington Springs.

On the 25th of September, 1863, this community was threatened
by an invasion of the Federals from the west. An account of the
situation, as it was in Abingdon at that time, is here given:

"On Saturday last, great excitement prevailed all over this
county, in consequence of the apprehended approach of the Yankees
from Kingsport, Tenn., in this direction. The particulars, as
accurately as we can obtain them from the mass of contradictory
rumors and accounts, are these: Two companies of Col. Carter's
1st Tenn. Cavalry had been resting and recruiting their horses for
a few days on Netherland's Island, near Kingsport, after their successive
skirmishes with the enemy near Cumberland Gap, when they
were suddenly attacked by a Yankee Brigade under General Ross.
Carter threw his few men on this side of the river and made a stand
at Vance's Ford of Reedy Creek, opposite the upper end of Kingsport.
After holding the enemy in check awhile, a very large force
was seen crossing the river above the island, for the purpose of
flanking him. Carter's men then fell back, taking the Holston
Springs road one mile this side of Kingsport, and being separated
from the rest of the command, they proceeded to Bristol on Saturday.
The Yankees kept the Reedy Creek road to Morell's Mill,
and thence to Bristol. A large portion of Colonel Carter's men,
from frequent skirmishing and falling back, became much scattered,
but the small number, about one hundred and fifty, who were led
by the Colonel in person, fought gallantly and made a stand whenever
and wherever there was a chance to hold the enemy in check.

"The enemy reached Bristol about the middle of the day Saturday,
and committed some depredations, among which were the
burning of the commissary house with, some say a hundred, and
others three hundred, barrels of flour, a small amount of bacon

and some dozen boxes of ammunition, rifled Gugginheimer's store
and despoiled the houses of a few citizens. This latter was done
by a few stragglers who had been left behind and who were intoxicated.

"The enemy then started in this direction, and Carter again
gave them fight at Millard's Mill, one mile this side of Bristol,
farther than which they did not come in force. Foraging parties
scattered out as far up perhaps as Col. John Preston's, but no particular
damage was done that we have heard of. They all then
retired beyond Bristol, and, on Sunday morning, proceeded towards
Zollicoffer, where they were met by General Jones and got more
than they bargained for. The fight lasted several hours, with, it is
said, a loss to the enemy of nine killed and about thirty wounded, and
to us of two killed and seven or eight wounded. General Williams
pursued the enemy to within two and one-half miles of Blountville
and only returned when called back by a dispatch from Gen. Jones.

"All day Saturday most intense excitement prevailed in Abingdon.
The company recently organized in town was under arms all
day, together with various squads from the country, in support of
Davidson's Battery, then stationed in this vicinity, with the Provost
Guard, and also a portion of Colonel Carter's cavalry, and Col.
Chenneworth and his command. From the position of our forces,
a fair view of the road towards Bristol was had for a mile or two,
in which direction all eyes were constantly turned. Ever and anon,
when a cloud of dust produced by flying refugees, men, women,
negroes and stock, rose in the distance, Captain Davidson could be
seen to look sternly, and the fingers of the undrilled infantry
pressed upon the triggers of the charged muskets. Had the Yankees
approached, many saddles would have been emptied, for determined
resistance was depicted in every countenance.

"Had it not been humiliating it would have been amusing to see
citizens and strangers stampeding through town with as much haste
and excitement as if the Yankees had been at their heels, when
the latter were quietly regaling themselves at Bristol, without a
thought of proceeding another foot in this direction. As night
approached, scouts brought the information that the enemy had
gone in the opposite direction, when `quiet once more reigned in
Warsaw.' "[35]

From this time until the summer of 1864, the officers and citizens
of Abingdon were kept busy guarding the town, nursing the
sick and wounded and burying the dead. To add to the troubles
of the people, in the month of June, 1864, small-pox was discovered
in the town, which caused a great deal of uneasiness and
annoyance.

Such was the condition of the people of the town in the month
of December, 1864, when General Stoneman, in command of about
10,000 Federal troops, arrived at Abingdon on the evening of the
14th. By order of General Stoneman, the depot of the Virginia
and Tennessee Railroad Company, the Government Commissary
(Hurt's store), in charge of Captain Williams, the issuing department
of the Quartermaster's Department (Sinon & Co.'s brick
carriage factory), in charge of Major Crutchfield, Quartermaster's
storing department (Musser & Co.'s carriage factory), in charge
of J. E. C. Trigg, the county jail and the barracks opposite
the jail, on the corner of Court and Valley streets, were destroyed
by fire, the Federal officers strictly enjoining the destruction of any
other than government property. After the destruction of this
property, the Federal troops resumed their march to the east, but
had not left the town more than two hours before a renegade by
the name of James (Tites) Wyatt, who had formerly been an
apprentice to Gabriel Stickley, being in the town on horseback,
proceeded to fire all the property on both sides of Main street
from Court street to Brewers' street. He succeeded in firing the
courthouse and other buildings on the north side of Main street
and had fired all the buildings on the south side of Main as far
west as the present storehouse occupied by Honaker & Sons, when
he discovered the presence of a number of Confederate soldiers and
undertook to make his escape, passing down Main street to the west
with all possible speed, hotly pursued by the Confederate soldiers,
being hard pressed all the time. When he reached Hayes Street
he turned to the south at the eastern gate of Stonewall Jackson
Institute. At this point he fell from his horse and was left for
dead, but was afterwards carried into the former residence of Governor
Floyd, where he soon died.

The fire that he thus started destroyed the courthouse of the
county and all the buildings west as far as the present residence
of S. N. Honaker. All the buildings on that side of the street

were of brick and almost all were three stories high. On the south
of Main street every building, without an exception, was destroyed,
from Court street on the east to Brewers' street on the west.
The fire might have been stopped sooner, but, at the time, in Abingdon
was hardly an able-bodied man, and about the only witnesses
of the destruction of the town were old men, women and children.

Thus the people of Abingdon were to a great extent rendered
homeless, with starvation and sickness on every side and their
country in the hands of the enemy. Such was the condition of the
town when peace came, in 1865.

The fall of 1865 and spring of 1866 were used by the people
in collecting and preserving such property as had been left after
four years of desperate fighting.

The first meeting of the Town Council of Abingdon, after the
surrender, was held at the office of Dr. W. F. Barr on March 3d,
1866, with the following officers present: Mayor, G. R. R. Dunn;
Councilmen, Norman Crawford, Charles J. Cummings, John G.
Clark, David G. Thomas, William Rodefer, Milton Y. Heiskell
and W. F. Barr.

The first order entered by this meeting was one repealing the bylaws
in so far as the same referred to the punishment of slaves and
free men of color, and the Mayor was directed to refer all violations
of the laws of the town by freed men or freed women to
Lieutenant Woodward, superintendent of the Freedmen's Bureau
of this district.

At the same meeting a committee of five was appointed to petition
the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Company to locate the new
depot on or near the Knob Road leading from Abingdon, or at the
eastern end of the town, and on March 16th, 1866, a committee
of three was appointed to ascertain what ground could be procured
for a depot and what subscription could be raised to aid in building
the depot, and on June 21st, 1866, a resolution was adopted,
requesting the directors of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
Company to send a committee to Abingdon to discuss with the
Council the question of the location of a depot; but, notwithstanding
the efforts of the officers and the people of the town of Abingdon,
the depot was built upon the location of the old depot.

The Council and people of Abingdon from this time henceforward
lent their every energy toward the upbuilding of the town,

and in a few years the damages suffered by the town as a result
of the war were completely obliterated.

Pursuant to the proclamation of the Governor, the courts of the
county and circuit were held in the Temperance Hall until the
county could build a new courthouse.

The County Court of Washington county, in November, 1866,
awarded the contract of building a new courthouse to the following
persons: To Messrs. James and David Fields, the brick-work
and plastering; to Mr. Hockman, of Harrisonburg, the carpentry-work;
to Messrs. Keller & Grim, the tin-work; to Messrs. Morrison
and Vaughan, the painting. The courthouse was completed by
the beginning of the year 1869, and at the time was said to be the
handsomest courthouse in the State.

On May 10th, 1873, Valley street, from the residence of Martin
Keller to the west gate of the residence of G. V. Litchfield, was
ordered to be macadamized, G. V. Litchfield paying a large part
of the costs of said macadamizing.

We here give a description of the town as it was in 1875, written
by the late Charles B. Coale.

"Abingdon was endowed with its name anterior to 1776. The
streets, of which there are seven, intersect each other at right angles,
three east and west, and four north and south, with an equal number
of alleys running in the same direction. The streets are sixty
feet wide and the alleys sixteen. The main street is MacAdamized,
as are several others partially, with brick pavements on either side,
from one end of the town to the other. There is no place of its
size in the State more noted for fashion, taste and morality, with its
usual proportion of loafers and gentlemen of leisure; and, like all
other places where there is or has been considerable wealth, there is
a right smart sprinkling of what some people would term aristocracy,
but which, in reality, is nothing more than a decent observance
of the conventionalities of life. Many of the private residences,
as well as the public buildings, are of brick, large and tasteful,
and a number of them three stories high. They are generally neat,
some of them approaching elegance, and but few dilapidated,
though one here and there may look as if it had been rocked by an
earthquake, or had danced to the piping of a hurricane, at some
period in its history. We claim to have one of the most capacious
and convenient courthouses in the Commonwealth, and by some it

is considered a model in architecture, with its massive pillars and
towering steeple, though the writer must confess that he cannot
exactly see it in that light.

"We are great church-going people and have a variety of denominations.
For instance, we have two Methodist churches, Episcopal
and Protestant, a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Protestant Episcopal,
and a Roman Catholic, and for good measure we have thrown
in a Swedenborgian Temple, and a few Lutherans, Universalists
and Christian Baptists lying around loose. In all these churches
are regular services, except the Baptist, which is rather too far
from water to be very vigorous, and the Swedenborgian. We
have three large and well kept hotels, nine variety stores, two
drug stores, two fancy stores, two or three drinking saloons, half a
dozen confectionaries, an agricultural warehouse, a bakery, a billiard
saloon, an iron-foundry, three or four black-smith and as
many wheelwright shops, two tanneries, two or three saddle and
harness establishments, any number of carpenters, painters, shoemakers,
tailors, brick and stone-masons, a large brick town-hall, a
library association and reading room, in which may be found all
the leading literature of the day, and last, though not least, two
of the best weekly papers within a circuit of a dozen miles, and a
job office. The town was incorporated by legislative enactment
many years ago, and, city-like, has a mayor and common council,
who maintain the peace and dignity of the corporation and periodically
enforce the hog-law.

"We have, as is the case in all places where the people get sick
and die, or fall out with and wrong each other, a redundancy of
doctors and lawyers, five or six of the former and a baker's dozen
of the latter, none of them probably making fortunes very rapidly
by their professions.

"There seems to be no possible chance of a diminution of lawyers
shortly, but there is a bare probability that some of the doctors
may take a dose of his own medicine one of these days, and if so,
the jig is certainly up with him. One of our citizens, Judge
Johnston, is a United States Senator, and we have a score or less
who would love to be in the house of representatives. And right
here it might be said, that we have three banks, all as stubborn
as mules since the Legislature has limited interest to six per cent.,
two or three insurance companies, a machine shop operated by

steam, two tin and copper-smith's establishments, a photograph gallery,
two barber shops and the biggest sort of a colored school."

Nothing more of sufficient importance to be worthy of note occurred
from this time until the year 1884. In the month of April
of that year the Council of the town appropriated $100 to pay the
expenses of a committee to the city of Washington to prevent the
United States Courthouse from being located at Wytheville. And
in this year the main street, from J. M. Rose's to Wall street, and
Wall street, from Main street to the depot, was macadamized,
thirty feet in width, and from six to twelve inches in depth. Sidewalks
made of brick and curb-stones were placed on both sides of
Main street and of Wall street, at an expense of several thousand
dollars. A large portion of the territory in the western part of
the town was thus opened and prepared for rapid development, and
at this time the community thus dealt with constitutes the best
business section of the town.

The Mayor and Council were authorized and directed to issue
$20,000 in bonds, pursuant to the Act of the General Assembly of
date March 4th, 1884, and, in keeping with this spirit of improvement,
the Council, by an ordinance passed on the 12th day of
April, 1886, ordered all porches and steps to be removed from the
streets of the town, and a committee was appointed on April 5th of
the same year to investigate the opening of Valley street, through
the property of Miss Ella V. Findlay and that of Dr. William
White. By an ordinance, adopted on the 11th day of October,
1886, the sergeant of the town was ordered to kill all the English
sparrows found within the corporate limits.

The author of the last ordinance is unknown, the record giving
no information of the member of the Council upon whose motion
this order was made.

About this time a peculiar order was entered by the Council of
the town. The contest as to the readjustment of the State debt
was the sole theme of public discussion, and, upon motion of James
H. Hines, William H. Mitchell was permitted to erect a pole at
the corner of Court and Main streets and near the Bank of
Abingdon building and to place thereon a Readjuster flag. This is
the only instance in the history of the town, so far as I can ascertain,
in which a request of this kind was made and granted.

On the 14th day of October, 1887, S. F. Hurt, a member of the

Town Council, at the request of Captain James L. White, moved
that an election be ordered to take the sense of the citizens of the
town of Abingdon upon the voting of $20,000 of the bonds of the
town to the Abingdon Coal & Iron Railroad Company. The Council
directed this election to be held on the 24th of November, 1887, and
John C. Campbell, David J. Webb and W. M. G. Sandoe were appointed
judges to conduct the election, in which election all persons
authorized to vote in any election held in the town for town
officers were permitted to vote. The result of the election was one
hundred and fifty-three votes for the subscription and thirty votes
against the subscription, being one hundred and eighty votes out of
a total registration of two hundred and seventy-four. In this election
seventy-five freeholders voted; sixty-one for the subscription
and fourteen against it.

The Council thereupon subscribed $20,000 to said railroad company,
John A. Buchanan, George E. Penn and W. J. Brown having
been appointed by the Council for that purpose on December 22d,
1887.

The question arose as to when the bonds thus subscribed to
said railroad should be issued, and upon this question George E.
Penn and W. J. Brown, two of the committee, recommended that
said bonds should be issued and delivered as fast as the road was
graded, at the rate of $133.33⅓ per mile, while Judge Buchanan
filed a minority recommendation that said bonds be issued for the
sum mentioned as each mile of the railroad was completed, but
the majority report was adopted, and the bonds were issued and
delivered as the road was graded.

At a meeting of the Council on the 18th of August, 1888, on motion
of Dr. George E. Wiley, seconded by H. H. Scott, an election
was ordered to be held on the 29th of September, 1888, to take the
sense of the voters of the town upon the question of a subscription
of a sum not exceeding $20,000, for the purpose of furnishing water
and lights for the town. In this election sixty-three votes were
poled for the proposition and fifty-seven against it, but the Council
refused to subscribe any amount to this enterprise. It was a
short time only until the town obtained the benefits of a very
efficient water and light company.

At a meeting of the Council on the 6th of July, 1892, upon motion
of Samuel A. Carson, seconded by Colonel A. F. Cook, a

committee was appointed to buy a lot in the town of Abingdon,
upon which to build a Mayor's office and city prison. This committee
purchased a part of a lot situated near the centre of the
town upon the south side of the street, adjoining the I. O. O. F.
Hall, for the sum of $450, and immediately erected thereon a very
commodious building, which has since been occupied by the officials
of the town, and in the year 1897, a house was erected upon
the same lot, in which all prisoners failing to pay their fines in
money are required to break rock to satisfy the same, the rock thus
prepared being used to macadamize the streets of the town.

In the year 1900 Col. A. C. Cummings and D. S. Grim, surviving
trustees of the Sons of Temperance, transferred to the town
of Abingdon the title to Temperance Hall, and their action was confirmed
shortly thereafter by the General Assembly of Virginia,
whereupon John W. Barr, H. H. Scott, J. W. Bell, D. A. Preston
and R. M. Page were named as trustees to hold said property
for the town. It is the purpose of the town to improve this
property, and, if this be done, it will be quite an addition to the
town and probably a source of revenue.

Such is a brief outline of the history of Abingdon as it has been
preserved.

In the words of another and a more gifted writer:

"If there is any more picturesque country than that which surrounds
Abingdon, the writer has never been so fortunate as to see
it; that is, according to his idea of the grand and beautiful in
nature. For a mile or two around, the landscape is undulating,
interspersed with bolder hills generally wooded, standing out like
islands in a storm-tossed sea. During Spring and Summer the
whole face of the earth, except cultivated fields, seems to be covered
with a carpet of green irregularly figured with wild flowers, a
rural picture with a frame-work of mountains.[36]

"To the south of and adjoining the corporate limits of the town,
is `King's Mountain,' now thickly populated. It was so named
because of a fancied resemblance to the famous mountain in South
Carolina, on which was fought the battle of October 7th, 1780.
The victory won there by the western mountaineers, quorum magna
pars were Washington county men, Mr. Jefferson said, turned the
tide of war in favor of the United States and led Cornwallis to

march to Yorktown, to his surrender there, and to the end of the
war."

"There were many of the veterans of that campaign alive in 1825,
and to rehearse the incidents of the contest and impress upon the
minds of that generation the gallant and daring deeds of their ancestors,
a sham battle was fought at King's Mountain. The position
of the Revolutionary commanders was occupied by some officers
who were instructed (perhaps drilled,) how to play their part,
and the English people in red coats, with cannon and bayonetted
muskets, occupied the crest of the hill. There was great firing of
blank cartridges, charging up the hill and retreat from the fixed
bayonets of the British regulars, until Colonel Ferguson was killed
and a white flag raised. In all of this melee no fatal accidents occurred
and few casualties."[37]

To the north and northwest of the corporate limits of the town
is Fruit Hill, commonly called "Taylor's Hill," which is thickly
settled, and it is reasonable to say that at least one-third of the
inhabitants of the town proper are without the corporate limits.

The main street of Abingdon of the present day is fully one
mile in length. The streets are excellently macadamized, with
brick pavements on both sides.

Valley street is more than one-half mile in length, a part of the
street being macadamized, and brick pavements are on the eastern
end thereof. This street is rapidly developing and is destined to become
the main thoroughfare of the town.

It would be a considerable undertaking to enumerate the many
and varied enterprises of the town.

The chief pride of Abingdon are her educational facilities, there
being three institutions in and near the town that cannot be
excelled anywhere in this country, to-wit: Martha Washington
College, Stonewall Jackson Institute and the Abingdon Male
Academy, to each of which a separate chapter has been devoted.

Mayors of Abingdon.

                                                                               

1834-1835	—John M. Preston.
1836	—James White.
1837	—Samuel H. Wills.
1838	—Daniel Lynch.
1839	—Andrew Gibson.
1840-1841	—Jeremiah Bronough.
1842	—John M. Preston.
1843-1844	—John D. Mitchell.
1845	—Isaac B. Dunn.
1846	—Daniel Trigg.
1847	—John D. Mitchell.
1848	—James W. Preston.
1849	—John D. Mitchell.
1850	—James H. Dunn.
1851	—John G. Kreger.
1852	—William Rodefer.
1853-1854	—John D. Mitchell.
1855	—Lewellyn C. Newland.
1856	—David G. Thomas.
1857-1858	—John D. Mitchell. Died March 15, 1859.
1859	—Wm. Rodefer. Unexpired term.
1859	—Newton K. White.
1860-1861	—Samuel W. Carnahan.
1863-1864	—W. F. Barr.
1865-1866	—Geo. R. B. Dunn.
1869	—W. H. Smith.
1870	—D. A. Jones.
1872	—Jas. C. Campbell.
1873	—G. V. Litchfield, Jr.
1874	—John G. Clark.
1875	—David P. Sandoe.
1876	—Milton G. Heiskell.
1877	—John G. Clark.
1878-1879	—Milton G. Heiskell.
1880-1881	—D. P. Sandoe.
1882-1887	—John W. Barr.
1888	—Thomas K. Trigg.
1888-1889	—John W. Barr.
1889-1890	—P. C. Landrum.
1892-1904	—J. H. Hines.

Treasurers and Clerks.

     

1884-1887	—Geo. Keller.
1855-1884	—Geo. R. Barr.
1834-1855	—Jacob Lynch.

Clerks.

         

1887-1892	—Geo. R. Barr.
1892-1894	—C. H. Jennings.
1894-1896	—D. T. Campbell.
1896-1900	—W. A. Johnston.
1900-1904	—W. H. Hamilton.

Treasurers.

   

1887-1896	—Geo. Keller.
1896-1904	—D. A. Preston.

Sergeants.

                                                           

1834	—Jacob Clark.
1835	—Wm. N. Ruley.
1836	—John W. Leckie.
1837-1839	—L. C. Price.
1840-1841	—Job Clark.
1842-1843	—M. C. Orr.
1844-1845	—W. N. Ruley.
1846	—Samuel Garner.
1847-1848	—James Leedy.
1849	—Samuel Garner.
1850	—James Leedy.
1851	—Lewellyn C. Newland.
1852-1856	—Jos. A. Brownlow.
1856-1858	—James Henritze.
1859	—W. W. Barker.
1860	—B. C. Clark.
1872	—Theo. P. Dunn.
1873	—Isaac DeBusk.
1874	—S. G. Keller.
1875	—Geo. W. Oswald.
1876	—R. H. Henritze.
1877	—J. H. Hines.
1878	—R. H. Henritze.
1879	—J. R. Deadmore.
1880-1881	—B. P. Morrison.
1882	—F. B. Brownlow.
1883	—John W. Love.
1884-1890	—W. T. Graham.
1890	—Geo. A. Hall.
1892-1904	—T. H. Crabtree.

Abingdon, Virginia.

[38] Trustees—1778-1834.

Date of Qualification.

                                                             

1778	—James Armstrong.
1808	—Valentine Baugh.
1830	—Peter J. Branch.
1778	—William Campbell.
1778	—Robert Craig.
1778	—Robert Campbell.
1808	—David Campbell.
1833	—Chas. C. Gibson.
1808	—Michael Deckard.
1808	—Robert Dukes.
1778	—William Edmiston.
1833	—Thomas Findlay.
1808	—James Graham.
1808	—James Harper.
1808	—William King.
1830	—Jacob Lynch.
1830	—Daniel Lynch.
1808	—John McClelland.
1830	—Elias Ogden.
1830	—Augustus Oury.
1778	—Robert Preston.
1830	—John M. Preston.
1830	—Francis Preston.
1833	—J. W. Paxton.
1798	—Andrew Russell.
1778	—Daniel Smith.
1778	—Evan Shelby.
1808	—Jonathan Smith.
1808	—William Trigg.
1808	—James White.
1778	—Andrew Willoughby.

[39] Members of Town Council—1834-1902.

Date of Qualification.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

1834	—Peter J. Branch.
1834	—Jeremiah Bronough.
1836	—Daniel M. Bailey.
1837	—Austin Bronough.
1834	—Chas. S. Bekem.
1846	—B. K. Buchanan.
1847	—Geo. R. Barr.
1851	—Leonidas Baugh.
1855	—Isaac Baker.
1858	—Wm. W. Barker.
1859	—Jos. C. Baltzell.
1860	—Isaac M. Benham.
1865	—W. F. Barr.
1870	—John W. Barr.
1876	—John A. Buchanan.
1876	—A. McBradley.
1876	—H. C. Brownlow.
1880	—Thomas Brooks.
1881	—Frank B. Brownlow.
1890	—Wm. H. Barrow.
1890	—Geo. M. Bright.
1892	—John A. Barrow.
1894	—J. W. Bell.
1894	—R. E. Bolling.
1900	—J. K. Buckley.
1855	—Isaac L. Clark.
1836	—David Campbell.
1838	—John C. Cummings.
1843	—Chas. J. Cummings.
1850	—Norman Crawford.
1856	—E. M. Campbell.
1856	—D. C. Cummings.
1856	—John C. Campbell.
1858	—S. W. Carnahan.
1860	—John A. Campbell.
1865	—John G. Clark.
1866	—James C. Campbell.
1876	—C. F. Trigg.
1881	—L. T. Cosby.
1884	—A. W. Carmack.
1885	—A. F. Cook.
1886	—I. G. Clark.
1887	—Thomas H. Crabtree.
1892	—Samuel A. Carson.
1836	—John Dunn.
1844	—I. B. Dunn.
1845	—Edwin L. Davenport.
1853	—Hiram S. Dooley.
1854	—D. C. Dunn.
1855	—Andrew J. Dunn.
1855	—James H. Dunn.
1870	—Geo. R. Dunn.
1896	—J. E. Deaton.
1834	—Benj. Estill.
1843	—John B. Floyd.
1835	—John H. Fulton.
1839	—Edward Fulton.
1845	—James Fulcher.
1837	—Andrew Gibson.
1842	—C. C. Gibson.
1843	—John C. Greenway.
1846	—James K. Gibson.
1853	—H. C. Gibbons.
1856	—J. C. Greenway.
1870	—D. C. Greenway.
1876	—W. T. Graham.
1835	—Adam Hickman.
1852	—Wm. Hawkins.
1854	—W. K. Heiskell.
1860	—M. G. Heiskell.
1864	—R. M. Hickman.
1866	—John A. Hagy.
1876	—S. N. Honaker.
1880	—J. H. Hines.
1880	—Jas. A. Hagy.
1881	—Chas. Harris.
1882	—R. A. Hines.
1882	—M. H. Honaker.
1885	—S. F. Hurt.
1885	—F. B. Hutton.
1885	—J. B. Hamilton.
1889	—E. S. Haney.
1894	—P. M. Hagy.
1894	—P. E. Hayter.
1896	—Wm. Hagy.
1898	—C. F. Hurt.
1849	—Peter E. B. C. Henritze.
1860	—Jas. Henritze.
1878	—W. C. Hagy.
1835	—John N. Humes.
1887	—W. B. Ingham.
1840	—Peter C. Johnston.
1843	—Beverly R. Johnston.
1855	—Hugh Johnston.
1860	—John W. Johnston.
1872	—James M. Jones.
1874	—I. Frank Jones.
1879	—J. N. Jordan.
1888	—D. A. Jones.
1896	—Chas. H. Jennings.
1900	—W. A. Johnson.
1834	—John Keller.
1846	—Wm. Keller.
1860	—John G. Kreger.
1875	—Martin H. Keller.
1878	—S. G. Keller.
1894	—R. B. Kreger.
1834	—Daniel Lynch.
1836	—Jacob Lynch.
1838	—Samuel Logan.
1844	—Geo. V. Litchfield, Sr.
1847	—H. M. Ledbetter.
1856	—W. J. Leedy.
1866	—Daniel Lewark.
1872	—Geo. V. Litchfield, Jr.
1872	—Wm. G. G. Lowry.
1877	—Paul C. Landrum.
1892	—John R. Lyon.
1834	—John D. Mitchell.
1851	—T. G. McConnell.
1856	—Noble I. McGinnis.
1866	—Samuel D. Meek.
1870	—Benj. P. Morrison.
1878	—Daniel Musser.
1887	—Samuel Mothner.
1834	—Augustus Oury.
1836	—Elias Ogden.
1838	—James Orr.
1850	—Abram S. Orr.
1834	—John S. Preston.
1834	—Robert R. Preston.
1836	—John M. Preston.
1836	—James W. Paxton.
1838	—Alexander R. Preston.
1838	—Fairman H. Preston.
1850	—Walter Preston.
1859	—Samuel A. Preston.
1866	—W. H. Pitts.
1870	—R. M. Page.
1875	—Henry S. Preston.
1884	—Geo. E. Penn.
1846	—Wm. Rodefer.
1846	—Philip Rhor.
1876	—Jackson M. Rose.
1889	—David O. Rush.
1896	—Wm. F. Roberson.
1896	—David G. Rose.
1836	—Michael Shaver.
1850	—Gabriel Stickley.
1852	—Thomas S. Stuart.
1870	—Wm. M. G. Sandoe.
1874	—David P. Sandoe.
1886	—H. H. Scott.
1896	—Sol. L. Scott.
1834	—Daniel Trigg.
1835	—Connally F. Trigg.
1845	—Francis S. Trigg.
1858	—David G. Thomas.
1873	—Thos. K. Trigg.
1880	—Daniel Trigg, Jr.
1836	—Samuel H. L. Wills.
1838	—Thomas J. Wallis.
1851	—Newton K. White.
1872	—John G. White.
1872	—James L. White.
1887	—Geo. E. Wiley.
1888	—David J. Webb.

Postmasters at Abingdon.

Date of Appointment.

                                         

Gerrald T. Conn,	April 25, 1793.
George Simpson,	July 1, 1796.
John W. McCormack,	October 1, 1800.
John McClellan,	October 1, 1813.
Augustus Oury,	August 28, 1820.
Robert R. Preston,	July 9, 1836.
James K. Gibson,	January 4, 1842.
George R. Barr,	July 26, 1849.
Leonidas Baugh,	May 12, 1853.
Henry W. Baker,	October 18, 1858.
George Sandoe,	March 27, 1861.
W. M. G. Sandoe,	September 6, 1865.
Jackson M. Rose,	May 31, 1869.
Lewis W. Rose,	June 25, 1878.
Rosalie S. Humes,	March 1, 1879.
Jackson M. Rose,	March 2, 1883.
Connally T. Litchfield,	March 7, 1887.
Lewis P. Summers,	March 20, 1890.
John G. White,	January 12, 1894.
James W. McBroom,	February 18, 1898.
Rosa Rose,	February 10, 1902.

Lots Sold by Christopher Acklin.

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Name of Purchaser.	Date of Sale.	No. Lot.
Alexander Montgomery,	June, 1787,	23
Jo. Acklin,	June, 1787,	22
Christopher Acklin,	June, 1787,	21
Joseph Black,	June, 1787,	15
John Thomas,	June, 1787,	16
Andrew Davison,	June, 1787,	17
Joseph Campbell,	June, 1787,	18
Henry Harkleroad,	June, 1787,	20
Henry Harkleroad,	June, 1787,	19
Devault Keller,	June, 1787,	38
Alexander Montgomery,	June, 1787,	37
James Vance,	July, 1787,	32
Josiah Danforth,	July, 1787,	5
Jacob Wills,	July, 8, 1787,	4
James Porterfield,	July, 1787,	7
George Findlay,	July, 1787,	31
Edward Callahan,	July, 1787,	6
James Parberry,	April, 1789,	34-35-36
Walter Welsh,	April, 1789,	1
James Bradley,	April, 1789,	2
Geo. Colvill,	April, 1789,	3
Thomas Welsh,	April, 1789,	33
Alexander Breckenridge,	April, 1789,	28
Charles Cummings,	April, 1789,	14
Robert Campbell,	April, 1789,	43
Nancy McDonald,	April, 1789,	44
Samuel Acklin,	April, 1789,	51
Robert Campbell,	April, 1789,	45
Elijah Smith,	April, 1789,	50
Robert Campbell,	April, 1789,	48
Elijah Smith,	April, 1789,	49
James Vance,	April, 1789,	42
William Brice,	April, 1789,	41
John Lusk,	April, 1789,	52
Jos. Gamble,	June, 1789,	61
Robert Laird,	June, 1789,	62
Jos. Gamble,	June, 1789,	60
John Fegan,	April 14, 1790,	59
Patrick Lynch,	April 14, 1790,	58
James Bradley,	April 1790,	57
Claiborne Watkins,	April 15, 1790,	81
Claiborne Watkins,	April 1790,	82
Patrick Lynch,	April 1790,	63
Chas. Cummings,	April 1790,	66
Archilas Dickenson,	April 1790,	65
Chas. Cummings,	April 1790,	64
Andrew Colvill,	April 1790,	80
Andrew Colvill,	April 1790,	79
Claiborne Watkins,	April 1790,	83
William Greenway,	April 17, 1790,	84
Robert Montgomery,	April 1790,	86
William Greenway,	April 1790,	85
Christopher Acklin,	April 1790,	29
Urbin Ewing,	April 1790,	6
Josiah Danforth,	September, 1790,	58
Nicholas Mansfield,	June, 1790,	39
Urbin Ewing,	June, 1790,	40
Nicholas Mansfield,	June, 1790,	20
Daniel Friel,	June, 1790,	19
Trustees,	June, 1790,	8
William Brice,	June, 1790,	12
Baldwin Harles,	June, 1790,	16
Alexander Montgomery,	April, 1791,	90
Samuel Vance,	April, 1791,	89
Wm. McDowell,	April, 1791,	67
Andrew Willoughby,	April, 1791,	87
Jos. Acklin,	April, 1791,	69
Christopher Acklin,	April, 1791,	68
Jos. Acklin,	April, 1791,	70
John Alexander,	April, 1791,	71
Wm. Mifflins,	April, 1791,	72
James Bredin,	April, 1791,	74
James Dysart,	April, 1791,	78
John Alexander,	April, 1791,	77
Wm. Delap,	April, 1791,	76
Wm. Delap,	April, 1791,	75
Thos. Hammond,	April, 1791,	73
Wm. King,	April, 1791,	73
Robert Preston,	April, 1791,	73
James Dysart,	April, 1791,	11
Wm. Y. Conn,	April, 1791,	15
Andrew Russell,	April, 1791,	13
Robert Preston,	April, 1791,	14
James White,	April, 1791,	17
Gerrald T. Conn,	April, 1791,	18
Andrew Russell,
Jos. Acklin,
Francis Preston,
Geo. Simpson,
Andrew Russell,
Geo. Simpson,
Christopher Acklin,
Jos. Acklin,
Lands sold by David Craig.
James Redpath.
Jeremiah Rush,
Peter Deckart.

An Act for Establishing a Town at the Courthouse in the County
of Washington.

Passed October, 1778.

"Whereas it hath been represented to this present general assembly
that Thomas Walker, Esq., Joseph Black and Samuel Briggs
have engaged to give one hundred and twenty acres of land in the
county of Washington, where the court house of the said county now
stands, agreeable to a survey thereof made by Robert Doach, for the
purpose of establishing a town thereon, and for raising a sum of
money towards defraying the expenses of building a court house and
prison, agreeable to which part of the said land has been laid off,
and several lots sold, and buildings erected thereon; and whereas it
would tend to the more speedy improvement and settling the same,
if the freeholders and inhabitants thereof could be entitled to the
same privileges enjoyed by freeholders and inhabitants of other
towns of this state, Be. it Enacted By this Present General Assembly,
That the said one hundred and twenty acres of land, agreeable
to a survey made thereof, relation thereto being had may more fully
appear, be and the same is hereby vested in fee simple in Evan

Shelby, William Campbell, Daniel Smith, William Edmondson,
Robert Craig and Andrew Willoughby, gentlemen, trustees and
shall be established a town by the name of Abingdon.

"And be it further enacted, That the said trustees, or any three of
them, shall, and they are hereby empowered to make conveyances to
the purchasers of any lots already sold, or to be sold, agree able to
the conditions of the contracts, and may also proceed to lay off such
other part of said land as is not yet laid off and sold, into lots, and
streets and such lots shall be sold by the said trustees at publick
auction for the best price that can be had, the time and place of sale
being previously advertised at least three months before, on some
court day at the court house of that and the adjacent county, the
purchasers respectively to hold the said lots subject to the condition
of building on such lots a dwelling house at least twenty feet long
and sixteen feet wide, with a brick or stone chimney, to be finished
within four years from the date of sale, and the said trustees, or any
three of them, shall, and they are hereby empowered to convey the
said lots to the purchasers thereof in fee simple, subject to the condition
aforesaid, and receive the monies arising from such sale, and
pay the same to the order of the Court of Washington County, towards
defraying the expenses of their publick buildings, and the
over-plus, if any, to be applied in repairing the streets of the aforesaid
town.

"And be it further enacted, That the said trustees, or the major
part of them, shall have power from time to time to settle and determine
all disputes concerning the bounds of said lots, and to
settle such rules and orders for the regular and orderly buildings
of houses thereon as to them shall seem best and most convenient.
And in case of the death, removal out of the country, or other legal
disability of any of the said trustees, it shall and may be lawful for
the freeholders of the said town to elect and chose so many other
persons in the room of those dead, removed or disabled, as shall
make up the number, which trustees so chosen shall be to all intents
and purposes individually vested with the same power and authority
as any one in this act particularly mentioned.

"And be it further enacted, That the purchasers of the lots in the
said town, so soon as they shall have built upon and saved the same
according to the conditions of their respective deeds and conveyances,
shall be entitled to and have and enjoy all the rights, privileges

and immunities which the freeholders and inhabitants of
other towns in this state, not corporated by charter, have, hold and
enjoy.

"And be it further enacted, That if the purchasers of any lots sold
by the said trustees shall fail to build thereon within the time before
limited, the said trustees, or the major part of them, may thereupon
enter into such lot, and may either sell the same again, and apply
the money towards repairing the streets, or in any other way for the
benefit of the said town, or they may appropriate the said lot, or any
part of it, to any publick use for the benefit of the inhabitants of
said town.

"And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the
trustees of the said town, and their successors, for the time being,
shall, and they are hereby authorized and empowered by that name
to sue and implead either in the court of the said county, or the
general Court, any person or persons who shall commit a trespass
on the streets of said town, or lands which may have been appropriated
for the use of the inhabitants thereof. All sums of money
recovered by virtue hereof shall be applied by the said trustees
towards repairing the streets of the said town.

"Provided, always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed
to affect the legal rights of any person holding lands adjoining
the said town."[40]