University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER V.

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA—BOTETOURT COUNTY.

1770-1773.

The first County Court of Botetourt county met at the house of
Robert Breckenridge, near the location of Fincastle, Va., on Tuesday,
the 13th of February, 1770. The justices composing the court
were:

• William Preston,

• George Skillem,

• Richard Woods,

• Benjamin Hawkins,

• Benjamin Estill,

• John Bowyer,

• David Robinson,

• James Trimble

• John Maxwell

• William Fleming,

• Israel Christian,

• Robert Breckenridge.

A number of the members of this court were not present on the
first day of the court, but were subsequently qualified. The following
officers qualified on that day:

County Court Clerk, John May.

Sheriff Botetourt county, Richard Woods.

Deputy Sheriffs Botetourt county, Jas. McDowell and Jas. McGavock.

County Surveyor, William Preston.

Escheator, William Preston.

Coroner, Andrew Lewis.

Colonel of Militia, William Preston.

The attorneys qualifying to practice in the court were:

• Edmund Winston,

• Luke Bowyer,

• John Aylett,

• Thomas Madison.

On the 14th day of February, 1770, the following magistrates
qualified and took their seats:

• John Bowman,

• William Christian,

• Robert Doach,

• William Herbert,

• Philip Love,

• John Montgomery,

• William Matthews,

• James Robertson,

• Stephen Trigg,

• Anthony Bledsoe,

• Walter Crockett,

• John Howard,

• William Inglis,

• Andrew Lewis,

• James McGavock,

• William McKee,

• Francis Smith,

• Andrew Woods.

And on the 11th day of June, 1771, the following members of the
court qualified:

• John Van Bebber,

• John Stewart,

• James Thompson, of Holston,

• Matthew Arbuckle.

Botetourt county was named for Lord Botetourt, Governor of
Virginia, in 1768, and the county seat was fixed at the present location
of Finscastle, Va., upon forty acres of land presented to the
county for a town seat by Israel Christian. Fincastle was named
for the county seat of Lord Botetourt in England, and was established
as a town by law in 1772.

Of the members of the County Court of Botetourt county, James
Robertson, Anthony Bledsoe and James Thompson had their residence
upon the waters of the Holston and the Watauga. On the
second day of the court, being February 14, 1770, Frederick Stern
and Robert Davis were appointed constables upon the Holston river;
on the 12th of June, 1770, William Pruitt was appointed a constable
upon the waters of the Clinch, and Arthur Campbell was
appointed surveyor of the roads from the State line to the Royal
Oak, and James Davis from the Royal Oak to his house.

On the 13th of March, 1770, Arthur Campbell obtained permission
from the County Court of Botetourt county to erect a mill at
Royal Oak, on the Holston, and there can be no question that this
was the first mill erected upon any of the waters of the Holston or
Clinch river.

On the same day Francis Kincannon was appointed surveyor of
the roads from Stalnaker's to Eighteen Mile creek; Thomas Ramsay

from said creek to Beaver, or Shallow, creek, and David Looney
from said creek to Fall creek.

On the 10th of May, 1770, Anthony Bledsoe was appointed to
take the tithables from Stalnaker's to the lowest inhabitants.

The next order of the County Court of Botetourt county, of any
importance in the history of this county, was made on the 14th of
August, 1771, when the County Court ordered that Andrew Colvill,
George Adams, George Tiller, George Baker, David Ward and
Alexander Wilie, or any three of them, being first sworn to view
the way from the head of Holston river to the Wolf Hill creek, both
the old and the new way, make report to the next court of the conveniences
and inconveniences thereof. The records of Botetourt
county fail to show that this report was ever made or that the road
was established, but there can be but little doubt that the road was
established and used, and, if so, this was the first public road established
upon the waters of the Holston or Clinch river. The foregoing
is all the information that the records of Botetourt county
give of any of the people living upon the waters of the Holston and
Clinch rivers.

The one matter of supreme importance to the inhabitants of this
section of Virginia at that time was the extinguishment of the
claims of the Cherokee Indians to the lands which they were settling
and occupying, and, pursuant to instructions, John Stuart,
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, assembled the Indian chiefs at
Lochaber, S. C., October 18, 1770, and on Monday, October 22,
1770, he succeeded in concluding a treaty with the chiefs and warriors
of the Cherokee Nation, by which George III, King of England,
became the owner of all the lands lying east of a line
beginning at a point where the North Carolina (now Tennessee)
line terminates at a run, thence in a west course to Holston river,
where it is intersected by a continuation of the line dividing the
Province of North Carolina (now Tennessee) and Virginia, and
thence in a straight course to the confluence of the Great Canaway
river, the treaty being here given in full:

TREATY.

At a meeting of the principal Chiefs and Warriors of the Cherokee
Nation with John Stuart, Esq., Superintendent of Indian Affiars,
etc., Lochaber, South Carolina, Oct. 18th, 1770.

Present Colo. Donelson by appointment of his Excellency, the
Right Honorable Lord Botetourt, in behalf of the Province of Virginia.

Alex'r Cameron, Deputy Superintendent; James Simpson, Clk of
his Majesty's Council of South Carolina; Major Lacy, from Virginia;
Major Williamson, Capt. Cohoon, John Caldwell, Esq., Captain
Winter, Christopher Peters, Esq., besides a great number of the
back inhabitants of the province of South Carolina, and the following
chiefs of the Cherokee Nation: Oconistoto, Killagusta, Attacallaculla,
Keyatory, Tiftoy, Terreaino, Encyod Tugalo, Scaliloskie
Chinista, Chinista of Watangali, Octaciti of Hey Wassie, and
about a thousand other Indians of the same Nation.

     

John Watts,	Interpreters.
David McDonald,
John Vans,

Treaty, Monday, 22nd Oct.

At a Congress of the principal chiefs of the Cherokee Nation, held
at Lochaber, in the province of South Carolina, on the 18th day
of October in the year of our Lord 1770, by John Stuart, Esq., his
Majesty's agent for and Superintendent of the Affairs of the Indian
Nation in the Southern district of North America.

A Treaty for a cession! His most sacred Majesty, George the
Third, by the grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland,
King, Defender of the Faith, etc., by the said Nation of Cherokee
Indians, of certain lands lying within the limits of the Dominion of
Virginia.

Whereas by a Treaty entered into and concluded at Hard Labor,
the 14th day of Oct. in the year 1768, by John Stuart, Esq. his
Majesty's Agent for and Superintendent of the affairs of the Indian
Nations, inhabiting the southern district of North America,
with the principal and ruling Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation, all of
the lands formerly claimed by, and belonging to the said Nation of
Indians, lying within the province of North Carolina and Virginia,
running in a N. B. E. course, to Colo. Chiswell's mine on the Eastern
bank of the Great Canaway, and from thence in a straight line
to the mouth of the said Great Canaway river, where it discharges
itself into the Ohio river, were ceded to his most sacred Majesty, his

heirs and sucessors. And whereas by the above recited Treaty, all
the lands lying between Holston's River, and the line above specified
were determined to belong to the Cherokee Nation to the great loss
and inconvenience of many of his Majesty's subjects inhabiting the
said lands; and representation of the same having been made to
his Majesty by his Excellency, the Rt Hon'ble Norborne, Baron de
Botetourt, his Majesty's Lieutenant and Governor General of the
dominion of Virginia. In Consequence whereof, his Majesty has
been generously pleased to signify his Royal pleasure to John Stuart,
Esq., his Agent for and Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the
Southern District of North America, by an instruction contained
in a letter from the Rt. Hon'ble the Earl of Hillsborough, one of
his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, dated the 13th of May,
1769, to enter into a negotiation with the Cherokees for establishing
a new boundary line beg'g at the point where the No. Carolina line
terminates, and to run thence in a west course to Holston's River,
where it is intersected by a continuance of the line dividing the
province of North Carolina & Virginia, and thence a straight course
to the confluence of the Great Canaway and Ohio Rivers.

Dec. 12, 1770.

Article 1st.

Pursuant therefore to his Majesty's orders to & power and authority
vested in John Stuart, Esqr. Agent for and Superintendent of
the Affairs of the Indian Tribes in the Southern District: It is
agreed upon by the said John Stuart, Esqr. on behalf of his most
sacred Majesty, George Third, by the grace of God, of Great
Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., and
by the subscribing Cherokee Chiefs and Warriors on behalf of their
said Nation in consideration of his Majesty's paternal goodness, so
often demonstrated to them, the said Cherokee Indians, and from
their affection and friendship for their Brethren, the Inhabitants
of Virginia as well as their earnest desire of removing as far
as possible all cause of dispute between them and the said inhabitants
on account of encroachments on lands reserved by the said Indians
for themselves, and also for a valuable consideration in
various sorts of goods paid to them by the said John Stuart, on
behalf of the Dominion of Virginia that the hereafter recited line be
ratified and confirmed, and it is hereby ratified and confirmed accordingly:

and it is by these presents firmly stipulated and agreed
upon by the parties aforesaid that a line beginning where the boundary
line between the province of No. Carolina and the Cherokee
hunting grounds terminates and running thence in a west course
to a point six miles east of Long Island in Holston's river and thence
to said river six miles above the said Long Island, thence in a —
course to the confluence of the Great Canaway and Ohio rivers,
shall remain and be deemed by all his Majesty's white subjects
as well as all the Indians of the Cherokee Nation, the true and
just boundaries of the lands reserved by the said Nation of Indians
for their own proper use, and dividing the same from the lands
ceded by them to his Majesty's within the limits of the province of
Virginia, and that his Majesty's white subjects, inhabiting the province
of Virginia, shall not, upon any pretense whatsoever, settle
beyond the said line, nor shall the said Indians make any settlements
or encroachments on the lands which by this treaty they cede and
confirm to his Majesty; and it is further agreed that as soon as his
Majesty's royal approbation of this treaty shall have been signified
to the Governor of Virginia or Superintendent, this treaty shall be
carried into execution.

Article 2nd.

And it is further agreed upon and stipulated by the contracting
parties, that no alteration whatsoever shall henceforward be made in
the boundary line above recited, and now solemnly agreed upon, except
such as may hereafter be found expedient and necessary for
the mutual interest of both parties, and which alteration shall be
made with the consent of the Superintendent or such other person
or persons as shall be authorized by his Majesty, as well as with the
consent and approbation of the Cherokee Nation of Indians, at a
Congress or general meeting of said Indians, to be held for said
purpose, and not in any other manner.

In testimony whereof, the said Superintendent, on behalf of his
Majesty, and the underwritten Cherokee Chiefs on behalf of their
Nation have signed and sealed this present treaty at the time and
place aforesaid.

                           

John Stuart,	(L. S.)
Oconistoto, YC.,	(L. C.)
Kittagusta, O.,	(L. C.)
Attacallaculla, X.,	(L. C.)
Keyatoy's mark NG.,	(L. C.)
Unkayonla, C.,	(L. C.)
Chuckamuntas, C.,	(L. C.)
Kinalilaps, NG.,	(L. C.)
Skyagusta Tucelicis, S.,	(L. C.)
Wolf of Keewees, G.,	(L. C.)
Skyagusta Tiftoy,	(L. C.)
Terrapino,	(L. C.)
Ency of Tugalo,	(L. C.)
Scaliluskey of Sugar Town,	(L. C.)

Thus all claim asserted by both the northern and southern Indians
to any of the lands located within the present bounds of
Washington county was extinguished, and the settlement of these
lands was greatly expedited thereby. This portion of Virginia now
opened to settlement was one vast forest overspreading a limestone
soil of great fertility and excellently watered, and this, accompanied
by the comparative security and quiet succeeding the French-Indian
war of 1763, contributed greatly to the rapid settlement of
Southwestern Virginia.

In the year 1770, Col. James Knox,[1] accompanied by about
forty hunters from the settlements on New river, Holston and
Clinch, passed oved the Cumberland mountains for the purpose of
hunting and trapping, and penetrated to the lower Cumberland.
They were equipped with their rifles, traps and dogs, and the
usual outfit of backwoods hunters, and thus originated the name
Long Hunters. The usual mode of hunting followed by what were
known as the Long Hunters, in those days, was for not more than
two or three men to go in one company, each man having two
horses, traps, a large surplus of powder and lead, a small hand vise
and bellows and files and screw plates for the purpose of fixing
guns, if any should get out of fix. They usually set out from their
homes about the first of October and returned the latter part of
March or first of April. The most noted Long Hunters were
Elisha Walden, William Carr, William Crabtree, James Aldridge,
William Pitman and Henry Scaggs.

During the season above mentioned, large numbers of hunters

visited the valleys of the Holston, Clinch and Powell's rivers, and
oftentimes penetrated into the very heart of Kentucky.

In the year 1771, Absalom Looney settled in Abb's Valley, Tazewell
county, Virginia, and from him the valley received its name.
Thomas Witten and John Greenup settled at Crab Orchard, a few
miles west of Tazewell C. H.; Mathias, Jacob and Henry Harmon
settled a few miles east of Tazewell C. H., and John Craven,
Joseph Martin, John Henry, James King and John Bradshaw settled
in Tazewell county, on the headwaters of the Clinch.

In the year 1771, a company of about twenty men from near
the Natural Bridge in Virginia and from the New river settlements
met about eight miles below Fort Chiswell on New river,
whence they traveled to the head of the Holston, and thence down
the Holston Valley, and on into Kentucky, where they continued
to hunt for about nine months.

The Holston settlements received during this year a large number
of emigrants from North Carolina. The government of North
Carolina was in the hands of a class of people who were very
haughty and oppressive in their manner towards the poorer classes
of citizens, which caused great numbers of the people of North
Carolina to organize themselves into bands called Regulators.
They petitioned Governor Tryon for relief, which was denied; tumult
and violence succeeded, the courts were prevented from sitting
and the laws were disobeyed. The principal ground of complaint
was that the people were taxed without the right to vote and
send representatives to the House of Commons of North Carolina.
About three thousand Regulators banded themselves together, and
on the 16th of May, 1771, a battle was fought at the Alamance,
between the Regulators and the forces commanded by Governor
Tryon. The Regulators, being undisciplined and poorly armed,
were defeated with the loss of nine killed and many wounded, the
Governor's forces having lost twenty-seven killed and many
wounded. And thus it is said was fought the first battle of the
Revolution, and thus was shed the first blood for the enjoyment
of liberty. The Regulators being thus defeated and dispersed,
many of their number found homes on the waters of the Holston
and Clinch rivers. At this time the settlements extended down the
north side of the Holston river as far as Carter's Valley, about
fourteen or fifteen miles above Rogersville, Tenn., and that portion

of the country being supposed to be a part of Virginia, it was
soon settled by people from the Wolf Hills in Virginia.

A settlement was made on the Watauga as early as the year 1770,
upon the idea that the lands were in Virginia, and that the settlers
would be entitled to take up the lands given to settlers under
the laws of Virginia, to-wit: To each actual settler who should
erect a log cabin and cultivate one acre in corn, four hundred acres,
located so as to include all improvements, with the right to buy
a thousand acres adjoining at a nominal price. Most of the early
settlers on the Watauga came from near the Wolf Hills and, being
loyal Virginians, they did not contemplate establishing a residence
in the State of North Carolina, but thought they were near the
boundary between the two States.

In the fall of the year 1771, Anthony Bledsoe ran the boundary
line between the Colonies of Virginia and North Carolina, far
enough west to ascertain that the Watauga settlement was in North
Carolina, and Alexander Cameron, the British agent, immediately
ordered the settlers on the Watauga to move off of the Indian lands.
James Robertson and John Sevier, two of the leading members
of the Watauga settlement, immediately set about to devise ways
and means by which they could avoid the order of the British
agent. They could not buy the lands from the Indians, because
the purchase was prohibited, but there was no law prohibiting a
lease of the land, and in the year 1774, the Indians leased to the
settlers on the Watauga the lands in the Watauga Valley and all
was peace once again.

The stream of emigration that poured over the mountains extended
along the Holston as far as Carter's Valley and on the lands
belonging to the Indians. They were all from Virginia and of
Scotch-Irish descent, their wealth consisting of strong arms and
stout hearts.

In the year 1772, James Moore and James Poage settled in
Abb's Valley, William Wynn at Locust Hill, John Taylor and
Jesse Evans on the north fork of Clinch; Thomas Maxwell, Benjamin
Joslin, James Ogleton, Peter and Jacob Harmon, Samuel
Ferguson and William Webb, near Tazewell C. H.; Rees Bowen,
at Maiden Spring, David Ward in the Cove, and William Garrison
at the foot of Morris' Knob. William Wynn erected a fort on

Wynn's Branch, Thomas Witten at Crab Orchard, and Rees
Bowen at Maiden Spring.

The early settlers of Southwest Virginia came principally from
the Valley of Virginia, western Pennsylvania and Maryland, some
of them coming directly from Ireland. They were of a mixed
race, and a large majority were Scotch-Irish. In studying the
nationality of the early settlers of Southwest Virginia, it must
be kept in mind that there was a great difference between the
people inhabiting the eastern shores of Virginia and the early settlers
in the mountains of western Virginia. They differed both in
their ancestry and in their religion.

The early settlers of Eastern Virginia were English by birth and
Episcopalians in religion; while the early settlers of Southwest
Virginia were Scotch-Irish by birth and Presbyterians in religious
belief.

The government of the Colony of Virginia, early in the eighteenth
century, adopted the policy of offering inducements to the
dissenters from the established church to settle and make their
homes in the Valley of Virginia and in the Southwest, and thereby
sought to establish a barrier between the Indian tribes and the settlers
east of the mountains.

In the adoption of this policy the government of the Colony of
Virginia was actuated by selfish motives; they little dreamed that
they were thus giving a foothold to a vigorous people, who were
destined to play a strong part in the future history of their
country.

The people thus invited to settle the garden spot of Virginia
were the sons of the men who followed Cromwell. They were men
who regarded themselves, according to Macaulay, as "kings by the
right of an earlier creation and priests by the interposition of an
Almighty hand." King James I, when speaking of a Scotch Presbytery,
said, "Presbytery agreeth as well with monarchy as God and
the devil." They were Protestants and detested the Catholics, the
enemies of their forefathers, and they despised the Episcopalians,
their oppressors. They constituted the outposts of our earlier civilization,
their homes being in the mountains. A distinguished writer,
in speaking of these people, says: "That these Irish Presbyterians
were a bold and hardy race is proved by their at once pushing
past the settled regions and plunging into the wilderness as the

leaders of the white advance. They were the first and last set of
emigrants to do this; all others have merely followed in the wake
of their predecessors. But indeed they were fitted to be Americans
from the very start; they were the kinsfolk of the Covenanters;
they deemed it a religious duty to interpret their own Bible, and
held for a divine right the election of their own clergy. The creed
of the backwoodsmen who had a creed at all was Presbyterianism,
for the Episcopacy of the tidewater lands obtained no foothold in
the mountains, and the Methodists and Baptists had but just begun
to appear in the west,[2] before the Revolution broke out."

Governor David Campbell, who lived and died at Abingdon, in
speaking of these people, says: "The first settlers on Holston river
were a remarkable race of people, for their intelligence, enterprise
and hardy adventure." The greater portion of them had emigrated
from the counties of Botetourt, Augusta and Frederick, and
others from along the same valley and from the upper counties
of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and generally, where they had any
religious opinions, were Presbyterians.

A very large proportion were religious, and many were members
of the church. It is generally supposed that the motive
actuating the early explorers and settlers of this country was the
acquisition of wealth, and while such motive may have had its
influence on some, we cannot believe that such was the real motive
of the great body of our early settlers. The early settlers and
forefathers had been persecuted in their homes across the Atlantic
because of their independent spirit and their undying fealty to
the doctrines taught by Calvin and Knox; and when they crossed
the waters they were driven, by the intolerant spirit of the established
church, beyond the lowlands to the very mountains, where
they sought a place and opportunity to exercise their religion according
to the dictates of their consciences. The important part
played by this people in the early history of our country cannot be
overestimated.

Our forefathers were inspired and governed by the same sentiments
that actuated the founders of our nation. The theology of
Calvin, the founder of the republic of Geneva, combined with the
sturdy independence of the Scotch-Irish settlers of the American
colonies, gave birth to our republic. "The first voice raised in

America to destroy all connection with Great Britain came from
the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians.[3] "

The Hon. Wm. C. Preston, of South Carolina, a native of Washington
county, in speaking of the resemblance between the constitution
of the Presbyterian Church and the constitution of our
country, said: "Certainly it was the most remarkable and singular
coincidence that the constitution of the Presbyterian Church
should bear such a close and striking resemblance to the political constitution
of our country."[4]

Not only were they the first to demand the separation of the
colonies from the mother country, but they were the first to demand
religious liberty and the separation of Church and State.

Hanover Presbytery, of which the Rev. Chas. Cummings was an
honored member, prepared a petition with this object in view and
presented it to the General Assembly of Virginia on the 24th of
October, 1776, the petition being as follows:

"A memorial of the Presbytery of Hanover was presented to the
House, and read: setting forth that they are governed by the same
sentiments which have inspired the United States of America,
and are determined that nothing in their power and influence shall
be wanting to give success to the common cause: that Dissenters
from the Church of England in this country have ever been desirous
to conduct themselves as peaceable members of the civil government,
for which reason they have hitherto submitted to several
ecclesiastick burthens and restrictions, that are inconsistent with
equal liberty, but that now when the many and grievous oppressions
of our mother country have laid this continent under the
necessity of casting off the yoke of tyranny, and of forming independent
governments, upon equitable and liberal foundations, they
flatter themselves they shall be freed from all the encumbrances
which a spirit of domination, prejudice or bigotry hath interwoven
with most other political systems: that they are more strongly encouraged
to expect this, by the declaration of rights, so universally
applauded for the dignity, firmness and precision with which it
delineates and asserts the privileges of society and the prerogatives
of human nature, and which they embrace as the Magna Charta of
the Commonwealth, which can never be violated without endangering

the grand superstructure it was destined to support: Therefore
they rely upon this declaration, as well as the justice of the
Legislature, to secure to them the free exercise of their religion,
according to the dictates of their consciences: and that they should
fall short in their duty to themselves and to the many and numerous
congregations under their care, were they upon this occasion
to neglect laying before the House a statement of the religious grievances
under which they have hitherto labored, that they may no
longer be continued in the present form of government: that it
is well known that in the frontier counties which are justly supposed
to contain a fifth part of the inhabitants of Virginia, the
dissenters have borne the heavy burthens of purchasing glebes and
supporting the established clergy, where there are very few Episcopalians
either to assist in bearing the expense or to reap the advantage:
and that throughout the other parts of the country there
are also many thousands of zealous friends and defenders of the
State who, besides the invidious disadvantageous restrictions to
which they have been subjected annually, pay large taxes to support
an establishment from which their consciences and principles
oblige them to dissent, all which are so many violations of their
natural rights, and in their consequences a restraint upon freedom
of inquiry and private judgment. In this enlightened age, and in
a land where all are united in the most strenuous efforts to be free,
they hope and expect that their representatives will cheerfully
concur in removing every species of religious as well as civil bondage.
That every argument for civil liberty gains additional
strength when applied to liberty in the concerns of religion, and
that there is no argument in favor of establishing the Christian
religion but what may be pleaded for establishing the tenets of Mahomet
by those who believe in the Alcoran: or, if this be not true,
it is at least impossible for the magistrate to adjudge the right
of preference among the various sects which profess the Christian
faith, without erecting a chair of infallibility which would lead us
back to the Church of Rome. That they beg leave farther to represent
that religious establishments are highly injurious to the temporal
interests of any community, without insisting upon the ambition
and the arbitrary practices of those who are favored by government,
or the intriguing seditious spirit which is commonly excited
by this, as well as every other kind of oppression. Such establishments
greatly retard population and consequently the progress of
arts, sciences and manufactures: witness the rapid growth and
improvement of the northern provinces compared with this. That
no one can deny the more early settlement, and the many superior
advantages of our country, would have invited multitudes
of artificers, mechanics and other useful members of society, to fix
their habitation among us, who have either remained in the place
of their nativity, or preferred worse civil government, and a more
barren soil, where they might enjoy the rights of conscience more
fully than they had a prospect of doing in this: from which they
infer that Virginia might now have been the capital of America,
and a match for the British arms, without depending upon others
for the necessaries of war, had it not been prevented by her religious
establishment. Neither can it be made appear that the gospel
needs any such civil aid: they rather conceive that when our
Blessed Savior declares his kingdom is not of this world, he
renounces dependence upon State power, and as his weapons are
spiritual and were only designed to have influence upon the judgment
and heart of man, they are persuaded that if mankind were
left in the quiet possession of their unalienable privileges, Christianity,
as in the days of the Apostles, would continue to prevail
and flourish in the greatest purity by its own native excellence,
and under the all-disposing providence of God. That they would
also humbly represent, that the only proper objects of civil government
are the happiness and protection of men in the present
state of existence, the security of the life, liberty and property of
the citizens, and to restrain the vicious and encourage the virtuous
by wholesome laws, equally extending to every individual: but that
the duty they owe their Creator, and the manner of discharging it,
can only be directed by reason and conviction, and is nowhere
cognizable but at the tribunal of the universal judge, and that
therefore they ask no ecclesiastical establishments for themselves,
neither can they approve of them when granted to others, and earnestly
entreating that all laws now in force in this Commonwealth
which countenance religious denominations may be speedily repealed,
that all and every religious sect may be protected in the
full exercise of their several modes of worship, and exempted from
the payment of all taxes for the support of any church whatever,
farther than what may be agreeable to their own private choice, or
voluntary obligations."[5]

But few of the inhabitants of this beautiful country at the
present time have even a slight idea of the dangers and privations
endured by the early settlers, the dim shadows of which are
vanishing like the tints in a dissolving scene. The men who
worked their way from the settlements in the valley to their future

home, groping through the forest without a road and with nothing
to guide them in their course, except the trail of the Indian and
the buffalo; at night resting on the ground with no roof over them
save the branches of the mighty oak or the broad expanse of
heaven; exploring an unknown wilderness, surrounded by insurmountable
obstacles and momentarily threatened with assault from
their deadly enemies, the rattlesnake, the Indian and the wild beast
of the forest, but always accompanied by a trust in their God,
came, "with the Bible in one hand and a cross in the other, treading
the sombre shades of these dark old woods and often with a
boulder of granite for a footstool, and the eternal cataracts thundering
amid the everlasting solitudes for an organ, these devout men
worshipped their God according to the dictates of their consciences."
Each emigrant brought with him some clothes, a little bedding,
guns and ammunition, cooking utensils, seed corn, an axe, a saw
and the Bible. Such were the men and the manner of their coming,
who cleared the forests and opened the beautiful and rich
farms that are now spread out upon our hills and mountain sides
and grassy plains.

The early settlers in their intercourse with others were kind,
beneficent and disinterested: extending to all the most generous
hospitality that their circumstances could afford. That selfishness
which prompts to liberality for the sake of remuneration and
professes the civilities of life with an eye to individual interest
was unknown to them. They were kind for kindness' sake and
sought no other recompense than the never failing concomitant
of good deeds, the reward of an approving conscience.

There existed in each settlement a perfect unison of feeling.
Similitude of situation and community of danger operated as a
magic charm and stifled in their birth those little bickerings which
are so apt to disturb the quiet of society.[6]

Ambition of preferment, the pride of place, too often hindrances
to social intercourse, were unknown among them. Equality
of condition rendered them strangers alike to the baneful distinctions
of wealth and other adventitious circumstances, a sense
of mutual dependence for their common security, linked them in
amity and they conducted their several purposes in harmonious concert;
together they toiled and together they suffered. Such were
the pioneers of the Southwest; and the greater part of mankind
might now derive advantage from the contemplation of their "humble
virtues, their hospitable homes, their spirits potential, noble,
proud and free, their self-respect grafted on innocent thoughts,
their days of health and nights of sleep, their toils, by dangers
dignified, yet guiltless, their hopes of cheerful old age and a quiet
grave with cross and garland over its green turf and their grand-children's
love for an epitaph."[6]

The early settlers of this section of Virginia were a strong,
stern people, simple in their habits, God-fearing in their practices,
imbibing the spirit of freedom, such as is usually found among the

inhabitants of a mountainous country, kind in their disposition
towards the well-disposed and unmerciful in their dealings with
their enemies. They were upright in all their dealings, fearless
advocates of the right and undying lovers of their country.

Dr. Dodridge, an author who wrote from his personal knowledge,
says that "linsey coats and bed-gowns, were the universal dress
of the women in the early times." The weed, now known among
us as the "wild nettle," then furnished the material which served
to clothe the persons of our sires and dames." It was cut down
while yet green and treated much in the same manner in which
flax is now treated.

The fibrous bark, with the exception of the shortness of the
fibres, seemed to be adapted to the same uses. When this "flax,"
if I may so term it, was prepared, it was mixed with buffalo hair,
and woven into a substantial cloth in which the men and women
were clothed. It is a true maxim, "Necessity is the mother of
invention."

"The furniture of the table, for several years after the settlement
of this country, consisted of a few pewter dishes, plates and
spoons; but mostly of wooden bowls, trenchers and noggins. If
these last were scarce, gourds and hard-shelled squashes made up
the deficiency. Iron pots, knives and forks were brought from the
East, with the salt and iron on horseback."

"In our whole display of furniture, the delft, china and silver
were unknown. It did not then, as now, require contributions
from the four quarters of the globe to furnish the breakfast table,
viz., the silver from Mexico, the coffee from the West Indies, the
tea from China and the delft or porcelain from Europe or Asia.
Yet, a homely fare, unsightly cabins and furniture produced a
hardy race, who planted the first footsteps of civilization in the
immense regions of the West. Inured to hardship, bravery and
labor from their early youth, they sustained with manly fortitude
the fatigue of the chase, the campaign and scout, and with `strong
arms turned the wilderness into fruitful fields,' and have left to
their descendants the rich inheritance of an immense empire
blessed with peace, wealth and prosperity."[7]

"For a long time after the settlement of this country, the inhabitants

in general married young. There was no distinction of
rank and very little of fortune. On these accounts the first impression
of love resulted in marriage, and a family establishment cost
but little labor and nothing else.

"A description of a wedding from beginning to end will serve
to show the manners of our forefathers and mark the grade of civilization
which has succeeded to their rude state of society, in the
course of a few years.

"In the first years of the settlement of a country, a wedding engaged
the attention of the whole neighborhood, and the frolic was
anticipated by young and old with eager expectation. This is not
to be wondered at when it is told that a wedding was almost the
only gathering which was not accompanied with the labor of reaping,
log-rolling, building a cabin, or planning some scout or campaign.
On the morning of the wedding day the groom and his attendants
assembled at the house of his father for the purpose of
reaching the home of his bride by noon, which was the usual time
for celebrating the nuptials and which, for certain reasons, must
take place before dinner.

"Let the reader imagine an assemblage of people without a
store, tailor or mantua-maker within a hundred miles, and an assemblage
of horses without a blacksmith or saddle within an equal
distance. The gentlemen dressed in shoepacks, moccasins, leather
breeches, leggings, linsey hunting shirts, and all home-made. The
ladies dressed in linsey petticoats and linsey or linen bed-gowns,
coarse shoes, stockings and handkerchiefs and buckskin gloves, if
any. If there were any rings, buckles, buttons or ruffles, they were
the relics of olden times; family pieces from parents or grandparents.
The horses were caparisoned with old saddles, old bridles
or halters, and pack-saddles with a bag or blanket thrown over
them; a rope or string as often constituted the girth as a piece of
leather.

"The march, in double file, was often interrupted by the narrowness
of our mountain paths, as they were called, for we had no
roads, and these difficulties were often increased by the good and
sometimes the ill-will of neighbors by felling trees and tying grapevines
across the way. Sometimes an ambuscade was formed by
the wayside, and an unexpected discharge of several guns took

place, so as to cover the wedding party with smoke. Let the reader
imagine the scene which followed this discharge; the sudden spring
of the horses, the shrieks of the girls and the chivalrous bustle of
their partners to save them from falling. Sometimes, in spite of
all that could be done to prevent it, some were thrown to the
ground. If a wrist, elbow or ankle happened to be sprained, it was
tied up with a handkerchief, and little more said or thought
about it.

"The ceremony of the marriage preceded the dinner, which was
a substantial backwoods feast of beef, pork, fowls, and sometimes
venison and bear meat roasted and boiled with plenty of potatoes,
cabbage and other vegetables. During the dinner the greatest
hilarity prevailed. The table might be a large slab of timber,
hewed out with a broad-axe, supported by four sticks, set in auger
holes; and the furniture, some old pewter dishes and plates; the
rest, wooden bowls and trenchers: a few pewter spoons much battered
about the edges were to be seen at some tables. The rest were
made of horn. If knives were scarce the deficiency was made up
with scalping knives which were carried in sheaths suspended to
the belt of the hunting shirt. Every man carried one.

"After dinner the dancing commenced and generally lasted until
the next morning. The figures of the dancers were three and four
handed reels, or square sets and jigs. The commencement was
always a square form, which was followed by what was called jigging
it off; that is, two of the four would single out for a jig, and
were followed by the remaining couple. The jigs were often accompanied
with what was called cutting out, that is, when either
of the parties became tired of the dance, on intimation, the place
was supplied by some one of the company, without any interruption
to the dance. In this way the dance was often continued till
the musician was heartily tired of his situation. Toward the latter
part of the night, if any of the company through weariness attempted
to conceal themselves for the purpose of sleeping, they
were hunted up, paraded on the floor, and the fiddler ordered to
play, `Hang out till to-morrow morning.'

"About nine or ten o'clock a deputation of young ladies stole
off the bride and put her to bed. In doing this it frequently happened
that they had to ascend a ladder, instead of a pair of stairs,

leading from the dining and ball room to a loft, the floor of
which was made of clapboards lying loose.

"This ascent, one might think, would put the bride and her
attendants to the blush; but the foot of the ladder was commonly
behind the door, which was purposely opened for the occasion,
and its rounds at the inner ends were well hung with hunting-shirts,
dresses and other articles of clothing. The candles being
on the opposite side of the house, the exit of the bride was noticed
but by few.

"This done, a deputation of young men, in like manner, stole
off the groom and placed him snugly by the side of his bride. The
dance still continued; and if seats happened to be scarce, as was
often the case, every young man when not engaged in the dance,
was obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the girls; and the
offer was sure to be accepted. In the midst of this hilarity the
bride and groom were not forgotten. Pretty late in the night
some one would remind the company that the new couple must
stand in need of some refreshments. Black Betty, which was the
name of the bottle, was called for and sent up the ladder; but
sometimes Black Betty did not go alone. I have sometimes seen
as much bread, beef, pork and cabbage sent along as would afford
a good meal for half a dozen hungry men. The young couple
were compelled to eat and drink more or less of whatever was
offered.

"But to return: it often happened that some neighbors or relations,
not being asked to the wedding, took offence, and the
mode of revenge adopted by them on such occasions was that
of cutting off the manes, foretops, and tails of the horses of the
wedding company.

"On returning to the infare, the order of procession and the
race for Black Betty was the same as before. The feasting and
dancing often lasted several days, at the end of which the whole
company were so exhausted with loss of sleep that many days'
rest were requisite to fit them to return to their ordinary labors."

HUNTING.

"This constituted one of the greatest amusements, and, in many
instances, one of the chief employments of the early settlers. The
various intrigues of a skillful hunter, such as mimicking a turkey,

owl, wolf, deer, etc., were soon learned, and the eye was taught
to catch, at a glance, the faintest impressions left upon the earth
by any animal. Marks which would be by any but a hunter
overlooked were easily detected. The times and grounds on
which elk, deer, etc., fed were soon learned, and then the important
lesson of preventing spells or enchantments by enemies was
studied, for it is a singular fact that all hunters are more or less
superstitious. Frequently, on leaving home, the wife would throw
the axe at her husband to give him good luck. If he chanced to
fail to kill game, his gun was enchanted or spelled, and some old
woman was shot in effigy, then a silver bullet would be run with a
needle through it and shot at her picture. To remove these spells,
they would sometimes unbreech their rifles, and lay them in a
clear running stream for a certain number of days. If this failed,
they would borrow patching from some other hunter, which
transferred all the bad luck to the lender, etc.

"Game was plenty at the time this country was first settled by
the whites, and, acordingly, the woods furnished most of the
meat. The elks and buffaloes were generally killed at the licks
whither they repaired to salt themselves. Animals were hunted
there not merely for their meat, but for their skins and furs.
These served to pay for powder, lead, or anything else, being nominally
the currency of the country.

"Neither was hunting a mere pastime, devoid of skill, as it now
is. The hunter might be considered somewhat of a meteorologist;
he paid particular attention to the winds, rains, snows, and frosts,
for almost every change altered the location of the game. He
knew the cardinal points of the compass by the thick bark and
moss on the north side of a tree, so that during the darkest and
most gloomy night he knew which was the north, and so the
direction of his home or camp.

"The natural habits of the deer were well studied; and hence he
knew at what times they fed, etc. If, in hunting, he found a deer
at feed, he stopped, and though he might be open to it, did not seek
to obscure himself, but waited till it raised its head and looked
at him. He remained motionless till the deer, satisfied that
nothing was in sight, again commenced feeding. He then began
to advance, if he had the wind of it, and if not, he retreated and

came up another way, so as to place the deer between himself and
the wind. As long as the deer's head was down, he continued to
advance till he saw it shake the tail. In a moment he was the same
motionless object, till again it put down its head. In this way he
would soon approach to within sixty yards, when his unerring rifle
did the work of death. It is a curious fact that deer never put
their heads to the ground, or raise it, without shaking the tail before
doing so."[8]