LXXXVIII. LXXVIII.
LXXXVIII. ROBERT BROOKE.
LXXXVIII. Governor.
LXXXVIII. December 1, 1794, to December 1, 1796.
The year in which Robert Brooke became Governor of
Virginia, had been signalized by two very important events
in the United States:
"1. The insurrection in Western Pennsylvania; 2.
Wayne's victory over the Northwestern Indians.
"The first, taught Americans, among other lessons, that
the new central government was strong enough in the hearts
of the people to crush out banded resistance to its lawful
authority in any local confines.
"The second, broke the backbone of the Indian War, and
proved it thenceforth impossible for the copper-colored tribes
to stem the course of white emigration towards the Mississippi."
On the 1st of January of this year, also, the foreign and
domestic debts of the United States did not exceed the sum
of forty-eight millions of dollars, so that the position of the
country in every aspect was of the most encouraging character
at home, and foreign relations were, for the time, tranquil.
In 1795, Washington in his address to Congress,
December 3, presents a pleasing view of the prosperity of the
nation:
"Our agriculture, commerce, and manufactures prosper beyond former
example. Our population advances with a celerity, which, exceeding
the most sanguine calculations, proportionally augments our strength and
resources, and guarantees our future security. Every part of the Union
displays indications of rapid and various improvement, and with burdens
so light as scarcely to be perceived, with resources fully adequate to our
present exigencies, with governments founded on the genuine principles
of rational liberty, and with mild and wholesome laws, is it too much to
say, that our country exhibits a spectacle of national happiness never surpassed,
if ever before equalled?"
Under such favorable auspices, Robert Brooke became
the chief executive of the Old Dominion. His grandfather
had been a native of England, but came to Virginia in 1710
with Robert Beverley, the historian, and Governor Spotswood.
He accompanied the latter on his famous expedition
across the Blue Ridge Mountains, and was decorated with
one of the Horseshoe badges, in memory of the trip. The
badge is said to be still in the possession of his descendants.
It consists of a golden horseshoe set with garnets, having
inscribed on it the motto:
"Sic juvat transcendere montes."
This Knight of the Horseshoe, Brooke, had several sons,
the youngest of whom, Richard, married a Miss Taliaferro.
Their son, Robert, is the subject of this sketch. He was
educated at the University of Edinburgh, and did not return
to Virginia until the Revolutionary War was in progress.
On his voyage home he was captured and carried to New
York, from whence he was sent back to England by Lord
Howe, the British Admiral. From England Robert Brooke
went to Scotland, and finally made his way to France, from
which country he sailed to Virginia in a frigate containing
arms which were supplied to the Continentals by the French
government.
He immediately enlisted in the cause of independence, and
joined a volunteer troop of cavalry commanded by Captain
Larkin Smith. He was captured January, 1781, in a charge
of dragoons at Westham, six miles below Richmond, but was
soon exchanged, and returned at once to the service. After
the close of the war he began the practice of law, and in this
noble profession acquired marked distinction.
In 1794, Robert Brooke represented the County of Spotsylvania
in the House of Delegates of Virginia, and in the same
year was elected Governor of the state by the Legislature.
Upon the duties of this high office he entered December
1, 1794.
In 1795, Governor Brooke was elected Grand-Master of
the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of
Virginia, and served until 1797.
His term as Governor having expired 1796, he was in
1798 elected Attorney-General of Virginia. In this office he
died in 1799, aged only thirty-eight years.
Robert Brooke's career was brief but brilliant, and before
he had reached the prime of life, he was called by death to give
up the rewards of honor and merit which his people delighted
to bestow upon him.
The County of Brooke, formed in 1797 from Ohio County,
was named in honor of Governor Brooke.
