XLI.
NATHANIEL BACON.
XLI. President of the Council.
XLI. October 20, 1688, to October 16, 1690.
"Nathaniel Bacon, a near kinsman of him who was
called `The Rebel,' and who was high in office during the
period of the rebellion, as he was before and after, married
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Richard Kingswell, of
James City County. His residence was on King's Creek,
near York River and not far from Williamsburg." Near the
bank of this river, on a tombstone, the following inscription
may be seen, viz.: "Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth, wife
of the Honourable Nathaniel Bacon, who departed this life
the second day of November, one thousand six hundred and
ninety-one, in the sixty-seventh year of her age." Nathaniel
Bacon's tombstone is said by Bishop Meade to lie "in a field
on Dr. Tinsley's farm," near Williamsburg, at which point
it is supposed that Bacon had another residence. Nathaniel
Bacon was long prominent in public affairs, having been among
other offices of trust, a member of the Council for over forty
years. When Lord Effingham returned to England in October,
1688, Bacon, as President of the Council, became the
Acting Governor of Virginia, until the arrival of Francis
Nicholson, October 16, 1690.
Bacon must have been active in Church as well as State as
it was announced in the Virginia Gazette for March, 1746, that
the plate given by Colonel Nathaniel Bacon to York-Hampton
parish had been stolen. Hening narrates that "Nathaniel
Bacon continued President all April Court 1690: and the 16th
of October, 1690, Francis Nicholson, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor,
was present."
Many changes meanwhile had taken place in England.
Charles II. died on the 16th February, 1685, and was succeeded
by his brother, James II. King James II. abdicated
the throne, 23d December, 1688, and William, Prince of
Orange, and Mary, the daughter of James, were proclaimed
Joint-sovereigns of England.
It was during the short presidency of Colonel Bacon, that
the project for a college was first agreed upon and approved
by the President and Council of Virginia, and the charter
was granted on the 8th February, 1692, in the fourth year of the
reign of William and Mary. This venerable institution of
learning, called in honor of them, has ever since been interwoven
with the annals of Virginia. Nathaniel Bacon died
March 16, 1693, and as he left no children bequeathed his
estate to his niece, Abigail Smith, who married Major Lewis
Burwell.
